Into The Rose Garden

Note: This chapter continues from Chapter 9 (V1C4) in NovelUpdates.

read the nsfw content here

Aelock rose up and stretched his arms out to pick up some clothes. The wide-open maternity dress was mostly fine, but the shoulder part was very narrow, so he had no choice but to rip it off and sew it with another piece of cloth. His sewing skills were clearly very clumsy, thus the messy wrinkles looked like a clown’s frill.

“To think that you’re showing your face around in that attire as a noble. If it were me, I would die of shame.”

That was Klopp’s impression when he saw this before. Of course, he didn’t actually mean to die. He was just returning what Aelock might have said somewhere before. It wasn’t even that shameful. Too much had happened to Aelock to make him blush over an outfit. Klopp, who remembered every small thing like that, and Aelock himself, who understood his intentions completely, laughed for a little.

Wrapped up in ridiculous clothes, Aelock ate some meat that he had baked yesterday with boiled eggs and raw carrots. The boiled eggs had cracked somewhere making the yolk pale. He originally liked soft-boiled eggs, but such delicate dishes were still difficult for him to cook. For Aelock, who still had a small scar from getting hit by exploding eggshell on his forehead when he put a raw egg in a heated oven, boiling an egg was a great improvement for him.

But it was a pity when the cracked egg would break out. However, with his weak fingers, peeling hard-boiled eggs was more convenient, so Aelock always preferred it that way. However, only over-easy eggs were left today. He wanted to eat the smooth whites, but the eggs in the corner of the table were soon crushed into a mess.

Aelock licked the yolk on his hands and used his fingertips to eat the whites sticking to the shells. The whole table was a mess. His clothes were stained with a few drops of juice falling from the half-burned meat. As he patted his clothes, he saw the bed. The sheets with all kinds of body fluids mixed together looked dirty. Wearing clean clown clothes was better than that. A dirty bed and clothes wouldn’t be very good for the baby. Aelock thought about doing his laundry today.

His pregnant belly had become quite heavy, but it wasn’t interfering with his movements yet. After Aelock had a good breakfast, he raised his arms and took off the sheets, pillows, and his clothes. He held them all together and put them under the manual water pump. Aelock did his best to wash them. It was a much better situation compared to the river before, but Aelock was still struggling because he didn’t know how to wash them properly. Aelock tried hard to rub the soap with his hands. Aelock got his hands and feet soaked in cold water all day to wash them.

At one point, Aelock’s clothes were soaking wet and he got very hungry. After crouching down for so long, when he lifted his body, he felt dizzy. After wringing the sheets that he washed with difficulty using his flushed hands, he laid the damp heavy sheets out on a low shrub growing nearby, and wiped the sweat from his forehead.

It was already afternoon. Aelock decided to eat boiled potatoes and vegetables before continuing his laundry. He looked at the bed and suddenly realized something. He washed all the blankets, so what would he sleep with tonight?

Aelock tried to be positive and thought that the blankets would dry up before sunset, but the water was still dripping down even after sunset. The other clothes that he had laid out as he was washing the blanket were still wet too and he didn’t have anything to wear. Why did he wash the cover and the rug at the same time like a fool? Stupid. The feeling of regret was now friends with Aelock. He thought that it was amazing that even little things were making him regretful, and he rolled up his body as close as possible and went to sleep rubbing his cold hands and feet.

He didn’t know when he fell asleep, but when he woke up, it was already late at night. He was sure he slept without a blanket, but his body felt hot enough to sweat, and his head was hurting painfully. On the contrary, his hands and feet were so cold that he trembled. It seemed like he was having a cold. This was expected as he was soaked in cold water doing heavy labor during the day and slept on a cold night without a blanket.

His knees, which were clattering against the wooden bed, even made rattling sounds. It had been a long time since Aelock had been this sick. He couldn’t afford to be sick when he was outside. The fear of not knowing where and what would happen if he lost consciousness drove away the pain. So he kept walking around even if his body was bloodied. Compared to back then, he could fall sick in this place. Also, the man who came through that door would give Aelock everything. There was no need to be vigilant. He let out his hot breath and looked at the door that could not be distinguished in this darkness.

That man hadn’t come yet today. Aelock wondered what happened. Beyond being an outstanding investor, he was now a trusted business bureaucrat, so he must be busy. As he already had two children, the third child who came out of nowhere from this bad relationship might not mean anything to him. Nevertheless, waiting for him was inevitable.

Aelock listened quietly, for it made no difference whether his eyes were open or closed. The sound of the wind sweeping through the rose garden, the sound of a distant cedar branch bumping, and the sad whistle of a cypress tree. While hoping that he would hear footsteps in between those sounds.