Into the Rose Garden Novel - Chapter 20.2 Uncovering Secret Blossoms in the Dawn

After sucking until his tongue was numb, Kloff licked the saliva from the corners of his mouth and gently nipped at his swollen lips. Then he kissed his cheek and gave a belated answer.

“I won’t.”

“…”

Aeroc covered his lips with one hand and looked up, disbelievingly. He seemed a little flustered and somewhat aroused. More than anything, the flush on his cheeks and earlobes made him look embarrassed. To avoid obstructing him from pulling up the sheet, Kloff stood up from the bed and took the opportunity to go out and get some snacks. As he turned to open the door, Aeroc called him from behind.

“Why? Do you need something?”

“…No.”

Aeroc, naked on the large bed, draped only in a sheet and bathed in a halo of light, looked incredibly fragile. He wasn’t originally weak, nor did he have a delicate, ethereal build, but he looked particularly fragile, making Kloff’s heart drop for a moment. He quickly left and closed the door, then calmed his racing heart and went downstairs.

Martha, quick-witted, handed Kloff a tray without a word as soon as he came down. Kloff returned to the room with a tray containing freshly baked cookies, sandwiches, and an apple juice and tea set. Aeroc, whose eyes were a little wet, perhaps from what he had thought about while alone for a moment, gasped in admiration like a child celebrating both his birthday and a holiday at once when Kloff entered with the tray.

“Were you that hungry?”

Kloff placed the tray on the bed and teased him, but Aeroc stared at him without blinking, then whimpered.

“I hate being hungry more than anything in the world.”

Tears even spilled from his eyes, surprising Kloff. Born into a ducal family, he had never gone hungry in his life, yet seeing him so sorrowful over not having eaten properly for two days was both amusing and endearing.

“I’m sorry. Here, take it.”

When Kloff offered him a sandwich with cheese and vegetables, Aeroc took it with one hand and picked up another piece with the other. Then he ate frantically, not even looking at Kloff. He swallowed it quickly after a few bites and then picked up another one.

“That’s my share…”

Aeroc looked up, his mouth full of sandwich, and pleaded with an earnest expression. He looked like he would cry any moment if Kloff didn’t give in, so Kloff said, “Eat it all,” and he devoured it again. Come to think of it, Kloff hadn’t really seen Aeroc eat properly. He had attended banquets, but he hadn’t acted like someone who had been starving for a long time then. He had given him snacks occasionally over the past two days. From now on, he would have to make sure he ate proper meals.

After swallowing all four large sandwich pieces, Aeroc still wasn’t satisfied. He sucked his fingers and then looked at Kloff nervously, staring at a large cookie.

“It’s not raisins. It’s dried blueberries.”

As soon as Kloff said that, Aeroc began to devour the cookie as well. Then, feeling choked, he patted his chest, so Kloff offered him apple juice. After gulping it down, he finally seemed a little full, letting out a deep sigh. Then, as if nothing had happened, he elegantly broke the cookie into small pieces and put them into his mouth.

“Why are you staring so much? Have you never seen someone eat before?”

“No. Just.”

Kloff poured perfectly cooled black tea into a teacup and drank it, thinking he should let Aeroc spend as much as he wanted on food from now on. Aeroc, who had just finished his apple juice, saw the black tea in Kloff’s hand and frowned.

“Where’s my teacup?”

“No tea from today.”

When Kloff said it firmly, Aeroc looked up with a displeased expression and glared.

“I thought I paid enough for ignoring your calls over the past two days.”

Aeroc’s lips trembled slightly as he spoke. It seemed less like anger and more like he still hadn’t calmed down. Kloff, unfazed, brushed a cookie crumb from the corner of his mouth and said,

“Rather, it’s not good for the fetus.”

The half-drunk apple juice scattered everywhere. Aeroc, who had dropped the glass, was flustered and trying to gather the juice with his hands, while Kloff got up and wiped the bed with a nearby bathrobe. Before it spread further, he cleared the tray to the table and pulled back the sheets. Throughout this, Aeroc stammered, severely agitated.

“Ho…how…that can’t be…I definitely took the medicine…”

Kloff, who had rolled up the bathrobe heavily soaked with the sweet juice scent and thrown it by the door, turned around. Aeroc’s sapphire eyes trembled violently, unlike before. Despite being extremely flustered, he didn’t avoid Kloff’s gaze but stared back. Kloff laughed, tickled by that piercing stare.

“So you really are an Omega.”

“…What?”

Without another word, Kloff went to the bed and sat down. As he smiled confidently, the other’s expression, who belatedly realized he had fallen into a trap, changed from bewilderment to despair. Kloff got onto the bed and looked down at Aeroc, who was wrapped in sheets and wary of him with fear, with a very satisfied gaze. And he pushed down on the body that was as pale as the sheets.

“How…”

“Only a fool wouldn’t know in this situation. It’s so idiotic that I didn’t notice until now, I’m even laughing at myself. My honors graduate reputation is in tatters.”

