Into The Rose Garden

nd.
And anything that caught his eye was wiped with a rag.
Aelock’s forehead was covered with sweat by the time the place was clean enough to be called one’s dwelling, though it was obviously not to the level of an experienced housekeeper’s maintenance.
After being in a prostrating position for a long time, blood rushed to his pale face, turning it slightly red.

’

The stomach, which had been hungry since earlier, made a louder noise because of the physical labor.
On the table where the clothes were placed, some root vegetables such as potatoes and carrots and green vegetables such as asparagus and cabbage were placed with salt.
Unfortunately, there was nothing he could eat without cooking.

He found a small knife in the kitchen and decided to try chopping up the potatoes first.
He put a round potato on the table and smacked it with the knife, but it missed.
The potatoes were firm, not soft.
He had never imagined that potatoes could be this hard.
He tried the carrots and it was hard too.
Cabbage, too.
Asparagus was tough. How do you cook these strong things? Aelock pondered.
He was hungry, but he thought it would be a fairly enjoyable time. 

It wasn’t until late at night that Aelock managed to get control of the potato.
Before he could eat it, which had shrunk considerably from its original size, he cut three fingers and burned one because of the hot pot.
Even with the firewood outside the pot and the given matches, he couldn’t light the fire properly, so after agonizing over it for a long time, he burned a little bit of his long hair as well.
After blowing on a half-cooked, half-burnt baked potato and eating it, Aelock took off his clothes, hung them on a chair, and climbed onto the bed naked.

Due to the heavy labor, he was very tired today.
Unfortunately, there were no lamps, so when the sun went down, there was nothing to do.
Truthfully, even if there was a lamp, there was still nothing to do.
The physical fatigue pushed away all the painful memories of the past that came every night and allowed him to sleep soundly without thinking about anything.

It felt like a cool breeze brushed his cheeks in his sleep.
He had to get up to check what it was, but he was too tired to open my eyes.
If it had been a barn or a street, he would have woken up before the wind blew and crawled into the deep shade, but this was a cottage.
No one came here except for that person. He isn’t coming, is he? It must be the wind in the garden coming through the closed shutters.
The cool breeze made him feel good.
Aelock seemed to have smiled a little even in his sleep.

He woke up suddenly in the dark of dawn.
He rubbed his eyes and got up, and reached for his clothes, but then something else came into Aelock’s eyes.
A lamp, soap, and clean towels were placed on the table.
It was clear that someone had come and gone.
As far as Aelock could remember, only one other person had been in and out of the cottage besides himself.
Other servants would bring various items outside the door, but they never came inside.
Aelock, unable to wear anything, ran out of the cottage with nothing on. 

“Klopp!”

’

He quickly ran to the cedar wall.
Along the wall to the path leading to the rose garden on the other side.
But he couldn’t go any further than that.
It was difficult to get out of here.
If he was nearby and saw Aelock stepping into the mansion, he might throw him out again.
It was forbidden to wish for anything other than what was given.
The only thing he was permitted was a cottage.
Aelock stood on his tiptoes to find the figure of a tall, broad-shouldered man.
No matter how many times he put his head out, he couldn’t see anything.
He called him again.

“Klopp!”

No response came back.
No one seemed to be there.
Then, when a brisk wind blew and he realized again that he was not wearing any clothes, he quietly returned to the cottage. 

The embers that still hadn’t died out were so painful that he tried to extinguish them by sinking into the river, but this time too, he was pulled out and a bellows was used to make them flare up again.
He didn’t even have any flesh left to burn anyway.
Now, Aelock looked forward to the heat that even made his bones hot.

He saved his life, so if Aelock were to keep staying alive, someday he would look back on him at least once.
That’s why he didn’t want to miss this chance by being selfish like before.
One day, when the time comes when he wants to talk face-to-face, he would come and wake him up.
Until then, all Aelock could do was wait for a better look.

He tried roasting carrots for breakfast but cut himself in the same spot he did the day before.
He put his bleeding finger in his mouth and opened the box that Klopp had brought him at dawn.
He saw a white bandage.
He cut a small piece of thick fabric and wrapped it around his finger.
It did hurt a little.
In addition, he also closed the wounds from yesterday that were quite long.
When he looked down at his hands, he suddenly remembered the white band that had touched the smiling lips of that person.
In doing so, he could still vividly see the image of the two lovely people with one kissing the other’s fingers as if his wounds heal quickly.