Into the Rose Garden Novel - Chapter 22.2 The Bitter with the Sweet

Instead of answering, Aeroc came and hugged Kloff. Kloff naturally wrapped his arms around Aeroc’s slightly stiff body, and Aeroc, without resistance, pressed close but stiffened a little.

He always had to embrace him softly and gently. Of course, even when he slightly lost his reason later—no, he always lost his reason—forcing him was absolutely forbidden. If he hated sex itself, it would be understandable. Kloff had inklings about his experiences, which he never wanted to know in detail. But it was strange. He didn’t know why, but he showed extreme anxiety not during sex itself, but immediately afterward.

The beginning had to be gentle, but the end had to be even more loving. Kloff gazed into the trembling blue eyes, mixed with excitement and a little fear, and pressed his lips against his. The golden eyelashes, slowly descending as Kloff approached, trembled slightly, blurring his vision.

“Kloff, Kloff.”

His eyes hazy with rapture, the man reached out his arms into the air, calling him desperately. Even though they were already one, he constantly sought confirmation of affection. Like a bubble that would disappear in an instant. During the first heat cycle, Kloff was so engrossed in releasing his own desires that he didn’t truly understand him. Not anymore. To the call of his beloved Omega, the Alpha responded instinctively. He took the flailing arms and wrapped them around his own shoulders.

“I’m here, Aeroc.”

“Ah. My Alpha. Don’t go anywhere.”

“I’m not going anywhere. I’ll be by your side.”

Aeroc was losing his mind from the heat that had risen to his head. Even being this close, even with a part of Kloff inside him, he was anxious. He clung to Kloff like a baby, refusing to let go, and the repeated lovemaking since earlier had consistently been with them embracing each other. For him, who couldn’t bear to be separated even for a moment, Kloff pressed his sweat-soaked body completely against his.

As their chests met, they felt each other’s hearts beating. Aeroc seemed to relax, and his body loosened slightly. Then, the point of connection deepened a little, and Kloff felt a small gap that hadn’t been there before. As the thick tip of his organ brushed against that spot, Aeroc let out a breathless gasp.

“Ah… ungh…”

“Does this feel good?”

He was in no state to answer, but his reaction was clear. As Kloff thrust there, Aeroc writhed as if in pain, yet with both legs, he tightened around Kloff’s waist, preventing him from pulling back. Kloff pulled back slightly, then thrust into the gap, and Aeroc let out a breathless cry.

“Haak… aah… huff… aaang.”

He had had sex countless times and knotted before, but never once had he truly penetrated the right spot. For the first time in his life, Kloff tasted a joy so intoxicating, so mind-numbing, as his partner’s body opened for him. And he kissed the person who was lovely down to every strand of hair, patiently knocking at the entrance. Eventually, the slowly parted opening gradually accepted Kloff. As he thrust the tip into the intensely hot and sore place, Aeroc stiffened with a sharp scream.

“Ah… ah…”

His brilliant intellect gone, Aeroc uttered blank sounds like an idiot. After a couple of movements, when the thick pillar’s tip was fully embedded inside him, he could no longer make a sound, only tremble. Tears welled up in his wide-open eyes. Kloff licked the sweet-smelling liquid and delved deeper, finally tearing the thin membrane that had never allowed anyone to invade. Aeroc must have been in great pain, for he tightened his legs and dug his fingertips into Kloff’s shoulders. And at the same time, he tightened inside.

“Kuh!”

A searing pain on his shoulder, an agonizingly tight grip from within, and simultaneously, Aeroc’s intensely rich scent, enough to make his head spin, brought Kloff to climax immediately. He poured his hot essence into the intensely warm and moist place. After expelling everything in several thrusts, Kloff, unable to bear the extreme pain and ecstatic pleasure, collapsed, releasing the breath he had held, as Aeroc, unconscious, went limp.

“Aeroc?”

As he gasped for breath, he raised his head and called Aeroc, but he was unconscious, only breathing shallowly. Kloff brushed back his sweat-soaked, disheveled hair, kissed his forehead, and then, before he became unable to move as before, laid Aeroc flat, neatly brought his legs together, and embraced him from behind.

