Tristant woke up in an unfamiliar bed. He blinked against the morning light pouring in through a window beside the bed.

A bed? He hadn’t slept in a proper bed for months. Out in war camp, he was lucky to be able to sleep on something other than the hard ground. Most soldiers weren’t lucky.

Where was he? Did he die? The last thing he remembered was being swept away by the mudslide and falling into the river… No, that wasn’t right. He remembered waking up some time later to see a goddess standing over him, ready to take his soul to the afterlife. 

Wait, that can’t be right either. If she had taken his soul away at that time, he wouldn’t be waking up with so much worldly pains and aches all over his body.

He noticed that he wasn’t wearing armor anymore, but a clean shirt and pants. Did someone change his clothes?

“Are you finally awake?” A feminine voice broke through his messy thoughts.

Tristan’s foggy mind snapped back to perfect clarity. “Where am I? Who are you?”

To the side of his bed seated a young woman leaning against the wall. It was the goddess from his memories, only this time, he realized that she was very much a mortal like him. 

It was no wonder why he mistook her for a goddess when he opened his eyes to see her standing over him back in the river. She had the type of beauty that would inspire countless arts and paintings, with rich brown hair that was bound up in a bun. Her features were delicate and ethereal, including a heart-shaped face, rosy cheeks, and lush pink lips. She could easily be the most beautiful woman in the entire realm. 

But her most striking feature was her hazel eyes, which sparkled like a perfectly cut gem. Someone with a god’s blessing.

She was also casually peeling potatoes with a small knife. There was a bowl half-filled with peeled potatoes and some unpeeled potatoes on the table beside her, and a bowl of potato skin scraps on her lap. However, the way she held her knife gives Tristan the impression that she was ready to stab him if he made any threatening move toward her, betraying the anxiety hidden underneath her facade of calmness.

“Call me Ella.” The woman answered hesitantly. “I’m a war nurse, and we’re currently in a cottage in Etheria. I found you on the banks of the river yesterday, where you saved me from a water snake. Do you remember?”

Tristan tried to remember, but was only rewarded with brief flashes of memories. “I think so? What happened after that?”

“Well, the water snake managed to bite you, so you passed out. I administered the antivenom and took you to my cottage so you can recover.”

She did? She was clearly an Etherian, belonging to an enemy kingdom of Terravale. Why did she help him?

He should feel on guard toward her. He should be filled with wariness and suspicions. But for some reason, all he felt was curiosity and gratitude.

“Why did you save me?” he couldn’t help but ask as he pulled himself up into a sitting position. His muscles ached as he did so, his battered body protesting his movements.

Ella’s hands stilled at his next question. She tilted her head at him, one of her eyebrows raised. “That’s my question. The first thing you did when you woke up and saw me was to save me from a venomous water snake. Why did you risk your life for me?”

Tristan didn’t know the answer to that either. “I just moved without thinking. Come to think of it, I scared you back then, didn’t I?”

He dimly remembered her stumbling away when he lunged at the snake with his dagger. She must have thought he was trying to kill her.

“I was only startled!” Ella denied it, but her voice rose just a bit higher. “However, if you try anything funny, I will poison you with this paralyzing herb, so don’t try me. Understand?”

Tristan nodded, suppressing a smile of amusement. Then, before he could stop himself, he blurted out, “You have jeweled eyes.”

Ella paused at his words and glanced at him again. “And so do you.” The tone of her voice suggested that she hadn’t really noticed it until now. 

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to be rude.” Tristan quickly apologized. “It’s just that— I have never met another person with jeweled eyes before.” He omitted the part that his older sister also had jeweled eyes.

Jeweled eyes were a big deal in any kingdom, being proof of divine blessings. It was said that only women with jeweled eyes were eligible to be candidates to become the next oracle. Aside from himself and his older sister, Tristan had never met another person with jeweled eyes before.

“Do you happen to know who I am?” Tristan asked awkwardly, trying to figure out whether this girl knew his identity or not. 

