Hannah bowed her head and could see Arnold Simmons’s shadow.

She followed behind him, her hand still in his grasp.

"Where are we going?"

She couldn’t help but ask.

Arnold didn’t answer, but just gripped her hand a bit tighter.

Finally, when they reached the deepest part of the dense forest, he stopped.

Without a word, he cradled the back of Hannah’s head and pressed her against the tree trunk, bowing his head to kiss her lips.

The kiss was far from gentle.

It could even be described as somewhat fierce.

Possessive and assertive, yet inexplicably careful.

She clutched his sleeve tightly.

Because of their height difference, Hannah had to tilt her head back.

It seemed he noticed this, and for the first time, his hand around her waist behaved improperly.

He was undoing her clothes.

The outer ones, then the inner ones.

There were gaps between the leaves, layered one upon another, right where starlight filtered through.

Starlight sparkled in her eyes.

It seemed as if the expression in front of her also began to blur.

She called out his name.

"Arnold."

Her voice trembled slightly.

Arnold paused briefly, lightening his touch, yet he still buried his head in the crook of her neck.

This would definitely leave a mark.

His hands were cold, carrying the chill of the night.

Hannah could feel it.

But that was all she could feel, the coolness of his palms.

Suddenly, Arnold stopped what he was doing.

His breathing was rapid, carrying a slightly higher temperature.

Then, he spoke, his voice tight.

"Don’t you feel any pain at all?"

In that moment, the starlight dispersed.

What remained was boundless darkness.

His hand lingered on the edge of her wound.

The torn injury had stopped bleeding, but the peeled skin was still touchable.

The wound hadn’t healed yet.

Hannah suddenly understood the reason for his earlier anger.

But she didn’t know how to answer.

Should she say it didn’t hurt because she was a monster with delayed pain perception?

Or was she supposed to say it hurt a lot, and then shed tears to seek his comfort?

If this was on Blue Star, she would always choose the second option without hesitation.

But this was not the case.

She had already come back.

So she chose silence.

Under the night sky, such silence was as if it intended to pour all the chilliness of the night into her body.

So cold it made one’s heart tremble.

Arnold didn’t ask further, just bowed his head and slowly fastened her clothes back.

His movements were slow.

"Hannah."

"Mhm."

She responded to him and looked up at the starlight again.

It was still through the same gap in the leaves, but the starlight had vanished.

Obscured by the clouds.

The surroundings seemed to grow darker.

"Did you always plan to go to the Lost Territory alone from the start?"

Arnold fastened the last button and then raised his eyes to look at the person in front of him.

Hannah also turned her head to look at him.

The smile that had been on her face just before was now gone.

But Arnold thought that this more genuine-looking Hannah was even more real.

She looked into his eyes, which were dark amidst the surrounding darkness.

In them, she couldn’t see her own reflection, maybe there was one, maybe not.

Hannah didn’t want to lie, so she responded, "Yes."

"What about me?" Arnold questioned her. "What am I supposed to do?"

Hannah lowered her gaze and saw his hand trembling slightly by his side.

She said, "I’m sorry."

She had her own worries and insecurities.

What is affection? What is love?

She didn’t know, but she had witnessed it.

She had seen the man deceive her mother in the name of love, betray their home and their planet. And in the name of love, her mother had shackled her.

In this world, from the moment of birth, no one teaches you what love is.

So one can only learn and understand from the immediate experiences they see.