Chapter 42
42
But no matter how much he thought about it, he couldn't have misheard.
"Nina La Dell?"
"Yes, did you call me?"
Her cheerful voice rang out again. Adrian, dumbfounded, looked towards the roof.
He couldn't see her, but he could easily imagine her sitting on the roof like a cat.
"What on earth..."
"You called me. So I just came. If you have nothing to say, I'll be going back soon."
Adrian was so taken aback that he let out a short breath, then ended up laughing.
Nina was crouched on the roof. She wrapped her arms around her raised knees and looked at the sky.
Her pure white hair fluttered softly in the wind.
"Nina."
"Yes."
"Come down here."
"Hmm... I can't."
Adrian was taken aback by the refusal, his reply a beat late.
"Why?"
His question was honest. Nina answered with a laugh.
"I came on impulse, so I'm not dressed to be seen by anyone."
Her laughter mixed with the night air and drifted in. She playfully scolded him, "Just bear with my voice."
Adrian didn't want to point out, 'You're the one who flew over in the middle of the night.'
Because he missed her too.
But her sitting on the roof in inappropriate attire was a separate issue.
"Nina La Dell."
His voice was laced with reproach, and Nina said, "Ehh," and stood up.
Adrian could tell Nina was moving by the creaking of the roof timbers.
"See you soon, Young Master. I'll be properly dressed then."
A light thudding sound of her leaping echoed on the wooden roof.
A cold wind blew in from the window, and then everything was quiet again.
After all the wind sounds had passed, Adrian closed the window.
Somehow, his fatigue seemed to have vanished along with his sleep.
Adrian collapsed onto the bed and closed his eyes.
He couldn't help but smile.
She always acted in ways he never expected.
Unpredictable like a sun shower.
Cheerful and bewildering, like raindrops falling under the midday sun, that feeling of looking up at the blue sky while being hit by cold raindrops.
Jin of Black Shield Castle felt the same way as Adrian.
Jin, who had been sleeping soundly in his bed, grabbed the dagger under his pillow at the sound of the window opening.
"Jin..."
Jin, realizing that the person entering through the window with a loud noise, not even trying to hide her presence, was Nina, quickly put down his dagger.
"Nina? What's wrong?"
"I don't know, let me sleep here."
She said as she burrowed into his bed.
Jin panicked and moved away, saying,
"What? Are you crazy?"
"Ah, it's so warm. A bed warmed by someone else's body heat is the best."
Even with the Blessing of the Spirit, wandering around at night in thin clothes, facing the North Wind, was cold.
Especially her hands and feet.
As soon as she returned to her room, she changed into thick clothes and got into bed, but the cold bed didn't warm up.
Since her own bed was so cold, she had no choice but to seek out a bed that someone else had warmed up.
When she stuck her cold hands and feet to him, Jin, who had been caught off guard while sleeping, frowned.
"What? Why are your hands and feet so cold? Your cheeks are cold too? What's wrong?"
He touched her hands and then caressed her cheeks. Soon, his touch became rough.
"Ouch, ouch, ouch..."
He pinched her cheeks and said.
"Where did you go in the middle of the night, huh? There's no way your body would be cold if you were wearing so many layers. Let me guess? Some foolish person wandered around in thin clothes and got cold, then belatedly put on more clothes."
"That's right..."
Nina had no choice but to back down since she was borrowing his body heat.
"And you brazenly come into someone else's bed with all that coldness?"
Nina grumbled and clung to him.
"You used to let me sleep in the same sleeping bag."
"That was then, this is now."
Jin's voice faltered. He wrapped her hands around his neck. Nina's fingertips quickly warmed up.
"What if you catch another cold like this? You always have a cold every winter."
Ever since she was poisoned by the Duchess as a child, Nina had suffered every winter. So Jin unconsciously went into overprotective mode.
After confirming that her hands were warm, Jin got out of bed.
Soon, he put a warm Tangpa at her feet. Nina, feeling her feet warm, soon began to doze off.
Jin said, "I'm not giving up my bed," and Nina replied, "Okay, okay," in her sleep.
Jin stroked her cheek. It was now moderately warm.
"Why do you go around making things so difficult?"
Jin said with a sigh.
"When have we ever lived well? It's okay not to struggle so much. Why are you and the Duchess suddenly like this?"
Isn't it enough to just be together and have fun?
Jin didn't like that things had suddenly become so busy and that they were missing each other without even having time to see each other.
Nina chuckled at his words and tried to get up, but Jin pressed her forehead down.
"What are you doing? Lie down and sleep."
"Jin, you know. That's."
Nina yawned and wrapped the blanket around herself, continuing.
"I'm going to dance on the floor until the very end..."
"...What?"
"To dance properly until the very end..."
Nina opened her eyes blearily. She looked very sleepy.
"Without losing a single person, me and Young Master, until the very end..."
Jin was momentarily speechless. He stared at her for a moment, then said softly.
"Okay. Okay, now go to sleep."
"Okay..."
Nina closed her eyes and soon fell asleep, breathing healthily.
Jin waved his hand in front of her eyes and realized that she was completely asleep.
'Those little things.'
He strongly perceived Adrian and Nina as children. But now, Nina's words meant that.
'I and Adrian want to protect everyone.'
It was an obvious statement, but it was a shock to Jin because it was something he hadn't even considered.
'Complacent self' is a shock.
As soon as Nina returned, his vision narrowed as if he had regressed to his days in the Knights.
She was back, and there were no particular problems in the castle, so it seemed like everything was fine.
So his goal became smaller. The focus was on the two years when he had run away, leaving Nina behind.
Hone his swordsmanship so that such a thing would never happen again. He didn't want to experience leaving Nina alone again.
That's all he thought about.
Unlike him, Nina and Adrian must have seen the bigger picture.
The troublesome imperial family and the temple, the cult that kept trying to bite at their ankles. And other things he couldn't see.
'I was so used to the inconvenience that I forgot.'
Just because he was used to it didn't mean it was okay.
In order to survive without being swept away by the storm that would come again someday, preparation was necessary.
In the end, Jin couldn't sleep a wink and stayed up all night.
\ \ *
Nina woke up feeling satisfied. She slowly opened her eyes from the soft and warm blanket with a refreshing feeling.
She soon found Jin's arm and raised her head, smiling brightly.
"Are you awake? Huh? Jin?"
She thought he had woken up earlier because he was leaning against the head of the bed, but his face looked like he had stayed up all night.
His hollow gaze reached her.
"Didn't you sleep? Because of me?"
Nina, who had been feeling refreshed until just now, felt a pang of conscience.
"No, no. Is it? No, not in the way you mean."
Jin shook his head. Nina wriggled, wrapped herself in the blanket, and sat up.
She didn't want to get out of the soft blanket.
"What's wrong? Did I kick you? Did I steal the blanket? Or did I snore?"
"It's none of those."
The playfulness that always lingered on his face had disappeared, replaced by worry. Nina was concerned.
She threw back the blanket she had been wearing like a hood.
Even in the faint morning sunlight, her hair shone like a snowfield in the middle of the day.
"You know."
Jin opened his mouth, then closed it tightly. Nina listened quietly.
People often thought that she liked to talk and was good at it, but she also had patience in listening.
Even when she was getting closer to Adrian, she waited persistently. Not for an hour or two of conversation, but for a day, two days, a week, a month.
When someone feels that you are paying attention to them with all your might, leaning in to hear even the faintest breath, they tend to choose their words carefully.
They talk about the core, not unnecessary things.
Even the stammering stories become coherent.
Just like Jin now.
"I feel like I'm useless."
Nina blinked at Jin's words.
