Chapter 10: The First Hello
The world felt brighter that morning.
Which was ironic, considering Elaine's heart was quietly breaking. Thread by thread. Smile by smile.
She stood at the edge of the grand courtyard, dressed just as she had been the day she arrived in this world—dusty green cloak, worn boots, a stubborn hairpin that refused to stay in place. A satchel hugged her shoulder like an old secret. She looked like a traveler with no destination. She, a noblewoman ran away from home for a moment. A girl who knew how the story ended—because it had already ended once before.
Except now, it was starting again.
This was the moment the novel began.
This was the moment he met her.
And the moment she would have to start over.
The marble fountain still sparkled under the sun. The scent of wisteria hung in the air, blooming soft and purple. The palace bells were just starting to toll when he rounded the corner.
Lior.
He was a breath she hadn't taken in days. Crisp navy uniform. A stack of reports under his arm. Sword at his side. Eyes fixed ahead, unreadable, steady. A simple knight in the beginning of the story.
He didn't see her.
Not yet.
Not the way he used to.
But she saw him—saw all the versions of him: the one who smiled crookedly under torchlight, the one who found a ribbon in the dark, the one who said he wouldn't change the past if it meant losing her.
She stepped forward right on cue. Their shoulders brushed. Her satchel slipped. Coins spilled to the ground like the beginning of a memory.
"Careful," he said, crouching down. "Someone's going to trip over your plot twist."
Elaine blinked.
That wasn't in the script.
He handed her the bag of coins, their fingers brushing, and something strange passed through his gaze. A hesitation. A pull. His mouth twitched like he almost remembered something funny—or painful.
"What are you doing here, my lady?" he said, eyes narrowing just a little. "Did you ran away?"
She forced a smile. "No. I'm… just wandering." She looked for her maid. She remembered that a maid serving her was her companion when she first arrived but she's no where to be found.
"Right." He offered his hand. "Lior. Your new knight."
"Elaine," she whispered. 'Right, he's just a simple knight, not the commander yet'. In her mind.
And when he gripped her hand, his thumb brushed her palm as if tracing something he didn't quite recognize.
Something half-remembered.
She pulled away, heartbeat skittering.
He hadn't remembered her—not completely. But that line. That joke. That wasn't coincidence.
It was the letter.
---
Hours earlier, somewhere in the quiet of his chambers...
Lior sat on the edge of his bed, staring at the letter she had left him.
He'd read it twice.
The first time, he didn't believe a word of it.
The second time, he cried.
It was absurd. Impossible. Beautiful. It spoke of timelines folding in reverse, of a girl who'd arrived at the end of a story and dared to love him backward.
It spoke of him—his laugh, his flaws, his favorite hiding spots. And the words felt like home, even though he couldn't remember inviting them in.
"I'm writing this for the version of you who forgot me," it said. "But also for the part of you that won't."
He had burned the letter after reading it. Not out of anger.
Out of grief.
Because part of him knew.
He had loved her. He had kissed her. He had walked the tunnels and found the ribbon and said things he wouldn't have dared under normal time.
But the memories were slippery. Only shadows.
And yet—
When he saw her that morning, dressed in green and trying not to cry, he said the one thing that wasn't his to remember:
"Someone's going to trip over your plot twist."
And when her eyes widened—when she looked at him like he was still whole—something inside him cracked open.
---
Back in the courtyard, Elaine stood still long after he walked away.
He hadn't said anything else. No declarations. No sudden clarity.
But he remembered something. Just enough to shake her.
And that was the most dangerous kind of hope.
Because maybe—just maybe—he wasn't starting from zero after all.
Maybe love didn't need memory.
Maybe it just needed a second chance.
And she was willing to fall again.
Even if it was all backward.
Even if this time, he would be the one chasing her.