“I’m disappointed. I gave you desserts I stood in line for early in the morning to buy.”

Wait, desserts?

Laila furrowed her brow. Where had she seen him before?

“Ah…!!”

“Hahaha. You finally remember me.”

So that was why he had seemed familiar. He was the man who had given her a large amount of desserts in exchange for her name not long ago.

She had not even been able to thank him then. She never imagined they would meet again like this.

“Thank you for the desserts.”

“I’m glad you enjoyed them in my stead.”

“….”

In truth, those desserts had gone to Roselina, but Laila did not mention it.

“I have yet to introduce myself properly. I am Nathan Riot.”

“I am Laila Grant.”

“I’ve already heard a great deal about you, but it is a pleasure to meet you.”

His flowing orange hair and crescent-shaped eyes complemented his refreshing smile perfectly.

If she were asked to picture the freshness of spring, she might find herself thinking of him.

“Once again, thank you for saving me.”

“I’m glad you are feeling better now.”

Watching Laila bow her head in sincerity, Nathan was reminded of what had happened earlier that day.

She had performed exceptionally well on the battlefield. In fact, ‘remarkable’ did not even begin to describe her. Seeing her subdue hundreds of knights without ever losing her composure had been almost frightening.

Although he had saved her, if they were judging solely by skill, she should have been the one asking him to protect her.

‘Despite possessing such extraordinary skill, she had never killed anyone before.’

To be honest, Nathan found her intriguing. Of course, taking a life was no ordinary matter, even for a knight. However, he had assumed that someone like her would have been sent to countless wars.

Yet during the earlier battle, Laila had only attacked her enemies’ hands and feet — and with perfect precision. Watching her strike with the accuracy of a clock’s second hand yet refuse to end lives in a single blow convinced Nathan.

‘She has never killed anyone before. No, she simply doesn’t want to.’

Nathan could not tear his gaze away from her bluish eyes.

He had felt it outside the bakery as well, but she looked far too much like the first love he had never once forgotten.

‘If only she were still alive….’

Thinking of his first love from long ago, Nathan bit the inside of his mouth. It had been too sincere to dismiss as the first love of a young and naïve boy, and the sense of loss had been far too great.

‘Princess Lailea passed away far too suddenly, without a single person there to protect her.’

She had been his precious and cherished first love, one he had never told anyone about. A first love he still carried in his heart, whose treasured memories he continued to revisit.

Her life had been far too short, so he wanted to be the one who remembered her for a long time.

“Shall I braid your hair?”

“Pardon?”

The princess, who was only four years old, pointed at his orange hair and asked with her clear eyes sparkling.

He had nodded at her endearing voice and hope-filled eyes as though drawn by an irresistible force.

“I’ll make it very pretty.”

“Ah… yes, Your Highness.”

The princess led the young Nathan to a chair, where he sat down and entrusted his hair to her. He barely dared to breathe.

His heart raced as she carefully worked her soft, gentle hands through his hair. When she burst into laughter, marveling at how beautifully it swayed, his heart clenched so tightly that he wondered if he might die from the force of his feelings.

That was how his first love began.

He adored the smile with which she welcomed him whenever he visited the Imperial Palace, and his heart would flutter beneath her unwavering gaze whenever she looked directly into his eyes.

She always shone. Sometimes, he even had to prepare himself before looking at her. No one could have suited the words ‘radiant sunlight’ better than she did.

Every bit of attention she gave him was precious, and whenever she called his name, she made him feel truly special.

“Nathan, this is a present.”

“A present?”

She nodded so enthusiastically that her silver hair fluttered, then personally opened his hand and placed something upon his palm.

“Isn’t this a fallen leaf?”

“It is. But this is a special fallen leaf.”

A special fallen leaf? Nathan tilted his head.

“My maid told me that catching a falling leaf brings good fortune.”

Her eyes could not conceal her excitement, and her expression brimmed with life. She shuffled her feet as though delighted to give him the leaf.

“So I waited beneath the tree all day yesterday for a leaf to fall.”

“…You did that to give it to me?”

“Yes! So good fortune will come to you now.”

He imagined her sitting before the tree and staring endlessly up at it to find him a present. He also pictured her darting about eagerly to catch a falling leaf.

Every image was so adorable and endearing that he could not suppress his laughter.

“Thank you, Your Highness. I have received the most precious gift.”

Just as she had promised, her delighted giggle brought him good fortune. His heart was filled with a happiness he would never experience again.

That happiness was Lailea. She was his greatest love and his most heartfelt wish — beyond her, he desired nothing more.

He still remembered their first love, which had begun when he was six, and yearned for it. She had been so precious and special to him.

But Lailea had lost her light far too soon.

Nathan wished he could see her again, even if only once.

Meanwhile, he remained unaware that his first love was sitting right beside him.

“Dame Laila.”

“Yes.”

“May I ask who it is that you wish to protect?”

It was pure curiosity.

She had been crumbling as though she might collapse at any moment, yet she regained her senses when he asked whether she had come here to protect someone. Just how precious must that person be to her? That was why Nathan was curious.

