Chapter 41
Chapter 41
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 41
Chapter Title: Waiting in the First Snow
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Beth wriggled her languid body. She buried her head even deeper into the pillow to escape the sunlight creeping in from her bedside.
It had been a long time since she'd slept so deeply.
‘I'm the one who can't sleep because of you.’
Her white toes slipped under the blanket in place of her embarrassed heart. Her disheveled hair rustled pleasantly against the bedsheet.
Last night, Dever had simply gazed quietly up at Beth. Beth had met his eyes just as quietly. It wasn't until she felt the chill of the seeping wind that the man finally spoke.
‘Too bad. My shoulder hasn't healed enough.’
It didn't take long to grasp his meaning.
Gazing at her undoubtedly flushed face, he smiled faintly for a moment before tossing out a final “Good night” and heading to the barracks.
Beth strained her ears until the sound of his retreating footsteps faded completely.
What kind of night had that man spent?
Had he slept well?
Had he taken his medicine?
The medicine she'd given him last time must be running out by now—surely it hadn't fallen short.
Clumsy, impatient questions matching her heart cluttered her mind.
“Beth! Get up!”
Dixie shouted from the first floor. A faint voice scolding her booming tone followed.
Beth knocked on the protruding wooden frame in the wall as a sign she was awake. The floor below fell briefly silent before erupting into noise once more. They were back to their tasks.
It was the usual morning routine, no different from always.
She slipped into her neatly ironed nurse uniform, tied her hair tidily. The start of a routine day—boring, if it felt boring.
The only difference was that Aines's morning grooming took a little longer.
“You got up too early, didn't you?”
Aines entered the bedroom with flushed cheeks. The thrill of a young lady freshly proposed to shone unfiltered across her bright face.
“There are so many nosy people downstairs. You'd need more than one face to catch all the gossip.”
She held a mirror and cosmetics in her hands.
Sensing Beth's gaze, Aines squeezed her eyes shut in embarrassment.
“I know, Beth. That I'm a bit excited right now. But...”
She couldn't hold back and burst into laughter. Her pink cheeks glowed rosy.
“It's a proposal! Once in a lifetime! I don't even know what's come over me.”
Her clear laughter filled the room.
Aines's expression turned suddenly serious as she grasped Beth's hand.
“I wasn't just saying it yesterday. I don't know your circumstances, but if going home is hard, come to our house. There's a dormitory if you work at the Wayne Imperial Hospital.”
“No! I'll find you a place!”
Dixie, who had slipped in unnoticed, cut her off.
“Who doesn't know our family's loaded? My dad's obsessed with hunting down properties again.”
Dixie deftly dodged Aines's hand chiding her crude words and plopped down beside Beth.
“I'll go to Wayne and start a business, and you'll work at the hospital. How's that? We'll invite Aines over every night. Perfect plan, right?”
“And date the Duke.” The last part was a whisper for Beth's ears only. “What are you talking about?” Aines asked, but Dixie pulled a straight face.
“Ah, that sounds fun. I wish we could head back to Wayne already!”
Dixie stomped her feet excitedly.
“Then, Miss Dixie, please spread the word about the victory eve to the soldiers.”
The Madam closed the file folder, bringing the meeting to a close.
“It's already gossip everywhere. Heh.”
“True, but the eve starts at night. Everyone still has their duties today. Wounds don't heal just because the war's over. Keep that in mind.”
A smile flitted across the stern Madam's face.
“Dismissed—looking forward to the eve.”
An unusual excitement lit the faces of everyone spilling out of the director's office.
“When shifts end, decorate the first-floor lobby and banquet hall. Everyone cooperate.”
Dixie shouted first as she bounded down the stairs. She even roped in a few passing soldiers and headed to the now-familiar warehouse.
Shaking out the red velvet cloth for the ceiling sent a cloud of dust billowing up.
“Cough, oh man. This is no good.”
A soldier grumbled, and Dixie's face hardened as sternly as the Madam's.
“Nothing's impossible. Would a battle-hardened veteran surrender to a bit of dust?”
Ambiguous praise or scolding, it turned the soldier's face beet red as he dusted furiously. Dixie was a master at handling people.
Supply vehicles arrived without pause at just the right moment—from late shipments delayed by bombed roads to the Emperor's victory gifts. The hospital buzzed with unexpected prosperity.
Laughter bloomed in a place once filled with eerie silence or horrific screams. Guilt-free mirth felt as light as feathers.
Severely injured patients unable to move passed the time watching comrades clumsily chase chickens and ducks scampering across the yard.
