It's Not Night - Chapter 132
Translator and Editor: Effe and Yonnee
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Chapter 132
Dustin was right. Looking back, Andra made unexpected choices every time. To beat Dustin, she learned archery until her hands were thickened with blisters and calluses, she danced with ten young lords at one time, she jumped from the second floor of a building. And, there was once a time that she also modeled for artists. She usually did things that were unimaginable to be done by the only daughter of House Avellin, the ruling tycoon of the East.
“You easily exceeded expectations every time, Andra. The Andra Avellin I watched was like that.”
In fact, at that time, he always looked at Andra with revolt. Does she really have to go that far? he thought. Andra never let anything slide by her. She was willing to pay back Dustin in any way. That made Dustin fed up.
She was said to have grown up as the only daughter in the family of sons, but it seemed to him that she had nothing better to do with her time. That’s how he thought of it, and there were times when he tried to ignore her. But in the end, he couldn’t tolerate how he himself was being affected by this girl, who had grown up beautifully. Of course, the more she excelled and strove to reach her goals, the more Dustin’s monotonous life became increasingly jagged.
For that reason, in many ways, Dustin did not like Andra.
“At first I didn’t understand. In fact, I would have been glad if I hadn’t understood. I wanted to pay you back. You have no idea how much I wanted to break your stubborn behavior.”
Every time she raised her chin proudly in front of him, he wanted to plunge those bright blue eyes that always wanted to win into the mud. He wanted to let her know that taking more risks than necessary would not work well in the end. He wanted to tell her that a girl like her who grew up like a flower in a greenhouse would be no match for him.
To be hated, insulted, and ostracized by someone for no reason. Dustin wanted Andra to experience that. He was being treated like that by so many people every day, but he would be the only one doing that to Andra. She was born with a lot of things in the first place, so he thought it would be okay to let her go through that much.
“…You wanted to beat me?”
His honest answer that exceeded her expectations made Andra lose her words for a moment. Looking at Andra’s silence, Dustin lowered his gaze and tightened his grip on her hands a little. Now that he had started talking, he intended to keep being honest with Andra.
“Yes, at least once, I wanted to see you collapse in despair in front of me. But you… laughed at me proudly and did unexpected things. There was no way to break through that, even once. Like a diamond that doesn’t get scratched even if you try to scratch it.”
Even when Dustin tried to pull Andra down, she wouldn’t let herself be dragged down. The first time he met her, he tried to go further ahead with that radiant appearance. He thought that she was an immature little princess who grew up preciously, but hidden within her was a solid core that was difficult to break. It was the reason she took more risks than needed. From the beginning, Andra had faith that she could do it on her own.
“From there, I was filled with anger. I have a desire to knock you over more than ever. How long will you be able to deal with me, how long will you be able to stick to that attitude even after you’ve fallen down in front of me…”
Until then, Andra kept being on her high horse in front of Dustin. With her gaze and facial expression, she despised him to the point that it’s as if she was treating him like a barbarian. But with her body, she would take a step away and treat him as Lord of House Airak. It was the impeccable attitude typical of a noble. Open but unapproachable. He was being blatantly ignored.
From that time, his tenacity to destroy Andra became stronger.
Then, not long later, the coming-of-age ceremony was held. When he heard the news coming after the incident, Dustin was saddened. He realized that he had crossed the line. However, there was a certain amount of result gained from it. It was not enough that Andra’s steadfast attitude was broken by the incident, she began to reveal her true feelings in front of him.
In the process, Dustin caught a glimpse of Andra’s true self. And then he was relieved. There was absolutely nothing that did not fall better. She was just better at hiding it than he was, but their natures were similar.
“…The day you returned to the East as if you were running away. I wished to never see you again. Just as you exposed the lowest point of your life, I also did the same. It was like we had taken a glimpse at each other’s true selves, so I thought this was enough.”
However, the two met again. The place where the two met after the coming-of-age ceremony was at the Academy. The situation was unexpected. When he met Andra again, she did not hold on to her lofty attitude and did not try to hide her unsightly side.
In this way, the two were able to clearly show their true selves to each other. In addition, because they knew each other well, they hated and despised each other even more.
“However… I really didn’t expect to see you again at the Academy. After meeting you, I realized that the bad relationship had gone so deep. I really… tried to stop after that.”
“But you didn’t stop.”
Suddenly, Andra spoke up.
She was biting her lip when she remembered what had happened at the coming-of-age ceremony. How she was at that time… Andra couldn’t bear to remember everything that happened that night. Instead, her chest rose and fell rapidly, her steps stopped, and her breathing became hoarse.
