It’s Not Night - Chapter 170.2

By now, Dustin’s voice was trembling slightly. His rigid face, if inspected closely, was filled with insecurity. He was struggling to keep it hidden, fighting not to show how small he felt. He already felt small enough, looking up at her as he was.

Andra was silent for a moment. When she spoke, her words were brief.

“Let’s talk inside.”

“Andra…”

“Let’s talk inside. Do you think I have nothing to say?”

At first glance, her expression had turned icy. It reminded Dustin of a look he had seen before. It was clear that she was deeply upset. Realizing this, Dustin had no choice but to follow her back to their quarters.

Once inside, Andra tossed the documents she’d received from Helic onto the table and exhaled sharply. Her anger had been simmering all the way back.

Why did she smile at Helic?

Dustin Airak, you shouldn’t talk like that.

You say you love me, yet you put me down and blame me for everything?

Her stomach churned with a mix of hatred and betrayal. Andra let out a bitter laugh, her body shaking. In that moment, she felt foolish for ever admitting she liked him. How could she not feel foolish, knowing she’d once liked a man like this? She choked back the sobs rising in her chest.

Instead, she spun around and confronted Dustin, her voice raised in anger.

“My smile was the problem?! That bothered you so much?! Because I didn’t smile at you but I smiled at Sir Helic?!”

Smiling at Helic hadn’t meant anything special. It was just a simple, harmless conversation. The kind that’s easily forgotten once you turn away. She had smiled because the conversation was light and pleasant. It wasn’t because she had any feelings for Helic.

More importantly, she hadn’t smiled at Dustin because every time she looked at him, countless thoughts crowded her mind. Their relationship. The memories of the past. The problems that needed solving. She knew Dustin was trying, but she couldn’t bring herself to smile easily.

And now, without understanding this, he was questioning why she smiled at Helic and not at him.

A petty feeling of resentment surged up within her again.

“Do you think I’m like you?”

“…”

“Do you think I’m like you, who went around with any woman?”

“Andra, I…”

Dustin’s mouth went dry. He couldn’t deny his past, filled with numerous women before meeting Andra. It was undeniably a dark part of his history. But back then, women were merely partners for mutual physical pleasure to him. He never imagined he would love someone so deeply he’d give his life for them.

Especially not someone like Andra Avelin.

“I wouldn’t be so reckless with my body like you.”

“That was…”

“Don’t make excuses. Not everyone lives like you. Most people don’t change partners every month to satisfy their desires.”

Each of Andra’s words struck Dustin’s heart deeply. Knowing his past, she didn’t hold back. She was furious and lashed out at him without restraint.

“Do you think I’m like you? You filthy bastard… You lived like that your whole life, so you can’t think any other way.”

“…Why are you talking like this?”

“And what about you? Why do you talk to me like that? Do I look easy to you? Just because I smiled, you think I have feelings for him? How can you say that? Especially you!”

Noticing the tears welling up in Andra’s eyes, Dustin realized he’d made a terrible mistake. Once again, he had let his emotions take over, saying things without thinking.

Andra, determined not to let the tears fall, forced herself to speak through her pain.

“Or is that what you want from me? Do you really want that?”

“No, Andra, no. I was wrong. Please don’t say that. I lost my mind for a moment and spouted nonsense. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it. Please, believe me…”

When Dustin reached out to her, Andra slapped his hand away roughly. His face turned pale with desperation. He knelt in front of her, pleading, but Andra only looked at him with contempt. Her entire body was trembling.

“Fine, just like the women you’ve been with, I could do whatever I want too. We’re in Hezel after all. No one here cares that I’m Lady Avelin. Isn’t that right?”

“Andra…!”

“What? It’s okay for you, but not for me?”

Pushing Dustin away, who kept grabbing her, Andra’s voice was cold, but her eyes shimmered with tears on the brink of falling.

“The magic is gone now. I’m sure there are men here who could satisfy me just as well as you. Maybe even better!”

The thought of Andra with another man made Dustin’s mind go blank. The image of her beneath someone else, calling another man’s name, taking another man inside her, and accepting his seed… No. He couldn’t bear the thought.

“A, Andra…”

“You think I can’t?!”

Andra’s resolute voice, making the veins in her neck strained, sounded almost like a threat to leave him. Dustin, feeling utterly desperate, crawled to her like a dog and clung to her clothes. His hands shook violently as he begged.

“Please, don’t do this. I was wrong, so wrong. Don’t say…. things like that, please. I’ll do better. I just… I wanted to see you smile at me so badly. I was so desperate for it that I said whatever came to mind. It was my fault!”

“Let go! If I really had feelings for Sir Helic, I wouldn’t feel so wronged! How could you…?”

Andra couldn’t finish her sentence.

Suddenly, tears she had been holding back fell in torrents. It soaked Dustin’s trembling hands that had been grabbing her dress. He looked up at her, seeing her wounded blue eyes filled with tears.