The Unlucky Bride Is Loved by the Fortunate Desert King - Chapter 29 – Dream Story
Under the moonlight, the camel’s steady steps made the wagon sway gently. Inside the glowing carriage, the soft light of the lanterns shimmered like sunlight filtering through trees.
It felt like a single light flickering quietly in the middle of a vast, dark desert.
In that warm glow, I began to sob.
I had to part with Al. Or maybe… I would never see him again. Once that thought entered my mind, I couldn’t stop crying.
In the silence, only the sound of my sniffles echoed faintly.
(Don’t cry. You’re the one who decided this.)
Why had I come so far, to marry into a foreign land? Life with Al had been so peaceful and kind that I had nearly forgotten my original purpose.
I had a reason for being here. It wasn’t only for myself. That’s why I had to go to Asaad.
I kept telling myself that—but my heart and mind refused to agree.
Seeing that I couldn’t stop crying, the Lantern Master spoke gently.
“Don’t cry so much, Yuzu. If it hurts to go somewhere new, then you don’t have to force yourself. Even if you can convince yourself it’s fine for now, doing something you truly don’t want will always bring pain later.”
His calm, serene voice slipped into my heart like the flow of a clear stream.
“But… I have to go,” I said through tears. “I have to become Lord Asaad’s bride… I don’t have a choice.”
The master kept his eyes on the road, reins in hand, and murmured quietly,
“But you’re alive. And the one you love—he’s alive too. Then what is there to fear? Death—that’s the only true end. Once you die, no matter how much you long for someone, there’s nothing left you can do.
For me, it’s already too late. I can’t talk to the dead anymore.”
“Master…?”
He rarely ever spoke about himself. That faint glimpse into his past was something I’d never heard before.
“If you wish to turn back, I won’t stop you,” he said softly. “It’s not what I’d advise—but it’s your choice, Yuzu.”
“But…”
It wasn’t as if I had chosen to leave on a whim. There was something I had to accomplish—something that had brought me to this country.
I wanted to return to Al. To throw everything away—my duty, my vows—and stay with him forever.
But I knew that was nothing more than a foolish dream. Someone as unlucky as me could never be the hero of such a story.
The thought was so ridiculous that my lips curved into a small, bitter smile. Tears welled up even as I laughed—I must have looked truly pathetic.
“It’s impossible… Master. What’s done is done.”
Humans have to know when to give up. I had given up on many things in my life already. This was nothing new.
So even though it hurt now, I told myself it would be fine. Soon, I would return to being just unlucky Amamiya Yuzu, living my small, ordinary life again.
And within that long life, there would only remain a single fleeting memory—A dreamlike moment when I once lived beside Al.