Special Chapter 1: The Boy Who Loved Her First

Special Chapter 1: The Boy Who Loved Her First
Aurelian
I never imagined my entire life would change because of a little girl. At the time, I was only six years old.
Old enough to understand that I had no parents waiting for me.
Old enough to know that belonging somewhere was a privilege, not a certainty.
Yet still too young to understand that fate had already begun weaving threads far beyond my comprehension.
I stood quietly behind Alpha Castro, my hands clasped behind my back exactly as he had instructed before our journey. "Remember your manners," he had said. "They are our Pack's greatest ally."
I nodded. I intended to do exactly that.
The estate before us was unlike anything I had ever seen. Tall stone walls stretched toward the heavens. Servants hurried through the courtyard carrying baskets of flowers while knights trained beneath the afternoon sun.
Everything looked... alive. It felt like another world entirely.
The great doors opened. A man with striking golden eyes stepped forward to greet us. It was Lord Esteban.
Even at my young age, I knew his name. Everyone did.
He was respected throughout the kingdom, not merely because of his noble title, but because every merchant, every noble, and every Alpha trusted his word. His gaze settled briefly upon Alpha Castro before eventually drifting toward me.
"So..." The corner of his lips lifted. "This must be the young wolf you spoke about, Alpha."
I lowered my head immediately. "My Lord." I even placed my hand on my chest.  
A warm chuckle answered me. "There is no need to be so nervous."
"I apologize."
"You've done nothing requiring an apology." He studied me quietly for several moments, long enough that I began wondering whether I had somehow made a mistake. Then, his expression softened. "My daughter rather likes you."
I blinked, surprised at what he said. . "My Lord...?"
He smiled. "She has been asking about you ever since Alpha Castro mentioned taking in a few orphaned pups."
Confusion settled quietly inside me. "She has...?" I parroted.
He nodded. "Apparently." Another amused chuckle released from him. "She has already decided you'll become her new playmate."
Before I could understand what that meant, a much smaller voice suddenly echoed across the courtyard. "Father!"
Tiny footsteps hurried toward us. Then, she appeared. She couldn't have been older than seven. Dark hair swayed behind her as she ran across the stone pathway without the slightest concern for the etiquette every noble child was supposedly taught.
The moment she reached Lord Esteban, she slowed only enough to remember she probably wasn't supposed to tackle her father in front of guests. She looked up at him instead.
Then... at me.
Large silver-blue eyes widened with unmistakable curiosity. "So..." She tilted her head. "You're Aurelian?"
I nodded. "Yes, my lady."
She smiled brightly, far brighter than the afternoon sun. "I'm Euphyllia."
The name settled somewhere inside my chest before I even understood why.
She stepped closer, close enough to inspect me openly without an ounce of embarrassment. Then, she nodded to herself as though reaching an important conclusion. "You'll do."
I blinked again. "I'll do...?" I even slightly tilted my head.
"Mhm." She reached out and grabbed my hand before anyone could stop her. "I need a knight."
"A knight...?"
She nodded enthusiastically. "You'll protect me."
I stared at our joined hands. No one had held my hand like that before. Not since... I quietly pushed the thought away.
Lord Esteban laughed. "I see my daughter has already made her decision."
"I have." She looked at him proudly.
"He's perfect." Lord Esteban's amusement lingered as he turned toward me once more. "Aurelian."
I immediately straightened. "Yes, my Lord."
Lord Esteban looked at me for a long while, his golden eyes carrying the quiet kindness I had already begun associating with him over the past several weeks.
"I've been thinking."
I straightened instinctively. "My Lord?"
A smile touched his lips. "My daughter has taken quite a liking to you."
Heat immediately rushed to my ears. I lowered my head. "I apologize if I've inconvenienced Lady Euphyllia."
To my surprise, he laughed. A genuine one. "I don't believe you've inconvenienced her at all." His gaze drifted toward the gardens where a little girl could be seen chasing butterflies without the slightest care for noble etiquette.
"In fact..."
"I don't think she's smiled this much since you arrived."
Something tightened quietly inside my chest.