The torn area inside must have hurt, for Aeroc frowned in his sleep, shedding tear after tear. Each time, Kloff, filled with both love and heartache, hugged him tightly and left countless kiss marks on every part his lips could reach.

“You’re different than usual. Why are you suddenly like this?”

In the fear that filled the cold air, in that dry, chaff-like soul. A dew-laden, greenish sprout of hope tentatively poked its head out. I tore that fragile, beautiful thing with sharp nails. Not knowing what kind of end it would bring. I crushed the last hope that had sprouted in his heart.

“I hate you so much. You’re disgusting. I loathe you. I hope you meet the same miserable end as the one you inflicted.”

“Aeroc?”

With blood-soaked hands, he clutched the person who had already left. He called his name incessantly, waiting for an answer that would not come.

He had a terrible nightmare. It was so vivid that he found himself gasping, tears streaming down his face. His eyes stung. They hurt too much to open properly. He raised a hand and wiped his soaked cheeks. Even as he rubbed with his palm, uncontrollable tears flowed. He couldn’t breathe and took several ragged breaths.

He didn’t know when, but tears had flowed into his nasal cavity, wetting his lips. No matter how much he wiped, it was useless. Either his tear ducts were broken, or his heart was melting. Why did he feel such regret and self-loathing?

Eventually, he opened his eyes. The entire pillow was soaked with tears. His limbs were powerless, and he felt so helpless he thought he would die. What he saw through his blurry vision was a room he didn’t remember. It was clearly a room he had never seen before, yet its atmosphere felt familiar. He inhaled, and a familiar scent filled his nostrils, and the inexplicable regret gradually subsided.

He couldn’t breathe, so he sat up. Someone lay beside him, sleeping as if dead. Golden hair and a white face, as if dreaming. It was Aeroc. He was sleeping so deeply it was doubtful if he was alive.

Surely he wasn’t dead?

A sudden fear gripped him. He didn’t know when, but it felt as if Aeroc had never woken up again, perhaps in a dream. He couldn’t let him go like this. He didn’t want to be alone again.

He hastily hugged him, checking if he was breathing. He put his ear to his nose and checked his warm body temperature with his hand. Not enough, he put his ear to his chest again. His heart was beating strongly. He felt the movement of his chest with his regular breathing. He was alive. And healthy.

With a sigh of relief, Kloff hugged Aeroc tightly. Aeroc, perhaps bothered by the slight restless movements from a moment ago, frowned and tried to wake up. Normally, he would have told him to sleep, but now he wanted to see him open his eyes. He wanted to see his own reflection in those clear blue eyes.

“Aeroc?”

He called out in a voice choked with tears, a ridiculous sound. He didn’t answer. Even in that brief moment, his blood seemed to run cold, and Kloff became anxious. His tear-filled eyes, which had calmed, grew hot again.

“Ae…roc?”

He couldn’t even pronounce those short syllables properly. Tears fell in heavy drops. The golden eyelashes, struck by them, trembled finely. Then, a hoarse voice, “Ungh,” escaped.

He felt relieved. That frown, which instantly banished the fear of dying, was so grateful and lovely. He watched Aeroc’s lips mumble something, twisted from disturbed sleep, then immediately stole a kiss.

The one who was kissed by stealth weakly resisted, and as the kiss broke, with tears still clinging to his abundant eyelashes, he slowly opened his eyes. Kloff found his foolish self reflected in those deep, lake-blue eyes and smiled. Aeroc, blinking slowly, still half-asleep, gazed blankly at him.

“…I can’t do any more.”

“Not tonight.”

“But why, Kloff?”

Aeroc, belatedly noticing Kloff’s tears, widened his eyes in surprise, then quickly raised a hand to wipe them. At the same time, he sat up and used his other hand to rub Kloff’s soaked cheeks with his thumb. He asked, “What’s wrong?” in a very confused manner. That choked, suppressed groan, as if he couldn’t make a proper sound, sounded so sad and painful, as if his heart was being torn to shreds. Kloff took the hand that cupped his cheek and pressed his lips to its palm.

“It’s nothing.”

“It’s not nothing when you’re crying like this. Perhaps…”

Aeroc, unable to continue, bit his lip, then offered a faint smile again. Kloff’s heart sank at the utterly sad, unfeigned smile, and a few more tears streamed down.

