Time of the Blind Beast - Chapter 49

Yet as the summer wore on, Ezekiel showed little improvement. As a result, Merlot’s trips between the villa and the main estate became more frequent.

“Miss, still no new updates?”

Judging by how harshly the main house must have been pressing him, Merlot would return from Claris with sunken cheeks and dark circles under his eyes.

“The main house brought in several doctors to examine the case. If it were an illness, it might be different, but with poisoning, the condition should improve quickly once the antidote is administered. They say the fact that there’s been no progress all summer likely means the chance to recover has already been lost.”

It wasn’t just Merlot. Even Madam Serva, who had initially expressed relief just to begin treatment, gradually began to show signs of growing anxiety.

Was the treatment really working?

Or was it just a meaningless struggle?

Among the servants, speculation grew about whether Ezekiel would ever recover. Even if Rose didn’t hear their conversations directly, she knew. Every time she appeared, they would abruptly stop talking and exchange awkward glances—it was impossible not to notice.

But the one most likely feeling suffocated was Ezekiel. Dr. Brehman would be paid regardless of whether the treatment succeeded or failed, but Ezekiel would have to endure the aftermath.

Rose occasionally encountered Ezekiel staring into empty space. As if trying to distinguish faint shapes in uniform darkness, he would gaze at the wall with a cool expression for long periods. The time when he saw things he shouldn’t have was a problem, but so too was this time when he couldn’t see the things he should. Rose understood that sense of despair. No matter how strong a man he was, he couldn’t possibly be fine.

And neither was Rose.

Her safety was guaranteed only while he remained blind. The day his vision began to return would be the day Rose had to awaken from this dream. She would need to prepare for the cold winter ahead.

“…Major. It’s still summer. The seasons haven’t changed. The harvest season is autumn. We still have some time left.”

So the season that had yet to end served as a kind of comfort.

For both of them.

“Yes, summer hasn’t ended yet.”

Ezekiel never directed his anxieties at Rose directly. Instead, he expressed the storm within through other means.

On days when the turmoil in his chest surged, he would hold Rose more roughly than usual. Regardless of time—day or night—he threw both of them into the most primal, intense sensations a human could experience.

“Rose, I’m going to escape this pitch-black darkness and see the white snow with you.”

He pressed his member against her narrow entrance and plunged deep into her already slickened depths. The blunt, thick tip jabbed into her abdomen. Despite having experienced it dozens of times, the pressure was never something she could get used to.

“Hnnn…”

She could feel exactly how deep he was. Only in the moment he entered could she perceive the space inside her that she normally never noticed.

“It’s too much, please—a little slower…”

The overwhelming sensation of being filled to the brim brought tears to her eyes. It felt like her insides were being pummeled into a pulp. It was always like this.

Did she lock the door properly? Was there anything she still had to do today? Had she arranged to meet Merlot? She scrambled to retrieve memories before her reason completely collapsed, but the sharp, jarring sensation of Ezekiel’s thrusts wiped her mind completely blank.

Clinging to Ezekiel’s shoulders, Rose was shaken again and again. No matter how wet she was, his size and force were always painful, and she cried out like she was dying. Even amid the ache and sting, pleasure pricked at her like needles. Viscous moisture gradually eased the pain.

Her entrance slowly loosened. Seizing that opening, Ezekiel pushed in another inch.

“…No more, I really can’t…”

“I know.”

Even when only halfway inside, Ezekiel overwhelmed her. He buried himself to the deepest point she could take, and then plunged toward the peak of sensation.

Swept away by his overpowering force, Rose closed her eyes. Everything was spinning; she couldn’t see straight.

A hazy ecstasy stormed over her. Inarticulate moans spilled from her lips.

It was Rose who reached climax first. This order had become routine. Ezekiel always held out until she fell into that unreachable trance where reason could never resist.

“Ahn, ah… ah!”

A thousand stars bloomed like flowers above the darkness.

Her consciousness shattered. The intensity of sensation gripping her limbs was so great that she could think of nothing at all. At that moment, she could forget ‘Rose.’ She could stop worrying about ‘tomorrow.’ If only she could stay in this bliss forever.

Surely Ezekiel felt the same.

Moments later, Ezekiel poured his climax deep inside her. Though he had supported his weight with his arms so as not to crush her, only at the very end did he relax and pull her into his embrace.

Rose, too, was breathless as she embraced the man whose body had grown hot.

