“What is this…?”
“These are condensed copies of Mr. Bright’s hospital records. From what we can see, there appear to have been chronic issues since he began living at the estate. It does not seem to be an eating disorder.”
Haejin did not know it, but his medical examination records had been steadily reported to Lyle’s secretary’s office. The secretary managed them on his own initiative, on the grounds that Lyle’s schedule must not be disrupted by health-related complications. Haejin had always been examined at a Vermouth-affiliated hospital. After all, he visited frequently for hospital calls.
“I had been gathering them in case the issue persisted and required a report.”
At the time, none of the hospital records indicated a condition severe enough to interfere with the execution of the contract. So the secretary had simply waited. Had he reported such minor matters to Lyle, they would have been categorized as ‘useless’ information.
“……”
As Lyle read through the accumulated record of Haejin’s movements handed over by the secretary, his expression twisted sharply. The Beta secretary could not sense it, but the sheer absurdity of it nearly caused the pheromones he kept tightly suppressed to spill out all at once.
He had wondered why that thin frame irritated him every time he saw it. So this was the result.
Flipping through the documents irritably, Lyle frowned. Watching his reaction closely, the secretary offered an objective assessment.
“In any case, he does not appear suitable for a long-term contract.”
Ignoring the remark, Lyle continued reading—beyond the summary the secretary had prepared, into the detailed entries of when and why Haejin had visited the hospital.
According to the records, even the slightest physical discomfort prompted Haejin to seek medical attention. Likely because he visited for hospital calls on a regular basis, access had been convenient.
Tracing that careful pattern, Lyle felt something was misaligned again. If he could visit the hospital so faithfully, why had he allowed his body to waste away like that?
Frowning at behavior he could not understand, Lyle’s gaze suddenly shifted to a document the secretary had set aside.
“And what’s that?”
“Ah. That is the diagnostic record from his most recent hospitalization.”
As though drawn to it, Lyle picked up the separated file. Soon, he clenched his teeth. Contrary to his suspicion, Haejin’s drug tests were clean. There was nothing illicit. His physical condition, however, was simply in shambles.
And then something unexpected caught his eye.
“……Jin has a problem with his leg?”
“Yes. A complication from the accident. It was confirmed at the time of the initial contract. Since it did not interfere with contract performance, it was passed over.”
He had heard the report then, but it must not have seemed important enough to remember. According to the records, his left ankle had been shattered and later surgically repaired.
As Lyle studied that portion closely, the secretary added more, recalling the physician’s instructions given in Haejin’s absence.
“He is generally fine in daily life, but he was told he must not overexert himself.”
“……”
In that moment, an image replayed in Lyle’s mind—Haejin dragging one leg deliberately as though resisting. It had been when Lyle had grabbed him by the collar and pulled him roughly back into the estate.
If it had not been deliberate.
Haejin had said he had been wandering the city that day. That he had left alone, despite the estate car being available, to go for a hospital visit. If so, he must have overexerted himself. It would mean he had not been acting in rebellion at all.
A strange sensation crept over Lyle. Slowly, he lifted a hand and adjusted his tie.
No matter how he straightened the knot, his throat felt inexplicably tight.
***
Returning to the estate late at night, Lyle leaned back deeply into the chair in his study and exhaled. His morning schedule had been disrupted, and the day had been chaotic as a result. For a moment’s impulse, he had paid an unnecessarily troublesome price.
Before sleep, there remained one matter to settle. Most estate affairs were entrusted to the butler. Now he would have to inform him that Haejin would be returning.
“……Mr. Bright, you mean?”
“That’s right. Make the preparations.”
“Yes. And the room…?”
It should have been a command that ended in a single sentence, yet the butler’s question felt oddly pointed. For five years, Haejin had lived in the same room. Lyle had assumed only its occupant needed to return.
Then he recalled that the room had been rather remote.
It received no sunlight. It was far from the estate’s main facilities.
“Is Jin’s room in poor condition?”
“Well, that is… it has all been cleared.”
Not poor condition—disposed of entirely. The phrasing was strange. Lyle, who had been about to leave for his bedroom, paused instead. The butler’s expression had seemed uncomfortable for some time.
“I don’t recall giving such an order.”
