Chapter 84

Chapter 84

Dustin looked blankly at the place where Andra had just left. It seemed that spiteful voice of hers that accused him was still there. Most of all, what wouldn’t leave his mind was the image of Andra looking at him in horror when he touched her hand.

At loss, he stood shocked still as he pondered Andra’s last words.

‘Don’t ever appear in front of me again, she said…?’

His eyes gradually darkened.

Again, regardless of his will, tears fell from the corners of his eyes.

Again, he couldn’t control his emotions.

His stomach lurched. The strength to support his legs was gradually disappearing.

Dustin staggered and sat down in the chair. Even during this time, the tears would not stop.

‘Ah…’

What have I done? I… Dustin buried his face in his two large palms and drooped his head, muttering to himself. His palms quickly became soaked with tears. Tears overflowed and ran down the bridge of his nose.

The traces of tears began to grow little by little at the seat where he sat.

‘I, I…’

What I was trying to do was… Dustin couldn’t complete the sentence. No, it’s a misunderstanding.

He should have said that it was a misunderstanding, but he couldn’t bring himself to.

When he heard from her mouth all about the actions that he had been doing unto her until now, that was the only time that he realized that everything wasn’t at all the same for Andra.

No— It was absolutely not like that. He would have been fully aware of it if only he had been a little more attentive from the beginning. Andra used to say it all the time—how much she actually hated his actions—so it should have been obvious.

It felt as if he was being dragged into the abyss. Dustin couldn’t help but lift his head. Tears flowed endlessly. He wondered if he had ever cried so much before this.

There was a gaping hole in his chest—that’s what it felt like. So, it was as if everything was pouring out of that hole. Until he would become nothing in the end.

“You like me? Ha, like…”

It was then that he understood why Andra’s reaction was like that. She must have been shocked. Because none other than ‘Dustin Airak’ had confessed to ‘Andra Avellin’.

It’s like he was slowly suffocating. Dustin grabbed his chest. Why? Why? Why had he never thought of such an important fact?

“Don’t you remember what you did to me up until now? If you forget all that and just push your feelings, that’s it? Do the things that happened between us disappear as if nothing happened? Are you saying you like me after all this?”

It wasn’t Andra who was pretending not to know—it was him. He swung her around, coerced her… All that he did was force her. And the only one turning a blind eye to that was Dustin himself.

Andra was right. He was nothing more than a lunatic who cared about only his own feelings and wouldn’t even take a glance at other people’s feelings at all.

Because of that, he is someone who cannot tell her that he likes her. In the first place, did he even have the right to say that he likes her?

‘But I…’

Andra, I don’t think I can go on without you. What should I do when you look at me like this…? His hands were trembling.

If he could turn back time, he would like to take back his confession and keep it to himself. So he wanted to pretend he didn’t know anything and stand by her side like he had always been. If it was like that, then Andra would have had no choice but to accept him.

It was enough, even if they couldn’t have a close relationship. As long as Andra was still within his reach.

But that was not possible any longer. Dustin confessed his feelings to Andra, and Andra rejected him. It was clear that the relationship between the two was going to be even more worse than before. Dustin gripped his chest painfully. And he blamed himself for the first time.

‘Why am I an Airak…?’

Why was his last name Airak? If his family and roots were not Airak, the relationship between him and Andra might have been much better than it is now.

There would have been no contempt for each other from the start. It shouldn’t have started like that. Dustin thought of his first meeting with Andra, panting for breath, and crying.

What the hell did I do?

But in the midst of regret, Dustin overlooked one fact. The biggest mistake among the forced things he had done was something else.

Something that was even more fatal than the ill-fated relationship between an Airak and an Avellin.

Storming out of that room, Andra looked disgustedly at the crowds not far away from the common room. Did they have nothing else to do? They were ever so interested in other people’s matters.

In the aftermath of Dustin’s confession, she was fuming so much that, even though she wanted to think positively, she could only think of crooked thoughts.

“Andra!”

As she was going through the crowd, someone called her name. At the same time a hand popped out and grabbed her.

“Elver?”

Elverika glanced at Andra with an excited face and was surprised to see the red marks on her wrists. Are you okay?

“Did Lord Airak hit you?”

The people around murmured at the remarks. Hit her? An Awakened, raising a hand against an ordinary person?

No way. Andra shook her head hurriedly, fearing that it might escalate if people were to start misunderstanding.

“I’m fine. Nothing happened. It was just a little spat. Let’s go somewhere else.”

Andra grabbed Elverika and led her out of the building quickly. Fortunately, no one followed them. Only after they went away from the crowd did Andra release Elverika’s arm.

