C43 — [2.6 – The Rose Manor]

“…… Please come in.”

 

After a brief moment of stiffness, the old count tried to maintain a superficial calm, the rules of etiquette engraved into his bones allowed him to maintain his serious and dignified side.

 

 

Though only he knew how impolitely his heart was beating in his chest at the moment.

 

 

In silence, he invited the blonde youth in front of him into the room, and just as in yesterday’s unpleasant fantasy, the blonde-haired, blue-eyed youth walked in unguarded.

 

 

The beautiful young man sat slightly formal on the sofa chair where he often sat and read, his clear blue eyes full of innocence and purity.

 

Angelic purity.

 

 

The polar opposite of an older man with a dirty mind like his.

 

 

Just like what the youth had written on the note earlier, he had come this time to enter the secret library.

 

 

And it seemed that he wasn’t intimidated by the alarmist words that the old count had previously written in his reply.

 

 

Even when communicating with him face to face, this extremely beautiful young man did not show a trace of fear, but instead revealed a lovely smile, his voice full of expectations.

 

 

It made people simply unable to bear to reject any of his requests.

 

 

“…… I wonder if Your Excellency can agree to my request?”

 

 

Seeing that the old count didn’t answer for a long time, the blonde-haired youth’s voice was a little apprehensive, and uneasiness spread in his azure pupils.

 

 

The old count stared blankly at Jiu Shu’s clear blue eyes, his fingers holding the cane tightened violently, as if he wanted to agree immediately, but his throat was so dry that he couldn’t make a single sound.

 

 

The knot in his throat covered by his collar rolled noiselessly for a while, and for some reason, he suddenly avoided the line of sight of Jiu Shu in a rather wretched manner.

 

 

Because everything now was too similar to the old count’s previous fantasy.

 

 

In his fantasy, this fragile and ignorant young man would show a tearful expression because of his indifference, and his voice would be trembling and begging.

 

 

He’d even say that he could do anything to him, as long as he could go to the library… Such thoughts made the old count feel shameless.

 

 

Simply like those noble scum with a head full of eroticism.

 

 

Filthy and despicable.

 

 

On the opposite side, Jiu Shu looked at the old count who was avoiding his line of sight, and a hint of laughter seemed to flash through his blue eyes.

 

He hooked up the corner of his mouth, his voice getting softer and softer: “…… As long as I can obtain your consent, I’ll do anything no matter what.”

 

In this dimly lit ambiguous room, Jiu Shu’s voice soft words was as if it was full of some kind of suggestive meaning.

 

 

The old count who originally had his eyes downcast on the opposite side raised his head violently, as if he had been shocked, his slightly cold jawline tightened, and his body seemed to have become even more rigid.

 

 

“No matter what.” Jiu Shu’s beautiful blue eyes squinted as he repeated softly.

 

 

On the two sofa chairs that were extremely close to each other, the blonde-haired, blue-eyed young man changed his original seated posture and leaned forward slightly, as if he was trying hard to persuade this cold His Excellency the Count in front of him.

 

 

That serious and urgent look made him involuntarily create an illusion, as if as long as it was said, the young man in front of him would really unconditionally do as he was told.

 

No matter what.

 

 

In an instant, the blood gurgling in his veins seemed to become extraordinarily hot, making the old Count’s brain dizzy as he wordlessly opened his lips, his pitch-black eyes widening slightly.

 

 

It seemed that he couldn’t believe what was in front of him, couldn’t believe that his unpleasant fantasies were reappearing in reality.

 

 

In the fantasy…..

 

In those images, the blonde youth would be forced by the oppression of power and reveal a fragile and helpless look, his imprisoned white wrists would be strangled with red marks by a silk ribbon, and the circles of his eyes would be faintly red ……

 

“……”

Jiu Shu’s gaze swept over the old Count’s flushed ears, the amusement in his blue eyes deepened, he knew that the object of discipline this time probably didn’t dare to take the initiative, so it would be better for him to take more initiative.

 

And just as Jiu Shu wanted to strike while the iron was hot and simply establish a relationship today, the old count who had been silent on the opposite side suddenly spoke out, “I agree.”

 

 

“There is no need for you to do anything, just go get the key from the butler in a while.”

 

The old Count’s magnetic voice was low, velvety and silky, and his cold tone carried the detachment of rejecting others.