“My apologies.”
The butler immediately bowed in contrition. Lyle waved a hand dismissively. He had spoken on impulse, struck by something that felt off. In truth, there had been no reason to maintain Haejin’s room.
Lyle’s own mood had been particularly unpleasant of late. Minor matters were likely handled at the butler’s discretion. He let it pass.
“In truth… there was little to clear. Most of the belongings had already been disposed of personally by Mr. Bright.”
“……Is that so?”
Unlike Lyle, who was too fatigued to pursue the matter closely, the butler was taut with tension.
As the head butler of the Vermouth household, he took pride in his position. The recent unsavory incident weighed heavily on him. It had been problematic enough to secretly place his own relative in the driver’s position. Worse still, the man had caused trouble.
No matter how laughable it seemed, the Omega’s hospital visits were stipulated in the contract. The butler had been obligated to uphold that condition. Haejin had sought him out on a rare occasion, and he had dismissed him out of annoyance. He had not imagined such consequences would follow.
And the conclusion had left even him uneasy. Only later had he realized that failing to inform him promptly of his parents’ deaths had been a serious miscalculation.
Still, he had been relieved when Haejin left without a word. He had assumed the matter closed. To think he would return.
In truth, the items remaining in Haejin’s room had already been taken by the servants, each claiming what they could. The butler had known that they had begun laying hands on Haejin’s belongings. He had chosen to overlook it. After all, the goods had been issued under his authority. Many were luxury items far beyond what someone like that—little better than a courtesan—deserved.
It should have stopped there.
Instead, emboldened by petty theft, the servants had acted the moment they learned Haejin had left. Such behavior had no place in the Vermouth estate. Yet identifying those involved now would serve no purpose. To explain their motives would inevitably expose the butler’s long-standing tolerance.
So it had to be concealed. Ideally, the Omega would leave the estate again of his own accord before he had the chance to speak.
“Then quite a bit will need to be prepared anew.”
“Yes, indeed. In any case, nothing was in a state fit for reuse… I will have the room prepared as before.”
Deliberately misunderstanding, and choosing words likely to provoke distaste, the butler observed his master’s expression tighten.
Recently, the butler himself had prepared a new Omega and confined him to a room. When he had attempted to strip him as usual, the Omega had spat curses at him. The Omegas visiting this estate of late had not been compliant. It seemed the return of Haejin was a reluctant measure of necessity.
But Lyle issued an unexpected command.
“No. Change the room location.”
If everything had to be prepared from scratch anyway, there was no need to cling to that room. There was no particular need to relocate him either. Yet Lyle simply stared ahead with darkened eyes, recalling something.
The image of that man standing drenched in rain outside his isolated doorway.
“Give him a guest room in the main house.”
“……In the main house?”
The main house was where Lyle himself resided. And the guest rooms there were reserved for important guests of the Vermouth family.
The butler repeated the words in stunned disbelief, but Lyle did not waver. Few guests were important enough to be received at the Vermouth main estate. Assigning one of the spare rooms to Haejin would do no harm.
“Is there a problem?”
“No, sir. Not at all.”
Yet the butler’s reaction was strange. Something about him had been faintly irritating for some time, though Lyle could not pinpoint why. He simply regarded him.
Haejin’s thin body surfaced in his thoughts again.
“Jin has been skipping meals, I hear.”
At the calm question, the butler felt cold sweat gather down his back. Had that Omega said something?
Carefully gauging Lyle’s expression, he chose his words.
“Mr. Bright tends not to eat very well…”
So, as expected, Haejin had been fussy with food. Even so, Lyle’s doubt remained. No matter how particular a guest might be, was it not the butler’s duty to manage and accommodate him?
“Then you should have made him eat, even if you had to hold him down. Adjust to his preferences. Isn’t that how you treat a guest?”
“Th-that is…”
The butler lowered his head, face troubled. Watching him, Lyle clicked his tongue inwardly.
The butler had served this estate since his late father’s time. Occasionally, he behaved in ways that grated. He still seemed to see Lyle as a child and handled estate matters at his own discretion. At times, that attitude encroached subtly upon the master’s authority.
Lyle had been aware of it.
And he had tolerated it.