Ella might have heard of him. Golden hair and jeweled eyes, there was only one person in Terravale who fit that description.

However, Ella only tilted her head with a look of confusion shown on her face. “No, you haven’t introduced yourself yet. Don’t tell me you’ve lost your memory!”

Tristan felt both elated and disappointed at the same time. If she didn’t know his true identity, then she wasn’t helping him as a way of ingratiating herself to him with an expectation of something in return. She wasn’t doing this with an ulterior motive. 

She was helping him out of sincerity and compassion, and maybe to repay her debt of being saved by him, although he knew that she was never in any danger in the first place as she had been carrying antivenom.

“My name is Evan.” The lie slid out of his mouth as smoothly as butter. “Sorry, I was just curious as to whether you might have heard of me, since having jeweled eyes is so rare.”

Better to use a fake name than to risk her finding out his real identity. He had no idea what she would do if she were to find out. Would she ask for a huge compensation in return for saving the life of a prince? Or would she turn him over to her leaders so they can hold him hostage or kill him?

“What’s your blessing?” Ella asked as she finished peeling one potato and picked up another.

“What is this, an interrogation?” Tristan joked. “That’s a really personal question to ask someone, you know.”

Ella finally gave him a faint smile of amusement and shook her head. “I can’t believe you’re so at ease in enemy territory.”

“I can’t believe you would save an enemy soldier and take him to your home.” Tristan countered.

Ella snorted, then quickly hid it with a cough as if she was ashamed to be laughing at something her enemy said. “You’re a new recruit, aren’t you?”

She was wrong. Tristan was the general of the Northern army, but he couldn’t tell her that.

“What makes you say that?” Tristan asked. 

“You don’t have a lot of scars. Don’t seasoned soldiers have a lot of scars to show off? You probably haven’t been in many fights.”

Suddenly, he realized another meaning to her words. 

“You looked at my bare body?” he exclaimed in indignation as he clutched the collar of his shirt. She must have changed his clothes, he realized. There was no one else currently living in this cottage, according to the evidence.

Ella flushed red, and for a moment, Tristan wondered if she was going to throw her half-peeled potato at him in indignation. “Can you stop treating me like I’m a pervert? First of all, I was only trying to take account of your injuries, not to take advantage of you! Second, I’m a war nurse! I’ve treated a lot of men, so you’re not special! Third, no one really cares about a man’s chastity!”

“I care!” Tristan grumbled. He had grown up used to the experience of women throwing themselves at him. And while Ella was right and no one really cares about a man’s chastity, he felt determined to preserve it for his future wife.

Anyway, Ella was wrong again about him not being in many fights. Perhaps it was due to his divine blessing, but his injuries had always healed quickly and completely. He had sustained many wounds over the years fighting, but none of them left a permanent mark. They all fade out without leaving a single scar, something that annoyed him as scars were considered badges of honor among soldiers.

At the thought of his comrades, he suddenly realized a different priority. What happened to his men? Are they looking for him? Did they think he was dead? 

“What’s wrong?” Ella noticed the change in his demeanor, then correctly guessed, “Are you worried about your comrades?”

There was no point in lying so he simply admitted it. “Yes.”

How many had died in the last battle? Where are they now? How long ago was even the last battle?

“All three armies had withdrawn from the battlefield.” Ella informed him. “And… I think it’s best to recover first before finding out about the rest of the situation. Stress isn’t good for recovery.”

Her sympathy seemed sincere, despite the fact that each of their respective kingdoms have been one of the main culprits in killing the lives of the other.

He was also still marveling at the fact that he was still alive. He had fully expected to die, not once but twice. Once by earth and water, the other by succumbing to his injuries out in the wild. Yet, by a miraculous twist of fate, he survived because he was saved by a benevolent stranger.

“You can stay here until you’re fully recovered.” Ella added in a warmer tone. “And during that time, can we pretend we’re friendly neighbors and not two people from opposing sides of the war?”

Tristan cracked a grin. “Yes, I would like that too.”