It’s Not Night - Chapter 196.1

Andra wasn’t sure how to begin talking about Dustin and their story. Regardless, the important thing was that it would be pointless to upset Albert, as it wouldn’t benefit anyone.

“Father, there’s something I’d like to tell you…”

“I won’t oppose it for now.”

“…What?”

Andra, momentarily doubting her ears, looked up at Albert. Albert clenched his fist and began to speak to his daughter in a calm and soothing voice.

“Child, do you know why I gave you ten days?”

“That’s…”

“It wasn’t simply because I was angry with you. I thought both you and I needed time.”

He wanted his daughter to have time to clear her thoughts and make the most rational decision possible. When you’re in a rush, even matters that could be resolved often end up complicating things.

He also needed some time himself. He didn’t want to raise his voice and argue with his daughter in front of everyone.

Thus, the ten days Andra had spent in confinement, after returning from the south to the east, had been both a break for Andra and an opportunity for Albert to calm his mind.

“We’re standing on opposite sides, and the gap between us… I thought it might never be bridged. So, I believed we needed some space.”

Albert looked at his daughter. Like his other children, she resembled him. Among his strong sons, she was his only daughter and youngest, so he had always been particularly protective of her. She was the child who had grown up without any memories of her mother, making her even dearer to him.

“So, child, I’m giving you an opportunity.”

“…An opportunity?”

“Yes, I’m giving you an opportunity to persuade me.”

Andra’s blue eyes widened in surprise. Albert smiled gently at her, and though Andra may have thought she didn’t resemble her mother in any way, at moments like this, she was more like her mother than anyone else.

“Explain to me why you must love Lord Airak. Why must you marry him? Explain it to me so that I can understand and be convinced.”

“…Is this for real, Father?”

“Have I ever gone back on my word? I don’t make promises I can’t keep.”

Andra felt a lump in her throat at his unchanging, gentle tone.

In truth, Andra had expected Albert’s opposition to be the strongest. He was a conservative nobleman and had lived through times when the conflicts between their two families had been more severe.

“Child…”

As Andra remained silent, trying to hold back her tears, Albert called out to her, gently coaxing. Andra fought back the tears and managed to speak.

“Thank you, Father. I thought you… would oppose it. Honestly, I thought that was the only reasonable response.”

“Oh, that’s not true. Times change, and sometimes there are things we need to accept. Andra, you are that kind of presence in my life. You make the impossible possible for me.”

Her words struck a deep chord. It was a moment when Andra could truly feel how much Albert cared for and loved her. After a pause, Andra nodded, then, as Albert had hoped, she gathered her thoughts and prepared to persuade him.

“Father, one time you told me that the relationships we are meant to have will always come to us, and that it is up to us to turn those relationships into fate. You said Mother was that kind of person for you.”

“…You remembered that?”

“It was your story about Mother.”

Albert often used to sit Andra down when she was young and tell her stories about the Marchioness. Though most of what he said was vague and hard to understand at that age, Andra could always feel the unwavering love he had for her mother.

“I think I felt that way about him too. Oh, I always knew I would keep meeting him…. At first, I thought it was just an inevitable bad connection. After all, everyone knew he was an Airak.”

In fact, there was a time when Andra truly felt that way. It seemed like every time they met, things only got more tangled. She didn’t like Dustin constantly showing up in front of her. She had thought of it as a disastrous fate

“But as I got to know his true feelings, I started to wonder if I had made our connection a bad one all along. Looking back, I see that we simply misunderstood each other too much.”