"Lun, did you know? This is the second flower I've received from you."
Dahlia smiled softly as she stretched her hand toward the ceiling, gazing at the flower ring.
Gwynnslun's eyes widened slightly in surprise.
He remembered it as well.
"You… you knew it was me?"
"Of course. Someone with such clear blue eyes and silver hair that suits them so gently isn't easy to forget. And…"
She paused, smiling gently.
"It was the first time someone ever gave me a flower just to comfort me."
Dahlia had received countless flowers before, but most of them had been offerings made in front of the king, given with hidden intentions and ambition.
But the flower Gwynnslun gave her was different.
In her memory, its scent lingered far longer than any other.
***
Dahlia was thirteen years old.
That day, guests from the Aureum Empire were visiting the Rubere kingdom.
Taking that opportunity, the Rubere king planned to use his daughter as a bargaining chip for a political marriage.
When young Dahlia realized this, her heart was deeply wounded.
He had never been a gentle father, but even so, she had once hoped that someday he might truly love her.
The day she learned that he saw her only as a tool for his ambition, all of her hopes were shattered.
Unable to bear seeing anyone, the young Dahlia secretly slipped out of the castle with the help of a young noble.
She hid beneath a tree in an empty field and cried quietly for a long time.
That was when someone approached her, cautiously.
A child with a pale face, bright blue eyes, and silver hair like freshly fallen winter snow.
The child stared at her for a moment, then suddenly turned around and ran away.
"Huh…? Who was that?"
She thought he wouldn't come back.
But a short while later, the child came running back, cheeks bouncing adorably, hair flying wildly behind him.
Both of his small hands were full of colorful flowers.
"Sister! Hah… hah… here—take these!"
Out of breath, he shoved the flowers toward her.
"Th… thank you."
Dahlia accepted them without thinking.
They looked like flowers picked at random, but the dirt clinging to his small hands showed just how hard he had worked to gather them.
"My parents said if you get flowers, you can smile again! I didn't want you to be sad."
Flowers picked just for her to smile.
Dahlia was deeply moved by the thought.
And truly, thanks to him, she did smile.
"You're right. I'm not sad anymore. Thank you."
When she smiled, the child beamed brightly in return.
She thought his smiling face was incredibly cute.
"Thank you. But… where are you—"
Before she could ask his name or where he came from, a voice calling for him echoed nearby.
"Oh, I have to go now! Let's meet again! Bye!"
"Yes… let's meet again."
Dahlia waved until he disappeared from sight.
"I should have asked his name first…"
For a long time, she regretted that.
But the scent of the flowers he gave her, and the color of his eyes, remained vivid in her memory.
It was several years later when she met him again.
***
"You ran toward me just like back then, too—calling 'Sister!'"
Dahlia smiled and looked at Gwynnslun fondly as she reminisced.
"… You were really cute back then. Now…"
Instead of blushing and looking away as she expected, Gwynnslun met her gaze directly and asked.
"Back then, I was cute—then what about now?"
Dahlia froze for a moment.
"N-Now? You're… still cute!"
Had she answered incorrectly?
Gwynnslun's eyes trembled ever so slightly.
After a brief silence, he softly called her name.
"Lady Dahlia."
In an instant, he cradled the back of her head with one hand and gently wrapped the other around her waist, laying her down on the bed.
"…!"
Startled by the contrast between his gentle voice and decisive action, Dahlia blinked up at him.
"I've grown a lot since then."
He whispered lowly, his voice sending a shiver through her ear.
"I built my body to become a knight worthy of protecting you… But do I still look like that child to you?"
He took her hand and placed it over his chest.
Thump—thump—
She couldn't tell whether the heartbeat she felt was his or her own.
In truth, she had long since begun to see him as a man.
When they met again, the adorable child was gone.
Rather, there was a strong, mature, handsome man.
Still shy in front of her, yet as a knight, more gallant and dependable than anyone else.
"Well… you're shy, you follow me around like a puppy, and… you're still cute. Just like back then!"
The words slipped out before she could stop them.
Gwynnslun's blue eyes wavered quietly.
He gazed at her in silence, and Dahlia felt as though she might be swallowed whole by those deep, tranquil eyes.
"That's my fault, then."
He spoke softly.
"I don't want to be seen as merely cute."
"… Then how do you want to be seen?"
"If you allow me… I'll show you."
Ever since he gave her the flower ring, Gwynnslun seemed different.
And yet, when his ears turned red, he was still the adorable Lun she knew.
Dahlia smiled softly and thought.
'He really is still cute to me.'
Looking up at him with affection, she wrapped her arms around his neck.
"I'll allow it."
Gwynnslun's eyes widened for a moment, then darkened with a depth she had never seen before as he pulled her into his embrace.
That quiet night slowly filled with warmth, shared by only the two of them.