Translator: Nox

58 - The Time of the Blind Beast (15+ Revised Edition)

Chapter 58

"I don't know when or how she disappeared... no one saw a thing."

Madam Serva could not hide her bewilderment.

Rose, who had been with Ezekiel until the night before, had vanished by the next morning. After frantically searching the bedroom, Ezekiel and Madam Serva discovered that the window of the adjoining room where Rose had stayed was unlocked. It seemed the mansion's black curtains, habitually left drawn, had concealed Rose's retreating figure as she slipped out the window during the night.

If Rose had disappeared along with the mansion's valuables, they might have been able to accept it, thinking she chose wealth over love. Of course, that conclusion was entirely inconsistent with Rose's character as they knew it, but at least they could have guessed her motive.

However, Rose had only taken the small amount of luggage she brought with her. She had not touched anything in the mansion.

That was why this situation was so impossible to accept.

"Rose."

She had always been a woman who stayed by his side like a shadow. Since Rose came to him, there hadn't been a moment he hadn't felt her presence. Now, no matter how much he called her name, no answer returned.

...Rose.

He wanted to ask.

Rose, what happened to you? Why did you have to leave so suddenly? When did you start harboring such thoughts?

"Rose, when my sight returns, the first face I will see is yours."

"Wait a little longer, Rose. I will see you soon."

He couldn't even imagine what expression Rose had worn while he alone looked forward to the future. He felt utterly pathetic for having been so arrogant as to believe he knew her inside and out.

Ezekiel took out the diamond ring he had pocketed, still in its box. It was a ring he had unconsciously grabbed just before rushing out of the mansion to chase after the vanished Rose.

His plan was to meet Rose at Milena Girls' School and place the ring on her finger right then and there. Without asking for her reasons, or if she seemed unwilling to explain, he would simply put the ring on her and take her back on horseback.

But the ring had not met its owner. Now, he didn't even know where that owner was.

Ezekiel stood blankly, gazing at the ownerless ring. The red diamond sparkled with an almost cruel brilliance. He pictured a slender finger wearing the ring, then clenched his fist so tightly around the gem that his palm stung.

Rose, no matter how I think about it, I don't know you.

If you were going to abandon me so suddenly and without a word, you shouldn't have shown me such affection. You shouldn't have let me know love. You shouldn't have offered such one-sided devotion. You should have spent some time for yourself.

You shouldn't have let me carelessly assume you would be by my side forever...

Yet, he had already received affection, devotion, and love. Even if it was a solitary delusion, he didn't want to undo it.

Wherever she was, he would find her.

Yes, he would find her.

As a person who undeniably existed, she must be somewhere in Astria.

She was a woman who always felt self-conscious about the difference in their social status and withdrew. Since she didn't know he was secretly preparing a proposal, she might have misunderstood her future as uncertain, seeing the surgery date drawing closer each day. If that was the case, he just needed to clear up the misunderstanding and give her certainty.

Or, if she had come to repay him for saving the students who were nearly caught in the battle, but after experiencing his violent behavior, decided he was not a man worthy of lifelong commitment and left...

Ezekiel frantically reviewed his own mistakes.

There were points that struck him. The time he failed to recognize Rose's good intentions and suspected her of being Achenaus's spy, rashly laying hands on her; the day he roughly pushed Rose, who was walking blindfolded down the corridor wanting to help him, felt like thorns piercing his chest.

The person who tried to poison him was someone else, yet the innocent Rose had borne the brunt of his misplaced anger. Being a woman of deep feelings, she might have been hurt inside, even if she didn't show it on the outside.

What's more, he hadn't even properly apologized to Rose. He had thought it was in the past, and he had wrongly assumed that Rose, knowing his circumstances that made him so suspicious and sensitive, would understand.

He keenly realized how selfish a man he had been to Rose.

How truly pathetic was he? He had never shown Rose a trustworthy image.

Ezekiel gritted his teeth.

So, give me a chance to prove what kind of man I am now.

