After talking to Valkyrie for few hours, she felt quite bored lying on the wooden sofa and her body ached so much for the uncomfortable hardness of the material.

"Get some sleep here. I'll go out for a while." Winter told Valkyrie as she rose to her feet and walked towards the door leading to the outside of the house.

"You are not planning to run away, are you?" Valkyrie asked her since he wasn't sure he can handle Winter if she planned to do so. In fact, he wasn't planning to leave the village not because of his light wounds but because he was still hoping that Gabriel and her could still fix their issue.

"I'm not. I just want to get some fresh air and think about things." Winter stated before opening the door and walked out of the house, closing the door gently behind her.

She looked around the place. Though, it was night time and only few numbers of lamp posts existed, the light of the full moon gave beauty to the village that she didn't see when she came earlier that day. The stars dotted the night and it was so beautiful to see it without the skies or the tall buildings obstructing her view.

"It's quiet and beautiful here." Winter whispered as she walked on the cobble stone path leading her to different places.

The houses weren't purely made of bricks or cement. Only the flooring were made of cement and the walls about two feet from the ground were made of bricks. The rest of the parts of the house were made of shiny mahogany woods and woven bamboo. It was typical for a village that was situated away from the city.

There were many garden of vegetables and the place was abundant of fruit trees. The wind breeze was cool and refreshing.

Walking silently at night, Winter had fun observing the place. Even though it was deep in to the night, there were few men keeping watch of the village. They were patrolling the grounds when they saw Winter strolling her way aimlessly.

"Good evening ma'am. Are you lost?" one of the night watchmen asked Winter politely.

"Ah. No, I'm not. I really wanted to go out and get some fresh air." Winter explained awkwardly to the man while scratching her head, her faint smile hanging on her lips.

"I see. I'm sorry I cut you off from wandering." the man bowed lightly and left her alone.

Winter continued walking and finally arrived to the place she wanted to be. It was under the willow tree. The same tree that she found where Gabriel was.

She sat on the ground, leaned her back on the tree trunk and picked some small stones to throw in the silently flowing river.

'How should I be clingy?' Winter thought while looking at the moon being reflected on the river. When she threw a stone into it, the water rippled yet it was still beautiful in her eyes. 'Nature is really beautiful yet we humans slowly destroyed it.'

The coldness of the wind breeze didn't bother her at all. She like it when it touches her face and her skin. She felt alive whenever the wind kissed her.

'Should I cook for him and pester him everyday? Should I help him with the children? What should I do to cling on to him?'

She thought of different things but she felt it was shameless to do it. She didn't even have the courage to see him again.

"I really think I should just leave." Winter whispered in to the night. "I don't matter to him anyway. If I do, he wouldn't have done this right? But I don't even know why he is doing this? Perhaps he really hated me. Haha How foolish of me to come here." Winter stood up and walked to the river bank. She threw another small stone and watched the surface rippled again.

The river was so clear that she can see small fishes swimming in it. She squatted on the ground and watched the fishes swam prettily.

"Winter!" She was just about to stand and move away from the river bank when someone called her name. Startled and frightened from the sudden shout, Winter lost her balance and the ground beneath her feet gave way.

She still managed to see Gabriel on his wheelchair who tried standing up to reach for her before she fell on the cold water.

'Haha. I'm going crazy. I'm even starting to see things now. Why would he come and see me at night? That was utterly ridiculous.' Winter thought full of mockery while she let her body sank deeper.

The river wasn't deep for a swimmer like her. The only thing she was thankful for was that the current wasn't strong or else, even if she was a swimmer, she could have died.

When she felt the riverbed on her feet, she used all her strength and kicked her legs so she can swim upwards. Her limbs were getting numb from the coldness of the water and she felt the throbbing of her wounds.

When she came out of the water surface, there were many people standing near Gabriel. She shivered when the cool wind blew her skin. She wasn't seeing things, Gabriel was really there.

"How long are you going to stay in there? Are you that foolish to swim in the middle of the night, and a cold water at that?" Gabriel asked indifferently while looking at her. She couldn't see his face clearly but she could tell from his voice that he hated her presence.

Winter took a deep breath, disregarding the pain she felt in her heart, she climbed up on the riverbank with the help of some people. She was thankful that her hair was dripping wet as well as her face, that way, no one could tell that she was crying.

She didn't say anything and turned around to leave them, still shivering from cold. She let her tears fall silently as she walked away from them. 'I told you! It's better to leave him. Can't you feel the disgust and hate in every word he said?!' Winter mentally screamed and yelled towards herself.