She Was Just A Child (PART 2)

CHAPTER 38: THE WEIGHT OF TRUST

Chapter 38: The Weight of Trust

Sleep never came easily for Dian.

Even after everything, even after the exhaustion had settled deep into her bones, she remained awake, staring at the ceiling of her quarters, the rabbit charm still clutched in her hand.

She wasn’t sure why she held onto it so tightly. Maybe because it was his, and König didn’t just give things away lightly. Maybe because it was proof that something in her life had stayed, even when everything else had always been ripped away.

Her fingers tightened around the charm as she exhaled sharply.

She didn’t know how to do this.

Didn’t know how to exist in a space where people actually cared.

A sharp knock on the door pulled her from her thoughts.

Her body tensed instinctively, her mind already calculating the fastest route to the knife she had stashed under her pillow.

Then—

“It’s me.”

König.

Dian let out a slow breath, hesitating only for a moment before pushing herself up and moving toward the door.

She unlocked it and pulled it open just enough to see him standing there, his massive frame nearly blocking the dim light of the hallway. He wasn’t in his full gear, just a fitted black shirt and combat pants, his hood still pulled over his face.

He studied her for a moment before asking, “Can I come in?”

Dian hesitated again.

She wasn’t used to this.

But she stepped back, allowing him inside.

König moved carefully, his presence still commanding despite the confined space. He glanced around her quarters, his gaze briefly landing on the unmade bed, the scattered notes and knives on the nearby desk.

He said nothing about the disarray. Instead, he turned to face her.

“You didn’t sleep,” he stated, not asked.

Dian crossed her arms, leaning against the doorframe. “Neither did you.”

König hummed in quiet amusement. “Fair.”

A silence stretched between them, but it wasn’t heavy. It wasn’t like before, when she had felt like she was drowning in it.

It was… different.

König finally sighed, rubbing a hand over his face. “Dian… I need you to listen to me.”

She tensed, instincts flaring. She hated being told what to do.

But something in his tone made her stay quiet.

“I know this isn’t easy for you,” he continued. “I know you are trying to keep everything together, even when you don’t have to.”

Dian swallowed hard.

König stepped closer, lowering his voice slightly. “You don’t have to do this alone.”

Dian clenched her jaw, staring at the ground.

She knew that. She knew that.

And yet—

“I don’t know how to trust it,” she admitted, the words slipping past her defenses before she could stop them.

König didn’t react, didn’t push.