It’s Not Night - Chapter 171.2

Begging and begging. It was his only option.

“I… I was wrong.”

“…”

Andra looked down at the man kneeling before her. His large frame could no longer grasp even the hem of her garment. He knew his guilt. He questioned whether he truly had the right to claim he loved her.

Andra blinked her eyes. Her tears continue to fall to the floor.

“I hate you, Dustin.”

Only now could Andra fully understand the relationship between Anat and Dean. Why Anat couldn’t let go of Dean after what he had done. Why she had created Hezel and slept here. Why Nera had given her such a trial.

Andra wiped her wet cheeks with the back of her hand.

“And yet, I think I love you.”

Foolishly.

She scoffed at herself.

That night was particularly long. Andra clung to Dustin and wept continuously, and Dustin silently held her. By the time their long ordeal ended, Andra’s eyelids were too swollen from crying to properly open. Limp in his arms, Dustin reverently kissed her shoulder and neck.

“….I might regret this one day.”

Andra, leaning against Dustin’s chest, spoke softly. Choosing Dustin Airak might end up being the biggest blemish of her life. When love showed its raw and harsh side, she might regret all of this. What would Dustin do then?

“It’s okay to regret. I’ll take care of everything.”

“….That would be a relief.”

Andra spoke dryly, closing her eyes. As long as it wasn’t total ruin, it was fine. She sighed lightly as a hand caressed her stomach.

“I miss my family already. The East too…”

What was happening outside right now? Andra thought of the people she had left behind. Her father, her brothers, the princess, the prince, and the people of the academy… she even missed the servants of her family in the East. They were all precious to her.

“….What’s the East like?”

Buried in the nape of Andra’s neck, Dustin inhaled deeply before asking cautiously. Andra was silent for a moment.

The East… A land of plenty. A climate mild all year round. Then she thought of the vast golden wheat fields of her homeland and the great trees. Just the thought somewhat calmed her heart.

“It’s a place you can’t help but love. The people are kind… If you saw the golden wheat fields there, you wouldn’t easily leave.”

“Probably not. There’s nothing like that in the North. Keep talking. I’ll try to imagine.”

“….When riding through the vast wheat fields, at some point you see a hill. There’s a giant tree on it, so wide that even if you stretch your arms out, you can’t take it all. I loved to nap under it or just watch the wheat sway in the wind.”

On particularly beautiful days, she would persuade the kitchen maids to picnic there. Andra unwittingly smiled, reminiscing about those days. Spreading a mat under the shade the tree provided, lying down, and looking up at the sky—no resort could rival that peace.

It was sad to think she couldn’t visit that place again as long as she was stuck in Hezel.

“If only we could go there. You’d love it, Dustin. It’s such a peaceful place. So if we ever leave Hezel…”

Andra’s voice trailed off into thinness, and soon she drifted into sleep. As her breathing evened out, Dustin gently kissed her forehead and held her closer in his arms. He could feel the small thumping of her heart against him.

Thump, thump, thump…

Throughout the night, Dustin had endlessly explored Andra’s depths, and repeatedly, he wished he could undo everything. All his actions towards Andra, including the necklace. If only he could go back and correct those mistakes. He would gladly give his heart for that opportunity.

‘But such things won’t happen.’

The past can’t be undone. This was a painful truth he had felt deeply since he started loving Andra. He was likely doomed to spend his life in regret, clinging to a woman who loved yet loathed him. That was his path of atonement.

Now, what he needed to do was…

Dustin got up carefully. After making sure Andra was deeply asleep, he slipped out of the bed, put on his clothes, and picked up his sheathed sword leaning against the wall. The blade gleamed sharply in the moonlight as he drew it slightly.

Before stepping out, he approached the sleeping Andra once more.

“I’ll be back.”

After arranging her disheveled golden hair, he pressed a deep kiss onto Andra’s cheek.