Chapter 058
Startled, I turned around and met Evan’s gaze.
“Were you not sleeping?”
“With the sounds of a dying puppy moaning next to me, how could I sleep?”
“Oh… I’m sorry.”
I felt gloomy, thinking I had woken him up, and offered my apology.
“I’m not asking for an apology.”
Evan clicked his tongue in displeasure at my words and began to tightly wrap the blanket he had draped over me.
Seeing my upper body once again bundled up in the massive blanket, I felt a strange sense of déjà vu.
“Who appeared in your dream?”
At that moment, Evan, still tying the blanket, asked softly.
As the vivid nightmare I had just experienced resurfaced in my mind, my body shuddered.
“There were… precious people to me.”
“Then it wasn’t a bad dream, was it?”
“It was a dream about losing all of them.”
I swallowed the words ‘because of me’ that I couldn’t bring myself to say.
Evan looked at my face, which was on the verge of tears.
“Don’t look at me… I’ll go back in once I feel a bit better, so you can go in first.”
I wanted to cover my face with my hands, fearing he would mock me for crying over a mere nightmare as a grown adult, but I couldn’t do that because I was tightly wrapped in the blanket.
“Do you like riding horses?”
“Huh?”
I widened my eyes in surprise at his unexpected question and stared at him.
Out of the blue, he asked if I liked riding horses.
“If you’re going to change your mood, wouldn’t it be better to do it properly?”
“That’s true…?”
“Then follow me.”
As I slowly nodded, Evan led me somewhere.
The place we arrived at was the stable.
Once inside, I noticed a single horse awake, sensing our presence while the others were sound asleep.
Purr—.
This black horse, which seemed larger than the others at a glance, confirmed the identity of the nighttime intruder and began to stomp its feet.
“Purr—.”
Evan affectionately patted the horse’s head with familiar hands, then put a bridle on it and brought it outside.
“Please mount first.”
“How am I supposed to do that like this?”
I questioned him, presenting my body tightly wrapped in the blanket.
Only then did Evan realize I couldn’t mount the horse alone, and he cleared his throat awkwardly.
He approached me, avoiding my gaze, and then spoke softly.
“Then, excuse me for a moment.”
“What, ah!”
In an instant, I felt my body lift into the air, and before I knew it, I was sitting in the saddle.
Being up high while still wrapped up made me tense, and I straightened my back instinctively.
“You won’t fall, so relax a bit. Otherwise, you might end up with muscle pain instead of nightmares.”
Soon, I felt a solid presence behind me along with a gruff voice.
It felt stable, as if I were leaning against a wall, so I loosened the tension in my back a little, just as he suggested.
“I’ll start now. Let me know if it’s too fast.”
As soon as Evan finished speaking, the horse kicked the ground powerfully and leaped forward.
Hee-ying─!
It felt as if a deity had descended for a midnight stroll, as the horse’s resounding neigh echoed in front of us.
I endured the tremendous wind hitting my face, squeezing my eyes shut for a while, and finally managed to lift my fluttering eyelids.
“Wow…”
And then, upon seeing the scene unfolding before me, I couldn’t help but gasp in awe.
Under the brilliantly shining moon in the pitch-black darkness, an expansive plain stretched endlessly.
As I galloped across it at an incredible speed, my heart swelled with emotion, and I took a deep breath.
“Is it too fast?”
At that moment, Evan’s voice came from behind.
Thinking he might have mistaken my fear for something else, I quickly opened my mouth and shouted loudly.
“No! It’s amazing!”
Had I ever shouted so loudly in the middle of the night while everyone else was sound asleep?
As I reveled in this unprecedented escapade, my previously gloomy mood had completely vanished without a trace.
“Wow!”
I was so excited that laughter bubbled out of me like a child.
Pfft.
At that moment, I heard a faint sound of air escaping near my ear.
I couldn’t turn around to check, but somehow it felt like Evan was also laughing along with me.
We continued to run for a while until we reached a tranquil forest.
“Where is this? Did we go too far?”
I looked around at the dense trees surrounding the forest.
“This is a forest owned by the Duke. It’s private property, so aside from wild animals, no one else can enter.”
Nodding at his explanation, I looked around again.
The forest, devoid of any traces of people, offered a mysterious feeling as if I had entered the heart of nature.
‘But what are we doing deep in the forest?’
Seeing Evan turning his head as if searching for something made it clear that we hadn’t come just to let the horse rest.
How long had we been pushing through the bushes?
“Let’s take a short break here before we head back.”
I realized what Evan had been looking for.
“Wow… it looks like a painting.”
I got off the horse and walked forward, mesmerized.
Before me was a large lake so clear that it reflected the night sky perfectly.
The gentle ripples seemed to mimic the undulating sky above.
“I found this place a few days ago while exploring. It seemed like a good place to relax, so I came here.”
As I stared blankly at the lake, Evan approached from behind.
He pointed to a wooden fence surrounding the lake and added, “It seems to have been a famous spot about 50 years ago, as it’s the only trace of people left here.”
Just as he said, the fence showed signs of age, with wear and tear evident in several places, proving it had been here for a long time.
I wanted to get closer to the lake, but I soon gave up.
The fence harmonized with the lake as if it had become one with it, and I didn’t want to disturb that balance.
After watching the rippling lake in silence for a few minutes, I turned and called out to Evan.
“Evan.”
He met my gaze as he was nearby.
“Thank you so much.”
I said this with a genuinely pleasant smile directed at him.
It was a night that felt like a gift.
“I think I made the right choice marrying you.”
The heightened sense of euphoria gave me the courage to reveal my innermost thoughts without reservation.
Although it was an impulsive decision to marry, the more days I spent with him, the more I wanted to commend my past self for that choice.
This man before me was undoubtedly a good person.
As we continued to lock eyes, clouds passed the moon, casting a deeper darkness over the forest.
“…You’re giving me too many points for a mood lift. What’s so special about this?”
At that moment, a voice emerged from the silence of the darkness, sounding lower than usual.
I suddenly felt a pang of disappointment.
It was unfortunate that at such a moment, I was trapped in darkness and couldn’t see his expression.
Was he frowning with a grumpy face as usual?
I couldn’t shake the feeling, and I let out a small chuckle.
“It’s special to me.”
Since I had no illusions about marriage, everything I experienced here felt significant.
As I spoke with a soft laugh, he didn’t add anything further.
Just as I was about to take a step forward to head back, feeling completely lifted from the nightmare that had weighed me down…
“Shall we head back? Ah…?”
I lost my balance and slipped backward, unaware that there was moss in the dark beneath my feet.
“Dahlia!”
Just before I completely fell, a firm grip on my waist thankfully prevented me from plunging into the lake.
“Be careful; it’s dark down there.”
“Thank…”
Just as I opened my mouth to thank him, a loud cracking sound echoed across the quiet lakeshore.