I will apologize for the parts that disappointed you, compensate for the parts that were unreliable, listen carefully to the parts you want to speak about, and not ask about the parts you don't want to, and only ask for a promise that you will never leave again. Now that his sight had returned, he was confident he wouldn't lose Rose this time.

Ezekiel mounted his horse again.

---

Despite the miracle of the blind master's sight being restored, the Valdemara mansion in Derosa remained submerged in a somber silence.

It was a result of fortune and misfortune being intricately intertwined. The atmosphere, which had become more flexible as Ezekiel focused on Rose for a while, had rapidly frozen over the past few days. Rose's disappearance had also come as a great shock to the employees who worked with her. Without any prior warning, Rose had diligently, kindly, and devotedly cared for Ezekiel until her last day, then vanished without a trace.

"I thought things were going well lately, and now this sudden disaster."

Anna tore at her hair as she emerged from her meeting with Madam Serva. Even Anna, who had been closest to Rose, had not expected such an outcome.

Throughout the interrogation, asking if she had ever felt anything strange about Rose, if Rose had shared any secrets, Anna's only answer was, "I don't know anything."

She truly knew nothing.

Because that girl, Rose, hadn't said a word. Besides, no matter how close she was to Rose, it wouldn't be the same as the master who shared her bed. How could she possibly know what the master hadn't noticed?

Furthermore, several changes had occurred in the mansion following Rose's absence.

The most significant change was that all the black curtains surrounding the mansion had been torn down. Once it was revealed that the curtains were the reason no one had noticed Rose's last movements, an enraged Ezekiel had personally ripped down all the curtains in the mansion that very day.

Now, the outside world and the garden could be seen at a glance from anywhere. And as the sunlight, which had been blocked by the thick curtains from entering the mansion, poured in brightly, the employees realized how deeply they had been living in darkness.

Everywhere they looked was light. The world was too bright. It took time to adjust to the constant sunlight that followed them all day. The employees blinked frequently and sometimes sought out darkness deliberately.

Yet, the master, who had been blind, now moved about as if those days had never existed. He had even gone out to search for Rose and was away for days. They hadn't heard any advice from the doctors, but seeing Madam Serva wringing her hands in worry suggested it might be too soon for him to be going out. However, he was not the type to complain, even if he spoke harshly to others, so his exact condition was unknown.

Wasn't it said that the patient endured it most calmly on the day of the surgery, while everyone watching felt their eyes sting and burn with discomfort?

It made one think that such patience was necessary to be renowned as a soldier, but it also made him wonder how such a formidable man could have been so careless as to lose Rose. He also wondered what kind of behavior he had shown that had driven the kind Rose to flee from Ezekiel.

However, the problems in a romantic relationship were known only to the parties involved, so as an outsider, Anna had no way of guessing.

"Oh, you startled me."

Just then, their master, mounted on a horse, was entering the garden. Anna, feeling guilty, tried to flee but realized she wasn't in his line of sight and stopped, stealing glances at him.

He had regained his sight, the biggest hurdle. He was a member of the Valdemara family and would live a life of unparalleled wealth and splendor. Most importantly, he was so handsome. What could possibly be the problem? Had he possessed a significant flaw that wealth and looks couldn't cover, now that she had lived in the same space?

"Hmm, his personality..."

...was a bit much.

He had navigated battlefields where one mistake could lead to death. Perhaps because he was a soldier who strictly distinguished between allies and enemies, Ezekiel was far from generous.

Anna recalled how tense the employees had been, constantly watching his moods before Rose arrived. She thought that perhaps she had been afraid of spending her life with someone who could become infinitely fierce if provoked. But just as he dedicated his body to the country and defended the borders, he would surely show responsibility to those he had once given his heart to...

Anna glanced at him sideways.

Ezekiel stopped in the middle of the garden, not entering the mansion, and was gazing somewhere.

What was he looking at?

Following the direction Ezekiel was facing, Anna stood on tiptoe, hopping to get a better view, and sighed. While it was impossible to know the thoughts of Rose, who had disappeared without a farewell, it was clear that the master still harbored deep feelings for her.