“If you want to back out now…”

“Shut up. No matter what happens, you’re mine, and you’ll never escape me from now on.”

Even his threat was half-dissolved by tears, completely lacking power. But Aeroc, without any retort, hugged the man who was crying like an abandoned child.

Normally, he was a noble Count who could arrogantly look down on people, but Aeroc strangely lacked confidence when it came to Kloff. Even when he pushed Kloff away, saying he couldn’t go through that again, he always trembled like someone hurt by love.

Kloff didn’t know in detail what had happened in his past, which seemed to be filled only with light. All he knew was that he had suffered an immeasurable deep wound and that healing from it would take a long time. He should have been the one to comfort him, but now Kloff was clinging to him instead.

Lacking confidence meant lacking conviction, and thus not having great trust in the other person. Kloff was equally bound to him, but it was unsettling that with such a brilliant mind, he only memorized and never understood, always leaving room for doubt. Or perhaps he wanted confirmation.

Each time, Kloff made it clear. He firmly believed that repetition was an excellent learning method that worked even for fools. He repeated over and over through his endless tears, “You are mine, I will never let you go.” Eventually, Aeroc’s voice also became hoarse.

“Then why are you like this? Why are you crying?”

It was a nightmare he didn’t want to recall. Aeroc embraced Kloff, resting his nose on Kloff’s head, and gently whispered for him to tell him what was wrong. He should have been his pillar of support, but his voice, the hand stroking his back, was so warm that Kloff ended up indulging himself.

“In my dream, you drove my wife, Raphielle, and our unborn child to a horrific death, and I, driven mad, cursed you to die just as miserably. Again and again. Until you truly died that way.”

At that moment, the one who was holding him froze completely like an ice sculpture. His breathing stopped, and his heart began to pound wildly. The fingertips that had been gently stroking his back even trembled violently. When Kloff raised his head, Aeroc, deeply shocked, had turned pale.

Kloff immediately regretted it. He had done something an Alpha should never do to an unstable Omega in heat. It was incredibly cruel to curse an Omega whom he loved boundlessly and should protect endlessly, even if it was just a dream, and to convey that curse. It was something he should never have said to Aeroc, who was already uniquely sensitive and anxious. He was foolish.

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that.”

He sat up and this time, he was the one who hugged the trembling Aeroc tightly. He slowly stroked his back with his hand, just as Aeroc had done for him. Aeroc’s trembling hand touched Kloff’s chest. It seemed more like pushing him away than approaching, and Kloff wanted to sew his own mouth shut for saying such a thing.

“I said something unnecessary.”

When Kloff hugged him tightly, Aeroc’s forehead touched his still slightly damp cheek. He naturally kissed his forehead. Until then, Aeroc said nothing. Because of that, Kloff became unnecessarily talkative.

“They say dreams are the opposite, so maybe a nightmare will bring good luck.”

He spoke lightly, trying to somehow thaw his frozen body.

“Is having six children a manifestation of my unconscious desire? In the dream, you were an Alpha, but you were forcibly changed into an Omega. Originally, it was a natural medical mutation. Reality is strangely mixed. I’ve already broken up with Raphielle, and now you’re my wife. It’s just a silly dream. Don’t worry about it, because only good things keep happening, so I’m just having a silly dream.”

No matter how much Kloff tried to soothe him, Aeroc’s trembling didn’t subside. He even heard faint whimpers. Kloff deeply regretted making his Omega, who was clearly pregnant, tremble in fear with one thoughtless remark.

“Shh… It’s okay. Nothing will happen. I won’t do that to you.”

He soothed him for a long time with a low voice. After a while, Aeroc himself tried to suppress his crying, taking several deep, wet breaths. And after a long time, a voice so garbled it was hard to understand came out.

“In the dream… after I died…”

“I told you not to worry about silly dreams.”

Even though Kloff tried to draw a firm line, Aeroc didn’t stop. He hid his wet eyes against the Alpha’s neck, who was holding him, and finally continued.

“…Were you happy?”

“What?”

He asked again, not understanding what he meant, and Aeroc sniffled, asking in a dying voice.

“Since you got your revenge… weren’t you tormented anymore?”

“Are you curious about that?”