The phonograph occasionally scraped but performed admirably, and polished champagne glasses stood neatly on lace-draped side tables.
“Ah, this is too high.”
Dixie stretched precariously atop a chair. Even on tiptoes, the chandelier in her hand fell far short of the ceiling.
“Teacher Barden's out on house calls.”
Sophia muttered with a pout.
“I'd love to help, but my legs are like this.”
Gail added awkwardly, leaning on his crutches.
No one suitable was in sight. The helping soldiers had long answered their superior's summons.
Dixie's lips puffed out in a pout. No one to assist with her perfect eve.
Stepping into the yard, she planted hands on her hips. Amid the tangle of livestock, vehicles, and people, she spotted two ideal candidates.
Tall, strong, and unconcerned with rank.
“Hey, Duke Dever and Prince Arthur! Join the good cause!”
Dever and Arthur, inspecting supply vehicles, locked eyes on her. There stood Dixie Coleman, summoning them like a general.
“Feels like we got the wrong mark, doesn't it?”
Arthur whispered, his grin frozen wide.
“Come on, hurry!”
Uncharacteristically hesitant, the Nexus Army Commander and Commander took slow steps.
The moment they entered, Dever's eyes fixed on Beth standing blankly with the chandelier. At least, that's all he saw.
“Could you hang this chandelier?”
At Dixie's request, Arthur stepped forward first.
As Arthur climbed onto the chair, Beth fiddled with her now-empty hands. Dever stood right there, but today even meeting his eyes felt awkward.
“Yesterday—”
“Beth!”
Ridiculously, just as he began, a voice swallowed his opener. Dever was past anger now. He just shook his head vaguely at wide-eyed Beth.
“Hurry!”
Impatient Dixie snatched Beth's hand.
Racing outside, Dixie dragged a massive package from the bed of a freshly arrived supply truck. Barely heaving the floor-dragging sack onto a cart, she pushed it toward the back door.
“Ugh. Why's it so heavy?”
Only upon reaching the dorm did she straighten up and groan. But her face brimmed with irrepressible satisfaction.
“Know what this is?”
Beth pondered, then mimed eating.
“Food? Heh, no. This is...”
She whispered conspiratorially.
“The clothes and shoes for tonight's party.”
Dixie flapped off toward the hospital.
“Look forward to it! Back to work now!”
By sunset, the hospital truly resembled a banquet hall.
Kerosene lamps hung along the bulb-less corridor windows flickered like a miniature Wayne lamp festival, stirring viewers' hearts. Even scuffed floors and peeling walls gained charm in the dim glow.
Broken windows boarded with planks, skilled seamstresses crafted curtains from torn shawls.
The chandelier Dixie had hung with care sparkled intermittently to the music, while early-arriving soldiers sipped champagne to mask their excitement.
Unaware nurses clustered in the dorm, excitedly unpacking Dixie's package.
Dresses for those who'd followed the battlefield just to survive. Aside from Aines and Dixie, most had never dreamed of fine clothes. Knowing this, Dixie had asked her father to procure shares for all.
Admiration erupted everywhere.
“Oh, these are for Beth and Aines.”
Dixie swiftly pulled two dresses from the pile. Subtle sky blue and soft pink—not garish, not plain. Just ornate enough to uplift the mood.
“Did you see the guy's face asking Sophia to be his partner? Thought he was a tomato.”
“Remember the one with the arm injury? Scar on his forehead. He said he'd come pick me up.”
“No one's asked me. Sigh, I'll drink till my nose crooks and dance alone.”
Endless chatter turned the dorm into a radio. The prepared ones departed for the hospital one by one.
True to the claim she could do her makeup blindfolded, Dixie finished in a flash and called for Beth.
“First date was ponytail, so braids tonight.”
She murmured her grooming scheme.
“Dixie, Beth. Let's go.”
Aines urged the last two remaining.
Beth hesitated briefly before picking up a pen.
[Go ahead. I'll come shortly.]
“Then hurry up.”
Only after the door sounds faded did Beth approach the mirror.
The braid draped to one side tickled her straight collarbone. Delicate flower-shaped hairpins sparkled faintly on the unbraided side.
An unfamiliar look, like market days.
A deep breath made her white cleavage rise modestly over the deeply plunging blue neckline.
With each step down the stairs, her heart pounded in tandem. She had no promise with Dever. Yet he felt sure to be there.
He always came whenever she waited.
Lip-biting at last, Beth carefully pushed open the creaky door.
Outside, white snowflakes danced. The outpost's first snow.
And there.
“I've been waiting.”
Stood the man she had been waiting for.