[ FLASHBACK: First Encounter ]
Young Eve made Alaric lay on the ground. She tore her dress, using the cloth to wrap his wound.
Alaric’s body felt so heavy and weak. He could only listen to Eve’s footsteps. She was walking around the old stockroom as if she was searching for sothing.
"I found old blankets!" Eve’s elated voice echoed in the stockroom.
In a brief mont, she was sitting next to Alaric. She covered his body with the old blanket. Then she placed his head on her lap.
"You take a rest to regain your energy. I’ll be watching you." Eve’s soft voice soothed him.
He thought he was going to die. But this young girl started taking care of him.
"Are you cold?" Eve asked him when she saw Alaric clutching the blanket.
Alaric just shook his head.
"You can sleep now," she said. Eve gently stroked his hair and started singing.
Alaric felt like he was being compelled by her angelic voice. He managed to endure the pain and drifted off to sleep.
The young Eve stared at Alaric worriedly. ’He must be in pain. I feel sorry for him.’
The next morning, Alaric woke up at the sound of running footsteps outside. But his entire body was in so much pain. His eyes were still swollen. The stockroom was so quiet.
’Where is she? Is she still here?’ Alaric asked himself as he tried to sit up. However, he couldn’t lift his body because of soreness and numbness.
His feeling had gotten worse when his stomach started to grumble. He was hungry and hadn’t eaten anything yet since yesterday.
In a brief mont, the stockroom’s door was pushed open and Eve erged from it. Alaric turned in the direction of the sound and was surprised to see Eve. He couldn’t see her clearly because his vision was still blurry.
But he could see her small figure running to him with her hands holding so things.
"You are awake!" Eve’s cheerful voice was heard.
She put down so stuff on the ground as she assisted him to sit up. She made him lean on the old cabinet.
"Drink this!" Eve gave him a small wooden water flask.
Alaric drank the water to quench his thirst, finishing it in just a few gulps.
Then Eve handed him so bread. Alaric quickly took a bite, munching on the bread.
Eve softly giggled and said, "Slow down. You might choke."
"I brought a cold pack for your swollen eyes. Gently press it on your eyes to alleviate the swelling." She handed it to him.
Alaric bowed his head to thank her before accepting it. As he applied the cold pack on his face, Eve just watched him intently.
"I’m Eve. I’m living in the Lotus Pavilion." She introduced herself.
After successfully escaping from the locked stockroom, she returned to Lotus Pavilion to get so food and dicine for Alaric.
anwhile, Alaric was taken aback for a mont. At first, he thought she was the child of a young servant. However, she ntioned Lotus Pavilion. Was she a daughter of a high-ranking official or a noble?
’Thank you for taking care of . I owe you my life.’ He thought to himself, eyeing her aningfully.
Alaric wanted to say those words but he remained silent. He was too embarrassed to speak to her. What if she was indeed the daughter of a high-ranking official?
After finishing his bread, Alaric lifted his head to look at her. His vision beca clear as though he was revitalized by the food he had eaten.
Alaric was stunned upon seeing her charming smile. But what attracted him the most was her erald eyes. They were so beautiful. He could tell that she was younger than him.
’She must be a royalty. She is so adorable. Her eyes... her smile and her long silver-gray hair.’ Alaric couldn’t take his eyes off her. Her thick brows and freckles didn’t make her less charming at all.
Alaric attempted to stand but Eve stopped him.
"Don’t move around. You are still weak. Here, take this dicine. My mother made this herself. This can help you alleviate the pain."
Though she was too young, Eve talked like an adult. Alaric could only obey her, unable to refuse her.
"I can’t stay here for long. I have to go back to the pavilion." Eve stood up, bidding him farewell.
Alaric felt a little bit disappointed since Eve was leaving him again. He still couldn’t walk so he couldn’t return to the training ground.
He wondered if General Artemis had noticed his absence today. Would the general think he left the palace without permission?
"I’ll go back and ask for help. You must be treated so that you can recover quickly. Forgive . I want to bring you to Lotus Pavilion but I can’t carry you alone."
Alaric nodded in response. "I’ll wait for you."
Eve smiled at him one last ti before disappearing from his sight. She was in a hurry.
Alaric closed his eyes. He fell asleep once again. He didn’t know how long he remained asleep. He just woke up at the feeling of soone touching him.
’She’s back!’ Alaric thought to himself, peeling his eyes open.
He was surprised to see a beautiful woman tending to his wounds. She had the sa erald eyes and silver-gray hair as the young girl who took care of her.
’Is she her mother?’ Alaric looked around searching for his little savior. But to his disappointnt, there was no sign of Eve.
"Child, why did you get hurt like this? Who are you? Are you a servant? What pavilion?" Esralda asked Alaric while cleaning his wound.
"I’m Alaric. I’m training here as a knight," Alaric politely spoke to her. He didn’t tell her that his fellow knights assaulted him and brought him into that stockroom.
Esralda fell silent as she watched Alaric. He was too young to beco a knight. She felt sorry for him.
She sensed that Alaric didn’t want to talk about what happened to him so she didn’t ask him again.
"I’m done treating your wounds. I’ll tell soone to send you back to your barracks. They might be looking for you now."
"Thank you," Alaric replied.
Esralda just nodded before she stepped out of the stockroom montarily. When she returned, two knights followed her from behind.
The two knights imdiately brought Alaric back to the warrior’s barracks. He didn’t get a chance to say goodbye to Eve. That was his first encounter with her.
[ End of FLASHBOOK! ]
"So you were that boy! I can still rember you. But I forgot to ask your na. I was only seven years old." Eve said in her elated voice. She finally rembered her first encounter with Alaric.
Alaric nodded with a smile. "I was twelve when I t you."
"The woman who treated ... is she your biological mother? She has the sa erald eyes and silver-gray hair. She is so beautiful. You resemble her a lot," Alaric said, gently caressing her face.
Eve let out a soft giggle. "Yes. She’s my biological mother. Her na is Esralda. I learned dicine from her."
Alaric felt so glad that he had t Eve’s real mother. "She is so kind and smart just like you. Like mother like daughter."
"I miss her so much," Eve mumbled in her solemn voice.
Alaric pulled her into a hug. He could understand her longing for her biological mother. Eve had suffered a lot because of Queen Amara.
"But still... I can’t rember giving you this amulet. When did I give this to you?" Eve asked him curiously.
Alaric chuckled. "That is another tiline. Another story."
Eve nodded. She couldn’t wait to hear that story from him.
"I’ve never seen you after that first encounter. I didn’t know what happened to you after you were brought back to the barracks," Eve said in her sad tone.
"I stayed in the barracks for a month to recuperate. After I recovered, I wanted to see you and express my gratitude. However, I couldn’t leave the training ground," Alaric explained to her.
"Why didn’t you look for ?" Eve asked, staring at him intently.
Alaric chuckled huskily while pinching her nose.
"If you only knew what I did just to see you. During our break ti, I snuck out of the training ground to visit you in the Lotus Pavilion. I climbed several walls and got caught by royal guards nurous tis."
Eve gasped when she heard that. "I’m sorry. Did they punish you because of that?"
Alaric nodded with an awkward smile. He was embarrassed to recall those monts.
"At first, I just wanted to see you one last ti to thank you. One day, I succeeded in sneaking into the Lotus Pavilion. I was supposed to show myself to you. However... I found out that you were the third princess."
"Because of that, I hesitated to approach you. I thought I didn’t qualify to talk to the third princess."
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