Elverika asked again with a worried face.

“Did nothing really happen? Even though Lord Airak grabbed your wrist so tightly that it left a mark like that?”

“It’s just… Yes there are some circumstances between us, but I’m okay. It’s not like I’ve fought with him only once or twice.”

“But still! The others told me that he just dragged you away. Do you know how worried I was when I heard that?”

“I’m okay, really. Look, I’m fine. And am I one to just take it quietly? You don’t have to worry about it because I dished it right back.”

Andra looked at Elverika and smiled, then Elverika put her worries aside and let out a sigh of relief. Andra and Dustin, fighting. It wasn’t a rare occurrence, but they never once touched each other’s body. Therefore, this particular fight swept the entire academy abuzz in just a short amount of time. Elverika, who was passing by that path, was so startled that she was launched into a sprint.

“But why did you fight? What happened to you both that you…”

“It’s complicated. I can’t tell you the details, so I’ll just say it’s related to the dungeon I went to last time.”

“Dungeon? Why? What happened then? When we talked last time, you said nothing happened.”

Elverika’s eyebrows rose a little at the fact that Andra hadn’t told her. I’m starting to get disappointed with you. Why do you keep hiding so many things from me? Andra quickly responded to Elverika.

“It’s because I can’t tell others. This time as well. I’m not hiding it because I really want to hide it from you. What are you disappointed with?”

“Hmm, really?”

Elverika, with her arms crossed, asked, squinting her eyes. Andra nodded her head.

“Because it’s true. And Elver, I’m telling you in advance because it’s you, but if I do well, I might be going away again.”

“Away? Where?”

“Very far from here. I can’t elaborate on this either. I’ll tell you when I’m sure.”

“If that’s the case, then don’t tell me at all.”

Elverika unwrapped her arms and grumbled. Still, she wondered as she was worried that Andra was going far away.

“Are you okay? You just came back from the dungeon.”

“It’s a bit complicated. There seems to be too much going on.”

“I think that’s right. But when will you come back?”

Andra closed her mouth. She didn’t even know when she would come back. If she’d be going to the Morgennis border, how long would it be until she could come back?

She was told that it was the beginning of a conflict between the two count households. It’s a complicated enough situation that they were taking two Awakened people with them in the first place, so if she’s unlucky, it could take several months or more. Or maybe it will take more than that.

“…It might take a long time.”

“How long is a long time? More than a month?”

“Just the travel time is already a month back and forth, so I’m not sure how much longer.”

“How are you going to graduate at this rate?”

Hearing Andra’s answer, Elverika immediately became frustrated as she was worried about Andra graduation. Since forever, Andra had been looking forward to only her graduation every single day, but now she was saying that her graduation would be delayed since she was going out for more than a month?

“The graduation … I’ll have to delay it for a while.”

What could she do? She had been given an imperial order.

Andra sighed and shrugged her shoulders. In fact, besides her graduation, Dustin was the largest problem that’s taking precedence. She was leaving with him, but he just said that he likes her. She was already at a loss as to how she should deal with him.

She told him not to show up in front of him, but she knew well enough that it was physically impossible for him to stay away. Because they’d only be able to fill the light through a physical relationship between them.

‘Why did I say that kind of nonsense?’

Andra barely resisted the desire to mess up her hair with her two hands out of her cluttered mind. Seriously, what kind of trouble was she in right now—and it was all because of that Dustin Airak. She felt the anger she had been holding back rise again, and she clenched her teeth.

Damn Dustin Airak. He had never once been helpful to her. She’d be so comfortable if he completely disappeared from her life, yet because he wouldn’t, she was left with only discomfort.

‘What are you thinking?’

Andra couldn’t really understand Dustin. What’s going on in Dustin’s head? How can he say that he likes her so casually?

Their families were foes. It was a tale as old as time, and their relationship was bound to be filled with nothing but contempt and hatred towards each other. As a result, the accumulated resentment and deep feelings for each other could never easily disappear.

And yet, Dustin confessed that he likes her.

‘You like me? How can you say that?’

Andra recalled her first meeting with Dustin a long time ago.

It was back when Andra was nine years old, when she visited the capital for the first time in her life for the emperor’s birthday celebration. She had been so excited about being able to finally step foot in the capital, which she had only heard of at that time.

The capital was quite different from the east. Unlike the east, where it was difficult to find tall buildings, everything was high rising in the central region, and many things were in coated with splendor.

Andra, seeing it for the first time, forgot her dignity as a lady for a moment and pulled her father’s coat. She made a fuss, asking questions about this and that. It was true that it was unlike the banquet at the imperial palace, but she was more excited than usual.

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