28 - The Time of the Blind Beast (15+ Revised Edition)
Chapter 28
5. If This Feeling Is Also Love
"Rose."
"......"
"Rose."
"......"
"Are you thinking of something else while you're next to me?"
Ezekiel, who had been sitting in the bathtub, playfully caressing Rose's body, squeezed her breast teasingly.
Only then did Rose snap back to attention.
"Ah... I must have dozed off."
She replied hastily, hiding a wry smile.
This is bad. Lies are piling up unintentionally. But if she said she was lost in thought, she felt he would pry into what she was thinking so deeply about, so Rose chose the easier lie.
"You seemed to be sleeping soundly without tossing and turning. Did I wake up too early?"
Her heart grew heavier at his expression, which seemed to believe her words that she had dozed off even though her eyes were wide open.
"It's alright. A maid shouldn't be lazy."
"Can you even be lazy? With your personality?"
Ezekiel, laughing it off lightly, pulled Rose's head back and had her lean against his shoulder.
"Sleep a little, then."
"What if I fall asleep?"
It was improper for a maid to carelessly lean on her master's shoulder to sleep, but she wondered what he intended to do if she leaned on him and he couldn't move for twenty to thirty minutes, so she asked. Ezekiel replied nonchalantly.
"I'll be playing with your body."
"......I don't think I can sleep."
With a face that was inherently cold and an indifferent demeanor that would suit a war council, his hands moved insidiously.
She had been a little surprised even upon waking this morning. She had been so exhausted from the night that she had fallen asleep without even realizing it, not even dreaming. Then, feeling a ticklish sensation all over her body, she suddenly opened her eyes to find Ezekiel caressing her.
He traced a diagonal line along her shoulder blades twice, then tapped her prominent cervical vertebrae like playing an instrument, moving upwards until he reached the soft nape of her neck where fine hairs grew, where he stuck out his tongue to lick it lingeringly before pulling deeply with the pressure of his lips.
He had handled her body so sensually that she had worried it would lead straight back to bed the moment she opened her eyes.
Even now, he was gently stroking the soft skin of her inner arm before slyly cupping her firm breasts. Her breathing kept faltering due to the strange sensation from the man's rough hands.
As she unconsciously turned her body to the side to calm her racing heart, Ezekiel's upper body flashed into view over her shoulder. Her gaze was instinctively fixed on the dense scars etched from below his neck. Come to think of it, the scars had brushed against her face whenever he thrust his hips forcefully during the night.
Rose unconsciously reached out and touched the scars. Just as this man had, her psychological barriers had crumbled after they had shared their bodies. In the past, even while naked and entwined, she would have had to convince herself, "This is for care, this is part of the treatment." But now, there was no need for that.
It was simply because all their contact now carried sexual implications. She wondered how she had managed to ignore it so desperately until now.
"Ah... the scars."
Still, she had been subtly signaled by Madam Serva with her eyes to pretend not to know about the scars, but she had forgotten.
Don't be surprised, and don't show surprise.
Madam Serva's gaze clearly conveyed that meaning. Rose glanced at him, regretting her unintentional mistake.
"I'm sorry. For touching them so carelessly."
Ezekiel quickly understood why Rose was flustered.
During wartime, there were prostitutes who roamed the fortresses. Some were exploited and died, while others made money by offering themselves without a second thought. It was ironic.
He would have disciplined them within his own unit, but the rank of Major was not particularly high. Ezekiel was even among the youngest Majors. In a fortress with superior commanders who had more experience, and in a situation where many soldiers, regardless of rank, expected female companionship, a Major like him had no authority to unilaterally ban the entry of women who came to offer their services.
For some soldiers, how many women they had exploited became a topic of conversation, while among the prostitutes, servicing a famous soldier was a source of pride.
Ezekiel, born into a good family, young, wealthy, handsome, and renowned for his many military achievements, was a prize catch that piqued the interest of the prostitutes. When rumors spread that the commander of the 'King's Army,' known for being difficult to see due to his constant presence on the most dangerous battlefronts, was staying at the military camp, the prostitutes began to cast furtive glances at his tent.
It was late evening, and he was changing out of his sweat-soaked uniform. Without asking permission, a woman with black hair abruptly opened the tent flap.
"Who is it?"
"Are you Major Valdemara?"
Unlike ordinary women, her fearless demeanor towards the soldiers' tents led him to guess her profession. The prostitute, who breezed into the tent with a fresh scent, looked up at him with an ecstatic expression.
"Just by seeing your face, I can tell you're the one everyone talks about. Please call me Iris. I've come to offer a pleasant night's rest to the renowned Major Valdemara."
The prostitute ran her finger down his bare chest, marked with scars, and whispered.
"These are all traces of your brave battles. They are medals of the wild. Your name is indeed not passed down in vain. You are truly magnificent."
Having dealt with many men, the prostitute was forward with him, even on their first meeting. He understood why a considerable amount of military secrets were leaked and obtained through prostitutes. Ezekiel frowned.
"Leave. I consider anyone who approaches me with an unclear identity, regardless of gender, a spy attempting to steal military secrets, and I will deal with them summarily."
"A spy? Look at me. Do I look like I have such power? You are a distinguished soldier, and moreover, someone who understands the dignity of a gentleman. Why do you say such frightening things?"
"Do you even know what a distinguished soldier is?"
"......Of course. Aren't people like Major Valdemara usually called distinguished soldiers?"
"A distinguished soldier is one who has slaughtered many enemies. We are all murderers who survived. You shouldn't expect gentlemanly conduct when you walk into the midst of murderers."
At his stern warning, the prostitute's expression, now genuinely frightened, contorted. She fled the tent with a gait quite different from when she entered. She didn't know what rumors spread among the prostitutes, but after that night, no other prostitute dared to enter his tent carelessly.
However, after fleeing to Derosa in blindness, the hired help who came to help him change clothes showed a markedly different reaction. The moment she discovered the scars, she shrieked in horror at their hideousness.
"She said they were utterly grotesque."
The scars, which had been medals of the wild when he was praised as a war hero, were reduced to grotesqueness once he became blind.
If only it had stopped there, but the hired help gossiped about Ezekiel to her colleagues. She had clearly underestimated the sharp hearing of a soldier honed to detect every subtle sign of the enemy.
"I was so shocked. His body was mottled and mangled, and his face... he might look fine on the outside, but he's blind. There's nothing sound about him. He'll never be useful again, I suppose. And on top of that, he was cast out by the esteemed Valdemara family... That's why one shouldn't stand out too much. You never know when you'll face opposition. Who would have imagined his glorious life would plummet so drastically overnight? To survive, he'll have to live his whole life bowing his head and watching his family's every move. All his past glory is in vain."
Of course, the hired help was severely punished for her loose tongue and was kicked out of the mansion. He had been a strict superior to his subordinates during his service, and he had no intention of acting like a lenient master to his hired help. Afterward, Madam Serva constantly emphasized to the hired help the importance of watching their eyes, ears, and mouths.
"He dislikes it being mentioned."
"Ah..."
Startled, Rose quickly tried to pull her hand away. However, Ezekiel was faster. He placed his hand over hers on the back of her hand and guided her fingers to continue stroking his chest.
"But there's no way I'd hate it when you touch me."
"Ah...?"
"If another man were to caress your breasts like this, would you stay still?"
"No."
"But you stay still when I touch you."
"That's because you're the Major."
"Yes, exactly."
She understood the meaning between the lines. An exception. Rose had become an exception to him.