Saying that, he kissed Aeroc’s white cheek and then rested his head on his chest, which was full of red marks, embracing him while lying prone. Aeroc, who was desperately pulling at the sheet that wouldn’t move under Kloff’s heavy body, gasped. After a long while, he spoke barely audibly.

“My…my stomach is being pressed…”

At that voice, filled with concern, Kloff couldn’t help but burst into loud laughter. As he shook with laughter, Aeroc’s face turned red and then blue, and then he suddenly yelled, “You…you need to be careful in the early stages!” Kloff raised his head and looked at Aeroc. He was serious, not joking.

“I was just trying to tease you. If you take the medicine, you can’t get pregnant. And…the feeling was a little different.”

When Kloff revealed it was a joke, Aeroc couldn’t close his mouth again and asked if it was true. When he pressed several times, Kloff bluntly said it didn’t feel like he had entered him, and Aeroc pressed his lips together tightly, his hands clutching the sheets trembling. Kloff expected him to be relieved, but seeing disappointment along with anger at being teased, he felt both sorry and very happy.

“Do you want to have my child that much? I can give you one if you want.”

He couldn’t close his mouth and turned beet red. Kloff chuckled when he saw tears welling up in his eyes.

“Don’t laugh! Shut up! Get away! Go away! You ignorant, vulgar, cruel, wicked rogue, you demon who plays with people…”

Kloff let him speak up to that point. He continued to mumble something after that, but when Kloff sucked on his tongue, he seemed to give up speaking and only let out faint breaths. The hand that had been hitting Kloff’s shoulder somewhat painfully soon stopped, then gathered its fingers and heavily wrinkled Kloff’s well-ironed shirt.

It was only on the third day that Kloff returned Aeroc’s clothes. Dressed in the clean, well-maintained clothes Martha had prepared, Aeroc finally picked up his cloak, felt the inner pocket, and then looked at Kloff, who was standing beside him.

“Give it back.”

“Give what back?”

When Kloff pretended not to know, Aeroc was silent for a long time. The pills had already been disposed of. Now that he knew Aeroc was actually an Omega, he couldn’t tolerate him taking such things. Moreover, if there was a need to take such medicine in the future, Kloff intended to take it himself, not Aeroc. Knowing that Kloff had no intention of giving it back, Aeroc soon averted his gaze.

“I’ll just buy it again.”

At that, Kloff was horrified.

“Are you going to go there again after what happened? If you hadn’t met me by chance, you would have been raped.”

When Kloff questioned him sharply, unable to hide his excitement, a calm answer came back.

“I know.”

“You know? You’re just a sheltered scholar who knows nothing of the world.”

Kloff was so exasperated by the absurd remark that he retorted angrily, and Aeroc gave him a dry look. He didn’t seem like the person who had shown a rich range of emotions—surprise, sulkiness, anger, pleasure, tenderness, satisfaction—just this morning, or even just moments ago.

“I know very well.”

“So how could you, born as the legitimate heir of a ducal house, surrounded by all sorts of luxuries and served hand and foot…”

“I’ve experienced it.”

At first, Kloff didn’t quite grasp the meaning of the calm reply. As he pondered for a long time what he had experienced, the small ripple grew stronger. Eventually, it became a whirlpool and engulfed Kloff. He froze, unable to react to the immense shock, and Aeroc smiled wearily.

At that moment, something snapped in Kloff’s mind. Extreme anger towards those who had touched him surged, along with immense self-reproach for being an Alpha who couldn’t protect his own Omega. He should have comforted the clearly wounded Aeroc, but somehow, what came out was a twisted sarcasm.

“You deserve it for pretending to be an Alpha when you’re an Omega.”

Seeing him stand there, not responding, with a sorrowful smile, only fueled Kloff’s anger. He grabbed Aeroc’s arm and almost barked.

“From now on, if you leave the house without my permission, I won’t let you off lightly. Or,”

“Or what? Are you going to lock me up?”

Aeroc, frowning as if in pain, tried to twist his arm free. Kloff, fearing his arm might be pulled off, released him but quickly wrapped his arm around Aeroc’s waist, pulling their lower bodies close. Aeroc twisted his waist as if he disliked it, but this time Kloff had no intention of letting go. He lowered his head, licked Aeroc’s nape slightly, and rubbed his face against his earlobe, then whispered softly, his voice deepened by anger.

“I’ll strip you naked, shackle your ankles to the bedpost, and knot you until your legs can’t close every time a rut comes. Until you reach climax and scream countless times, unable to even think of taking medicine. I’ll completely stain you with my scent so that anyone can tell you’re my Omega. After that, you’ll carry my child. And you’ll give birth to as many as you can until your rut stops when you get old.”

A look of horror returned. He looked at Kloff with sad eyes, deeply hurt.

“Why? Do you think I can’t do it?”

Aeroc couldn’t answer. He buried his face in Kloff’s shoulder, his trembling hands hesitating several times, unable to bring himself to hold the person who was restraining him. He seemed to be in great distress, his chest heaving, holding his breath several times, then finally letting out a long sigh. After a moment, he resisted in a small voice.

“But I’m an Alpha.”