40 - The Time of the Blind Beast (15+ Revised Edition)
Chapter 40
Ezekiel didn't have many such cozy memories. He hired tutors for each subject and received private lessons at the mansion, and his relationship with Achenaus was distant. In a family with much to inherit, brothers with little age difference grow up as unconscious rivals. Moreover, as he got older, he joined the military. Naturally, he hadn't seen Achenaus's face properly for years, nor did he particularly feel the need to. The fact that Achenaus tried to harm him without any guilt might also be due to the lack of opportunity for fraternal affection to build during their upbringing.
"Rose, you must have spent all your time at school looking after your friends or younger siblings. You always seemed so precocious and detached."
Ezekiel deliberately continued the conversation.
He was more curious about Rose's school days, where she would have mingled happily with friends, than about his own past, which was merely dry if he looked back.
"It wasn't exactly like that. I once almost caused a fire by secretly boiling molasses in the kitchen to make candy, and my roommates and I conspired to leave the window open all night because we were afraid Santa Claus wouldn't be able to fit through the narrow dormitory chimney. We all caught a terrible cold the next day."
Rose recounted her misadventures in her characteristic calm, low voice, detailing each incident. While her tone was as mature and elegant as ever, the content spoke of a mischievous young girl. Ezekiel couldn't help but chuckle at the dissonance.
"That's quite unexpected. I thought you would have sat there like a picture, always reading books."
"I was generally well-behaved, but occasionally I was a troublemaker who caused unexpected accidents when I let my guard down."
"A charming and lovely rascal, then."
Rose paused for a moment.
He was a man who had grown up under strict discipline from his family, where childish accidents were never tolerated. His days must have been like an exam, where he had to prove his abilities, or a stage where his life was on the line, and thus he had never made even a small mistake. The expression "charming and lovely rascal," which flowed so generously from Ezekiel's lips, didn't quite suit his personality. Yet, this very gap was so sweet that it made her heart flutter. Even though the words had passed quickly, she kept pondering their lingering effect.
"You're the first person to say that. Usually, when a pot catches fire and you have to eat food that smells burnt for a while, or when everyone is sick in bed with a cold for about a week, people don't call it lovely."
"Do I not know you? You wouldn't have caused an accident with malicious intent. You must have made a mistake while trying to make candy for your younger siblings. Your results often don't match your intentions. That's not your fault."
Strange.
Rose gazed intently at Ezekiel's profile.
Since when had this man become so gentle?
She could no longer recall his fierce expression or his cold voice. The gradual change that had colored him was touching and sad.
However, this was as far as she could comfortably listen.
"I bet you were an easy student to teach and a convenient daughter to raise. I sometimes wonder what kind of parents one must have to grow up as good and pure as you. Seeing how different our temperaments are, your parents must have been very lenient people."
Ezekiel mentioned her parents casually.
Though he hadn't said it with any particular knowledge, her heart suddenly lurched. All the color drained from her face, and an unseasonable chill swept up her back. At the same time, her chest ached.
There was no room for complacency.
Her heart swung from boundless warmth to bitter cold.
She had to regain her composure. Rose bit her lip with all her might. Borrowing the power of physical pain, she managed to calm her fluttering heart.
"You don't talk about yourself enough. Even a little bit, and I can see you were so cute as a girl. From now on, I'll have to ask you often."
It wasn't that she didn't want to talk. It was that she couldn't. She had developed a habit of carefully censoring her words with Ezekiel, lest the topic of her family circumstances or memories with her parents lead to her revealing clues about her true identity.
"Ah..."
Rose quickly changed the subject.
"I think this is a good place to tie it off."
She needed to divert his curiosity, which was lingering on her family. She quickly waved her hand to signal.
As Rose intended, Ezekiel momentarily let go and fumbled along the tree trunk.
"What kind of tree is this?"
"Um... it's a large, handsome spruce. There was a spruce grove right near Milena Girls' School. I remember decorating small spruce trees with the children and baking bread as Christmas approached. But this tree is too big to be used for decoration."
Rose deliberately brought up memories from school. It was safer to talk about school than about her parents, whom he was tracking down with his subordinates.
"It's good that it's big, so you can decorate more."
"To buy that many decorations, the money... Ah, that's not much of an issue here."
"You shouldn't compare Valdemara to the poor finances of a school. When winter comes this year, by then I'll have regained my sight, and we can decorate the tree together. Very big and splendidly."
Winter.
The first winter had ended, and the next winter was far away.
Imagining a future that felt as vague as a dream, Rose smiled bitterly.
"That would be nice. ...It would really be nice."
"If you want it, you should do it. You can do it."
Unaware of her feelings, the man simply said this as he wrapped the rope around the thick trunk and tied a knot. While he tightened it securely so it wouldn't come undone, Rose wandered around.
Then, as she casually turned her head, she saw a statue standing in the distance.
"These statues here are probably works by famous sculptors, too. There are many in the garden."
She had been to the garden once before, but at the time, her mind was so preoccupied with the idea of a secret rendezvous that she hadn't had the leisure to look around properly. Today was the first time she was truly seeing the garden.
Merlo's explanation was accurate. Once her eyes adjusted, she could discern the garden's layout, decorated with statues here and there, beyond the shadows of the tree clusters with their long, trailing branches.
Rose let out an involuntary gasp.
"Ah, there it is."
"What is?"
"I see a large statue nearby."
"You didn't know? There are quite a few of them. Well, you must not have had time to look around, being so busy with work."
Ezekiel clicked his tongue.
He realized anew how bleak Rose's time must have been, shut away in the mansion, just as he himself had been. And Rose wasn't even blind.
"It's a pair of statues, a man and a woman, facing each other. The man is looking up, like this."
Rose adjusted his body to the same pose as the statue. It would be easier to understand intuitively by imitating it directly than by explaining it complexly with words.
Ezekiel's tone changed instantly.
"Ah, I see."
"Do you remember?"
"I do. I think I can even guess where we're standing now."
Confidence entered Ezekiel's demeanor as he gauged his surroundings with eyes that could only capture the air. His memory seemed to be returning. Rose nodded. The statues, which he would have seen crossing the mansion's garden long ago, would serve as a kind of landmark for him.
"There's another statue over there."
Rose pulled his hand. Ezekiel matched her pace with a newfound ease.
"We can tie the rope to this apricot tree. Its branches extend sturdily. I remember this tree. It's visible from my room if I pull back the curtains for a moment. I used to think about making compote with the apricots in the summer and hanging a swing from it."
"Summer is coming soon. We can make as much compote as you like, and I'll have someone hang a swing for you."
I should have come outside sooner. Ezekiel lightly regretted.
It was surprisingly unexpected that the usually quiet Rose had been harboring such detailed thoughts in her mind. It was also endearing. Despite often showing a mature side, Rose was, after all, a nineteen-year-old girl. She was a lovely person who sometimes wanted to ride a swing, decorate a colorful tree with friends at Christmas, and enjoy sweet treats.
Perhaps the mansion's perpetually dark and solemn atmosphere had stripped away Rose's bright and innocent aspects. However, as more time passed, he would surely discover new facets of Rose, one by one, that he hadn't seen before.
"Summer..."
Rose raised her gaze and looked up at the apricot tree.
Summer. Would it be alright until then?
