Chapter 82: Chapter 82

DAHLIA:

“I hope this room will suit you and your attendant for the meantime, Countess Abell. We will make better arrangements as soon as we can,” the dorm supervisor said as she walked us inside an available room.

I thanked her and looked around the room as Lina and our coachman proceeded to unload the luggage from our carriage.

I took a closer look at the bedroom. It was as spacious as the bedroom I shared with Tristan, but it was rather empty with only a few closet spaces, two beds, a table and chairs for studying.

Because my decision to come here has been hasty, I had forgotten to call and made formal arrangements that I’ll be moving in today with Lina. As such, the dorm supervisor, Madame Matell, was put in a tight spot.

Although I had discussed living at the dormitory with Tristan in the past, we had conceded that I take university lessons for the first semester at home. We were still newlyweds and had been inseparable, so we thought that’ll be the best for both of us…

Now, I don’t even know if there was such a thing as ‘both of us’ or just him and me from the very start…

Anyway, my personal trainer and professor, Madame Halfrey, had advised me to move into the dormitory if I was really serious in my study, so I don’t think she’ll be much surprised that I did…

I lied down on the hard mattress, feeling completely at loss for words.

Despite the absence of the fated mate mark in my body, there was still a gaping hole in my chest that felt like tearing up every time that I think of Tristan and how he had betrayed me.

The worst part of it all was that I understood why he had done all of these things to me…

If I had been under a similar situation, I think I would have done the same… I would have seduced the son of my enemy and would have made his heart bleed for me until I was satisfied…

‘Dahlia, what are you saying? Do you really feel sympathy for that b*stard,’ Eva said, growling harshly inside my head.

I cannot utter a single word back at her…

‘You dummy, are you saying that we deserved to be duped like this? We gave him our heart, and he tricked us! Do you really think we deserved such treatment from him?!’

Eva was right… We didn’t deserve to be played at and thrown away like trash on the streets.

But why, why do I still feel sympathy for Tristan at the deepest corners of my heart?

I remember when I mentioned his father and how proud he must have been for him. At that time, he cried in front of me for the first time. It was also then that he asked me never to leave him… What was my answer to him back then?...

“One’s tolerance for hurt and the ability to love are two different things… I won’t stop loving you ever, if that’s what you meant to ask from me…”

Ah… Is it because of love?... Did I love him that much that’s why I can understand him?

Would I never really be able to stop loving him despite what he has done?

My head throbbed a lot. I closed my eyes and drifted into an uneasy and gloomy sleep.

******************************

Two weeks have passed since I had moved in the dormitory with Lina. Time had flown rather swiftly. Almost all of my time had been occupied with school and volunteer work.

My busy schedule worked for me like magic. It kept my head away from thoughts that send me crying in the middle of the night. It helped a lot too that Lina slept alongside with me at the dormitory. I find it is easier to sleep and not cry when I know that someone might hear me from the next bed…

In those two weeks, I had received no word from the person I had loved the most before.

Now after two weeks of not seeing him or hearing any type of news from him, I became sure that he never really loved me at all…

“Countess Abell, we need more volunteers tomorrow for Payn. Would you like to join us,” the headmaster of the volunteer mission asked me.

I simply smiled, and he already knew. I had never been able to say ‘no’ to any volunteer works since I have moved into the university dorm anyway.

However, it was Lina who answered in my behalf. “No, the countess is occupied tomorrow. She has an important schedule. Our deepest apologies, sir.”

I gave Lina a stern look and called the defeated figure of Headmaster Luke.

“I’m sorry. Lina had made an oversight in my schedule. I’ll be there, sir.”

The happy smile on the headmaster’s face made me extremely pleased with my decision.

“Countess, did you forget? It’s the weekend tomorrow, and you promised we will go home this weekend. We haven’t gone home for fourteen days now,” she told me with a dejected look on her face.

“I didn’t forget, Lina. Of course, you can go home. I’ve already arranged for your ride tomorrow,” I said smiling softly back.

“Just me? How about you then? You’re really going on that volunteer mission?”

“It can’t be helped… Besides, it’ll be my first time going to a vampire village, so I am very curious.”

“Countess, please tell me the truth… What happened between you and the count? Is your quarrel really that bad?”

I can sense that Lina had a hunch before, but she never asked me anything. This is the first time she was bringing everything up in the open.

“Yes… It’s that bad,” I said. A slight twinge of pain started to resonate in one corner of my heart. I struggled to cover it up with a smile. “Don’t worry. We’ll sort it out.”

I was getting good at lying with Lina… I just hope that I could convince myself with the same lies I just told her…

“Do you want me to kick him in the shins for you,” Lina said, not quite looking at me in the eye as she pretended to arrange the books I had borrowed from the library in her arms.

I wanted to laugh. “Yes, that would be fun,” I said. “Just make sure he isn’t skipping meals, and he’s sleeping on time. Also tell him I’m sorry.”

That’s right… Because of my anger, I had forgotten to utter those words to him…

I’m sorry… I really am sorry that all of these had to happen…

“Alright, I’ll make sure I deliver your words… Will you be alright by yourself tomorrow,” Lina asked full of concern.

“Yes. Go and rest this weekend. It’s an order.”

I had prepared myself to have my hands full with patients the next day. I didn’t know that my heart would also be plunged into greater heights of emotions as I came face to face with Lady Livia in Payn on the same afternoon…