"No, I don't remember you," Non said sincerely, though without malibsp;

  He knew he had been in importaings during the war, where he had met many nobles and iial people, but he had never paid much attention to individual persons, especially if they weren't directly reted to his tasks.

  Princess Iris, with her elegant posture and fine golden garments, smiled, though a nervous ugh escaped her lips.

  The pain of not being remembered was evident in her eyes, but she cealed it behind a polite and graceful facade, as one would expect from someone of her status.

  "Well... that's normal," she said with a slight shrug, maintaining her posure. "I didn't usually speak much when you met with my father. I used to stay in the background, watg..."

  Her smile remained ihough it was somewhat weaker.

  The memory of havihere, admiring Non from afar as he discussed strategies with the king, made her feel small and insignifit pared to his achievements.

  Non frowned, still trying to recall.

  The meetings with the king had always been formal and brief, focused on military operations, and his iions with others present had been minimal.

  "I see," Non finally ented. However, something didn't quite fit about that casual meeting, so he asked in a more serious tone, "What are you doing here, Princess?"

  Iris tensed for a sed, a hint of nervousness flickering in her eyes, but she quickly masked it with a smile.

  "Oh, well... I'm just attending to some personal matters," she replied, her tone being light and friendly again, though Non could sehere was more behind those words. "I didn't want to cause too much trouble."

  Before Non could ask more questions, Iris looked him up and down with curiosity and, with a gesture of kindness, asked:

  "Did you sleep well?"

  Non, puzzled by the question and irely uanding its motive, nodded slightly.

  "Yes, I slept well."

  There was a brief exge of gnces between them before the princess gave a quick bow.

  "I'm gd to hear that," she said politely. "I hope we have the ce to talk aime."

  And with that, Princess Iris walked gracefully toward the church, while Emily beside her seemed to want to disappear into the ground from embarrassment.

  When Iris's figure vahrough the temple doors, Non turo Emily, who had begun to take steps backward, trying to slip away unnoticed.

  However, before she could get too far, Non grabbed her arm, stopping her iracks.

  Emily looked at him with wide, nervous eyes, her mind clearly searg for an excuse to avoid entering the imposing temple.

  No out a sigh as he shook his head slightly.

  "Well, then we'll have to go shopping," Non announced with a ess that left no room for discussion.

  Emily's eyes widened, and she began to shake her head rapidly.

  "No! Please, that's not necessary," she insisted in a trembling voice. "Really, it's not needed."

  Non studied her for a moment, uanding that her disfort came from something deeper.

  It wasn't just her appeara the enviro she wasn't used to. And while to him the solution seemed simple, for her it was a difficult barrier to overe.

  "Rex," Non said in a softer torying to calm her. "I'll pay for everything."

  Emily bit her lip, clearly still unfortable with the situation.

  "I don't think I deserve something like that," Emily murmured, her head downcast.

  Non smiled faintly at her reluce, recalling the words of some of his rades during the war.

  'When you go out with a girl, pay for everything.'

  It was a antra among the soldiers, something they repeated whehey had a break and could enjoy their free time.

  Some worked extra hours just to ehey could treat the girls they dated.

  Though Non had never paid attention to those ents back then, he now saw it as a potential tactic to help Emily stop being so reserved.

  But Emily kept shaking her head, still too nervous about the situation.

  The disfort alpable on her face, and Non, fearing he might ruin things, tried a rategy.

  "I'm sick," he said suddenly.

  Emily looked up immediately, ed.

  "Sick? What do you have?" Emily asked with genuine worry in her voibsp;

  Non, scratg the back of his neck, khat what he was about to say would be a bit absurd.

  "It's a... plicated illness," he said in a serious tone. "And I need someone like you to apao get better."

  Emily looked at him, bewildered.

  His words didn't seem to make much sense, but something in Non's siy made it hard for her to simply refuse right away.

  However, she still didn't quite uand what he meant.

  "So... you wao work for you?"

  Non nodded immediately, smiling.

  "Exactly. I need you to work for me." He said those words with such vi that even he was surprised. "That's why we o ght now to buy you some clothes so you'll be fortable. Then we ehe church without any problems."

  'That's absurd!' Emily screamed in her mind.

  Still... the idea of w for Non, for some reason, didn't sound as bad as she had initially thought.

  Her life until now had been filled with difficulties, and the possibility of a ge, however strange, intrigued her.

  "I…"