Dawn's light streamed through the window, hitting Allen's eyes. Her delicate, gossamer-like eyelashes trembled slightly. Like a spring-loaded mechanism, she shot straight up in bed.

"Up already?" Ross asked, sitting in a chair in the corner, engrossed in his book.

Ken had kept watch over Allen all night. Exhausted, he'd finally gone to rest. Since Ross was Ken's close friend, he'd taken over the night watch. To their surprise, Allen woke up by noon the next day.

"Hmm..." Who is he? Why am I here?

Allen scanned the room, feeling disoriented. She knew this was her room, yet something felt off. Some decorations had been replaced. She realized she was in the Grand Duke's mansion—her father's estate.

"Don't worry, Ken knows me," Ross said, adjusting his magic lens. He'd been startled by Allen's sudden movement.

"Ken stayed up all night watching over you. He's gone to sleep now. He truly cares for you. Let me tell you, he begged me relentlessly yesterday before I agreed to..." Ross rambled on, praising Ken with an overly familiar air.

"Who is Ken?" Allen asked, confused.

"..." Ross fell silent. An awkward tension filled the room. The silence deepened, making the birdsong outside sound crisper.

Bright sunlight streamed onto Ross. It should have been comforting, but it made him break out in a cold sweat.

Who is Ken? Isn't he your friend? Or did he mistake you for someone else? Ken? You can't be serious. Please don't tell me you kept her just because she's pretty. Ross mentally facepalmed.

These thoughts flashed through his mind. But he quickly dismissed them. He'd known Ken too long; Ken wasn't that kind of person.

"Gulp..." Ross swallowed hard. This was a huge surprise!

Logically, Ken had watched her all night. Even if blind, he couldn't mistake her for not being Allen. Yet Allen didn't recognize Ken. This was incredibly awkward.

"Allen?!" Ross broke the nearly minute-long silence, testing her.

"Yes, I'm Allen," she replied hesitantly, utterly bewildered.

Yes, this was truly Allen. But why didn't she recognize Ken? Eliminating all impossibilities, the remaining truth must be it. This was the real Allen, identical to Ken's memories. The only explanation was amnesia. That had to be it, Ross deduced. In mere seconds, he grasped the situation.

"Rest for now. I'll go find Ken," Ross said. He stood up and closed his book.

"Ken..." Allen murmured the familiar name. It felt deeply familiar, yet no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't recall. She clutched her head in frustration. Her silver-white hair tangled messily in her hands. She noticed she felt no aversion to it. Perhaps because the lost memories were from long ago. She'd grown accustomed to it. Sighing, she could only wait for Ken.

Ross searched everywhere but couldn't find Ken. A servant said Ken was up but didn't know where he'd gone. With no choice, Ross scoured the Grand Duke's mansion. Aimless searching yielded nothing. Then he remembered: at the academy, Ken shared a dorm with him. Ken always woke early, knocked on his door, and dragged him to practice combat skills and Frenzy. Ken must be training. Sure enough, as Ross reached the backyard, he heard thudding sounds.

Ross entered the training room and tapped the doorframe. When Ken stopped his movements, Ross asked, "Ken, I need to talk about something."

"What brings you here? How's Allen?" Ken set down his spear.

"About Allen. It might be bad news," Ross replied.

"What's wrong?" Ken frowned.

"She might have amnesia. She doesn't remember anything about you," Ross said, patting Ken's shoulder.

"Let's go. I'll see for myself."

"Do you remember who I am, Allen?!" Ken asked urgently.

Allen stared at the familiar face but couldn't place him. She frowned, straining to recall. Vaguely, a memory surfaced: a snowy night, bandits, a young boy.

"You look familiar, but I can't remember. I don't know... I've forgotten so much," Allen said, frowning. It wasn't that she didn't want to remember; she simply couldn't. No prompting would bring it back. She felt terrible, sensing she'd lost many important things, though she didn't know what they were.

"We met outside the Kalarazat Great Forest. I was a villager there. No memory at all?" Ken knew Allen wouldn't recall him instantly. He had to guide her gradually. Amnesia was tricky. Some never recovered their past. Others remembered everything upon seeing a familiar face. With no sure cure, Ken could only help her piece things together.

Kalarazat Great Forest—that primeval forest outside the Demon Castle. Her last memory was meeting the Dark Lord. She couldn't even recall his face.

"Kalarazat Great Forest... I've been there," Allen said. She had indeed visited, but it was her only time there.

"That was three years ago," Ken said.

"Three years already?" Allen replied, surprised. For her, without those memories, it felt like waking from a nap—three years gone in a blink. But reason told her three years couldn't vanish in sleep. She sensed subtle changes within herself. Allen had never imagined her memory gap spanned three whole years... not a single trace left. She sighed deeply.

Seeing Allen sigh, Ken tried a different prompt. "Do you remember me? Back then, I even called you master... I was just a kid. You found me annoying. But before you left, at the inn, you gave me enough travel money. And you gave me this." He pulled out the spear. "The last thing you gave me. This unnamed spear."

"Gungnir... this spear is mine..." Allen said with a trace of surprise. In truth, everything Ken said was unknown to her. It felt like hearing a story about someone else with her name. Allen wasn't even sure if she was that Allen. But one thing was certain: when Ken met her, she was already like this. He saw no issue, though she knew for sure—she used to be a man. Something must have caused this change. The only certainty was that the Dark Lord had indeed stabbed her to death.

"Do you remember exactly when we first met?" Allen asked, hoping to trigger a memory.

"The Ice Festival, three years ago. Does that ring a bell?" The Ice Festival three years ago. She'd arrived at the Demon Castle near the end of September. That meant the change happened within about a month. Allen thought silently. Though she couldn't recall the details, she grasped the gist. But no matter how hard she tried, her mind refused to yield memories. Instead, it inflicted bone-deep pain. Allen feared that pain.

"I'm sorry. I really can't remember..." Allen replied. "I've forgotten so much. So much that I don't even know how long it's been. At least three years, I think. I truly can't recall. Whenever I try, my head feels like it's about to explode..." She paused. "I'm afraid I can't handle it. I might faint. I need to rest. Thank you for bringing me here..."

Ken sat silently in a corner chair. After about a minute, he stood and walked slowly toward the door. Just as he was about to step out, he turned back to Allen.

"Can I still call you master?" he asked blankly, as if transported back to their first meeting.

Allen froze. She'd seen this scene before. Only now, the boyish youth had become a handsome young man.

"Of course~" Allen smiled, replying just as she had years ago. On impulse, she echoed her past self.

"Thanks," Ken said with an awkward, bitter smile, then slipped away quietly.

Suddenly, she felt a pang of loss. It was as if an important person had left. The room felt empty, leaving only her. She got up, walked barefoot across the felt carpet. The cool touch sent a shiver through her. She picked up Ross's unfinished book, hurried back to her warm bed, and started reading. It had been so long since she'd had such an experience...