"Are you feeling any better?" Dawn Miles asked with concern.

A smile touched Elias Lennox’s lips as he reached out to stroke her face. "Much better. Rory, let’s get married as soon as we go home, okay?"

Dawn Miles froze for a moment. Seeing the hopeful look in his eyes, she finally nodded.

His smile grew even more radiant, his amber eyes shimmering with a gentle light. She averted her gaze, feeling a little flustered.

"Rory, don’t leave today. Stay with me, please?" Elias Lennox patted the spot on the bed next to him.

However, she shook her head and pointed to the nearby sofa. "I’ll stay with you from over there," she said softly.

The light in Elias Lennox’s eyes dimmed. "Is it because you think I’m useless now?"

"No. It’s just... we’re not married yet. Men and women shouldn’t be so close."

Elias Lennox’s eyes widened slightly. His hand, resting at his side, seemed to clench the blanket nervously.

"Did you remember something?"

She shook her head. "You should get some sleep. I’ll stay here with you."

"Will you always stay with me?"

The question felt strangely familiar, as if someone else had asked her that once before. She glanced at Elias Lennox, who was watching her with a guarded expression, and gave a slight nod. "I will..."

"You can’t take it back."

"Okay..."

As if finally reassured, Elias Lennox slowly closed his eyes.

***

「The next day.」

Despite his condition, Elias Lennox insisted on accompanying her to the psychologist’s office.

The psychologist had her lie down on a plush sofa and asked her to relax.

As he spoke in a slow, soothing voice, the girl on the sofa gradually closed her eyes.

An hour or two later, the psychologist finally came out of the room.

"She does have amnesia. My initial assessment is that she doesn’t have multiple personalities."

Elias Lennox sighed in relief. "How long does it usually take for this kind of amnesia to heal?"

The psychologist glanced at his notes. "Amnesia can be caused by many things: severe shock, drugs, or physical trauma. There’s currently no medication for it. If you want to help her recover quickly, you could try taking her to familiar places and introducing her to familiar people. That might jog her memory..."

Elias Lennox gave a slight nod.

"By the way, I asked her the question you wanted me to ask," the psychologist said suddenly, his expression probing. "Are you sure you want to hear the answer?"

Elias Lennox glanced at the sleeping girl inside the room and hummed a quiet "mhm."

"She said one word: White."

The psychologist’s pronunciation wasn’t perfect, but it was enough to make Elias Lennox’s expression darken.

"Doctor, could you please ask her another question for me? Who is the man she loves?"

After a long while, Elias Lennox looked at the psychologist and said flatly, "Doctor, can you hypnotize her?"

***

「May 15th.」

The opening ceremony for the Continent of Southeland’s Freestyle Combat Grand Finals officially began.

Nations big and small from all across Southeland gathered at a massive stadium in the neutral nation of Keldara.

The plane representing the Luvian Empire’s Royal Family landed at the Keldaran airport at nearly the same time as the one from the Ocrean Empire.

A procession followed behind the members of the Luvian Royal Family. At the very end of the line, a person in a mask was pushing a wheelchair.

"Rory, we have enemies in the Ocrean Empire’s delegation. Be careful," Elias Lennox whispered, looking up at her.

Dawn Miles nodded and adjusted the blanket that had started to slip from his lap.

"Prince Harmon, long time no see!" a cheerful voice called out from ahead.

Prince Harmon smiled and returned the greeting. "Prince Dees, it has been a while."

"I hear you’ve brought a secret weapon this time?" Dees Oak’s gaze swept over the people standing behind Prince Harmon.

Prince Harmon subtly blocked his line of sight and continued to exchange pleasantries with a smile.

Although the two nations had signed a temporary peace accord, the air was still thick with tension. The glares exchanged between those standing closest were so intense, it looked as if they were seconds away from rolling up their sleeves and starting a brawl.

Seeing he wasn’t going to get any information out of them, Dees Oak gave a cold snort and hastily led his entourage away.

Someone in his procession suddenly pulled out a phone and sent a message:

[Sir, I think I just saw Aurora and Elias Lennox.]

A reply came back almost instantly.

[Find a chance to approach her. Don’t let Elias Lennox find out.]

Standing on the rooftop of a skyscraper, Alvin Morgan stared at the message on his phone, his brow deeply furrowed.

After Aurora Sinclair and Elias Lennox fell into the ocean, his people had searched the area for days without finding a trace of them.

But on the fifth day, The Phantom Trove received a letter from Aurora Sinclair.

It read: ’All is well. Currently investigating The Shadow Organization with my senior.’

The handwriting was confirmed to be Aurora Sinclair’s, so The Phantom Trove called off the search.

’But he always found it suspicious. If Aurora really wanted to investigate The Shadow, she absolutely would have sent the injured Elias Lennox back first.’

’It wasn’t in her nature to drag him along while investigating The Shadow Organization.’

’Therefore, the letter was most likely a forgery.’

’And it was highly probable that Aurora Sinclair and Elias Lennox were being held by someone.’

’At first, he suspected it was The Shadow... but now...’

’...he wasn’t so sure.’