Into The Rose Garden

“Hey, wake up.”

The nudge shook Aelock’s body. Aelock barely lifted his heavy eyelids as if it was under a huge statue, and he could see a blurred silhouette. Oh, it’s you.

“Don’t exaggerate it.”

The cold words lowered his body temperature by another degree. Even as Aelock fought to stay awake, his eyes closed and sank back into the darkness, and a cold sigh could be heard in his dazed ears. That man clicked his tongue as he let out a hot breath through his slightly parted lips.

“Are you being on purpose with washing all the blankets when the temperature has dropped or are you just stupid? Are you being arrogant because you got pregnant? The fireplace is not a decoration.”

Aelock wanted to say that he tried to light it, but his words couldn’t come out properly. As he heard a murmur of curses, he felt a heavy thing covering his body. It was a men’s coat with a chilly, smooth texture and it was a little heavy. It was also very large. Like a blanket, the high-end clothing wrapped around Aelock’s whole body smelled bitter.

Aelock instinctively curled up more and breathed in the fabric full of that man’s body scent. The scent that filled his lungs at once calmed down his feverish stomach. Was it because he was the father of the child in his belly? Maybe it was simply because he was an alpha who Aelock had his heat with. Either way, the Alpha’s body scent gave warm protection to the emotional pregnant Omega with the high fever.

Klopp didn’t leave right away after throwing off his coat. He was touching here and there from over the table. He was probably looking at the fireplace. There was a hollow sound of something falling on the floor, and Aelock heard a fierce condemnation.

“You can’t even make a fire without a house servant. What a useless fellow.”

Being half asleep, Aelock curled up a little more, wrapping his arms around his body. He knew how to light a fire in the oven, so he thought he would be able to make a fire in the fireplace soon. He moved his body, which was heating up, brought three or four heavy pieces of firewood from outside, and tried to light the fireplace several times. However, no matter how many matches and flints he struck, the hard log wouldn’t catch fire, and even when it was barely lit, only a little smoke rose and it would soon go out. He quit because he felt suffocated by the smoke.

He could hear a thud of footsteps and the sound of the door being opened and closed. And the steps sounded further and further away. It seemed like that man had left.

Aelock pulled up the coat to cover more of his body, and buried his nose in the collar, the scent coming out deeply. He slightly rubbed his cheeks against it like a baby. There was no such thing as pride. He was just relieved by his own alpha body scent. It was a relief that the man gave his coat to him.

Even if Klopp was spouting harsh words, he couldn’t pretend not to see Aelock for the sake of the baby fetus. Klopp was that kind of person.

Klopp wanted a child. No matter what would happen to Aelock, the child would always be cared for. This time too, it was clear that as soon as Aelock gave birth, Klopp would take the baby away before Aelock’s dirty hands even managed to reach for the baby. When Aelock thought of that day that would come, he felt like a wind drilled a hole in his heart. Aelock wished Klopp would at least show him the baby’s face.

Ah. As the fever rose, it made him think of impossible things. Regardless of the situation, it would be better for the baby to grow up as a fine aristocrat in a warm and clean mansion than to grow up as a criminal’s child in this cold cottage.

Even though it was only a coat, Aelock felt warm and fell asleep. Later, he sweated a little because it was too warm, so he tossed his body around and slightly lowered his coat. He was sure that he felt the cold night air was warm.

This couldn’t be happening. It was always cold in this windy cottage. What was going on?

There was a pleasant sound of burning dry oak and a bitter scent. Aelock forced his eyes open. The dusty fireplace was burning red.

Who did it?

The door opened and a familiar man came in. He walked with his arms wide, took the damp blanket that Aelock had hung outside, and hung it in front of the fireplace. The man went to the kitchen next door without realizing that Aelock was awake. Soon, Aelock could hear the sound of things being moved. It was such a small and quiet cottage that Aelock could even hear a low curse muttered by the man. Aelock couldn’t hear it properly, but he thought he heard the man saying that dog food would be better than this.

