Chapter 48
Chapter 48
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 48
Chapter Title: Dawn's Promise
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Beth spent the night wide awake. Whenever sleep briefly tugged at her, her mind sharpened right back up.
Perhaps because her wish to sleep hadn't been a lie, Dever never stirred once through the long night. But the moment Beth tossed even a little, he sensed it like a ghost and tightened his loosened arms around her.
Beth, who had started off fidgeting awkwardly in his hold, eventually surrendered completely and relaxed into the body embracing her.
It was too short a night to sort through her thoughts. The roaring wind battered the tent, but the heat from the man wrapped around her kept the chill at bay.
Spotting the thin blue light seeping into the tent signaling the approach of dawn, Beth carefully grasped his hand. His gray eyelashes lay demurely against his cheeks—it was clear he was still deep in slumber.
As if granting her wish, Dever's hand lifted from her waist. Even half-rising gave her more freedom of movement, yet he didn't stir.
He sleeps so soundly.
Her shoulders and back ached from the uncomfortable position she'd endured all night, but Beth studied the man intently in that same awkward pose. Dixie’s awestruck praise for Cliff Duke’s striking looks came to mind anew. If he weren’t burdened with the heavy role of army commander, he could make any woman’s heart flutter.
Her hand, unconsciously drifting toward his face, halted in midair. The face from her memories overlapped with his defenseless one.
Stop.
Beth reined herself in inwardly. If there were people who could cross lines at will, there were also those who had to hold them sacred. She knew exactly where she stood.
With a somewhat steadier heart, Beth rose quietly, intending to slip out of the tent.
An iron grip that defied belief for someone half-asleep yanked her back onto the bed.
“Where do you think you’re going.”
His voice, thick with sleep, cracked at the end.
Overpowered, Beth couldn’t even turn around—she just held her breath. She lightly tapped the arm coiled around her waist to signal she had to go, but Dever brushed off her intent effortlessly.
“Ditching me to head somewhere?”
Dever murmured low against the nape of her neck.
“I kept my promise—what’s the problem?”
Frustrated by his nonsensical response when she clearly had to leave, Beth scratched his arm hard.
[Morning meeting.]
“The living find a way to survive.”
Despite his irresponsible words, the lazy drawl trailing over her clothes still carried traces of sleep.
Beth pried his arm off more firmly this time. Dever finally released her, but he kept a tight hold on her wrist.
Dever flopped face-down on the bed with a low groan, his broad shoulders alone filling the narrow cot. Realizing anew just how cramped the space had been as they’d tangled through the night, Beth quickly got up. It was early dawn, but she needed to return to her quarters before anyone saw.
“I’ll walk you back.”
Beth shook her head firmly.
The man, staggering to his feet as if oblivious to her concerns, dropped his head onto her shoulder—her height barely reached his chest. His bangs teasingly brushed her nape.
“Don’t leave me behind.”
Right, and that’s why.
Beth inwardly cursed herself for accepting his absurd offer to stay the night. Anyone spotting her emerging from the army commander’s tent at this hour, with him still bleary-eyed, would jump to the obvious conclusion.
“Promise me, and I’ll let you go.”
Beth nodded vaguely, but his persistent grip stayed clamped on her wrist.
Dever grabbed the neatly folded blanket from the corner and draped it over her shoulders. He couldn’t give her his clothes—that would give away that she’d been with the army commander—so the field blanket was the best he could do.
His sharpened gaze, now fully awake, pinned her in place. The petulance from moments ago vanished, leaving an inexplicable tension hanging in the tent.
“Promise you won’t leave me behind, and I’ll let you go.”
The words carried a hint of threat.
Seeing her face stiffen, Dever chuckled softly.
“Nothing serious. Last time you ditched me and vanished to the battlefield, things nearly went to hell.”
Only then did Beth grasp his meaning, and she nodded readily. It was a day she could never forget.
Dever knew she wouldn’t forget it either—that because of that day, this woman now looked at him with her whole heart. Sometimes he shuddered at his own ruthless cunning, but right now, it all satisfied him completely.
“Promise me. Say you won’t leave me.”
Beth nodded without hesitation. There was no reason not to. The war was over now, and there’d be no situations where she put him in danger.
“Good, that’s all I needed.”
Dever jerked his head toward the tent flap, as if urging her to hurry. When Beth hesitated and glanced back, he added, “Get a move on, or you’ll run into the patrolling sentries.” With that, she darted out.
