The sea breeze on the hill gently swayed the hair of Endi and Lamia.
The morning sun painted the ocean in gold and blue, while the waves whispered in the distance.
The two of them stood in the garden of the hospital, having just shared Endi's lonely past.
Four years of wandering in solitude.
The heavy weight of amnesia.
And the mystery of that stormy night.
Lamia's eyes quietly shone as she received it all with calm acceptance.
"That must have been really hard for you," she said, a sad expression softening her face.
"Ah, sorry. Talking about something so heavy out of nowhere… I must've made it awkward for you."
Endi came to his senses and panicked.
He had just forced such a heavy story onto a girl he had only met today, a girl who had only recently been resting in bed.
Embarrassment gripped his chest, and heat rose to his cheeks.
"No, it's fine. Don't apologize," Lamia's voice was soft, like a spring breeze.
Endi, desperate to change the subject, spoke up about something that had been bothering him.
"By the way… Lamia, why were you alone on such a small boat?"
It was half to cover his own awkwardness, but he had truly been curious.
"I was kidnapped."
"…What!?"
The way she said something so dangerous so casually left Endi stunned.
What a bold, unshakable girl, he thought.
"I usually work as a servant living in the royal palace. But one day, while I was doing my usual duties, people in strange outfits suddenly surrounded me, and I was taken away. They brought me onto a huge black ship, and it set sail immediately. At first I was kept under strict watch, but after half a day, their vigilance started to fade. So I managed to slip away and escape using the emergency lifeboat."
"That… must have been awful."
For some reason, Endi couldn't see her story as just someone else's problem.
The rumor he'd heard just yesterday in the port town, about a kidnapped palace servant, flashed through his mind.
"But why would they kidnap you?"
"…I don't know. I just need to get back to Barelark quickly."
Her voice carried the faintest hesitation. It was obvious she was hiding something.
But Endi's dull heart failed to notice.
"Hey!"
"Hm?"
"Don't you think… we might have met somewhere before? When I first saw you, I felt this strong, nostalgic feeling, like I'd known you for a long time…"
"No, I think this is the first time we've met."
"Right… sorry. That was weird of me."
Endi shrank at her decisive tone.
But then her next words made his heart skip a beat.
"But it is strange. I don't really feel like this is our first meeting either."
Lamia's gaze drifted off into the distance as she spoke.
"…Huh?"
"It feels like… we've been friends forever."
Her gentle smile made Endi's chest ache with warmth.
"Are you about to cry again?" she teased.
"I'm not crying!" he shot back without thinking.
"Four years ago, that stormy summer night… maybe that was the same day the Fifth World War ended."
"The… Fifth World War?"
"Yes. Four years ago in summer, a great war ended. On the heaviest rainy day of that year."
Endi blinked. He hadn't known such history.
No—he must have forgotten.
The World Wars.
For five centuries, once every hundred years, they erupted—massive wars that engulfed the entire world.
The causes were always the same: the struggle for resources, territory, clashing ideologies.
History repeating itself again and again.
Especially the fifth—it was said to have caused the greatest devastation in human history.
"So that's what happened…"
"Hey, maybe your memory loss has something to do with that war?"
At her words, unease stirred violently in Endi's chest.
He had thought the same thing himself.
A fear he shouldn't have known tightened around his heart.
"That's it! Endi, come with me to Barelark!"
"…What?"
Startled, Endi lifted his head.
The next moment, Lamia stepped forward and firmly grasped his right hand with both of hers.
"I'll help you recover your memories."
Endi's mouth hung open. Why would she go that far?
"I'll stay by your side until your memories return. If we go to Barelark, we might find something."
"Wait. But… why?"
"What do you mean?"
"Why would you go so far for me?"
Lamia released his hand and turned back toward the sea.
"Why? Then let me ask you—why did you save me? You saved me. That's why I want to help you. You've been alone and in pain for so long. You endured it all. Endi, you're amazing."
At those words, tears burst from Endi's eyes.
He couldn't hold them back any longer.
Lamia simply watched quietly, saying nothing, as if to protect him.
"…You're too kind." Endi murmured unconsciously.
"It's not kindness. If someone does something for you, you repay them. That's only natural. Don't mistake that for kindness."
Her words were resolute, her purity shining like that of a saint.
"Then let's go. Ready, crybaby?"
The two of them walked down the hill together.
The sea breeze pushed at their backs, as if blessing their new journey.
At the same time, from a hospital window, the doctor was secretly watching them.
"Tch. Not even a thank-you for me, huh?"
"What are you doing?" his wife asked, stomping over with heavy steps.
"Nothing. Just thinking how nice it is to be young. Maybe we should relive our youth too?"
The doctor grinned.
His wife froze, pale and speechless.
By then, Endi and Lamia had already left the hospital garden behind.