 

It was as if what sat in front of him was really just a strange candidate that he had only met a handful of times and nothing more.

 

Personally interrupting this fantasy that was about to come true, the old count’s face seemed to grow paler and paler, a bloodless whiteness in the dim light.

 

 

His gloved fingers gripped the cane in his hand tightly, and his spine in the chair was as taut as a string about to break, as if he were trying his best to conceal his true emotions, not daring to expose those unpleasant thoughts.

 

Such a distance would be good now, those dirty fantasies should never have existed and would only ruin that young man.

 

 

He didn’t know what he was afraid of, the old count suppressed all those fantasies in his heart, and the tips of his ears, which were originally red, turned back to their original pale color.

 

 

The corners of his mouth also pursed up seriously, seemingly changing back to the original solemn and indifferent old count.

 

 

“……”

 

 

Jiu Shu looked at the old count with this appearance, with helplessness in his eyes, and when he raised his eyes again, he still tenderly curved those azure eyes with a moving smile.

 

“Thank you, Your Excellency, your generosity is unmatched!”

 

 

The blonde-haired youth’s voice was as soft as honey, as if he was just a young man filled with joy because his heart’s desire had been fulfilled.

 

 

And this overjoyed young man was clearly as innocent and pure as a child, and in order to express his inner joy he even gave the old count with a cold expression a close face-to-face hug.

 

“Thank you very much indeed!”

 

The blonde-haired youth who suddenly approached made the old count’s eyes widen as he felt a warm and soft body appear in his arms, the soft and slender limbs of the youth carrying a rich body fragrance.

 

Unlike the pungent perfume smell of those debauched aristocrats nowadays, the youth’s body had a fresh and pleasant smell like roses.

 

 

His snow-white cheeks were also intimately pressed against the old count’s mask, it didn’t feel frivolous, but only allowed him to feel the genuine joy of youth.

 

 

Their warm breathing intertwined smelled turned the old count’s pale and cold body temperature into a scorching heat.

 

 

Until the blonde youth excused himself and left the room, the old count didn’t turn back from his daze.

 

 

His eyes stared blankly at his palms, which seemed to still have the warmth of the embrace from earlier.

 

 

The fantasies that had been suppressed were suddenly uncontrollable and kept flashing in his brain, and the old Count’s breathing gradually became ragged.

 

 

He didn’t know how long it took before he snapped back to his senses, and then there was a long silence.

 

 

Looking at the chair where Jiu Shu sat, he seemed to want to do something, but in the end, he restrained himself and withdrew his fingers from touching the chair.

 

 

Getting up, he sat down in front of the desk and picked up the paper rose he had folded earlier, his eyes hidden under the mask seemed to be in a trance.

 

 

He looked at this exquisite paper rose, his pale and slender fingers slightly tightened, seemingly sighing at his own cowardice, but he also seemed to be grateful that he had not crossed that bottom line.

 

 

The old count knew that the ignorant young man just now probably didn’t realize what kind of dangerous situation he was in, and didn’t know how the pale and ugly count Norman in front of him was fantasizing about something unpleasant in his mind.

 

 

Those dirty and rotten fantasies, out of the most evil side of human nature, would only plunge that uninitiated young man into a quagmire from which he could not break free, so the old count hoped that he would never know about it.

 

 

He hoped that the beautiful and lovely young man could always keep his innocence and purity, and not be polluted by those dirty and filthy things.

 

 

Because he was older than the young man, he understood the rules of this world better, and understood that there were times when some feelings just needed to be buried in the bottom of the heart.

 

 

Showing them would only ruin the other person.

 

 

“……”

 

 

Yes, as long as it was like this, he was already satisfied.

 

 

The old count numbly repeated this thought in his mind, over and over again, as if this was his deepest and truest thoughts.

 

 

Only the fingers holding the paper rose trembled, as if someone was silently grieving for something.

 

 

The night became deeper and deeper, and the lights around the castle gradually went out, leaving only the dim darkness within the manor.

 

 

Inside the room, Jiu Shu looked across the window at the room that was tightly covered by curtains and sighed softly.

 

 

The objects of discipline in this world seemed to be even more difficult to deal with than in the last world.

 

 

Although he had become more mature than the last world because of his age, and his demeanor and speech seemed calm and rational, he also fell into hesitation because of his overly rational thinking, and was bound by all kinds of concerns, but instead, he didn’t have the outspoken possessiveness of his love in the last world, and became even more cowardly and cowering.

