Cry, Or Better Yet Beg
chapter 27. The Rose Season without you

The night had arrived outside when Matthias came out of the bathroom after finishing his bath.

With his robe rope loosened, he leaned against the window sill overlooking the garden below.

Compared to the large house of Arvis, a vast area famous for its beautiful gardens and forests, the garden of Ratz's mansion is much more comfortable.

The park is not as big as the palace located in the center of the city.

Neither the previous Dukes of Herhardt nor Matthias himself had the slightest interest in the landscape or the maintenance of flowers. Therefore, Ratz garden is laid out simply to add a simple architectural style of the house.

As spring arrives and the various varieties of roses imported from Arvis bloom, the flower bed turns the dull garden into a very interesting place to see.

When the scent of flowers began to be left in the wind, Matthias thought about returning to the plantation for the summer vacation.

Before suddenly, the shadow of a girl who was diligently wandering in the garden, helping the gardener, woke him from his daydream.

Leylas.

Matthias involuntarily frowned.

The girl smelled like a rose.

A gardener with a natural talent for growing roses has painstakingly managed to produce one of the most beautiful roses in the world.

Yet he never expected the precious roses raised by gardeners in the forest would soon be a catastrophe for him.

Leyla, the girl who's nobody.

That's the name that's embedded in him.

Matthias closed the window and turned around. Water droplets from her wet hair splashed onto her legs.

'Just stay, isn't luck on his side now?'

Someone like Leyla Lewellin could only dream of having a companion like the child of a doctor.

He was blessed with a once in a lifetime of great fortune. Thanks to Kyle Etman's foolish naivety, she could become Madame Etman's candidate and attend college in the nation's capital.

“... Leyla.”

Matthias diam-diam menyebut namanya. Dia merenung sejenak.

Perhaps, if that beautiful thing were to disappear from his sight, things would get better for him as well.

Assuming this was true, she should give him a bigger applause for his marriage more than anyone.

Despite closing the window, the scent of roses still lingered on the tip of his nose.

Matthias looked at the vase of roses placed on the console table. Someone seemed to have picked up the blooming rose in the garden and placed it in his bedroom.

After passing through the vase, his gaze was fixed on the golden cage he had brought to Ratz and then turned towards the vase again.

“Leyla.”

His name sounded even sweeter when he said it more clearly.

“Roses have bloomed but you are not here.”

Meanwhile, he sank into his contemplation; matthias suddenly took the coveted rose from the vase and clasped it tightly with his hand.

Memories of Leyla, whose tears were soaring, flooded back into his mind. The pale pink rose reminded her of her sobbing cheeks, which were drenched in tears.

Matthias' grip on the rose gradually grew tighter and tighter until the flower shattered into flower petals on his palm.

“That's a good thing.”

He really believed in that.

'But…'

Matthias' eyes narrowed slowly.

'Could there be a season where roses bloom without you there?'

'The tree will bloom, and I will return, but why aren't you there with me?'

In those questions, Matthias relives memories he didn't even notice.

That child has always existed.

In the rose-filled summer garden, it was as if he had become an inseparable part of Arvis himself.

It means he's part of her too.

His little yellow bird chirped when it could not fly after its wings were cut off. Matthias now feels a strong desire to kill someone for the first time in his life at this time.

It's unclear which one of them is the doctor's child?

….or the woman.

It was only after the night grew dimmer that Matthias released the petals of the flower that became hard lumps. His rose-scented hand reached out and took out one of the papers on the table and tore it apart.

It was a document that had to be submitted by the end of the following week.

Eligibility documents to extend his one-year service as a military officer.

“I wholeheartedly give my consent.”

Bill loudly uttered his long-doubtful words.

Sitting across the table, Leyla looked at him with a puzzled face.

“That voracious guy, Kyle. I concur. You got my blessing.

“Hey, uncle..”.

Leyla frowned. But Bill kept talking.

“Stop rejecting it now. Marry him and go to college. I really want you to do that, Leyla.”

“I can't do that.”

“Did you also not like Kyle?”

“Yes, it makes no sense for me to marry him.”

