Into the Rose Garden Novel - Chapter 23.2 The little sunshine clears away dark cloud

He was intensely curious about who he was. And he  moved my feet to his side, looking at his face, where an endless melancholy had settled, and dark shadows crept up. He was him.

He opened his eyes with a start. No, he couldn’t tell if they were open or closed, so he rubbed them, then spotted a maid gathering lanterns in the distant garden and breathed a sigh of relief. It was reality.

He had another chilling nightmare after a long time. It seemed that in letting his guard down, he had also let his mind wander. When he opened his eyes, darkness had already settled. He quickly turned his body, tripping over the leg of the armchair. It hurt terribly, but he hopped on one foot to find the light and left the room. Then he immediately went to Aeroc. Vowing never to set foot in that eerie room again.

Massa was busy learning the ropes for a while. And the butler was too occupied teaching her to pay attention to anything else. In the meantime, Kloff had to quickly take care of important matters. Immediately after dinner, he called Aeroc to the study.

He looked up various laws related to the child to be born. Re-registering Aeroc as an Omega, as expected, posed considerable problems.

There was a high risk of his assets being halved due to inheritance laws, and a high probability of being entangled in lawsuits regarding the redistribution of inheritance from other relatives. Even if they claimed not to be interested in the property, as Aeroc asserted, the succession to the title itself could be problematic. Current national laws allowed Omegas to inherit without discrimination, but the deeply rooted traditions of noble families did not. If the issue surfaced, various scandals were bound to circulate.

After much thought, he decided to postpone the legal marriage indefinitely. His career as an economic official was sailing smoothly, so he would eventually gain power, and then he would change Aeroc’s surname to Bendyke, no matter who interfered. He had no intention of taking over the Count’s estate. That could simply be handed over to the first Alpha born. At least, he needed time until he could proudly welcome Aeroc of Teiwind as his spouse.

“Is there absolutely no way?”

“Well, we could abandon everything and elope, I suppose.”

“…”

When he explained it like that, Aeroc surprisingly seemed very disappointed. Kloff was glad to realize he wasn’t the only one feeling anxious. On the fingers holding the thick documents Kloff handed him, there was already a ring, sparkling like his hair, golden with lapis lazuli. As Aeroc read the long contract that served as a marriage vow, Kloff’s gaze was fixed on that ring.

He had wanted to propose with tears in his eyes in a truly beautiful place, just the two of them. But that humble hope had been shattered long ago. The day after the rutting season ended, as soon as he came to his senses, Aeroc pushed away the Alpha heavily pressing on him, then, without even properly dressing, rummaged through Kloff’s jacket to find the ring. And while Kloff, who had rolled off the bed in his sleep, grumbled, “What is it?” Aeroc quickly slipped it on.

When Kloff belatedly understood the situation and fumed about him carelessly touching someone else’s property, Aeroc glared at him with icy eyes and asked, “Someone else’s property? Weren’t you going to give this to me? Do you have another Omega?” Kloff shut his mouth, intimidated by the terrifying interrogation.

He was indeed going to give it to her, but not like this. Even when Kloff said he would put it on her himself and asked her to take it off, Aeroc shook his head and absolutely refused to uncurl his fingers. Since then, he had apparently worn it constantly. Even when sleeping, even when washing. Kloff was happy that he never took it off for a moment, but he couldn’t help but feel a lingering regret.

“So, as legal guardian and parental proxy, you can exercise all authority in an emergency?”

“Yes. I’ve listed every conceivable scenario as a separate item.”

It was a very detailed contract. It was premised on them being bound to each other until death once signed, and it explicitly stated that Kloff had authority almost equivalent to parental rights over Aeroc’s children. This time, Aeroc read it properly without being told and signed without hesitation. He did it so easily that it felt strange.

“There are two more copies, so here and here too.”

Without further reply, Aeroc signed and handed the fountain pen to Kloff, who also completed all three signatures. One copy would be kept in Aeroc’s safe, one in his own document safe, and another in the notary public’s and lawyer’s safe. As he organized the documents, Kloff smiled, looking at the Omega who was now legally no different from his own property.

“We can’t get married, but if you want a simple ceremony, you can have one. Of course, on the condition that you stick to the upper limit I’ve set. You need to manage your assets well to raise the children properly without starving them.”

Aeroc, who had initially brightened, soon frowned at the subsequent words and grumbled.

“Surely, I wouldn’t starve the children.”

“Marrying off six of them will cost an enormous amount. Wait, why do I know that?”

As Kloff frowned and rubbed his chin, confused by his own thoughts, Aeroc snorted.

“…Because you’re a miser. Come to think of it, you always gave me old clothes and just enough potatoes not to starve.”

Aeroc vented inexplicable complaints, as if he held some deep-seated resentment.

“What nonsense are you talking about, wearing a suit made by the finest tailor and having just eaten a luxurious meal equivalent to a week’s food budget for an average household?”

“Forget it. Only I’m being unfairly treated.”

Aeroc stormed out, angry. No matter how much Kloff racked his brain, he couldn’t understand why. He even wished someone would interpret it for him. How could the words of an Omega carrying his child be harder to decipher than a newly unearthed cuneiform from an ancient civilization?