Lord Esteban folded his hands behind his back before looking at me once more. "I have only one child. The world she will inherit is not always kind." His expression softened. "And no father can remain beside his daughter forever." He drew out a smile. "I would like to ask you something."
I immediately bowed my head. "Anything, My Lord."
He smiled. "Would you become Euphyllia's knight?"
I blinked. "My... Lord?"
"I'll personally pay for your education. Your swordsmanship. Your etiquette. Everything required of a knight serving House of Caedex. So that one day..." he paused. "But only if this is what you want." His eyes returned to his daughter. "...when I can no longer protect her... someone worthy will."
Nobody had ever asked me that before. Not what I should do. Not what I ought to do. What... I wanted.
I looked down. The little girl was still holding my hand, who was waiting and smiling, as if she had already decided I belonged beside her.
Something warm stirred quietly inside my chest. I lowered my head. "It would be my honor."
By the time we turned ten and nine respectively, Lady Euphyllia had developed an unfortunate talent for finding trouble where none previously existed. That afternoon's trouble happened to be a cat.
"Aurelian!"
I looked up from the wooden practice sword resting against my shoulder.
She stood beneath one of the old oak trees near the estate gardens, pointing excitedly toward the branches overhead. "Look!"
I followed her finger. It was a tiny gray kitten clung desperately to one of the higher branches, mewing pitifully as it struggled to climb back down.
Lady Euphyllia's silver-blue eyes immediately softened. "Oh, you poor thing..." 
Before I realized what she intended to do, she had already grabbed the lowest branch. "Lady Euphyllia..."
She looked over her shoulder. "Hm?"
"What are you doing?"
"What does it look like?" She smiled as though the answer were perfectly obvious. "I'm saving the cat."
My heart immediately lurched. "My lady, please don't."
She had already placed one foot upon the trunk. "I can do it."
"No."
"I'll be careful."
"Please come down."
She sighed dramatically before looking at me with unmistakable disappointment. "You're too paranoid, Aurelian."
"I'm not paranoid."
"You are." She climbed another branch. "I'm simply being cautious."
"Same thing."
"They are completely different." She laughed. "They're really not."
My grip tightened around the practice sword. "My lady."
She continued climbing. "I'll get it instead." She glanced down at me before smiling brightly. "But then I won't be the one saving the kitty."
"That is precisely my point..."
She ignored me entirely. Branch after branch, she climbed higher until my stomach felt as though it had climbed with her.
I had already begun mentally rehearsing how I intended to explain this to Lord Esteban if she happened to fall. He was going to kill me.
Several agonizing moments later, Lady Euphyllia carefully reached the frightened kitten. "There you are." Her voice immediately softened. "It's alright." The tiny creature hesitated only briefly before allowing itself to be gathered gently into her arms. "I've got you."
Relief washed over me. Now, she only had to climb back down. Which, somehow, felt even more terrifying. Every step she took made my heart stop.
Then begin again.
Then stop once more.
I wanted to help her, but knowing how stubborn Lady Euphyllia was, I could already tell that she was going to refuse my help. 
Finally, her feet touched the ground. She was safe and entirely unharmed. I released a breath I hadn't realized I'd been holding.
Lady Euphyllia looked entirely pleased with herself. She cradled the little kitten against her chest before gently scratching beneath its chin. "See?" She giggled as the tiny creature immediately began rubbing its face against her hand. "The kitty likes me."
She looked so happy. So effortlessly kind. Even a frightened little animal seemed to recognize the warmth she carried inside her heart.
I watched the kitten melt beneath her touch. Its tiny eyes closed contentedly as she continued stroking its soft fur. For reasons I couldn't begin to understand, something strange stirred quietly inside my chest. It wasn't unpleasant nor painful.
Simply... odd.
I found myself staring at the kitten longer than necessary. How fortunate to be held like that and be looked at with such gentle affection. The realization startled me so much that I immediately looked away.
What in the world was I thinking?
It was a cat.
I was comparing myself... to a cat. Clearly, I had spent too much time beneath the afternoon sun.