“What do you mean by that doesn't make sense? What's weird about two people who like each other and get married.”

Bill chokes, but Leyla's eyes are on him and doesn't budge.

“Kyle and his family will be stupid because of me.”

“Dr. Etman also allows it.”

"But …."

“Leyla, stop thinking about this and that and look at your heart.” Bill raised his tone. “If you like Kyle, marry him, but if you don't like him, don't do it. You don't need to think about anything else.”

Leyla closed her eyes at his words and sipped a beer in front of him.

Bill was secretly watching her. The child he raised has now grown into a great drinker. Now, they are each other's best drinking buddies. People who could share the misery while sipping a pint of beer together.

“I like Kyle. No other friend in this world is as comfortable, warm, and as good as him.”

Leyla wiped the beer froth from the corner of her lips while looking at Bill more sharply.

“So, I don't want to embarrass him.”

“No, what's wrong with you, Leyla? Why do you underestimate yourself?”

"It's not like that. Uncle, I like the me now. No matter what others think of me, I never feel ashamed of who I am. All I want to do is be a good and responsible adult, as you want.”

Leyla furrowed her brows. His eyes were misty with sadness behind his glasses.

“But, Uncle, I don't understand marriage at all. If I get married now, it means all my efforts are in vain.”

"Ha. Hope you're not thinking of spending your whole life stuck in this cabin as an old widower for the rest of your life, Leyla.

"By pleasure. I don't want to leave this Arvis forest, uncle. And you are not.” either

“That's a bad thing to say.”

“Now that I already have a teaching certification, I will find a job at the nearest school. And I want to live like this forever. Stay here, along with you, uncle. Maybe I can help you too.”

“Will this forest run out? It's no use. And I will always be here in this forest. Well, maybe someday, when I get older and don't have the stamina to continue working as a gardener, I'll resign and leave this place. However, I am still healthy, and I will also remain in good shape for the next ten years.”

Bill gulped his beer.

“Leyla, whether you go from here, college, get married, wherever you are, whatever you do, you will always be my little Leyla.”

Bill reached out and gently squeezed Leyla's tiny hand on the table.

The college entrance exam is imminent, but Leyla still shows no signs of changing her mind. Bill was so frustrated that he decided to arrange a conversation with her today.

“If you are married to the Etman family, you will live in the neighborhood, there is nothing better than that.”

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"Uncle."

Smiling, Bill patted Leyla's hand on the back with his palm.

"Think about this. I hope you marry a good man and build a true family. Make your home a den of life, filled with the sound of children's laughter. I'm sure Kyle will never let you be lonely.”

“...... We are also a real family.”

Leyla who was playing Bill's finger raised her head.

The eyes are red

“Uncle, we are also one family. Alone."

"… What is it… … ?"

Since coming from Lovita, this poor boy always carries a bag of tears full of sadness. Bill's eyes sometimes heat up and tear up when he looks at her.

“If you think we are a real family, you should listen to me more!”

Bill yelled and dropped an envelope he had prepared in front of Leyla.

Immediately after receiving and opening the envelope, Leyla's eyes widened. Inside the envelope was a train ticket to Ratz with some money to cover the cost of the trip.

“The test is next week. Study hard from tomorrow. You always work hard, but you still have to work harder to graduate. If you don't go to Latz, then I'll think of us as a fake family.”

"Uncle!"

“If you don't take the entrance exam, I won't see you again, Leyla.”

Bill had let go of his hand and sat with his shoulders straight. He looked at her with a sharp look. Nonetheless, his eyes were endlessly warm, without the slightest hint of threatening expression within them.

Leyla daydreamed with the envelope in her hand.

Bill looked at her deeply, wholeheartedly, at the figure of the intelligent and beautiful child before his eyes, things that for him had not changed and remained the same since he was a child.

After pondering for quite a while, Leyla finally made a difficult choice.

He glued his glittering beer glass in front of Bill with his still serious expression on his face.

As he did in the past, drawing his pupils as he tried to stuff his glass of apple juice into Bill's beer mug.

Bill happily banged his glass into his glass.