 

 

Jiu Shu could see that the old Count’s idea seemed to be not to want to destroy him.

 

 

After all, a dying man with a young man who had just come of age, anyone would know that the young man would be ruined for the rest of his life.

 

 

The object of discipline was concerned about the age difference between them, and seemed to feel that as the older man he needed to make considerations for the sake of his life.

 

 

For the old count, the age difference between them was an unbridgeable gap, and if he couldn’t untie his heart, then even if Jiu Shu confessed his love to the old count in person, all he would get was a rejection.

 

 

What a stubborn guy.

 

 

Jiu Shu thought so, but he couldn’t help but laugh.

 

 

He was exactly the same as before.

 

Jiu Shu sighed and picked up the key he received from the butler with a gentle gaze.

 

 

It was okay, they still had a long time to slowly untie their hearts.

 

 

The next day, the sky was still gray, and dust so fine that it was invisible floated in the air, making it hard to breathe.

 

 

The old count woke up early, washed up and then sat down at the table, scrutinizing the note he had written last night over and over again, making sure that he hadn’t revealed the slightest flaw, and that every word was clean and dignified, without a single mistake before he rested.

 

 

Today his face was even paler than usual, and the fine lines on his face were even more pronounced, getting older and uglier by the day.

 

 

And closer to death.

 

 

The old count looked at himself in the mirror for a long time, wearing a mask that only revealed the lower half of his face that was slightly raised, revealing a jaw that was barely decent, and seemed to barely fit the aesthetics of the youth.

 

“Master, your breakfast.”

 

 

The butler timidly ordered his servant to bring breakfast onto the long table, knowing that the old count was in a bad mood today and would definitely not like to dine in the dining room, so he directly brought the food over.

 

 

However, the old count didn’t seem to have much of an appetite and waved his hand and told the butler to back off, the deep color of disgust in his dark pupils scared the butler so much that he shivered and busied himself with retreating.

 

 

He didn’t even dare to ask whether that key yesterday was actually an order from the old count.

 

 

The butler actually had little doubt, after all, with the old count’s fierce reputation, few people would risk lying and being discovered to ask for an insignificant key to the library.

He just couldn’t figure out why the old count, who had always been brutal, was suddenly so gentle with the young man called Angus.

 

 

The butler could only guess that the young man’s beauty had finally warmed up the old count’s cold-blooded heart, and at the same time, he couldn’t help but worry a bit about Jiu Shu.

 

With the old count’s tyrannical nature, it would be bad if he really fell for that young man.

 

 

The butler thought with regret, having the feeling of watching an extremely beautiful flower being destroyed, but he didn’t dare to voice out his thoughts, shrinking his head like a quail and exiting the room.

 

 

The old count did not pay attention to the thoughts of the subordinates, he just looked at the note in his hands like he was out of his mind.

 

 

It wasn’t until his body, which hadn’t eaten for two days, was so hungry that he had breakfast without knowing what he ate. Then, he sat at the table calmly, waiting for the agreed time to arrive.
 

 

Time always passed by, and the old count felt that he had waited a long, long time before the sun finally reached the sky directly overhead and dispelled the slight gloom floating in the sky.

 

 

He picked up the paper rose and note, grabbed his cane and left the room.

 

Walking through the four corridors, the old count heard the flippant voices of the candidates coming from the other corridors, words about s.ex and dirty things to the extreme.

 

 

The old count frowned, he seemed to suddenly realize that the clean young man had been surrounded by these stupid shallow fools all day long, and those filthy words might have overwhelmed the young man long ago.

 

 

Perhaps it was time to get rid of them all at some point.

 

 

The old count had long had this idea, but that seemed too obvious, leaving only this beautiful young man, in the eyes of outsiders was like a forbidden domain.

 

 

 

The old count could imagine how the aristocrats, who only knew how to eat, drink, and have fun all day long and were full of lustful thoughts, would talk about Jiu Shu. He didn’t want him to be fantasized about in such a sordid way.

 

Thinking of this, the old count glanced at those noble youths at the other end of the corridor in disgust and quickened his pace.

 

 

But it wasn’t without a solution, he could eliminate most of them and just leave a small portion behind, that way, that beautiful young man wouldn’t be suspected.

