Into the Rose Garden Novel - Chapter 22.5 The Bitter with the Sweet

No matter how many times he said he loved him, that he was imprinted on him, that he couldn’t live without him, that he loved him more than anything in the world, Aeroc only smiled emptily. And soon, exhausted by fatigue, he began to close his eyes. Despite rubbing his eyes and painfully slapping his face, as he didn’t want to sleep, Aeroc couldn’t help but close his eyes, wearing a painfully contorted smile. With flickering eyes, he silently pleaded with Kloff.

“Because the you in my dream is so affectionate, like a lie. Please, anything, just give me a stimulant. I don’t want to sleep.”

His weakly whispered words were so pitiful that Kloff truly wanted to bring him strong tea that would instantly wake him up. But he couldn’t.

Aeroc was clearly confused right now. He had suddenly become an Omega, had an unplanned pregnancy, and was anxious, so he had either misunderstood something or was hallucinating. Like Kloff, his reason was paralyzed by the heat, and he was confusing it with a dream.

“Even if you fall asleep, you’ll wake up by my side. Don’t worry.”

With the heat and the long lovemaking, and now just safely moving the fertilized egg to the uterus, Aeroc would feel great fatigue and would sleep a lot. That was only natural.

As the Alpha who had mated with him, Kloff pushed aside his own dizzy head and aching heart and gently coaxed his trembling Omega to rest comfortably, not to be scared. Aeroc struggled against sleep and finally managed to whisper in a voice barely audible to Kloff, who was close by.

“…Even if it’s a lie… keep telling me you love me until I fall asleep.”

Kloff tilted his head up to hide the tears that finally burst forth, cleared his hot throat, and whispered.

“I love you. I love you, Aeroc. I love you… I love you…”

As he drifted into sleep, his eyes already closed, he faintly smiled, saying, “I love you.” A single tear barely escaped between his finely trembling eyelashes. It was like a last will and testament at the moment of eternal farewell, and Kloff, his face streaked with tears, couldn’t say a word.

Even though he was breathing regularly and his heart was beating healthily, Kloff was gripped by an extreme fear that he would never see those blue eyes again, so he hugged his limp body all night, kissing him repeatedly. He constantly whispered in his ear so that he wouldn’t be in pain, even in the cold, hard darkness.

Again and again, he loved him. That he loved him too.

The next day, Aeroc slept all day. He woke up late in the afternoon. Kloff was still holding him, so he wouldn’t fly away somewhere. He hadn’t slept all night due to anxiety, but watching Aeroc woke up, blinking as if his nose was tickled by the warm late-afternoon sun, was a reward for his patience in waiting until the darkness receded.

As soon as he woke up, he called out, “Kloff?” to the person directly in front of him, as if calling a stranger. There was no fear or pain in his slightly dry voice. Kloff, deeply relieved, smiled and greeted him as he had intended.

“Hello, Aeroc. Unfortunately, you’re still in a dream.”

Perhaps because he had just woken up, Aeroc blinked blankly and frowned.

“What do you mean?”

“I still love you.”

He blinked as if he didn’t understand, then soon smiled brightly. Fortunately, he seemed stable. As the anxiety that had tormented him all night subsided, Kloff gave a light kiss to his beautifully curved lips.

“A passionate confession as soon as I open my eyes? You’ve worked hard to become a romantic.”

“…You made me that way.”

“When did I?”

There was no trace of shock in his playful smile, which was somewhat strange. Did he not remember last night? Well, perhaps it was for the best.

Kloff hugged the endlessly cheerful Aeroc again, kissed him deeply, then got up. He wanted to wash away the fatigue and the tears and sweat with a hot shower. As he got up and the sheet was pulled back, Aeroc groaned, stretched widely, then went limp. Kloff met his gaze at the uncharacteristic loud groan, and Aeroc smiled a little shyly.

“I’m tired.”

“Of course. You worked hard all night.”

“…The sex was long, but I don’t think it lasted all night. Surely you didn’t do something shameful like touching someone while they were sleeping, did you?”

Aeroc stared at Kloff, disgusted, as if he had jumped to conclusions. Kloff was so dumbfounded he couldn’t speak, wondering how he could think such a thing, or rather, how he could blame anyone now when he himself had been the one to make Kloff wade up to his waist in the black waters of Styx and then conveniently pass out. But he only grumbled inwardly and outwardly showed a gentle smile.

“Sex isn’t labor. And it’s not something you enjoy alone.”

“Then why am I so tired?”

Well, it’s because you ran away in the middle of the night and then struggled and made a fuss when you were caught. Kloff looked at him, who was kneading his ankle with a confused expression, and gently wrapped his hand around his flat lower abdomen.

“I moved the fertilized egg from here to here all night.”

A rosy blush instantly spread across his cheeks. Aeroc bit his lip slightly, then chided him.

“How is that hard labor?”

“It is hard labor. I chose the strongest and healthiest seed out of countless seeds, made a person out of it, and then moved it from a deep valley to a wide plain.”

“To use rhetoric learned on scholarship at the capital’s university, where only brilliant minds gather, in such a vulgar way is disgraceful.”

Aeroc, covering his reddened cheek with one hand, looked Kloff up and down with a disgusted gaze at the Alpha who was spouting such shameless nonsense. Kloff, who thought it was a very unique expression, grinned defiantly. Immediately, a pillow flew and hit him in the face.