“Fast as ever.”
His voice, laced with amusement, lingered softly in the tent.
Turning the battered door handle of her quarters—now so loose it was practically falling apart—Beth found herself genuinely grateful for the rundown conditions. If it had been the kind that only opened from inside, she’d have been caught sneaking back for sure.
She crept inside, and the place was deathly still. Crumbs from half-eaten biscuits and empty bottles littered the rickety table by the door—clear evidence that Collins and her old trainees had drowned their reunion sorrows in a proper bender.
She was about to change clothes and head to the hospital when—
“!”
A heavy thud against her foot made Beth clap a hand over her mouth in shock. No matter how startled, she wouldn’t cry out, but it was pure instinct.
What snagged her foot was a leg protruding from under the table. Kneeling in disbelief, she watched a figure crawl out on all fours.
“What the…”
Dixie scowled up at her from the floor, propped on hands and knees. Beth stared back in horror, as if Dixie had voiced her exact thoughts.
“You—”
“Huh? Beth? Where were you all night?”
Dixie’s question about the previous night was drowned out by the shrill voice of someone descending the stairs. Dixie narrowed her eyes at Beth, who was wrapped in an unfamiliar blanket and rummaging for paper.
Beth hurriedly scribbled something on the table. Dixie, now sitting primly, squinted suspiciously. Her stern demeanor reminded Beth of Madam Molly scolding students back in the day.
Beth’s eyes met Dixie’s again—hers bent over the table, Dixie’s from below.
Out of sight of the nurse on the stairs, Dixie mouthed, Need help? Beth’s head bobbed unconsciously in agreement.
“Beth, sorry! I dumped night shift on you, so you couldn’t even grab a drink with Mr. Collins—how awful!”
Night duty had actually been Dixie and Aines. But Madam Molly had volunteered specially, knowing her trainee wanted to catch up with Collins.
Dixie had eagerly accepted, but Aines—worried about leaving her fiancé alone—had joined the madam for the shift.
Aines, the only one who knew the truth, was now dead to the world upstairs.
“Oh, really? Must’ve been tough. Get some rest, Beth.”
“Right? How much she must’ve suffered last night!”
Dixie rolled her eyes dramatically. Beth’s heart raced at the exaggeration, but the questioning nurse seemed oblivious and soon wandered off for a stroll.
The first floor fell silent again with just the two of them.
“Ahem, Miss Beth Jens.”
Dixie leaned her chin on the table, perched on a chair. Her eyes already gleamed with mischief, burning with intent to pounce this time.
[Let me wash up first. Please.]
Beth pressed her desperate plea onto the paper and trudged upstairs. The relentless gaze didn’t leave until even her toes vanished from sight.
“Hurry up—it’s already midday!”
Beth ignored Dixie, who stuck to her side like glue, and changed a wounded soldier’s head bandage. Dixie busily administered painkillers with her hands while relentlessly teasing Beth with her mouth.
Swallowing a sigh as she left the ward, Beth spotted a familiar soldier. It was the one who’d given Dixie wildflowers. This time, he clutched a branch—somehow procured in winter—with cute red berries, holding it like a bouquet.
Beth approached with sparkling eyes, and the soldier, face flushed crimson, shyly offered it.
“I-I had some free time, so I went to the woods, and this… it reminded me of the dress Nurse Dixie wore that day.”
“No, I don’t need this.”
Beth seized the moment as Dixie sighed and accepted the gift anyway, darting down to the lower floor. She couldn’t evade her all day, but she needed time alone to gather her thoughts.
A persistent flutter in her chest kept trying to soar, only to be yanked down by the heavy weight of guilt.
“Oh, Nurse Beth.”
Arthur, entering through the main gate, looked up at Beth standing motionless on the stairs.
Since that day he’d confessed his secret wish to place Beth Jens in the field hospital, he hadn’t gotten a proper look at her. Arthur recalled his expression, then tugged his lips into a suitable smile.
“Long time no see.”
His feigned greeting trembled faintly at the end, but he prayed she wouldn’t notice. Afraid his mask would slip, he quickly ducked his head. A bundle of letters was in his hand.
“Letters for the nurses arrived too—lucky I caught you early.”
Arthur felt relief that he’d been the first to receive the early morning mail convoy—he’d have been mortified to show this woman his pathetic side again otherwise.
He extended the perfect excuse to Beth.
“This one’s for you, Miss Beth.”