Into The Rose Garden

Vol. 4 Chapter 2.7 - My honowable defianse toward confronting the disrespekful illllegal inhabitant

It took quite some time for us to walk and our hunger came. I didn’t know how it was at home, but at a picnic, it was all him and the Lord who were in charge. They began to set up on the rug, pulling out plates and cups and other food and drink.

“What’s this?”

“Sandwiches. Don’t bother unwrapping them. It would be better for everyone to take one and eat by themselves.”

“And the wine opener?”

“Inside there. Why don’t you go find a fork and knife first?”

“Don’t order me around, civil servant.”

“Then be more useful, unemployed.”

Leaving the fight between the elk and the wolf behind, Mother and Uncle Rapiel took Jester for a walk, while Eurea dragged Sioux, who kept trying to come towards me, saying she saw a rabbit over there. I went down the other side of the hill to sightsee, and the twins, who had just followed me, heard Eurea’s voice and ran off in that direction.

Thank you, Eurea, and may you rest in peace.

“Eek! Don’t kill the rabbit!”

“Mom, I caught a rabbit!”

The blonde Sylas rose up, holding a bundle of fur. That rabbit must have already given up on life for some reason to be caught by those guys. I wondered what kind of life it had lived to make him feel that way, so I hurried over to him.

Sylas wanted to hold the rabbit by himself, and next to him was Atlas, who wanted to hold it too. Behind him, Eurea was getting angry at him for letting it go, and Sioux was looking like he was going to cry. I was also a little curious about the stupid rabbit that Sylas had caught, so I took a closer look.

During the whole incident, Sioux kept saying, “Let go of the rabbit. It has a family waiting for it.” and sobbed. But the twins, the offspring of rampaging carnivores, were not listening at all. They squeezed their captive, pulling at its ears, hands, and feet. The rabbit even squeaked.

“Hyung, I got a rabbit.”

Sylas held it out proudly. I sighed as I looked at Eurea, who was yelling, “Let it go!” and Sioux, who was now really starting to cry. If Sioux cries here, it’ll become annoying. I sighed heavily and said.

“That’s not a rabbit.”

“Huh? It’s not a rabbit?”

“That’s a mouse.”

“What?”

“A rat. Rats are so big here because the land is so big.”

“Ew! No!”

The blonde alpha kid held the rabbit out to his dark-haired twin brother, who was backing away in disgust despite having insisted on holding it himself just moments earlier. Sylas panicked and eventually held it out to me. Then he said, “Ew, I hate rats! They’re gross!” and they both ran off in another direction. I picked up the rabbit, walked a few steps away, and tossed it in the grass. Startled, the rabbit scurried away.

“Is that really a rat?”

Eurea asked belatedly, and I was about to lie and say that it was, but then I saw Sioux and changed my mind. It would be really troublesome if he fainted.

“I lied. It is a rabbit.”

“Oh, I’m glad.”

Sioux wiped his tears with the back of his hand and smiled. Even as an Omega, he was weaker and more tearful than Eurea, who was one year younger. He was honestly cute, he had black hair, but his eyes, nose, and mouth were a direct copy of Uncle Rapiel’s. However, Eurea was also cute. Honestly, Sioux was not dislikeable, he was just troublesome for me.

“Lenoc, bring Eurea, Sioux, and the twins.”

I heard my mother calling from a distance. Already hungry, I quickly headed in that direction. Eurea held Sioux’s hand as we walked, and after a few steps, Sioux, who was close by, grabbed my hand. I turned around and saw Sioux smiling shyly, his cheeks as red as the ribbon in his hair.

“Sioux, just what part of my brother do you like?”

“H-He’s cool.”

“Ugh, what’s cool about that nerd?”

I felt hateful towards my sister who said that, but I didn’t pretend to hear it. But Sioux didn’t think so and said in a low voice, “Lenoc isn’t a nerd. He’s smart and nice.”

“Which part of him?”

“Which part of me?”

Sioux hesitated, unable to answer to us, siblings’ simultaneous questions.

“I’m smart, yes, but I’m not nice. I did what I had to do under duress or by contract.”

“It’s already a lie from the part where he’s smart. Martha told me you wrote ‘samon’ for salmon.”

I knew that they were in cahoots, to think that she told Eurea again. Unforgivable, Martha. I’ll tell Hugo all about it when I get home. Still, Sioux shook his head the whole time. And then he looked at me with a twinkle in his really blue eyes. I honestly think he has beautiful eyes. They were as blue as Eurea’s, no, as my mother’s. Uncle Rapiel and my mother were said to be distantly related, so that wasn’t strange.