While the speaker was perfectly fine, the listener writhed in shame, and Kloff got out of bed. He cleared his throat, which was hoarse from whispering all night, and poured water from the table. Then he poured apple juice and offered it to Aeroc, who was wrapped in the sheet and lying prone.

Aeroc sat up, took it, and said, “Ugh. I won’t be able to drink black tea anymore, will I?” putting on the most pitiful expression he could. Kloff, who had been looking at his Omega with such tenderness that he seemed about to give in and put tea leaves in his apple juice, drew a firm line with a calm voice.

“You’ll have to be satisfied with apple juice for a while.”

Aeroc, grumbling, drank the juice and then, along with sleep, uttered the most common line pregnant women say.

“I’m hungry.”

“I’ll have a meal prepared.”

Kloff, who was putting on his gown and tying the belt, nodded.

“No potatoes. I won’t eat them.”

“Alright.”

Just as Kloff was about to step out the door to call the butler, Aeroc shouted from behind.

“Cancel that. I’ll eat boiled potatoes and vegetables. But you have to make it yourself.”

Kloff, who had extended his hand outside the door and didn’t see the butler, turned around and asked, “What?”

Aeroc, sipping the remaining juice, added.

“Cut the potatoes into nice, round shapes.”

“Are you serious? I’ve never cooked before.”

Kloff showed a troubled expression, but Aeroc showed a determination no less than Kloff’s a moment ago.

“Learn from now on. You’ll have to feed us both from now on.”

Kloff sighed, looking at the Omega who was alternately pointing at his chest and his belly.

“You’re getting revenge because I won’t let you drink black tea, aren’t you?”

“No.”

“Yes, you are.”

“No.”

“Don’t lie.”

“So you’re saying you can’t do it?”

Aeroc, who had sharply lifted his head at the word “lie,” gave him a steady, arrogant gaze. With a firm smile, he conveyed his will: he wouldn’t eat anything unless Kloff made it himself.

After a suffocating staring contest, Kloff, ultimately defeated by the disadvantageous condition of being an imprinted sinner, finally let go of the rope he had grabbed to ring the signal bell by the bed. He left the room without getting angry at Aeroc, who was seeing him off with an amused smile. Damn it. Where was the kitchen again?

“Did you really make it yourself?”

After Kloff served the vegetable soup he had painstakingly made himself, Aeroc took a couple of spoonfuls, then frowned in disgust and put down his spoon. As a noble who had received strict table manners, he couldn’t bring himself to vomit, so he barely swallowed the soup as if drinking poison. Feeling wronged, Kloff extended his hand, which was entirely wrapped in bandages.

“Here, proof.”

“…That strange thing I just chewed was either your fingernail or a piece of your finger…”

Aeroc stirred the remaining soup with his spoon, looking as if he was about to throw up.

“The blood on the potatoes washed off when I cleaned them.”

“I thought I smelled something metallic, so you fed me blood?”

“There’s research that says blood is good for iron deficiency during pregnancy.”

He made excuses as best he could. He wasn’t even sure why he was making excuses when he had said he had never cooked before.

“You did that on purpose, didn’t you? Because you didn’t want to cook.”

“Absolutely not. I swear on my child.”

As he sharply cut her off, saying it was absolutely not the case, Aeroc hummed, glanced at Kloff, and pushed the bowl away.

“…It’s different after all.”

Kloff asked, “What is?” at his mumble, but Aeroc replied, “There’s just something,” and didn’t mention it further. A sense of unease and anxiety arose from the feeling that he was hiding something, but Kloff decided not to press him, having resolved not to provoke him.

The potato and vegetable soup, literally made by his own sacrifice, went straight into the trash. Aeroc then ate the soft bread and soup made by the chef, along with some fruit and vegetables, well-cooked meat for easy digestion, and even ice cream for dessert, before falling asleep.

For someone so thin, his appetite was enormous, as if he had a grudge against food. He usually ate without a word when food was in front of him. He hadn’t known it before, but when they ate alone, he would even pick up fallen bits from the table with his fingers. How horrified Kloff had been when he first saw it.

Despite having such an appetite that he’d shove anything edible into his mouth, he abhorred raisins. If he accidentally saw a dried fruit that even resembled a raisin, he’d immediately spit it out. It wasn’t that he couldn’t eat them, but Kloff couldn’t understand why he hated dried fruit so much. It didn’t matter, though, as he ate fresh fruit without discrimination.

Now that she was pregnant, it was natural for her to eat a lot, and it was also cute. Knowing he would look for food again after waking up, Kloff prepared simple cookies and juice on a nearby tea table. After such a long sleep, still tired, Kloff kissed Aeroc’s forehead and lips as he slept peacefully, then turned off all the lights in the room, leaving only a very small lamp by a slightly larger table beside the bed.

He had to stay by Aeroc’s side for the next few days and discreetly handle any unfinished business during that time. Most importantly, now that they were having a child, preparations related to that were necessary. If they couldn’t have a formal marriage vow, they needed to arrange some other legal binding equivalent to it. Not because he didn’t trust Aeroc, but to make Aeroc trust him. Of course, he wouldn’t deny that there was also a strong intention to keep him tied down.

While drafting documents that were no different from a slave contract, binding them to each other, he occasionally stole glances at the sleeping beauty. Just being in the same space moved him. Unconsciously, he focused on his work with a faint smile. The finger he had sacrificed for Aeroc stung terribly as it touched the pen, but it was bearable.

It was a quiet and peaceful night, with only the scratching sound of the pen.