31 - The Time of the Blind Beast (15+ Revised Edition)
Chapter 31
Rose held a hot teapot and teacups on a tray. The tea was freshly brewed, and the lemon hadn't ripened yet, so she had added honey to mask the sourness, but she wasn't sure if it was palatable.
But she couldn't find a better excuse at the moment.
Because she had to give him Lemon tea every night to hide the lemon scent that might have permeated his body. The sour scent left on her hands from using the lemon didn't disappear completely even after washing them many times.
She was just about to stand before his bedroom and knock on the door.
The door burst open from inside first.
"Come in."
It was Ezekiel.
"Did you think it was me?"
"I recognize your footsteps just by hearing them. Perhaps because your body is light, you barely touch your heels when you walk, treading softly. Sometimes it looks like you're dancing."
It was the first time she had ever heard such a thing. It was her own gait, yet she had never known it. Rose hastily checked her posture.
She supposed one had to be that perceptive to move around the mansion without going blind.
How many more of these habits did this man secretly observe?
She found herself paying undue attention to her footsteps. Rose deliberately put her weight on her heels. Her footsteps echoed irregularly, like a child just learning to walk. She entered the room, pretending not to see Ezekiel's soft chuckle, and set down the teapot. The refreshing scent of lemon spread through the entire bedroom in an instant.
"What is this?"
"It's Lemon tea. They say it's good for insomnia. Please drink it consistently every day."
Rose had never heard that lemon had a soporific effect, and it seemed illogical, but she made up the lie she had prepared and placed the warmly brewed Lemon tea into Ezekiel's hand.
"Won't it make me wide awake?"
"It might for a moment, but it will have a calming effect soon."
"I suspect it will have an awakening effect rather than a calming one."
"If it doesn't work after you drink it, I'll prepare Sleep tea again. Still, this Lemon tea is something I made myself."
Although he didn't seem to have much faith in the efficacy of Lemon tea, he drank it down without a second word, gulping it in front of Rose. She had deliberately brewed it hot, needing time to prepare herself, but his speed was the same as when he drank the lukewarm Sleep tea.
The teacup was emptied in an instant. Rose, startled, admonished him.
"Drink slowly. What if you burn yourself?"
"Did you really think I would have a leisurely tea time at this hour? Rose, you have a tendency to overestimate me."
"...Is the taste alright?"
After making him drink such a sour Lemon tea that it would jolt his senses wide awake, she worried about the taste belatedly. Ezekiel, letting out a soft chuckle, pulled Rose towards him. He familiarized himself with her face, tracing it with his hands, and kissed her lips. They had kissed so many times in the bedroom and the bathroom that he could now find the angle with his eyes closed.
"How does it feel to you?"
The refreshing lemon scent was intoxicating. Rose carefully licked her lips. Inside her soft lips, there was a tart fruit taste. It was closer to fresh lemon juice than Lemon tea, but perhaps because it had passed through his lips, the sourness was diluted and sweetness emerged.
It was strange.
His lips couldn't possibly be sugar, but was it a difference in perception?
Rose pressed her lips with her fingers.
"It's sweet."
"It's delicious."
Ezekiel agreed.
To blend senses was a process of sharing the same taste, smell, and touch. The Lemon tea he inhaled again through her was fragrant and sweet.
He added in a calm voice,
"Like you."
He had waited all day for night to fall. For the time when he and Rose would be left alone, without the interference of others.
Rose was busy during the day. To be precise, she became busy. It was as if everyone had suddenly decided to call her, to a degree that made him wonder how they had been so quiet during the twenty-four hours he spent confined in the same room with her. They asked when the laundry should be collected, informed him that meal preparations were complete, inquired if it was alright to enter the bedroom to tidy up—it was maddening, all these trivial matters that were of no real importance to him.
"Does no one here have any common sense?"
Ezekiel, displeased by Rose being called away repeatedly, summoned Madam Serva in exasperation. Madam Serva, who appeared with a bewildered expression, quickly grasped his complaint and began to explain.
