Chapter 30

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Chapter 30

‘This won’t do.’

Andra shook her head. She may die of shame before she could even escape the dungeon. After all, using magic should be left as a last resort. Andra thought this and wracked her head to come up with a different solution.

“No, I’d rather find the entrance and go outside and ask for help…”

“If you know where it is, sure.”

Andra didn’t say anything and bit her mouth again. As Dustin said. Looking for an entrance without knowing where they even were? It would be difficult if they got lucky. Andra had neither a compass nor a map, or a guide like Hone. If she’s unlucky, she may keep circling the dungeon and never escape.

Then…

“Attack the dungeon—”

Before she could even finish speaking, Dustin retorted again without hesitation.

“What will you do if you can’t attack?”

Andra glared at Dustin. Since a while ago, he’s really being…

“Dustin Airak. What are you trying to do now?”

Though it was not enough to think positively, Dustin was spewing out negative remarks. Andra was about to clench her fists in displeasure. Dustin opened his mouth in retort.

“You think too much sometimes.”

“What?”

“Thinking about the future that hasn’t come yet, you don’t even look back on what you should look back on.”

What to look back on? Andra frowned at her face as she didn’t understand.

“What are you talking about?”

But it was Dustin’s jacket that came to her, not the answer.

“Why are you giving this again?”

“I’m going to look around for a while.”

Dustin abruptly stood up. Then, he quickly disappeared among the grass that was as tall as his waist. Hey, where are you going? Andra hurriedly shouted at Dustin, but she didn’t get an answer, of course.

“…….”

Hearing the sound of grass swaying in the breeze, Andra pressed her stinging temple firmly. He did everything at his own pace. Suddenly she nervously threw the jacket to the floor.

‘Unluckiest bastard in the world.’

Dustin didn’t come back for a while.

Andra, who had been sitting still, nodded off while listening to the crackling of the bonfire. As her tension was relieved by the warmth, she became drowsy in an instant and the fatigue that accumulated unknowingly poured in as if tearing her down. She barely lifted her eyelids before they fully closed.

‘I can’t sleep like this…’

Suddenly, Andra couldn’t stand her closed eyelids and her head tilted forward. She was too sleepy to refuse it. She was so harassed by Dustin that she didn’t have time to rest properly, so it was only natural for this to happen.

“I knew it. So mean…”

Then her body slanted to the side, and something solid supported Andra’s head. At the same time, something covered her body as well. Andra staggers slightly at the sudden touch, as a large palms lightly press her body.

“Don’t do anything stupid.”

At the sound of the familiar voice, Andra’s body drooped without energy.

“Dustin Airak… When did you get back…”

“Just sleep.”

Dustin pulled the jacket up over Andra’s shoulders. Then, the faint sound of breathing from Andra, who had fallen asleep, could be heard. He laid her down on his lap for a moment and looked at Andra as she slept.

While she slept, her face looked very calm. It was different from earlier when she was drenched with worries and anxieties.

Seeing this, Dustin could feel the anger that had been building up for no reason before had subsided. He suddenly felt reassured.

‘How can you escape the dungeon without even taking care of your body properly?’

Dustin lightly stroked her wavy blonde hair. Her soft hair glided through his fingers like sand. Then he carefully tucked Andra’s hair down behind her ear. It was a bit of an impulsive gesture—his hand moved unknowingly. Fortunately, Andra, who had fallen into a deep sleep, did not move even when he touched her.

Dustin looked at Andra for a long time. He didn’t even realize why he was doing it himself. He couldn’t take his eyes off her. Was it because of the unfamiliarity of seeing this person, who was always busy swearing at him whenever she met him, was now sleeping deeply on his lap? It was surreal. Dustin was surprised at himself for lending Andra his lap.

‘It’s really weird.’

He didn’t know when it happened. Even touching Andra had once been so repulsive. She was a woman he hated so much, he was annoyed with her just by looking at her and wanted to get rid of her whenever she was in front of him.

‘It’s annoying…’

Dustin didn’t like it. He didn’t like how he was getting farther and farther from how he used to be. In particular, the current him treating Andra was not like him at all, and he even felt a sense of disconnect with himself.

But in the meantime, he couldn’t help but worry about Andra. Even when he vowed not to pay any mind to Andra again, he realized that his gaze continued to gravitate towards her.