Their sticky breaths mingled. His lips, tracing her breath downward, engulfed hers once more.

Even after the waves of passion had passed, he didn’t withdraw, remaining inside her. Thus, Rose continued to feel a gentle, lingering sensitivity.

Breathing shallowly near her throat, she looked up at the delicate shape of his eyes. No matter how hard she tried to focus, she could never feel them truly meet hers. After a moment, she lowered her gaze.

Having released all his strength at once, his muscles bulged with tension, their contours faintly visible. Rose ran her fingers along those lines. She liked the firm yet elastic sensation.

Ezekiel caught the fingers that were tickling his abs and brought them to his mouth. He touched and licked them, and even when Rose tried to pull away, he didn’t let go, instead persistently nibbling and sucking.

“Major.”

“Hmm?”

“You don’t have a hobby of eating people, do you?”

At her lighthearted joke, Ezekiel chuckled. “I never had such a hobby, but I want to keep you inside me.”

He whispered between long, lingering kisses, “So we can always be one body. Never separated.”

If only that were possible.

If there were a way to merge two bodies into one and never be apart.

Rose became acutely aware of her belly, where traces of him remained.

Even if forever was too much to ask, at the very least, she could cherish this moment of being connected to him. She accepted the part of Ezekiel that remained inside her.

***

If winter announces itself through scent, spring by rain, summer by sunlight, then autumn begins with the wind. Cool breezes brushed their cheeks in the mornings and evenings.

The mansion, which had buzzed with subtle whispers all summer, quieted down as autumn arrived.

Even after trying so many antidotes, if there was still no response, wasn’t it already hopeless?

Under such unspoken assumptions, everyone began to avoid the burdensome topic and instead spoke only of the day’s work.

“I truly can’t understand what’s going on in Major Ezekiel’s or your head, miss. I can’t get a read on it. Just what are you both planning to do about all this…?”

This was said during a secret meeting with Merlot, hidden from the eyes of the other staff.

Talking too often with Merlot, whom everyone believed to be a fruit vendor, would raise suspicions. So Rose usually passed notes or letters to him in passing. But when direct conversation was necessary, they met in the garden at a prearranged time, just like before.

Merlot shook his head. “Or is there something else you’re relying on? Have you asked Major Ezekiel? What he plans to do if his sight doesn’t return?”

She didn’t understand the point of asking that now. Rose stared at him and responded with a question of her own.

“Didn’t the Valdemaira family already issue a one-sided notice that they would sever ties if his vision didn’t recover?”

“…They did. I forgot. But still, miss, do you really think you can secure an official severance letter? Judging by his attitude, even you might have a hard time with that.”

Of course it would be difficult. Ezekiel’s pride in Valdemaira was greater than anyone could imagine.

It was a condition she had proposed merely to draw the attention of both Merlot and the family toward Ezekiel, not something she had the means to enforce.

Rose bit the tender flesh inside her lip.

Riding the momentum, Merlot pressed further. “Are you hiding something from me? If you are, please share. You made such a big claim that he could be treated, that he would recover, and yet there’s been no progress. I’ve been speaking up for you back at the main house during all my errands, but if this continues, I’ll be in trouble too.”

“I’m not hiding anything. And there’s no reason to.”

“This is driving me mad…”

Clutching his forehead, Merlot clicked his tongue, then suddenly stared at Rose with a suspicious look.

“You’re not… interfering with the treatment, are you? Because once his sight returns, you’ll be forced to say goodbye, and you don’t want that…”

“……”

“…I apologize. That was out of line. I only said it because I’m worried. His Excellency is pressing us, saying he granted every request, so why hasn’t anything changed even though the seasons have turned? But Major Ezekiel and you both seem to be going about your days without much anxiety.”

There was no way they weren’t anxious. It was just that the nature of Ezekiel’s anxiety and hers were different. That was why she couldn’t show it.

Even after Merlot left, Rose mulled over the accusation he had thrown.

“You’re not… interfering with the treatment, are you? Because once his sight returns, you’ll be forced to say goodbye, and you don’t want that…”

The reason she hadn’t flatly denied such an impudent remark was because she couldn’t confidently say her heart was clean.

Ezekiel was someone who wished to escape this moment as soon as possible, and she was someone who wanted to cling to it just a little longer. That gap, however fleeting, had made her hesitate to answer.

Even though she had never once interfered with his treatment.

Even though she no longer wished to accumulate such guilt.