Aelock suddenly felt ashamed. Perhaps this was not much different from what Rayfiel had felt before. Unlike that innocent and gentle man, no one would kiss Aelock’s blistered fingers. His neck suddenly cowered. At times like this, he should just be more confident, but now he just wanted to hide in the cozy coat.

After the sound of clattering in the kitchen continued for a while, Klopp came out with a cleaned dirty pot. Instead of the chair near the bedside, Klopp pulled out the other chair next to the table, which had always been unused in that place, and sat down near the fireplace. He took a small lump out of the pot that he put on the floor and began to cut it with the knife in his hand. It was a potato.

Unlike Aelock, who would scathe his fingers every time he cut a potato, Klopp skillfully cut it well with his big hands. The pretty, shiny potatoes looked very appetizing in the red glow of the fireplace. He quickly cut off one and took another. The movement of his long fingers touching the light orange-colored potato was like a craftsman working with pumpkins. It was extremely delicate and elegant.

So his strong and fierce hands could move like that.

Aelock took a peek mesmerizingly at the man through the gap in the collar of his coat.

Soon, Klopp had finished peeling all the potatoes and took the pot back to the kitchen. It was a shame as Aelock wanted to see more of his fingers. After a while, Klopp hung a pot filled with potatoes and other things over the fireplace. Aelock didn’t know what Klopp made, but soon, the soup boiled with a delicious smell that made his mouth water. Stirring skillfully with a paddle spoon, Klopp placed the cooked soup down on the table.

Surprisingly, there was no burnt smell at all. If Aelock was the one who did it, part of the food would be half-burnt and the other part would be half-cooked. Whenever he tried to cook some soup, for some reason, all the vegetables were likely to become mushy.

Klopp went out, got some more firewood, and put it near the fireplace. He took the blanket and walked towards the bed. Aelock quickly closed his eyes and pretended to be asleep. Soon, the warm coat was raised up. Aelock shivered at the sudden coldness, and a blanket covered him. He had washed it, but the blanket was so dirty that there was still a faint scent of soap on the stains. The blanket was bigger and thicker than the coat, covering his cold toes, but somehow, he felt that the coat was warmer.

Having finished all his business, Klopp left the cottage. Aelock thought that he might be coming back, but the door didn’t open even after a long time. Feeling disappointed with the reality that Klopp would no longer see him today, Aelock lowered his blanket and rose to his feet.

To think that he was feeling disappointed. Aelock didn’t know why he was being so fussy today. Perhaps it was because he was hungry. Holding his hungry stomach, he lifted himself up and walked to the table. When Klopp opened the lid of the pot, steam came out and it smelled very appetizing. Aelock had calmed down a little while he was covered with the coat, but he still had a slight fever and a cold back, so Aelock went to the kitchen wearing the blanket to bring a spoon. After contemplating for a moment whether to use his usual chair, Aelock carefully climbed onto the chair where Klopp had been sitting earlier. And he brought the hot pot closer and ate the soup that was still hot.

“This is delicious.”

It was so delicious that Aelock blurted out the compliment without realizing it. He looked closely into the soup, but there wasn’t any special ingredient in it. How did it become so different? Aelock began to eat the soup in gulps. He had always eaten a small portion, but maybe because he had skipped his meal as he was sick, Aelock ate the soup, sticking his nose into the pot, and devoured every drop until the bottom was exposed.

As far as Aelock could remember, he hadn’t heard of Klopp being a good cook. He used to be in a boarding school, and even after he graduated and had a bit of a rough time, he still had lodging. He might have learned it when he was wandering after losing his wife and child.

Just what had happened to him. However, there was no way for the current Aelock to know. Even if he recalled his old memories of eating many rare and precious meals, he was so preoccupied with eating the very delicious soup that he definitely would give a thumbs up. Soon, he quickly forgot about all the other thoughts.