As we were reaching our parents, I tried to shake off Sioux’s hand, but it was too firmly attached to mine to pull away. The twins who had taken their seats before the three of us arrived here didn’t pay any attention to us, but when the eyes of the other four adults were drawn to us, I honestly felt a sense of crisis.

“Oh my, Sioux. You’ve succeeded today.”

Uncle Rapiel smiled in amusement. The Lord, seated next to him, glared at me with his gleaming silver eyes as if to kill me, but the corners of his mouth quirked up. It was clear that he didn’t like the idea of me getting close to Sioux. Still, he seemed pleased that Sioux had been recognised by me. I hated that so much that I wanted to shove Sioux’s hand away, but I couldn’t turn the Lord into a full-blown enemy when I already had my biggest enemy, so I just smiled politely.

“I didn’t realise Lenoc had become close with Sioux.”

“That’s because our Sioux is beautiful.”

That man scoffed at the Lord’s comment. It’s moments like this that I’m grateful to have my gene donor speak for me.

“You’ve been working on some kind of secret research lately. I hope it’s not research for dating, like what to write in a letter to Sioux. It’s a little early for that.”

You damned demon, you make me want to rip all your genes out of my body! As soon as the words left his mouth, Sioux’s little mouth dropped open and his eyes sparkled as he looked back at me.

“No, it’s not! I’m definitely not writing about a crybaby like you! It’s a study on the condition of the vicious elk.”

“Oh, sorry.”

At my outburst, Sioux quickly lowered his head and sobbed. At that moment, everyone’s eyes were on me. Even my mother, who was holding Jester, looked at me as if he didn’t like what I did. The other two adults aside, I could tell by the way the Lord’s eyes firing up and his mouth set that he was going to have to nail me to the coffin lid sooner or later. Damn it. One mistake and my life is over, without being able to even save my mother.

“Lenoc, that was such a rude thing to say. Apologize to Sioux.”

My mother’s cold words shocked me and I turned to look at Sioux. He was already crying, and the mood from everyone around us was completely cold, with Eurea saying, “You’re really mean,” and treating me like I was a devil. All the while, Sioux didn’t let go of my hand.

“Lenoc has a personal life too, it’s just a misunderstanding. Maybe he’ll write a card for Sioux’s upcoming birthday instead, right?”

Uncle Rapiel stepped in and saved the day by trading me for a card. I nodded quickly, since I could easily write a card.

“See, Sioux. Lenoc will write you a card.”

“…… Really?”

“Yeah.”

“Promise then.”

I’m a man of my word, so I laced my hand with Sioux’s outstretched pinky. “That’s my son,” said the man who had caused all this, with an inexplicable pride. The corner of the Lord’s mouth twitched.

There were three kinds of sandwiches, grilled chicken, salads and fruit, and a huge assortment of sweets and pies. Martha wrapped everything up as best she could. After eating my fill and drinking some sweet and sour juice, I felt full and a little sleepy.

The crockery was cleared away and the adults, who were drinking tea, quickly paired up and dispersed. I somehow ended up holding Jester and staying put. Eurea was being chased by the twins, screaming and running everywhere. I seriously considered trading Jester for the twins, but decided against it. I don’t really like noise.

Sioux, who had been by my side ever since I ate my lunch, was still sitting next to me. I couldn’t help but notice that he was looking at me like he really liked me. I sat Jester on my lap and held his hand, then asked him.

“If you’re a boy, why are you wearing a skirt?”

“Huh? You don’t think it’s pretty?”

“More like weird.”

At that, Sioux suddenly became upset again. I quickly looked around to see if the Lord was nearby. He was over there with Uncle Rapiel. Our distance was safe enough.

“You said it was pretty before.”

“I thought you were a girl then.”

Sioux’s face twisted slightly.

“Not long ago, even when we were looking at picture books together, you said you liked Omegas in a skirt.”

“Not long ago? Ah, the one we read together some time ago. That’s because it was a female Omega. Besides, the main character was a princess, but you’re not.”

“But…… but…… grandpa, grandma and dad said it was cute.”

Sioux gripped his skirt, not knowing what to do.

“Those people would still say you’re cute even if you were covered in black charcoal.”

“You don’t like me wearing a skirt?”

“It’s not really that I hate it. But it’s not that I like it either. It’s just weird.”

Her face lit up when she said no, but it quickly turned sour. Sioux was silent for a long time as he crinkled the hem of his skirt.

“Would you like it better if I wore pants instead of a skirt?”

Rather than I would like it more, I would dislike it less, but I didn’t think it was necessary to say that outright. It would be troublesome if he cried.

“Yeah.”

Sioux gave a small laugh at that.

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