It’s Not Night - Chapter 196.2

Because they were Avelin and Airak, they misunderstood each other, thinking they knew the other when, in fact, they didn’t. They had lived with those twisted perspectives for so long without realizing it. Instead of trying to understand each other’s positions, they only focused on getting back at each other.

No, Andra had thought, there wasn’t even a need to look back.

“At first, I was confused. When he confessed his feelings, I couldn’t understand it at all. Why? How could he feel that way about me? But now, I understand. Without even realizing it, we had been turning our connection into fate. We kept tying ourselves together, when, if left alone, it might have faded away. He realized that much earlier than I did.”

As the saying goes, “You don’t know the weight of the rain until your clothes get wet,” Andra had started to be drawn into Dustin without realizing it. After much wandering and misunderstanding, she finally understood her connection with him.

So, in this life, Andra felt deeply grateful to Dustin. He had unraveled the complicated, twisted relationship that she couldn’t even remember.

“Father, I feel like he has been a part of me for so long. It feels like I can’t be with anyone else. Even in the present, I feel like everything I do is for him. How could I not love someone who feels like that?”

“…”

“My whole being says it’s him. It says I should love him. You made me this way. I want to love him without holding back, and I want to keep loving him. I want to share every moment of my life with him. It just feels so natural, like it’s meant to be.”

Andra’s calm voice left Albert silent, unable to respond.

“I understand, Father. I know what you and my brothers are worried about. It’s not that I don’t understand. I understand it more than anyone. Avelin and Airak, who could ever imagine such a combination? But still… we love each other. We accept everything about each other. That’s all there is to it.”

“…Child.”

“To be more honest, I’m selfish. I’m selfish because I want to be by his side. I want to see him, I want to be with him, I want to keep talking to him. I want to learn about him every day, and share everything with him.”

Andra was already excited about the future she would share with Dustin. Her heart raced with anticipation about what they would do together, what memories they would create every time the seasons changed, and as the years passed. She was excited even about the smallest moments they would share, knowing they could build little memories together.

What will happen tomorrow? What will she learn about him? What will he learn about her?

What kind of lives will they live together, and what will they bring to each other?

Andra stood up and knelt before Albert.

“So, Father, would you trust me just once and allow me to be selfish? I want so much to share my days with him. That alone will make me truly happy. Please, Father… I ask you this.”

“Andra…”

“Please, make the impossible possible for me.”

Without her realizing it, Albert had also knelt in front of her.

“My daughter, my dear.”

He gently stroked Andra’s golden hair. She smiled softly at his tender touch.

“…You’re saying the same thing your mother used to say.”

Albert recalled his wife, who had left him long ago. She had been the one to cradle her swollen belly, smiling more happily than anyone else. Even though she knew her body couldn’t hold on much longer, she couldn’t bear to give up on the child.

‘I want to be selfish. If I could see this child born, I’d be truly happy.

His wife had struggled to carry the child until the end of her pregnancy but she waited eagerly for the day the child would be born. Because of that, Albert couldn’t bring himself to resent her happiness but instead loved it.

“I see… that’s what your happiness was.”

“Father…?”

Albert took his daughter’s hand in his with tears in his eyes. The warmth he felt from her hand was something he had not expected. His wife’s hand, at that time, had only felt cold.

But above all, when had her tiny hand grown so much? When had she become so much like her mother and made him cry? He couldn’t understand.

“…I give you my permission to marry him.”

Albert wanted nothing more than for his daughter to be happy.

It was the happiness his wife had been selfish for.

If that made him a fool, Albert had no problem with that.

“But there is one condition.”