Judy's POV:
We left the city around three in the afternoon. By the time Nick drove the SUV off the highway and onto the dirt road leading to the secluded estate outside the outskirts, the sky had already begun melting into sunset; when we arrived, the sun had just slipped beneath the horizon, close to five o'clock.
After the simple dinner Nick cooked, I sat at the stone table in the backyard, resting my chin on my hand while staring at the moon. The stone was cold. My mind was empty. Nick had disappeared somewhere for a long while, but I didn't ask. He was always energetic like a wolf pup, and today he was so excited he probably wanted to sprint around the entire ranch.
I suppose I borrowed some of his enthusiasm. For the first time in many days, I could ignore the prying eyes in the Johnston residence, leave behind the whispering servants my mother planted to keep watch in my room. I knew she cared about me, but with the secret of my rebirth buried in my chest, I had to control every expression, every breath, every movement. It was exhausting.
Lady Johnston, my mother, used to be too intelligent. Under her gaze, hiding a secret was like trying to hide a werewolf's scent nearly impossible.
I should rely on my family, but Mother's body grew weaker by the day, Father never possessed the decisiveness of an Alpha, and my grandparents no longer had the strength. I didn't want to trouble them unless absolutely necessary. I had to become stronger and resolve whatever I could on my own.
Now, I had returned to the center of attention. Dangerous people were starting to notice me. I knew I needed to tell Mother and my eldest brother so they could prepare.
But… not tonight.
Tonight, I just wanted peace.
The moon hung high, leaving only me and my own shadow. The stillness was so complete I could hear my own breathing. The night spread out like a massive blanket, swallowing all my pressure, all my loneliness, all the unspoken grievances piling up in my chest.
The hatred I thought I had buried in my previous life… began to surface again.
Not loud, but like dark vines twisting awake at the bottom of my heart.
Just as my chest began to feel heavy, as though sinking underwater, a scent washed over me, Nick's scent. Mint with a trace of healing salve, familiar enough that my knees nearly buckled just from breathing it in.
It felt like when I had nightmares a hand would reach through the darkness and pull me out.
I turned, and my gaze met Nick's dazzling smile. Moonlight caught the curve of his cheek, but his eyes were brighter still warm as the late-afternoon sun, warm enough to hurt.
My heart trembled painfully hard for one beat.
I hurriedly looked away, but his smile clung to the inside of my skull, swaying back and forth, refusing to leave.
"Judy?"
"…"
"Judy!"
I snapped back. Nick was kneeling on one knee in front of me, staring in worry.
"Hm?" I blinked, still a bit dazed.
His brows furrowed, and in his dark eyes there was unmasked affection:
"I called you a dozen times and you didn't hear. What were you thinking about?"
I exhaled softly, like a breeze. "Probably just tired. A little tired, that's all."
He looked unconvinced, but didn't press. I didn't want to ruin his good mood, so I changed the subject:
"Nick, where did you go earlier?"
He lit up bright as the moonburst itself. He opened his mouth as if to say something, then stopped himself.
"You'll know in a while."
Mysterious again.
I laughed helplessly.
He must have been kneeling too long, because he sat right down beside my legs and pulled out his favorite dagger, spinning it skillfully. I watched the blade whirl, my eyelids growing heavier.
"There's a chair right there. Don't sit on the ground like a puppy."
Nick shot to his feet as if someone had stepped on his tail:
"I'm not like that dog!"
"Then stand up."
"No. It's warm here. You're blocking the wind for me. I'm freezing."
"…Shameless."
I hadn't even pushed him away yet when... BOOM!
A loud explosion split the sky.
I jerked upright. Nick didn't turn toward the sound, not even once. He only watched me, clearly, steadily, as if my reaction was the only thing that mattered.
Fireworks.
The first streaks tore open the quiet darkness, bursting into radiant blossoms across the vast sky. Colors rained downward red, gold, green, violet each explosion echoing like it was trying to awaken the whole sleeping forest.
And I… felt detached from it.
One part of me stared blankly at the sky blooming with light. The other part curled inward, heavy and dark as stone. The beauty was too bright, too warm so painfully opposite of the heart inside me, a heart too scarred, too afraid, too damaged to open itself easily.
But the fireworks kept falling, each spark touching my eyes then sinking into my chest, dizzying me. Every burst felt like a gentle fingertip knocking on my heart scratching, tapping making me tremble without knowing whether from joy or from pain.
Beside me, Nick sheathed his dagger and sat on the ground, at ease as if the night belonged entirely to him. One knee propped up, an arm resting casually on it. And with his other hand without asking, without warning, he simply took my hand.
Mine was small, soft, and fit perfectly into his. The feeling was terrifyingly familiar, as if my hand had long ago been meant to rest inside his.
I watched the fireworks. He watched me.
The sky kept exploding in light, and I sat there frozen, neck stiff, eyes glued to the sky, yet my hand remained in his, unmoving. Maybe I was afraid that if I pulled away, I'd lose something…
or lose myself.
Eventually, the display began to fade. The final trails of fire fell and extinguished. I felt a sharp, childish pang of regret so sincere it startled me.
I lowered my gaze. Nick was still watching me, his eyes so gentle it made me want to cry.
"Judy," he asked softly, afraid to break the moment, "are you happy?"
Happy?
How could I describe this feeling warm yet aching, laughing yet on the verge of tears?
It felt like someone had pressed my heart into warm water, letting the heat seep into my bones, my blood, my fingertips and beneath that warmth lay all the tenderness and grief I had been swallowing for so long.
I parted my lips but no words came. My lashes fluttered like butterfly wings.
I closed my eyes briefly, gathered myself, then looked at his unbearably beautiful face.
"N… Nick…"
My voice trembled. Fragile. Needing.
Just that soft whisper made his lips tremble. Then he smiled clean, bright, like the last sunlight of winter.
His voice, low and husky and warm, slid straight into my ears:
"Judy, I'm here."
We stayed quiet for a long time, long enough for me to hear my own heartbeat.
"Nick." I called again. "Thank you."
This was the most beautiful firework display I had ever seen. The most precious gift in both my lives.
No one had ever held me so gently. No one had ever placed me at the center of their world like this.
Outside of my family, Nick was the most important person to me. After dying once, I knew exactly what was worth cherishing. So every day that I could see my mother, my eldest brother, and Nick safe beside me was a gift I thanked with everything left in my heart.
Yet right behind that small happiness, guilt slowly rose like sludge stirred from the bottom of a lake.
Because I knew all too well: The tragedy of the Marquis family in my previous life, the catastrophe that made all of Obsidian Hollow mourn was not the "accident" everyone believed.
A quiet night shredded by nameless assassins, appearing and vanishing like phantoms... leaving behind blood, ashes, and questions even the Crown Prince couldn't unravel.
But I knew.
I knew the true cause of everything. And I had carried that burden through two lifetimes, like a wound that never closed aching every time I touched something warm.
It reminded me that the happiness I held now was not just luck… but a debt I still didn't know how to repay.