Amaryllis glared at her empty pantry. Three days with Evan, and her food stores had vanished faster than battlefield bandages. Who knew a feverish, half-dead man could eat like a warhorse?

Living with an unexpected guest was a little harder than Amaryllis expected. She had only gathered enough food for one person, herself, and she had a small appetite on top of that. Evan, on the other hand, ate almost twice as much as her.

She wished she had some meat on hand, as it would be better for Evan’s recovery, but she wasn’t very skilled at hunting and there wasn’t a way to preserve meat in the cottage. She would have to buy it in the nearest town market, which was still miles away. 

One morning, just a few days after meeting Evan, she woke up to find the bed empty. The bed was neatly made, because of course Evan would be polite even while fleeing.

Her first reaction was indignation. How could he leave without a word—even if he was kind enough to make the bed before he left? And where did he go? His injuries hadn’t even fully healed yet! 

She hadn’t even realized he was strong enough to get out of bed. It had only been three days since he woke up. An ordinary person would have taken much longer before they could walk, especially after being battered by earth and water to the extent that he was.

Her first thought was that he had gone back to Terravale. Maybe he had felt unsafe here, in enemy territory. But she hadn’t sensed anything like that from him. And, couldn’t he have at least bid her thank you and farewell? As her indignation melted into disappointment, Amaryllis flopped back into her makeshift bed on the floor.

Well, at least she can have the bed back now. Evan had protested when he realized he was using the only bed in the house, but since he was a patient, Amaryllis refused to let him give up the bed. 

She was broken out of her thoughts by a loud, jovial shout from outside. Amaryllis immediately bolted upright in bed as she recognized the voice to be Evan’s voice. Scrambling to her feet, she ran to the cottage door and flung it open. The bright morning light dazzled her eyes briefly before she could see again.

Evan was standing shin-deep in the same river where they first met, holding a makeshift fishing pole. His pants were rolled up to just below his knees. His sleeves were rolled up too, showing up his bare, muscular arms. Beside him was a bucket filled with water and fish that he had already caught.

Hearing her come out of the cottage, Evan glanced back at her to take in her stunned and confused expression, then gave her a carefree wave. “Oh, you’re awake! Good morning!”

He seemed so energetic, despite the fact that he had been down with a fever for the past three days. His fever must have finally broken last night for him to look so bright today.

Warily, Amaryllis wandered over to him. “What are you doing?”

“Clearly, I’m fishing.” Evan replied with a teasing smile as he gestured to the bucket of fish next to him. “I haven’t caught anything good yet, though. You were talking about wanting to eat meat in your sleep. In fact, you were grumbling about it so loudly that I couldn’t sleep.”

Amaryllis’s cheeks flamed with embarrassment. “That’s a lie!” However, deep down, she suspected that he was telling the truth, so she quickly changed the topic. “You shouldn’t be moving around so soon! You’re not well enough yet!”

“I feel fine, and I’m tired of being cooped up in bed. Also, weren’t you running low on food?” 

He noticed? Amaryllis was careful to hide that so she wouldn’t worry him, but not only did he notice, he also went out of his way to fix it.

He was also taller than she expected. He had been lying in bed up until now, so she didn’t realize how tall he was until he stood up. He has to be about a good foot taller than her.

Amaryllis glanced down at the bucket again and saw that the fishes in the bucket were too small to eat. “I don’t think there’s anything in this river aside from these minnows. Why don’t you just let the minnows go and return to the cottage?”

Before Evan could respond, the fishing pole in his hand gave a violent jerk, sending him falling face-first into the water with a yelp.

“Evan!” Amaryllis was moving before the splash settled. She lunged for him and, upon seizing his collar, yanked him back out of the water. The river water drenched her skirt. Beside them, the bucket of minnows was overturned and the minnows swam away to their freedom, but both of them were too occupied to notice or care.

“Wait, wait, I almost got it!” Evan managed to regain his footing while still clinging onto the fishing pole, which was showing signs of something heavy tugging at the other end. “Help me pull!”

