34 - The Time of the Blind Beast (15+ Revised Edition)
"It's fine, what's the harm?"
"But... if you become the Mistress of the house later, won't I be kicked out for disrespect? I've only just started to enjoy my work recently."
"...No, that won't happen."
"It's a bit strange. This mansion is a place where it's easy to become the Mistress of the house if you just catch the master's eye, but you never show any inclination for it. Instead, you naturally find work to do every day, so everyone wonders how to treat you, but then they just think, 'Oh, it's just the Rose we know.'"
Rose lowered her gaze, trying to hide the indescribable complexity of her emotions. No one in this mansion knew how precarious and dangerous her tomorrow was.
"Well, the master only seeks you out, so what can you do? Besides you, he only keeps Madam Serva by his side. He doesn't engage in private conversations with any of us. Ah, I should get going. I'll get scolded for slacking off."
Perhaps sensing it would be awkward to continue chatting amidst the busy employees, Anna got up from her seat.
As Rose watched Anna leave with her eyes, she continued slicing the remaining lemon. While skillfully disposing of the peel and tidying up, she felt a gaze fixed upon her.
It was that man.
The stranger who had come to deliver more fruit.
The man took off his hat and greeted her. There was a peculiar refinement in his movements. Rose hesitated, then responded with a calm, slight bow. Even though he hadn't done anything else, she felt an inexplicable unease, so she quickly tidied her surroundings and left.
A reply arrived from Dr. Briman. After reviewing the detailed recovery period Rose had described, Dr. Briman agreed with Ezekiel's opinion that treatment could begin and sent back a scheduled date for his visit.
The wait was short. The days passed quickly. In the blink of an eye, the day arrived, stained with individual hopes, worries, and anxieties.
Dr. Briman appeared, carrying his familiar doctor's bag. Rose guided him to the drawing-room.
"Miss, you may wait here."
This was the first time. Ezekiel had never been separated from her side during his treatments, but now that the detoxification treatment was beginning in earnest, a third party was pushed outside the line.
Nevertheless, Rose quietly took her place beyond the line. She paced the drawing-room corridor, waiting for Dr. Briman's treatment to conclude.
Ultimately, she had met this day without knowing what to do or how to do it. She had only worried endlessly, trembled with unspeakable anxiety, and waited for a conclusion to be reached by others, her heart unable to move forward or back.
The dark corridor made it difficult to gauge the passage of time. Rose strained her ears, listening for any sounds, trying her best to guess the situation inside.
Anxiety stole her breath away. Time flowed with a peculiar rhythm. Finally, as the sound of packing a bag echoed and Dr. Briman's shadow appeared, Rose immediately closed the distance and approached.
"Was the treatment completed successfully?"
"Well. Come closer and see for yourself."
Dr. Briman gestured.
Rose turned her head to check on Ezekiel's well-being first. He was leaning back comfortably against the chair, his eyes closed.
She hesitantly approached Ezekiel. With her characteristic gait, barely lifting her heels, Ezekiel slowly opened his eyes. His smoothly extended eyes brought back a sense of déjà vu from some time ago.
"...Major."
The moment she spoke his name, Rose immediately regretted her action.
A clear light shone in his irises, which had long been unfocused.
His gaze no longer wandered vaguely into space. It fixed on her with clear intent. Rose realized anew how much his lost vision had marred the man's impression. The man, frowning slightly, was both sharp and beautiful.
He still closed and opened his eyes slowly.
Once, twice, three times.
Each time his pupils and irises disappeared and reappeared beyond his eyelids, a confident, unique light became clearer. They were eyes that remembered her. She knew without hearing.
"So you were here."
A chillingly cold low voice brushed against her ear.
"Do you know how long I've searched for you?"
An ominous premonition scratched down her spine. Rose opened her mouth to say something. She intended to beg, even if it meant kneeling. But for some reason, no sound came out.
"You mean to say you didn't even know it was me, right in front of you, until now. How was it, was the deception enjoyable?"
This was not the Ezekiel who used to call her name softly, as if handling a flower. That man no longer existed.