Dustin unwittingly tightened his grip, fearing that Andra would shake off his hand.
“…I’m sorry. It was my fault. I was so stupid at the time… I couldn’t control it. I didn’t even have a chance to think of the person who would be hurt because of me. Andra, I just…”
“…….”
Andra did not reply. She tried to be as calm as possible. She promised not to get angry, she promised not to fight Dustin as much as possible, but it was gradually getting difficult. She expected how Dustin thinks of her to a certain degree, but she didn’t know it to this extent.
She did start this conversation with a little bit of determination. However, she felt strange when she heard it from his own mouth. He treated her that way because he wanted to defeat her?
Of course, it couldn’t be said that Andra was completely innocent in this matter, but she couldn’t help feeling a little betrayed. Especially when she thought back to her mother’s keepsake, which was lost because of the incident. Her heart became even more of a mess.
Trying to calm down, Andra tried to slow her breathing. She could see her hand holding Dustin’s in her view. She thought she was great enough for not shaking off that hand yet. If it was the same as before, she would have pushed him away long ago and wouldn’t be able to control the rising anger. She would have poured it out randomly. And then, as always, she would have picked only the words that would hurt and pushed the other hand.
Andra relaxed her hand, meaning that she wouldn’t let go of Dustin’s hand. At the same time, she opened her mouth and began to speak.
“You didn’t budge from the beginning. I hated you for not even apologizing properly. I didn’t even understand.”
“…I know, I understand that.”
“Do you think that’s all? You say I’m persistent and stubborn, but… I’ve never seen anyone as selfish as you. You’ve never really followed the manners that everyone follows. I grew up knowing that I had to strictly follow the line, but Dustin, you just ignored that and played tricks on me.”
She didn’t even do anything in particular, every time Dustin would show up close to Andra, her mind got distracted.
Andra really hated Dustin for crossing basic boundaries she had drawn, or rather, drawn by common sense itself. He did it all without consent. He was like a nefarious little boy who’d pull out a cushion to wake up a cat that had been sleeping well on its own, not bothering anyone.
“It wasn’t just you that bothered me. Do you know how annoying you are? You didn’t like social circles at all, but you were busy showing up all the time, all the while trying to make me fail. You hoped that I would make a little mistake, and when I make a mistake, you would laugh at me. You seemed to enjoy looking down on me.”
For a moment Dustin would be busy laughing at her, surrounded by people flattering him to wish something on his family or to get a little unexpected profit from him. He even teased Andra for acting like a little princess.
Whenever that happened, she felt unfair and absurd. Does he always want to be surrounded by people whose purpose is clear? He can’t help but feel tired. How much does he care?
House Avellin had many allies rooted deep in the capital, but their enemies were also quite numerous. Not everyone could like the servant who whispers by the Emperor’s side.
Furthermore, House Avellin had roots from the merchants’ side from the start. In the case of selling grain from farming on a wide plain and coming to the capital, the reason why they came to the center and delved into politics was to create a commercial policy that was advantageous to them. It was because they realized that as long as the Emperor was alive with both eyes open, they could not become rich by only focusing on farming.
As a result, the central nobles, who were originally located in the capital since birth, secretly kept House Avellin of the East in check and disapproved of them.
From their point of view, House Avellin was no different from an uninvited farmer upstart who suddenly stepped into the middle one day and quickly grew in size and took their place.
A lot of time has passed and they treat House Avellin as a wealthy and prestigious family that has been growing for over several generations. But digging deep, there is a tendency to keep each other in check.
So, as House Avellin’s only daughter, Andra could later be in charge of a big axis in the central social world, so she had to show her face in the social world from an early age and mark her place. In the process, she had to deal with the annoying nobles who clung to her.
Dustin, who saw that, dismissed Andra as a flower in the greenhouse and made fun of her as playing the princess, so of course Andra would feel unfair.
Who was the most foolish person on the floor of this capital social circle for doing that kind of disregard? Dustin Airak of the North only looked pitiful to Andra. She, of course, didn’t want to take the time to deal with him, so she only acted polite, which was taken as an attack by Dustin.
Now that they’re here, she seemed to understand a little bit why she and Dustin had come to bump into each other and despise each other every time.
“I ignored you because I didn’t want to deal with you as much as possible… You’ve never left me alone. The reason I took more risks than was necessary was to get you away from me. If I had done this much, you’d give up too. You won’t try to mess with me anymore… But it wasn’t. You just bothered me even more.”
“…….”
“It was like that at the coming-of-age ceremony. That day, at the coming-of-age… Before that, and after that. I will never hate you more than I did that day.”
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