Rolling her eyes, Amaryllis wrapped her own hands around the base of the fishing pole, and together, they wrestled it toward the shore. It was like a game of tug-of-war. As the two of them heave with all their might, they eventually managed to drag their catch onto land.

It was the biggest trout Amaryllis had ever seen. The poor creature flapped its tail uselessly against the dry bank of the river while Amaryllis leaned on her knees, recovering from the exertion.

“Wow, you actually caught something edible.” Amaryllis praised him. 

Evan let out a small, breathless laugh, his ears turning a bit pink from the praise. “Thank you. I guess there’s more than minnows in these waters after all.”

Amaryllis hadn’t noticed that Evan’s eyes were jeweled when they first made eye contact, but now, with their new closeness, she can’t stop noticing how his eyes were the color of a clear, cloudless sky and sparkled like polished crystals.

Amaryllis forced herself to tear her eyes away from his. Wrong move. Now she was noticing how his clothes were drenched, clinging to his lean frame and showing his muscles. Water droplets were trailing down his throat, sparkling in the morning sun. Even though she had seen and treated countless men in her career as a nurse, seeing him like that felt completely different. 

Amaryllis looked away so fast her neck almost popped.

“You seem to have a habit of falling into rivers.” She said to him, pretending to sound casual as if she didn’t accidentally oggled him just a few moments earlier. “You should get changed before you catch a cold.”

Evan glanced down and finally seemed to notice his drenched state as well. “Ah. Well, at least I have you, who seems to have a habit of rescuing me. How convenient.”

Amaryllis snickered. “You’re a terrible patient.”

“Why do you make that sound like a compliment, Miss Nurse?” Now that he seemed mostly recovered and mobile again, Evan was showing a more playful and unreserved side to her.

Amaryllis blushed and turned away again.

“One more thing, I got this for you.” Evan suddenly retrieved a bouquet of pink flowers from seemingly nowhere and pressed them into her startled hands with a bashful expresssion. 

They were pink amaryllis flowers.

“What- When did you- Did I ask for flowers in my sleep too?” Amaryllis stammered out. She was more caught off guard by the fact that they were amaryllis flowers. Was he hinting that he knew her true identity?

Evan’s cheeks turned a bit red. “No, I saw these pretty lilies growing nearby while waiting for the fish to take the bait, so I thought I would pick some for you.”

Amaryllis’s shoulder relaxed as the nervous tension melted out of her. He hadn’t figured out her secret, and even called the flowers by the wrong name. She was just overthinking again. She couldn’t help but think about how ironic it was that he had given her the very flowers she was named after.

A smile broke onto her face as she brought them close to her face to admire its color and fragrance. “They’re amaryllises, but thank you, Evan.”

Evan frowned as he stared down at the bouquet again. “I’m pretty sure they’re lilies. Maybe it’s called by a different name here?”

Amaryllis rolled her eyes and laughed. “They look similar to lilies, but aren’t considered true lilies. I would know, since they’re my favorite flowers.”

After they were both in dry clothes again and the amaryllises were tucked away in a vase of water, Tristan carried the trout to the cottage and hoisted it onto the kitchen table. Both of them look at the fish for a long, silent moment before facing each other again. 

“Do you know how to prepare a fish?” Amaryllis asked, a little embarrassed to admit that she had never cooked a fish before. In addition, she hated handling anything bloody as it reminded her too much of the injuries she’d had to treat. However, as a Terravalen, Evan probably has fewer opportunities to eat fish, compared to Etherians, who regularly received seafood from their ally kingdom, Aquanis.

“Well, we do occasionally catch fish from rivers whenever our food supplies are low, but I’ve never prepared anything of this size. I mean, how hard can it be?”

Amaryllis nodded. “Okay, you prepare it and I’ll… grill it or something. We’ll figure something out.”

Evan took out a kitchen knife and was about to start chopping into the fish when Amaryllis quickly stopped him. “Wait, don’t use that. It’s blunt and it also rusts easily, especially if exposed to blood.”

“But there’s nothing else to use.” Evan glanced around the small kitchen area.

“Wait a second.” Amaryllis made a small humming noise as she rummaged through the cabinet looking for something. 