 

 

Wouldn’t be treated as an interesting topic.

 

 

And when he was on his deathbed, he would make a will to give all his property to Jiu Shu, that way, the relationship between them would have another layer, seemingly more intimate than a mere pen-pal relationship, without destroying Jiu Shu.

 

 

This was the old Count’s fondest fantasy for the future.

 

Walking to the shadows of the cloister, the old Count left both the rose and the note on the bench as usual.tt

 

 

Then, like a young boy waiting for the arrival of his beloved, he wandered in the corridor until he saw the slender and tall figure from afar, and then he hid his body completely behind the pier.

 

 

In the gradually clear line of sight, the youth’s half-length blonde hair was loosely tied at the back of his head, and the slightly disheveled hair set off his delicate white skin, which made people fascinated as if they couldn’t move their eyes.

 

 

The blonde youth sat on the bench as usual, looking at the paper roses and notes, his face with a smile had a kind of pure beauty, the old count would look at it for a long time every time, and this time was no exception.

 

 

His eyes carefully peered at the youth on the bench until sunset and watched Jiu Shu pack up and leave, feeling that the time had passed a little too quickly, so quickly that he didn’t even notice.

 

 

Jiu Shu’s figure quickly disappeared from view, the old count hid the despondent emotion in his eyes and picked up the note on the bench with some anticipation.

 

 

He looked forward to the youth’s reply each time, and each reply was carefully treasured by him, to be his most precious treasure when the relationship could no longer be continued in the future.

 

[Yesterday I went to see Count Norman ……]

 

The note mentioned his name again, and the old count seemed a little nervous, his palms slightly sweaty, and it was a long time before he continued to read on.

 

 

He was afraid that he would read words that expressed disgust, but he also didn’t want this simple young man to think he was a good person.

 

 

Perhaps even the old count himself didn’t know exactly what he wanted to see, he just lowered his head and carefully read the contents of the note.

 

 

Reading the various descriptions that Jiu Shu had given of Count Norman, saying that he was somewhat cold, but was actually very warm-hearted.

 

 

[He seems like a very good person to get along with, not as bad as you say, please don’t say anything bad about Count Norman in the future].

 

 

The old count looked at the line somewhat at a loss for words, a complex emotion that he couldn’t tell if it was happiness or what, perhaps he was happy, but he just didn’t dare to admit it.

 

It was as if once he admitted it he would no longer be able to suppress the flames rising within him, unable to control those ugly desires.

 

[I really hope to see the Count a few more times in the future.]

 

 

The young man’s words, even though they were just a few lines on a note, seemed so hot that they could melt one’s soul.

 

 

The old count touched his burning ears and fell silent, the corners of his mouth lifted slightly as if he was somewhat joyful.

 

 

The eyes under the mask, however, looked bleak, and he sat down on the bench, his fingers stroking the wrinkles on his own face.

 

The setting sun outside the manor that had gone to the end of the mountain range stretched his shadow long, making it look more and more lonely.

 

 

It was not until the sky was completely dark that the old count silently got up and left.

 

 

The following afternoon.

 

 

Jiu Shu sat on a bench, resting his cheeks on the old Count’s reply, his blue pupils glancing at the shadows not far from his side.

 

 

Again, the paper was full of slanderous words, but perhaps the words spoken yesterday had had some effect, and this time the wording was a little lighter, but it was still flip-flopping on how bad Count Norman was, and how it would be best not to go near him again.

 

 

“……” Jiu Shu’s eyes curved from the force of his smile and he wrote a paragraph on the note.

 

 

Waiting for sunset to come around again, the old count watched Jiu Shu fade out of his sight and stepped out of the shadows slightly dispiritedly, picking up the note on the bench.

 

Just as he wanted to read Jiu Shu’s reply as usual, his pupils suddenly dilated, as if he had seen something unbelievable.

 

[The Count is very nice, for the first time someone has been so nice to me, I think I’m kind of falling in love with the Count.]

 

 

[There’s no need to say bad things about Count Norman, next time you say it, let’s not contact each other again.]

 

 

Sitting upright on the bench, the man with a straight posture seemed to be at a loss for words for the first time, the cane in his hand fell to the ground, and the tips of his ears were almost so red that they were dripping blood.

 

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TN:

See ya tomorrow ✌️