Chapter 4: Names Without Faces

The palace halls echoed with soft footfalls and whispered instructions as midday arrived. Servants moved quietly, arranging crystal glasses and floral arrangements in the Great Hall. An intimate gathering had been planned in honor of the prince’s return—just the royal family, a few noble families, and the girl everyone called the future queen.

Kevin stood in the mirror chamber, adjusting the silver cuff of his coat. His reflection looked the part of royalty, but his mind was elsewhere.

The girl on the hill.

He hadn’t spoken to her. He hadn't even seen her face clearly. And yet... the image refused to leave his thoughts. There had been something hauntingly familiar in the way she stood—still, strong, and alone.

As he turned from the mirror, a knock came.

“Your Highness,” came the Queen’s voice. “It is time.”

In the grand reception room, Elara sat near the hearth, her hands folded delicately in her lap. Her blue lenses shimmered in the light, her smile practiced a dozen times that morning.

This would be the first time Kevin saw her in years.

She remembered the boy he once was—gentle, full of wonder. They had played together once, long ago. She wondered if he remembered.

She hoped he didn’t remember too well.

Because even as she sat there, draped in sapphire silk and silver, she feared he might notice what others hadn't.

That her eyes, while beautiful, were not her own.

Kevin entered with a composed grace. He greeted the nobles briefly, then turned to where Elara stood.

She rose.

“Prince Kevin,” she said softly, dipping her head.

“Lady Elara,” he replied, voice calm and unreadable.

Their eyes met.

Blue to blue.

And yet... something felt off. He couldn’t explain it.

She was beautiful. Graceful. Everything his parents had described.

But her gaze held no echo of the girl on the hill.

Back in the orchard, Suzi knelt by a row of budding roses, her fingers brushing soil as she replanted a cluster of white blossoms. Her mind, however, was far from the ground.

She hadn’t seen Kevin again—not directly—but the garden walls weren’t high enough to hide everything. From her spot near the western path, she’d caught glimpses: his dark coat sweeping behind him, the shine of his boots, the way he paused sometimes, as though searching for something.

She wondered if he remembered.

If he’d recognized anything in her at all.

But she told herself it didn’t matter.

He belonged to another world.

And she was just the girl no one was supposed to notice.

Later that evening, Kevin stood alone on the palace balcony, overlooking the hill where the orchard trees swayed.

He didn’t know her name.

But he couldn’t forget her.

Not now. Not ever.

And in a quiet corner of the garden, where the stars blinked softly above, Suzi whispered to herself:

“He doesn’t remember me.

But someday... he will.”