Into The Rose Garden

When Aelock first became pregnant with his first child, he wasn’t surprised. His once-proud family had already fallen on hard times and had to sell their estate, the epitome of Teiwind’s pride, after barely enduring a few years on their own. When he found out that the buyer was none other than Klopp, he didn’t feel shocked or surprised; in fact, he thought his pregnancy was a good thing. After all, the father of his child was none other than Klopp Bandyke.

It was quite unexpected, in a way. Even if he put aside his alpha status, he never imagined that Klopp would extend a hand to him, who had lost everything due to foolish judgment. While all his former ‘friends’ and ‘relatives’ ignored Aelock’s desperate letters, Klopp came to him when he had nowhere to go after selling his estate to pay off his debts. He offered to let Aelock stay in the mansion.

“Is there anything that you’re good at?”

“I’m good at things involving literature, music, or art.”

“That means you’re good at nothing.”

Klopp had never looked at Aelock warmly, but that time, his eyes had looked very eerie, like a truly bloodthirsty predator. It was as if he knew something.

“It doesn’t matter if you can’t do anything useful. I have something else to do for you.”

“What’s that?”

“When the time comes, I’ll let you know. Also, now that I’m the owner of this house, and you’re a guest of mine, please be careful with your words.”

It was a fair demand, but it wasn’t easy to be formal towards him immediately. After some hesitation, he replied, “I understand that well.”

Klopp really didn’t ask him to do anything specific. Klopp was busy with various things, so he rarely stayed in the mansion. Klopp would leave early in the morning and return late at night, when Aelock occasionally encountered him in the hallway, Klopp would walk past him making a small sneer but still treating him with impeccable manners.

At first, Aelock was very nervous and awkward facing Klopp. He wondered if Klopp might know something. However, Klopp only mocked the fall of the Teiwind family and didn’t indicate any other motives. Considering his naturally aristocratic demeanor and the fact that everyone had a certain amount of pretense for the sake of maintaining their status, it was possible that he had no ulterior motives. Aelock, whose life was in utter despair, was so desperate that he could hardly suspect anyone. The days passed without anything happening.

One day, Klopp who returned early, found Aelock in his study, lost in thought, reading his favorite classic. He held out a rather full paper envelope.

“What is this item?”

“From now on, three times a day, two pills each. Take three capsules before bed.”

“Pills? But I’ve not hurt anywhere.”

He looked up at him in wonder. His eyes were cold, and he hadn’t even removed his coat yet. He took off his gloves one by one before he turned to Aelock and mocked him.

“You fully know that you’re in no position to say that, Count. Just eat them as I say.”

Aelock frowned at the sarcasm and opened the envelope, finding the pile of white pills.

“Why, do they look like poison pills?”

“Do I have to answer that?”

He laughed lightly. But his deep eyes still glowed with a fierce intensity that still gave him an eerie feeling. Seeing Aelock smile reflexively, Klopp explained in a light voice.

“It’s a new drug from a pharmaceutical company I recently invested in. They say it’s amazing at enhancing pheromones.”

“So I’m the test subject.”

“Do you not want to?”

Even if he didn’t want to, he couldn’t say yes to that. The pheromone pills sounded like some kind of tacky potion or erectile dysfunction treatment. Aelock would have preferred to test poison pills, but it was clear that Klopp had chosen these drugs on purpose. Human testing of such a crude drug could be done on anyone wandering around looking for a mate, like a dog in heat. Perhaps Klopp wanted to humiliate Aelock. Still holding the open book in his lap and the bag of pills, Aelock looked up at Klopp.

Aelock tried to read if Klopp had any ulterior motives, but his expression remained unchanged. No one knew what had happened. Unless Aelock spoke anything about it, it would just be remembered as an unfortunate accident. In all honestly, that was the truth too.

“I understand. I will make sure to take them on time.”

“I’m thankful for that, and please keep me posted on the progress. Information is important for investment.”

With a satisfied smile, Klopp left the study. Aelock grimaced at the mysterious pills before pushing them aside and browsing through the rest of the bookshelf.

A few months later, Aelock realized that the pills were extremely dangerous. Every night, his stomach hurt so much as if it were tearing apart, and his brain was spinning so much, making him dizzy. Even just taking the pills made him constantly nauseous, unable to swallow food, and later, he was even unable to properly vomit bile. He would get a fever, and he would groan and toss around all night. He would barely recover in the early morning hours, with a soaked body from sweat that required washing. Strong black tea was all he could force down his throat during breakfast, brought to him by the old butler, who was the only remaining Count’s servant and still served Aelock. He was losing weight rapidly.

“You don’t look well, my Count.”

