The vast estate was an old one, passed down through generations. As a result, there were many important elements that required meticulous management. Aside from the former head butler who had resigned upon Lyle’s parents’ deaths, he had served here the longest. He had been personally marked as successor by that former butler.
More than anything, the greatest reason was that Lyle himself had no real attachment to this grand but hollow estate. It was here that his parents had been discovered, dead in an absurd manner. If occupying this mansion had not symbolized control over the Vermouth family itself, he would have long ago relocated to a penthouse in the city.
In any case, this time the butler’s conduct had crossed a line that genuinely grated on him. In particular, the frequency of mistakes related to Haejin suddenly felt excessive. Lyle pointed it out without hesitation.
“You’ve been disappointing me lately.”
“……My apologies.”
The butler immediately bent at the waist, assuming a posture of loyalty before the young master of the Vermouth household. Lyle looked down at him silently, eyes narrowing.
An unpleasant sense of unease lingered, gnawing at him.
***
Several days passed.
Though his head still felt slightly heavy, Lyle handled his packed schedule without faltering. His health influenced stock prices; he was accustomed to concealing discomfort.
Today, however, a middle-aged man sat in the chairman’s office. An Alpha, he had been glaring at Lyle, who was immersed in work, barely concealing his displeasure.
“Ha……”
Only after finishing an urgent matter did Lyle finally lift his head from the desk. Showing no attempt to hide that he had forgotten the man’s presence, he rose and moved toward the sofa where he sat.
“Please keep it brief.”
“You brat, keeping your elder waiting like this—”
“Mind your words. I didn’t invite you. You forced your way in. Even bribed one of my secretaries to do it.”
“…….”
Daniel Vermouth’s thick jaw twitched as he studied Lyle’s expression. He had disguised his visit as that of a concerned uncle. How had Lyle known about the bribed secretary?
Watching Lyle tilt his chin at him arrogantly, Daniel ground his teeth. That little boy had grown far beyond expectation.
After Lyle’s father—Daniel’s older brother—had died suddenly, Daniel had entertained grand ambitions. He believed he could become the master of the vast Vermouth family in place of the still-young Lyle.
But Lyle had grown rapidly and overtaken him. After a protracted inheritance lawsuit, Daniel had lost. Since that day, Lyle had maintained this insufferably arrogant attitude, fueling Daniel’s resentment further.
“Your business?”
As if weary, Lyle rubbed the space between his brows. Daniel’s face was flushed as though about to burst. He should at least recognize that not throwing him out immediately was courtesy enough toward kin.
True to the Vermouth name, Daniel quickly composed himself. Then, with a calculating look, he probed.
“I hear you’ve been bringing quite a few Omegas into the estate lately.”
Irritation surged instantly. To intrude into a busy man’s office and speak of nothing but this.
Lyle knew well that during family councils, his condition was a matter of concern. They wanted a legitimate heir to serve as a central figure. That was unavoidable.
But he could not fathom why this warranted an unannounced visit.
“Has that aversion of yours improved?”
“Keep your concerns to yourself. If that’s all, leave.”
“You really are—”
His uncle, driven by inferiority, occasionally reached beyond what he could grasp. He had failed against Lyle’s father and still remained consumed by greed.
Lyle summoned security at once. Realizing what he had done, Daniel shot to his feet and glared before leaving on his own, unwilling to be dragged out.
Watching that pride-bound Alpha depart, Lyle did not conceal his disgust.
“Chairman.”
“Come in.”
The secretary, having offered a brief greeting to the departing uncle, called to him. Lyle, who had been about to return to his desk, sank back onto the sofa instead. He had wrapped up his earlier task and intended to clear his head briefly.
“Dismiss the bribed secretary. And ensure visits like that cannot happen again.”
“Shall we block access entirely?”
“No. Make him schedule appointments.”
“Understood. The bribed employee has already been processed for resignation.”