"They must be confused because the existing rules have suddenly disappeared."
"What rules?"
"Those who work below tend to operate according to unspoken rules. Especially since your daily life was very monotonous. But since you decided to stop taking your medication, we had no way of knowing how you spent your day."
All the employees, staring only at the closed bedroom door, divided their tasks based on Rose's judgment and instructions, as she had been confined in the room with him, dedicating herself to his care. Furthermore, the man and woman isolated in the same room had already become intimate. Rose had become a variable in his regular routine. It was, in a way, a natural progression that they sought out Rose regarding Ezekiel's every move.
Madam Serva elaborated,
"Order will be restored within a few days, so don't worry. And if Rose becomes the Mistress of the house, she will have to manage affairs and lead the employees directly. This is a natural opportunity for her to learn how to do so, so let her be. Even if the mansion's scale shrinks, the Mistress of the house has many matters to attend to."
He understood. If he did not regain his sight, Rose would have to become the focal point of this mansion. Rose's busyness was, to some extent, a result intended by Madam Serva.
But the night was different. This night, when work was done and the day had ended, was the time he could exclusively possess Rose.
"Rose."
As the traces of others disappeared, the world finally became peaceful. He pressed his forehead against Rose's and slowly felt her. After his forehead, they rubbed their nose bridges together, and then their noses.
"You went to unnecessary trouble. My special cure for insomnia is right here."
The effect of expending the energy he had accumulated was evident. It was physical strength he had built up from not being able to move freely, with no way to release it. At first, he had been relatively cautious and careful, adapting to Rose's body, but after repeated intimacy, as Rose, sufficiently yielding, accepted him while groaning, he began to run without limit, as if carrying her.
Unable to keep up with his stamina, Rose eventually fell asleep like a doll with a cut string, her limbs falling limply. She didn't even toss and turn.
Beside the exhausted Rose, Ezekiel also rested half his face against her forehead and closed his eyes. It had been a long time since he had slept without relying on alcohol or medication and greeted the morning with a clear mind.
"What I need is you, Rose."
His low voice fell with weight.
The resonance brushing past his ear lingered. Rose unconsciously lowered her eyelids.
Rose. He pronounced the common and utterly simple name so elegantly. The day Achenaus arbitrarily called her Rose, she had felt nothing more than that it was a carelessly chosen alias, but when Ezekiel called her Rose, it evoked a seasonal feeling, like a flower. It was a voice that stirred many emotions.
For a moment, her chest ached.
...What if her real name had been Rose?
Her imagination began to branch out.
Then she could have truly felt thrilled at this moment.
What if she had red hair and green eyes?
Then she could have let him imagine and caress her face as much as he wanted, without any worries.
If she hadn't been the one who ruined his eyes, if she had fallen in love at first sight with the officer who protected the school from the enemy and had come seeking him with a pure heart...
Then...
Then she might have dreamed of a slightly different future.
Suddenly, a strange throbbing rose along the path where the lemon pieces had passed deep within her body. It had only hurt when inserted, and she had felt nothing after it was in.
His hands moved with clear purpose. They slipped under Rose's collar and traced her lower back. With one hand caressing her, he untied the knot with the other and removed her clothes. The falling fabric brushed against her calves.
It took only two steps. In just two steps, Rose was naked, not a stitch of clothing on her, and lay on her side on the bed.
The man's hair tickled her cheek. Although she was sensitive to his presence, perhaps because precise spatial adjustment was difficult, he had a habit of keeping a part of his body pressed against Rose. Through the point of contact, he constantly gauged how close she was and what her posture was.
Even now, he was rubbing his thick, parted thigh muscles against the inside of her legs. The softest skin met the strongest muscle. Every time, she found the texture to be extremely different. Rose would sometimes be surprised and cautiously trace the grain of his rippling muscles.
Ezekiel cleared his throat lightly.
"Rose, tell me you need me too."