“Is it your family?”

“Hmm…. He is someone even more precious and special to me than family.”

‘Ah, it’s a man.’

Love from the fierce reincarnation of the Ancient Sword. Nathan had a feeling that she would give her utmost even in love.

“Then is your family with that person?”

“….”

When Laila’s expression suddenly stiffened, Nathan realized his mistake.

“Ah, I apologize if I made you uncomfortable.”

Seeing Nathan flusteredly apologize, Laila responded calmly instead.

“No, it’s all right. My family died a long time ago. They are probably buried somewhere in the Adelina Empire.”

“Ah…. I’m sorry.”

“It’s all right. It isn’t something that pains me deeply.”

Feeling as though he had exposed someone else’s wounds, Nathan lowered his head. Then a sudden thought occurred to him.

‘The Adelina Empire?’

He had heard that she lived in the Circlezian Empire. He wondered what connection she had to Adelina.

“But you mentioned the Adelina Empire…. May I ask what happened?”

“I lost my family seven years ago and crossed over from the Adelina Empire to Circlezia. Or rather, that is what I was told.”

“Pardon?”

“I have no memories of the time I lived in Adelina.”

“…!”

“I lost my family in an accident seven years ago and developed amnesia from the trauma. My earliest memory is of being aboard a ship bound for the Circlezian Empire.”

An accident seven years ago?

Nathan’s heart began to beat irregularly.

A strange thought suddenly occurred to him.

Princess Lailea had also died in an accident seven years ago. The year of the accident was the only thing they had in common. Why, then, did he have such a strange feeling?

“You truly… remember nothing?”

“Yes. I can’t believe I’ve told you so much. No one else knows about this….”

Her calm blue eyes reminded Nathan of Lailea. They were the same eyes as those of the bright and innocent young princess.

‘No. No, that can’t be. It makes no sense.’

Many people had blue eyes. Besides which, Laila’s hair was not silver.

Silver hair was a symbol of the imperial Adelina family.

There was no evidence to support this absurd idea.

‘That’s right. I must have had a strange thought for a moment because I miss the princess.’

Even as he repeatedly told himself it was impossible, Nathan’s eyes remained fixed intently on Laila’s face.

A delicate face reminiscent of the soft glow of the moon, with perfectly shaped eyes.

“…!”

“A-Are you all right?”

When Nathan abruptly shot to his feet as though struck by lightning, Laila asked in surprise.

Laila was still sitting on the ground, looking up at him. For a moment, her face overlapped with Lailea’s childhood face, leaving Nathan confused.

“I-I should go first…. Yes, I will take my leave.”

Nathan hurriedly left, his face filled with confusion.

‘Why do I keep having such strange thoughts…?’

Nathan shook his head vigorously and tried to think rationally.

There must have been many people who lost their families in accidents that same year. The empire was vast, after all. But still….

“They look too much alike.”

Her eyes shone like the sea and her gaze was serene and innocent. Even the way her eyebrows furrowed when she cried was the same.

Although she was far more subdued than the princess had been, he could not stop thinking about her.

Could such a thing be possible? He had been told that she had died in the burning Imperial Palace seven years ago.

“Was her body ever found?”

Nathan wanted to return to the Adelina Empire immediately to find out what had happened.

At the time of the fire, while Laila was suffering verbal and physical *buse in isolation, Nathan was in another country, far from the Empire.

He had been forced to accompany his father on a business trip and had said goodbye to Laila in tears.

“Don’t go…. No one is more fun than Nathan…. Waaah…!”

“Your Highness, you must not forget me. I promise I will return, so please remember me.”

Because they were so young and innocent, saying goodbye to Laila was painful and sorrowful.

He vividly remembered her clasping his tearful hands and nodding as she promised to remember him. Yet several years later, he received the tragic news of her death.

She had been accused of attempting to poison the emperor, a crime that was completely out of character for her.

Nathan wandered in despair for quite some time after their unexpected parting. But what if she were still alive?

“Dame Laila is Lord Carlo’s knight commander.”

Then Laila’s voice resurfaced in his mind.

“My earliest memory is of being aboard a ship bound for Circlezia seven years ago.”

Seven years ago, Carlo had also crossed over to the Circlezian Empire.

Nathan’s heart began to beat fast and uncomfortably. Nothing was known about Laila, the reincarnation of the Ancient Sword.

The fact that so little information about her existed suggested that someone had deliberately suppressed it. He had also heard that she obeyed only Carlo’s commands, almost to a pathological degree.

“She left the Adelina Empire with Lord Carlo.”

There was a possibility that Laila was Princess Lailea. Carlo was Theodor’s friend and also knew the princess.

If he had rescued her on the day the palace burned down, that would explain everything. She may have lost her memory in the accident, too.

“What if I’m right…?”

He was not certain, but it was undoubtedly worth investigating.

However, he had to proceed cautiously. If Laila really was the princess everyone thought was dead, her reappearance would cause enormous upheaval in the Adelina Empire.

This time, he would protect her at all costs.

Nathan’s green eyes flashed sharply.