A chilling killing intent scraped her skin. Rose stepped back. But Ezekiel's hands were faster.
“I want to kill you right now. I’ve imagined hundreds of ways to kill you in my head.”
The man's grip, filled with rage, tightened mercilessly around her neck. With a gasp of shock, her vision suddenly flickered out.
Rose gasped, her body jolting so hard the bed shook, and opened her eyes. Cold sweat soaked her back. She gasped for breath.
Where did reality begin, and where did the dream end?
Her heart pounded like a fish pulled onto the surface of the water. Rose pressed down on her aching chest. Dreams and reality mingled, making her head spin. It took a moment to compose herself.
Ah, she remembered. The part where she received Dr. Briman's reply, stating he would visit soon, was reality. Yet, the solemn atmosphere of the corridor she had guided Dr. Briman through, the dark colors, the temperature and humidity of the air, and even the smell – everything felt vivid. It would have been entirely believable if she had just experienced it.
"...Rose?"
She had been so startled, as if having a seizure, that she had even woken Ezekiel, who was sleeping beside her.
"What's wrong? Did you have a nightmare?"
Rose managed to move her stiffened neck and look at Ezekiel. His eyes were unfocused, subtly wandering around where her face should be.
But his hands were different. His hands, with a knuckle longer and thicker than most men's, easily found Rose, who was huddled and trembling. As his hand touched her forearm and then gripped it again, Rose involuntarily pushed his hand away. Clack, the sound of friction was quite loud.
"Ah..."
It wasn't the intended result. Even though Ezekiel hadn't reacted significantly yet, Rose froze preemptively.
"It was a mistake. I was startled when you suddenly touched me..."
She couldn't bring herself to say she had dreamed of him strangling her. She certainly couldn't say that, overlapping with the hand in her dream, she had instinctively been seized by the terror of death.
Even now, the afterimage of the dream hadn't faded. The hand that had squeezed her neck with all its might was like a weapon in itself.
“Rose, when my sight returns, the first thing I will do is see your face.”
At the moment she heard those words, she had calmly brushed them aside. While she was inwardly shaken, she hadn't shown it enough for him to notice. But as night fell, when reason blurred and emotion took over, the buried fear had come alive in the form of a dream.
“Do you know how long I’ve searched for you?”
It was chilling.
The fact that he might actually say such a thing sent a shiver down her spine.
Was this truly just a dream? Could it be a premonition? If so, had she glimpsed a future day and returned...?
Even though she knew it was a wild imagination, the expression and tone Ezekiel had shown immediately after finding her were so vivid that she couldn't shake them off.
"Did a ghost appear in your dream? Your hand is completely frozen, Rose."
Without seeming particularly offended, Ezekiel found her hand and took it. This time, Rose let him hold it.
The man, who had likely never feared nightmares in his life, had a poor imagination. He wasn't a child who saw things often due to a weak spirit, so why a ghost dream?
But it would have been better if it had been a ghost dream. Even if it seemed a bit childish, she could have held onto him and said she was scared.
"...I dreamed that everything was going back to its place."
"Everything?"
In the dream, he had regained his sight, and she had paid for her sins.
Yes, it was a dream where everything returned to its place.
"Yes. The Major to his place, and me to mine."
"Where was my place?"
Ezekiel asked. Rose took a deep breath.
"Valdemara."
If his life were to be described in a single word, it would be Valdemara. He had fallen this far after losing Valdemara.
"So that's the kind of dream you had."
Ezekiel let out a hollow laugh.
"Did I abandon you in my dream, after returning to Valdemara?"
Rose hesitated to answer. Abandoned was a very mild word. Strictly speaking, he had killed her. Or tried to kill her. It was probably an outcome the current him couldn't even imagine.
"...Yes."
In any case, she had to be as careful with her words as possible. It was best to leave the most conservative, safest room for interpretation.
"I didn't realize I was such an untrustworthy man to you."
Even as he chuckled in disbelief, he seemed slightly angry.
Ezekiel added firmly,
"There's no way something like that would happen. Unless you betray me first, I will never abandon you."