Leyla downed her beer at once and finished the glass completely. His cheeks quickly began to blush, but he remained steadfast in pretending to be a good drinker.

“Although we split up, we remain one real family, right?”

That stifling question almost made Bill cry again.

“Do not worry about it.”

In contrast to his outspoken manner of speaking, Bill smiled so warmly at him.

Leyla smiled as she watched him silently.

They are like a true family.

“You will definitely like it a lot. Natural history museum.”

Kyle once again spoke excitedly.

“This might be like heaven for you.”

He made a list of the must-visit places in Ratz and was very excited when he started talking about the Natural History Museum.

Outside the window of the carriage they were riding, the beautiful scenery of spring with flowers blooming greeted them everywhere.

This was Leyla's first visit to Ratz, and she was very happy.

But for Kyle, this is the umpteenth time he often visited his relatives in the capital so it is quite familiar with the city.

Kyle intends for Leyla to stay at her relatives' house, but Leyla politely declines her offer and chooses to stay at a small hotel nearby.

“You must be tired now. How about we go tomorrow?”

“I have to study for exams.”

“If it is about studying, what is the difference between studying now and studying later before the test day? You just need to make sure that you memorize what you have learned.”

"Wow. You look very confident, Mr. Etman.”

“Of course, Miss Lewellin.”

“Yeah, that's great.”

“Then, let's get married.”

Instead of throwing her rejection at him like in the past, Leyla directed her gaze at Kyle's face intensely. The sudden change in his reaction made Kyle a little surprised.

“K-why, what's up?”

“You know, Kyle. Can you imagine it?”

“Imagine what?”

“We marry each other and become husband-wife.”

As Leyla declared with a serious expression, Kyle's cheeks began to turn red.

"of course! You can imagine it! Please, do whatever you want!”

"I don't know. To me it's kind of weird. We're going to get married, have children.. You know, be in a relationship like that.”.

“What are you saying now? That's not strange at all.”

"really? We've learned about the act of reproduction, haven't we? How to make and deliver a baby, are we really going to do that?”

“Do... Birth, what?”.

Kyle doubted his ears. He felt like he had heard something inappropriate wrong, but Leyla, the one who had thrown the bomb words, actually had an innocent face without the slightest shamelessness on her face.

“Production action.”

Leyla threw the bomb a second time without batting an eye.

“There's nothing to be ashamed of, Kyle. Birds, flowers, and all other living things do it to preserve their species.”

“Do you know what you are saying right now?

"Yes. I'm just a little weak in geometry, but I'm pretty good at other subjects.”

Kyle's throat was choked, and he turned his head to the side to avoid looking straight ahead. He felt embarrassed when Leyla looked so proud of herself after saying all those indecent things.

“Isn't it a bit strange for us that we're going to do that, and...”.

“uh... .. Leyla, let's eat this.” Kyle quickly slipped a piece of sandwich between Leyla's chatty lips to stop her chattering.

Even though it wasn't summer yet, the temperature inside the train was, for some reason, as hot as being inside a combustion chamber.

Leyla chewed the sandwich deliciously. In between the bites of the sandwich, he muttered and opened his lips again.

“Eat this too.”

Before he could say anything, Kyle had already stuffed another cake into his mouth, holding him back from speaking any further.

'Please, don't say that again.'

Kyle held back everything he wanted to say and simply shook his head.

( 'When you start thinking bad things, think about my shovel.' )

Uncle Bill's voice suddenly sounded in his ear.

He greeted Kyle with an excellent and sinister smile when he came to the cottage to pick up Leyla this morning.

'Yes, shovel.'

Kyle's mind drifted back to Uncle Bill's giant earth shovel, which looked close to the weapon.

“So Kyle, I mean.. ..”

Leyla's lips began to twitch open once again after she finished all her cookies. Her appearance was messy yet beautiful, with cake crumbs smeared all over her tiny red lips.

“Leyla, if you say one more word.”

Kyle sighed and scratched the back of his head.

"Huh?"

“If you say one more word..”

He swallowed.

After digesting his feelings that had been held back by the shovel, Kyle made a tragic confession.

“I'll get off the train.”