Kloff shook his head and stood up. Whether he understood or not, the pregnant Omega had left in anger, and he couldn’t just stand by. As the sinner who had impregnated him, he was destined to be a slave prostrate at his feet for the next ten months, and at the same time, a pitiful male with an instinct that could not defy his imprinted female. So, no matter how much his reason screamed, his body followed the lingering scent he left behind.

“Today, it’s vegetable soup, well-boiled, with a simple sauce over smoked salmon. And fruit, your favorite butter bread and marmalade. Since you complained about apple juice, it’s tomato juice.”

Every morning, when Kloff brought in the meal, Aeroc would smile the happiest smile in the world and quickly get out of bed to sit at the table. In the moment of eating, even his beloved husband was invisible to him.

With his hair disheveled from sleeping, he held a fork in one hand and a spoon in the other. He first tasted the vegetable soup and declared, “It’s edible now,” delighting Kloff, but then added, “But it still smells burnt,” crushing his joy.

While Kloff drank half a cup of black tea, Aeroc devoured the vegetable soup and butter bread, then poked the red-fleshed fish dish with his fork. Now, he had developed enough intuition to know from that single gesture that Aeroc wasn’t very pleased.

“Don’t you like salmon?”

“No, I eat it well.”

“Is the cooking method different?”

“It’s not that… Massa made this, didn’t she?”

Kloff was immediately caught.

“How did you know?”

“Just. I had a feeling.”

“Massa’s cooking skills are reliable. It’ll be delicious.”

“I know.”

Kloff thought he answered so smoothly without even tasting it. Aeroc poked it with his fork, then tore off a piece and put it in his mouth. Unlike how he usually gobbled food, this time he chewed slowly, swallowing only when it seemed to have almost melted away. And he frowned.

“If you don’t like it, don’t eat it and leave it.”

“I’ll eat it all.”

“With such a displeased expression.”

“It’s not that I dislike it. It’s just…”

Aeroc seemed choked up and drank some water, then added, “I regret a little why I stubbornly refused to eat this delicious thing back then.” And he diligently ate all the salmon. It was still an incomprehensible remark, but since the conclusion seemed to be that he liked the salmon, Kloff just smiled.

Time passed smoothly, and fortunately, there were no major problems. As Aeroc’s belly grew, he refrained from external activities unless absolutely necessary, and Kloff did the same. Instead, he keenly felt what kind of trouble would arise when a fox and a raccoon were in the house at the same time.

“In the Teiwind Count’s family, black tea is traditionally prepared in matching tea sets and drunk with the finest cream.”

“Oh my, you should add a tradition of just putting sugar in a mug from now on.”

With that, Massa ostentatiously put two sugar cubes into a mug, stirred it, and drank it. The butler’s hands trembled, unable to tolerate it, and Massa said, “Looks like he’s getting senile tremors. It’s because he’s always angry,” and slurped her tea noisily. Kloff, who happened to pass by and saw the servants’ break time, forced back his laughter at the trembling butler and walked past.

Next, it was during a walk in the garden with Aeroc. While they were having a leisurely debate, fiercely divided 3 to 6, about how many children they would have in the future, they saw the butler and Massa picking indoor decorative flowers in the garden.

“You shouldn’t cut roses so carelessly and ignorantly. Hold it here, cut it diagonally here, then strip off the rough thorns and lower leaves, and put it in the basket. Are you a housekeeper who doesn’t even know this?”

“The Bendyke family raises giant cedar trees, not these nasty flowers.”

“…What do you mean by that?”

“Just what I said. Am I supposed to break it off like this?”

Massa ignored the butler’s words again and bent a half-opened rose with her hand, but the butler urgently cried, “That’s!” and tried to stop her, then immediately stepped back three or four paces.

Buzz buzz buzz.

Suddenly, two bees flew out of the flower and rushed towards Massa.

“Ah! Bees!”

As Massa flailed her hands in a panic, the butler’s lips twitched somehow. He calmly said, “They’re bees that cursed a nasty flower,” then picked up the basket of roses and went inside the house.

“They still don’t seem to get along, do they?”

“I think they might get close surprisingly quickly.”

When Kloff looked at Aeroc with disbelief and asked, “Why?” Aeroc smiled gently and said,

“Hugo has never been so affectionate before.”

He had clearly abandoned a female Omega who was stung by bees and gone back inside, yet that was considered affectionate? Indeed, the butler, the standard of tradition and principles in this mansion, was as inscrutable as his master.

Several months passed. Kloff’s admiration for Aeroc’s noticeably swelling belly was short-lived, as the gazes of guests visiting the mansion were quite unusual. Especially Marquis Ulfreik, who kept appearing for unknown reasons, silently presented a small box, slightly larger than his palm, saying, “This is a gift,” upon seeing Aeroc’s tightly stretched vest and jacket.

“But, that belly…”

“It’s abdominal obesity.”

Kloff, standing like a knight beside the Count who was greeting guests, answered coldly. Ulfreik choked, coughed a few times, then asked again, “Really?”

“His appetite has increased recently, so he suddenly gained weight.”

“Do you think people will believe that?”

“What will you do if they don’t accept a clear fact?”