“You don’t know…” An Zhe’s words were contradictory, his emotions torn to pieces and sorrow drowned his soul like the ocean. He wouldn’t be surprised if the pain of this pervasive longing killed him.

“Child, I’ve lived decades more than you. You are young and you don’t know too much.” Polly spoke gently.

“I..” An Zhe looked up blankly, unable to refute it, nor did he argue. There was something in his chest that he couldn’t grasp or see, but he couldn’t describe it.

He glanced over Polly’s shoulders at the endless night sky and muttered, “I don’t know… what?”

Thump thump.

In the brief silence, An Zhe heard his heartbeat. He suddenly had a hunch that Polly’s next words might change his life. He heard Polly’s breathing.

“You don’t know that—” In the silence, Polly declared, “You love him.”

An Zhe’s eyes widened.

In the sky, the aurora changed and the dark green light was like a rolling tide from south to north, dissipating and then regenerating.

He trembled violently. A strong intuition struck his soul like a meteor hitting the ground and light lit up everything in this world. He didn’t know what Polly’s three words meant but he knew it was correct. He was completely dumbfounded and forgot even his sadness as he stared blankly at the aurora in the distance. This lasted until Polly let him go and gently wiped his tears with a handkerchief.

“But why would I?” he murmured. Before he could answer, he was embroiled with a more pressing question.

“Then… will the judge also love me?” He looked at Polly almost like he was praying. “Does he also love me? I’m just… a heterogeneous.”

“Did he say anything to you?”

An Zhe shook his head. The briefness of their relationship was terribly. “Still, he kissed me.”

It was just that An Zhe didn’t know the meaning of the kiss. On that day, the power of words was too weak and they could only do that.

“You are still alive. Did he let you go?” Polly wondered.

“I left him. He has always been a qualified judge and I knew he wouldn’t let me go. I just wanted to leave him and find a place to die, but his gun was left in my backpack and I could return to the Abyss.”

“His gun was left in your backpack?” Polly repeated the sentence.

An Zhe hummed and a faint smile appeared in his eyes. “He always likes to leave his things with me.”

Polly Joan’s hand slowly stroked his hair.

“Silly boy, you have to know.” Polly told him. “A judge’s firearm can never leave them. This is an iron-clad rule that was established 100 years ago.”

An Zhe stared at him silently before finally biting his lips.

“I didn’t know. I really didn’t know.”