Lyle nodded, pressing down the emotions that had flared. Faces from his parents’ funeral flashed through his mind—relatives staring at him as if he were something to be consumed. Disgust was an emotion he knew intimately. His surroundings had cultivated it.
The secretary then reported matters that could not be discussed in Daniel’s presence. Lyle issued instructions while reviewing his afternoon schedule.
At that moment, the secretary’s phone rang. After checking it, he made a note in his work folder.
“What is it?”
“Mr. Bright’s discharge date is today. I was about to send a car.”
At the sound of that name, a quiet ripple passed through Lyle. Rain had been falling since morning, the droplets tapping insistently against the office’s large windows. Haejin, whose condition had not been good, had remained hospitalized.
He had occasionally received reports that Haejin was behaving quietly. So today was discharge day.
“I’ll go as well.”
“Sir?”
Seeing the secretary’s surprise, Lyle’s brow twitched. The words had slipped out impulsively.
“I’ll pick him up on my way home. The hospital is nearby. We also need to finalize the contract.”
This time, there was reason. The hospital lay along the route back to the estate. And in any case, to conclude matters with Haejin, they would need to face each other.
“Understood.”
The secretary answered without further question. Lyle turned his gaze to the rain streaking the window and deliberately ignored the impulse that lingered.
***
“……”
“……”
Suffocating silence filled the car. Sensing the atmosphere, the secretary occasionally glanced back while operating the tablet in his hands. Lyle’s work ending did not mean his own did.
Haejin, waiting after hearing a car would come for him, was briefly startled to find Lyle inside. Still, seeing the secretary in the passenger seat, he assumed there must be a reason and entered quietly.
They rarely encountered each other outside pheromone discharge. Even during discharge, they did not truly face one another. Naturally, heavy silence settled between them.
Lyle’s pheromones were always impeccably controlled. Haejin could not read his intentions. He was clumsy at sensing or regulating pheromones to begin with. Raised among Betas, he had manifested as a Recessive Omega only at nineteen, leaving him little opportunity to learn.
Fortunately, the car reached the estate without incident. As he stepped out, Haejin felt an inexplicable sense of release—unaware that behind him, Lyle was carefully reading the faint trace of it.
“This way.”
The secretary led. The butler, who had come to receive them, walked beside him to guide Haejin to his room. The butler’s covert glance toward Haejin held a trace of shock.
No one spoke. The silent procession resumed. Though he had received treatment, walking after so long left Haejin’s leg feeling heavy. Rain always made it ache more—a lingering consequence of the accident.
To avoid showing an unsightly limp, Haejin tightened his thigh muscles. Then he sensed a gaze directed at his leg and turned slightly.
“……?”
But Lyle was simply looking ahead.
Before the strangeness faded, confusion followed. They were not heading toward his old room, nor toward a reception room. They were moving toward the main house—a place he had never entered.
Before a large guest room there, Lyle spoke.
“You’ll use this room from now on.”
The door opened wide, revealing an interior clearly prepared with care. Bright, spacious, with a large window offering a clear view outside.
Watching the rain strike the glass, Haejin could not dispel the unsettled feeling that had followed him since he stepped into the car from the hospital.
“……”
As he entered, Lyle observed Haejin’s expression. The confusion in it made his heart beat strangely.
Yet after glancing once toward the window, Haejin’s face settled into its usual calm. The brief flicker of interest dispersed without trace.
Seeing that face threaten to empty itself again, Lyle felt sudden impatience.
“The contract.”
Once the butler departed after showing the room, the secretary placed documents on the table in the small sitting area attached to it. Remembering his previous room—with barely a private bathroom—Haejin sat awkwardly on the sofa.
The soft fabric brushing his fingertips only deepened the unfamiliarity. The room was far too spacious; the bathroom could not even be seen at a glance.
Why assign such a room to him?
In truth, it did not matter. If one had no intention of accepting what was given, such things held no meaning at all.