“It’s because I haven’t slept well. It’s nothing to worry about,” Aelock replied to the concerned butler. He was a loyal servant, but he was also old and about to retire. Aelock didn’t want to make him worry when he couldn’t even provide him with a generous retirement.

Another person who knew about Aelock’s condition naturally inquired about him.

“My stomach hurts so much at night that I can’t even sleep, and my head is dizzy. I also feel nauseous. Investing in such pills seems like a big loss in the future.”

Aelock was almost sarcastic because of the irritation caused by his body aches and lack of sleep. As if waiting for that response, Klopp lightly replied, “It’s absurd to get a lecture from the Count on investments. At least I haven’t lost my home.”

Unlike other things, talking about his estate made him feel offended. As Aelock’s brow furrowed and stayed silent, Klopp chuckled lightly and added, “Don’t worry about it, those symptoms were expected. You’re adjusting well, so I think it’s better for you to increase your dosage. Take three pills at a time and five before bed.”

After giving that “order”, Klopp left again. He said it wasn’t poison, but maybe it was. Maybe he intended to slowly dry him up and kill him. Perhaps he might even know the truth. Aelock held his aching head and sighed. Later, he took three pills and had to lie in bed from the dizziness that made his vision spin since broad daylight.

A few days into the dosage increase, he groaned and clutched his hurting lower abdomen as usual. When the sweat started to flow too much and soak the sheets, he had no choice but to get up despite his heavy body. He would have called for the maid in the past, but he couldn’t now. Besides the butler, all the other employees were Klopp’s men. He didn’t want to entrust his body to strangers. Instead, he took the wet towel that the butler had brought into the room and wiped himself off.

As he struggled to control his pounding head and lowered his legs under the bed to stand up, something hot trickled between his legs. He looked down in horror at the strange sensation of something unrecognizable running down his thighs and felt shivers down his spine. His light silk pajama pants were starting to get soaked red from top to bottom.

“What, what is this?”

As Aelock trembled in shock and reached out to touch the bloody fluid, something surged out from his opening along with stabbing pain, and it flowed down to soak his ankles and the carpet below. It was full of blood.

“It’s okay. Don’t worry. Count, you will be fine soon.”

“I have served the Count since he was born. Sir Aelock has never bled before. We need to call a doctor.”

“Don’t do anything unnecessary, Butler. In my house, you follow my orders.”

“I am the Count’s butler.”

“This place isn’t owned by the Count anymore. Don’t be mistaken.”

Aelock was still feeling too disoriented to open his eyes properly. The usually calm butler, in a rare burst of agitation, protested against the new owner of the house and was eventually dismissed. A few moments later, Aelock could barely open his eyes and saw Klopp with a faint smile.

“You’ve gained consciousness.”

“What was that drug?”

“Don’t worry. You don’t have to take them anymore in the future. I actually didn’t expect you to listen to me so well. Is it because of your constitution?”

Although Aelock wanted to retort, he didn’t have the energy, so he closed his eyes again and held it in. It was a clear sign that he didn’t want any more confrontation. But Klopp continued to pace around the bed, seemingly unwilling to leave. His sensitive nerves were getting irritated, thus Aelock opened his eyes again and glared at Klopp with all the strength he could muster.

“I’d like for you to leave.”

“I’ll leave for today. There will be a lot for you to do in the future, so you can rest for now.”

Klopp told him to rest with a smirk on his face, but it was annoying that he was actually interrupting his rest. Aelock furrowed his brow, closed his eyes again, and turned his body away. However, Klopp stayed there for a while longer before finally leaving the room when Aelock’s exhausted mind began to blur.

The next morning, Aelock still had a mild fever and painful bloody discharge, but he was in much better condition. He sat on the bed and waited for breakfast. Unlike usual, the breakfast was brought by a housekeeper he wasn’t familiar with. She said her name was Martha.

When Klopp entered the estate, he brought in a middle-aged female omega who greeted Aelock dryly and put the breakfast tray on the table instead of the bed. Aelock asked her to bring it over, but she ignored him. He was infuriated by her rude behavior, given their clear status difference even if she was a maid who served a separate master. It was not right to vent his anger on someone else’s poorly-educated servant. He would clearly convey her rudeness to her owner.

Aelock got up from the bed and carefully moved his wobbly legs to sit on the chair. She didn’t even bother to make tea and was about to leave. He wondered where the butler was and why he had to be treated like this.

“Where is the butler?”

“He has been dismissed early this dawn.”

“What?”

Aelock was surprised and inadvertently raised his voice. Martha, who was about to leave the place, was filled with a strong sense of disgust as she glared at Aelock and said, “That was expected. The master has no wage to give to the servant.”

As soon as the long black skirt went through the door, it was immediately closed. Aelock silently looked down at the cold teacup. He had just truly become an orphan.