Into The Rose Garden

“But still, he was our mother! Even if he may have been an enemy to you, Father, he was the only mother I had!”

With blue eyes resembling the man’s, he glared at him with anger and resentment. The man couldn’t understand why his beloved son was furious with him. He had only tried his best for their mother’s sake.

“I loved your mother. I couldn’t forgive the person who made him die so tragically.”

“Our mother! Mother was the person who died at Father’s hands! Please stop your lies full of deceit!”

“Your mother is not that person, but Rayfiel Westport! You were named after him because you resemble him!”

“…I don’t need that name. I’m no longer Rayfiel. You should have named me … If you wanted to name me after Mother.”

The old man raised his fist in anger, while his grown son stared back at him without backing down. The raised hand couldn’t come down. Tears streamed down the eyes of his resentful son.

“I will never return to this estate again.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“I can’t live in the place where my mother died so tragically.”

With those words, his son left. The man immediately chased after his back.

“Rayfiel!”

Before opening the front door, the son stood in the middle of the stairs and looked at his father. In between them, an old housekeeper stood with a pale face, constantly shedding tears and pleading, “Young master, please.” His son gave her a cold glare and then turned back to face the man.

“Goodbye, Viscount Klopp Bandyke.”

“Rayfiel!”

The son left. And he never ever returned again.

The man who lost his eldest son ran toward that person’s tombstone and cursed him. Even after he died, he was still tormenting him to tears. Soon, he came carrying a hammer to smash that tombstone. His second son rushed in to stop his madness and was hit by the swinging hammer, causing a severe injury.

That was the man’s second madness.

***

“… Why is Rayfiel my son? And what’s with me going mad and smashing the tombstone? What absurd dream ….”

Because of the wild dream, he woke up with annoyance surging through him. He got out of bed, massaged his dizzy head, and rubbed his eyes with his palm. Barefoot, he went down from his bed and headed to the nearest large window to draw back the heavy curtains.

“What incredibly amazing weather. Just perfect.”

The gloomy sky seemed as if it could bring a gust of wind accompanied by hail at any moment, letting out a distant roar. Perhaps it was a sign of something. His dream was bad too. It’s all because of that damn count. Today was the day he would be visiting the count’s estate. Could there be a more fitting beginning than this?

Klopp dismissed the lingering dream with irritation and swiftly discarded the pajamas he was wearing. After a reluctant and meager breakfast, amidst the murmurs of the dream that still lingered, he barely caught the waiting carriage with his footsteps before a hailstorm poured down. The road quickly turned into a sheet of ice. While worrying needlessly about the carriage wheels on the road, the hail transformed into a hazy drizzle, making the mood gloomy.

“Just my luck.”

Sighing, he looked outside the carriage window and saw the magnificent estate under the gray sky.

A butler, dignified and pretentious like his master, welcomed him. Having seen Klopp before, the butler greeted him with “Welcome, Sir Bandyke.” However, the butler’s demeanor, to put it nicely, was impeccably polite, but to put it honestly, he had a kind of cold aura that was impossible to describe.

It’s not like I came to this shitty house because I want to, Butler.

Without saying a word, Klopp handed over his slightly dampened coat to the faultless butler. He took it with his fingertips as if it were a dirty rag and handed it to the footman standing next to him without a word. The butler turned around without saying anything and led the way. He walked with his shoulders proudly squared, his head held high as if he had a steel brace around his neck. Is he the master or the servant? Perhaps there was some special drug mixed into the air of this estate that stiffened one’s joints.

It was hard to imagine that someone actually lived in this house, given the unusually long hallway they passed through. Guided by the butler, they arrived at the study that he had come before. Upon entering the open door, the count, who was sitting on the sofa while sipping on tea, looked up and smiled.

“You came earlier than I expected.”

“…After sending that carriage, you still say ‘earlier than expected’?”

Even before exchanging greetings, Klopp already showed signs of displeasure, so Aelock didn’t retort back, simply smiling and gesturing for him to take a seat.

“Tea?”

While Klopp was taking his seat, without instructing the butler, Aelock poured black tea into an extra cup from the prepared tea set and added a spoonful of sugar with a silver spoon. At first, Klopp thought that, just like himself, Aelock had a somewhat rare preference to add only sugar instead of cream, but the teacup was pushed to him. Then he noticed that there was already a cup of tea with cream in front of the Count.

“How did you know?”

“What do you mean?”

“My tea preference. I think this is not something common in the city.”

“…I think I remember seeing you drink it before. Just as you said, it wasn’t a common preference, so I remembered.”

Was it during a tea party before? As aristocrats were limitlessly mindful of others, they even loved remembering useless details. The count, who could be considered at the pinnacle of aristocracy, seemed to be the same. The deep-flavored tea had a slightly bitter aftertaste, awakening his still somewhat sluggish mind. It suited his taste perfectly.