“Here.” She handed over his dagger, the one he had used to kill the water snake. She had retrieved the dagger some time after she dragged Evan to the cottage, but was hesitant to return it to him because she was still partially convinced that he might turn on her. 

He glanced at his dagger sitting on the palm of her hand and came to a realization. “Wait, have you been using my dagger to cut carrots and onions?”

She smiled sheepishly at him. “It’s sharper than the kitchen knife.”

She half expected him to get mad or annoyed, either because she withheld his belongings from him or used it without permission, but to her surprise, he bursted out laughing. “I can’t believe you used that thing to cut vegetables!”

Her expression melted to a frown as she stared down at the dagger. It was a finely crafted weapon with good weight and sharpness, and it had a familiar crest on the pommel. It was also made of steel, most likely forged in Cartia, the metalworking kingdom. The crest also seemed rather fancy, another piece of evidence proving that Evan was most likely a noble. 

“What’s so funny?” Amaryllis asked, with suspicion in her voice.

Evan wiped away a tear that came out from laughing so hard. “It’s just nice to see a war weapon being used for something productive instead of something destructive.”

Amaryllis flinched as she realized something. “Am I cutting carrots and onions with a weapon that has taken human lives?”

“No, don’t worry about that. I just keep it on me in case of emergency, but I have never used it to kill a person before. Although, I bet the blacksmith who made it in Cartia would weep if he knew what you’ve been using it for.”

At that, Amaryllis cracked a faint smile. “Good. Maybe he’ll forge you a vegetable cleaver next time. Why don’t you use this to prepare the trout instead? I’ll go and prepare the side ingredients.”

As the two of them worked in the kitchen, Evan suddenly cleared his throat and abruptly said aloud. “I have absolute mastery over any weapon.”

When Amaryllis shot him a quizzical look, he clarified, “My god’s blessing. It allows me to have perfect mastery over any weapon, even without any training.”

It was the answer to the question she impulsively asked him when they first had a proper conversation, the one where she questioned him on what his blessing was. She didn’t expect him to actually answer it, especially out of the blue like this. 

For some reason, it felt like Evan was opening his shell, just a little. It was proof of his sincerity, an olive branch to show how much he trusts her right now.

Especially since she could feel what he felt about his own power at this very moment. Evan didn’t think of his blessing as something to be proud of. In fact, he was feeling the very opposite. He seemed to be disgusted by the destructive nature of his own power and the implication of it.

“Why do you seem displeased by that?” Amaryllis questioned.

Evan glanced at his hands uneasily.

“If I’m right,” Evan started slowly, “then there’s only one god who can bestow a blessing like this. The god of war.”

Amaryllis winced at his words, quickly understanding his lack of enthusiasm. No doubt, they both shared a hatred for Erebos.

Evan seemed to have mistaken her reaction as repulsion toward him. “It’s terrible, isn’t it? I have a power that can only harm others. I’m just a pawn of war.” 

No wonder he didn’t tell her what his power was sooner.

“Evan,” Amaryllis reached out to take his hands gently within hers. “This is your gift. He can’t dictate how you’ll use it. Use your ability for protection, not violence. Use it for good. It’s not about who gave you that power, nor what that power can do, but what you do with it.”

His hands seem so big compared to hers. Her hands were something that had saved countless lives, including his, while his were… something that had done the opposite. 

At her words of acceptance, Amaryllis could feel the knot of unease unravel within Evan’s heart.

“I… Thank you, Ella. I’ve never thought about it this way before.”

Amaryllis grinned at him. “Don’t forget, I’m someone who used a war weapon to chop up onions and carrots.”

Evan laughed, the tension melting like fog in the sun.

After their hearty meal, where they managed to successfully make something edible and delicious out of the trout, the two of them went tidying up the cottage again. 

Sometimes, when their hands brushed together or when their eyes met, it lingered for far too long to be normal. Then, one of them would clear their throat and look away. And later, they would pretend nothing happened. She would pretend not to notice the growing seed of a forbidden attraction between them.

It would be a lie if she said she didn’t want things to remain like this forever.

However, a week later, a letter came to her from Livia.