Dustin couldn’t define what this feeling was.

‘Maybe it’s this goddamn magic.’

He rubbed the glowing patterns on his wrist. The culprit would be this. Because it all started when this pattern was created. So it’s obvious—if this disappeared, he would return to normal.

Back to the time when he didn’t want to care much about whatever Andra did. Then this unknown feeling would disappear. For that to happen, he had to dispel this magic as soon as possible.

‘Yes, that’s what I have to do…’

Strangely, in one corner of his heart, a desire not to break the magic welled up. It was so absurd to think that he’d be fine even if he continued to live like this. It was sudden, but didn’t he gain tremendous power from this magic?

Most of all, he liked sleeping with Andra. Their chemistry wasn’t just good, it was absolutely fantastic. He might sound like a barking dog in heat, but Dustin always wanted to dig inside Andra. He wanted to continue this arrangement with Andra under the pretense that it couldn’t be helped due to the magic. He went crazy every time he would spread her legs apart and thrust into that deep, tight space.

‘No, I’m really crazy.’

Dustin thought about it, and shook his head. It was shocking that he even thought of it himself. How could that possibly be okay? Nonsense.

The other person was Andra Avellin.

If he could erase her from his life forever, he would.

Did he want to continue this ill-fated relationship?

Dustin recalled the relationship between Andra and himself. It was close to a mess. From their first meeting, which clearly engraved each other’s disgusting existence, to the coming-of-age ceremony, which was the worst. They continuously found themselves entangled, and they were still shaking up each other’s lives at random.

Was he fine with going through that? Did he want to keep Andra Avelin by his side just for sex?

Even for a moment, he hated himself for thinking like that. At the same time, unbearable anger filled him up again. His stomach twisted. Dustin ruffled his hair roughly. With Andra, who was sleeping soundly without knowing how he felt, he grew annoyed.

He wanted her to get her away from him right away. But as soon as he reached out to her head, he felt a stinging sensation in his chest, and he had no choice but to lower his hand, swearing.

Damn it, damn it!

Perhaps because of the influence of magic, the two did not feel hungry even if they did not eat or drink anything. Fortunately, this was good news. The two walked forward through the grass that reached their waist. It had already been two days since they moved like that.

At first, the two tried to sit still and wait for the rescue team. Or wait for the crew to discover them. But that thought was thrown away after half a day. There was nothing to do in this field, and it was impossible to spend time just waiting for the rescue team, so it soon exhausted the two of them mentally.

In the first place, Andra and Dustin were not close enough for a friendly conversation. They were busy scoffing and slandering each other whenever they met, but for the first time, they were choked up by the quiet atmosphere. Besides, the awkwardness that they had never felt before made it impossible for them to stay still.

So they were just moving forward to pass the time. How far did they walk? It’s already been two days since their silent journey began. The grass gradually thinned and a valley appeared. The river gurgled under it. They were blocked by the valley, so they stopped for a moment.

The two of them pondered for a while, then they finally decided to go down and look around. Actually, there was no other option. It was because the road was cut off with the valley. Unless they went down here, they’d have to go back the way they came.

“Take my hand.”

“I can do this on my own.”

Andra, ignoring Dustin’s outstretched hand, went down on her own, securing her foot on the rock by herself. In the process, she staggered a bit, but quickly regained her center of gravity and held out. Dustin just stared at her, his eyebrows furrowed as if he didn’t like it.

In fact, since the beginning of the journey, Dustin had continued to be like this. He looked uncomfortable whenever Andra refused his help. And this in turn was quite annoying for Andra. Not to mention, Dustin was even trying to give unnecessary help.

Andra was a grown adult woman. It also meant that she was a person who could do many things on her own. And she had two hands and two feet that were just like everyone else. In other words, it meant that she could get down on her own without having Dustin to reach out and hold her hand every time.

Dustin, however, treated Andra as if she could do nothing without a guardian. So, from Andra’s point of view, Dustin’s attitude was not good at all.

‘Is this the start of another new fight?’

At first, Andra was trying to persevere. In a place like this, if she quarreled with Dustin, she’d have nothing to gain. However, as this situation continued to repeat, Andra eventually snapped. She couldn’t stand it anymore. The time when she had to endure had already long since passed.

Andra slapped Dustin’s hand that was being held out to her again this time, and yelled.

“What are you doing?!”

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