“How is the tea?”

“Not bad.”

The count smiled satisfactorily as he sipped on his smooth, milky tea. The tea was more akin to a golden hue than black tea, and it made one wonder if his skin was so pale because of drinking such tea. Hair as blond as milk tea, and skin as smooth as milk. Lips with a subtle red hue, like the rose pattern engraved on the teacup. And rather than a deep scent, the count always wore a refreshing scent of high-quality perfume.

Judging by his appearance and demeanor, he looked as if he preferred to be enveloped in an expensive fragrance, but he wore perfume like a weak flirtatious alpha. Alpha perfume was something you use when you want to cover up the scent of an omega you’d slept with the night before.

While someone was having nightmares, it seems that someone else had spent a truly fantastic night.

Annoyance surged through him once again. As the cup clinked, his lush eyelashes, which were elegantly facing downwards, soon rose upwards, and his blue eyes stared in this direction. And again, he smiled. Just why on earth does he keep smiling like that? Klopp placed the half-finished tea on the table and spoke in a slightly stiff voice.

“Ledgers. Investment contracts. Real estate-related documents. All supporting documents regarding liquid assets.”

“…What?”

“Bring them immediately. We have work to do.”

“Already? We haven’t even finished our tea.”

Aelock, slightly taken aback, set the teacup down. Klopp had already stood up, and was approaching the desk where the documents were. He pulled out the chair, took off his jacket, and hung it over the back of the chair.

“I didn’t come here just to leisurely drink tea. I’m busy. I had to carve out time for this.”

“Are you not going to spare the whole day for this? Viscount Derbyshire told me that you would have a full day of conversation with the other contractors…”

“I have an appointment in the afternoon. Don’t forget that you came to find me unexpectedly.”

When Klopp drew a firm line, Aelock silently accepted it. Then he stood up and gracefully shook the bell that was placed nearby. The butler appeared right away into the study, carrying even more than the anticipated towering stacks of documents. It vividly showed the ancient lineage and immense wealth of the aristocratic family, along with their reckless management. Klopp was astounded as he looked at the disorganized pile of documents.

“Damn it. If it was this much, you should have organized this beforehand.”

“I’ve heard that it’s better to show it as it is, without any tampering.”

“That’s referring to organized ledgers! Where are the receipts for this?”

Putting on a stern expression, the confused count’s words made him feel absurd.

“Do I have to gather receipts too?”

“…”

Klopp looked at him in silence, and the count glanced elsewhere for a moment before their gazes met again, and he smiled. Yes, go ahead and smile. At least if you smile, I won’t swear at you. No, I might even want to swear at you more. I don’t know anymore. Klopp looked at the dusty ledgers, let out a deep sigh, and unbuttoned his sleeves, rolling up his shirt.

“I guess it would be hard for me to meet Rayfiel today.”

“Ah.”

He looked through the pile of documents, picked up what appeared to be a book, and said it to himself, but the count suddenly looked at this side with a nervous and serious face.

“I apologize. I really failed to consider your circumstances at all. You can come next time. Or perhaps I’ll organize these documents myself first and send them to you.”

“Nevermind it. I’m already here. Besides, I don’t think you’ve ever done it before, if you mess with it now, it’ll only be more of a hindrance.”

“I’m truly sorry. To have interrupted your time with your loved one…”

The count’s words seemed a bit strange, Klopp frowned and stared at Aelock intently. He must really be sorry, even in his smile, Aelock had a slightly pained expression with his face down.

“If you have time to worry about other people’s personal life, why don’t you lift that file rack over there onto the desk?”

“Ah.”

Aelock quickly grabbed the documents Klopp was pointing at and lifted them up. Meanwhile, Klopp sat on the luxurious leather chair with a scowl on his face. He was slightly surprised at how perfectly comfortable it fit him as if he had been using it for twenty years. However, he showed no expression and opened the ledger, tightening the muscles on his face.

As expected, it was taking him a very long time. The third cup of cold tea had already gone cold. Aelock, who had been sitting on the sofa, kept flipping through the books gathered around, observing Klopp. Suddenly, he got up from his seat and headed outside.

Did he get bored of waiting and leave to do something else? I’m still left with his work.

Klopp had been thinking that he couldn’t concentrate well because Aelock was in his mind. It was probably a good thing that he left since he was in the way. However, after a while, the study door opened again, and Aelock came in carrying something on a tray. He continued reviewing the ledger and making notes, but when he took a short glance, he saw that Aelock had brought a small silver tray with snacks. It seemed like he brought snacks, including sandwiches and cookies.

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