"Aurelian?" I blinked. Lady Euphyllia tilted her head curiously. "You won't tell Father, right?" Her voice dropped conspiratorially. She even glanced toward the manor before placing one finger against her lips. "Shhh. If Father finds out I climbed another tree..." She made an exaggerated face. "...I'll be banned from the gardens for a month."
I hesitated. "My duty is to report anything that places you in danger."
She pouted. "You're no fun."
"My lady..." I would be damn dead if I didn't report anything to Lord Esteban. 
"Pleeease?" Those silver-blue eyes looked impossibly hopeful. 
I was beginning to understand why Lord Esteban always found it so difficult to refuse her. Before I could answer, she suddenly stepped closer. Then, to my complete surprise, he reached up.
Warm fingers gently ruffled my hair that made me freeze. "If you behave..." She smiled with unmistakable satisfaction after thoroughly ruining any effort I had made to keep my hair neat. "I'll reward you too, Aurelian." She giggled. "Alright?"
For a long moment, I forgot how to breathe as the kitten mewed softly from her arms. Yet somehow, I could no longer bring myself to envy it. Because the warmth lingering upon my head felt far more precious than any reward I could have imagined.
The years slipped quietly past us. Some memories blurred together until I could no longer remember exactly when they had happened. Others remained as vivid as though they had occurred only yesterday.
Lady Euphyllia no longer climbed trees quite as often. Mostly because Lord Esteban had eventually discovered the incident involving the kitten.
To this day, I remained convinced one of the servants had betrayed us. She insisted it had been me. I maintained my innocence. Neither of us ever proved anything.
By the time she reached fourteen and I thirteen, our days had settled into a comfortable rhythm. Mornings were spent studying beneath Lord Esteban's tutors. Afternoons belonged to swordsmanship. Evenings often ended somewhere within the gardens, where Lady Euphyllia insisted flowers grew more beautifully whenever someone bothered talking to them.
I never believed that.
She did enough believing for both of us. "Again."
The wooden sword struck mine with surprising force. I barely managed to recover before another blow came from the opposite direction. "My lady." I stepped backward. "You've improved."
She beamed. "I know."
There wasn't the slightest trace of modesty in her voice. I couldn't even bring myself to scold her for it. The smile suited her too well.
She spun the wooden sword once before pointing it proudly toward me. "Father said I almost beat Sir Rowan yesterday."
I raised an eyebrow. "He also said Sir Rowan was going easy on you."
She gasped dramatically. "You were supposed to support me."
"My duty is honesty."
"My duty is deciding whether I replace you with another knight."
I lowered my sword. "I sincerely apologize." 
She laughed brightly. The sound carried effortlessly across the training grounds until even several of the young noble heirs practicing nearby glanced in our direction.
One of them scoffed. "I don't understand why Lord Esteban bothers teaching a girl how to fight."
Another nodded. "She'll marry someday."
"What use is a sword to a wife?"
Lady Euphyllia slowly turned toward them. I recognized that look immediately. Someone was about to regret speaking. She rested the wooden sword against one shoulder. "Would either of you care to demonstrate?"
The boys exchanged amused glances.
One eventually stepped forward. "I wouldn't want people saying I bullied Lord Esteban's daughter."
She smiled pleasantly. "How thoughtful."
Less than three minutes later, the same boy found himself lying flat on his back. His wooden sword landed several feet away with a loud clatter.
Lady Euphyllia looked down at him before placing the tip of her practice sword lightly against his shoulder. "You dropped this."
Silence settled over the training grounds. Then, someone laughed. Not at her.
At him.
The defeated boy's face flushed crimson as he climbed back onto his feet. "You cheated."
Lady Euphyllia blinked. "I did?"
"You distracted me." She tilted her head thoughtfully.
"I don't remember doing that."
"You—" His frustration quickly overtook his pride. Before anyone realized what he intended, he shoved her backward. Hard.
Time seemed to stop. My body moved before my mind did. One moment, Lady Euphyllia had been stumbling. The next, I stood between them. The wooden sword in my hand intercepted the boy's wrist before he could reach her again. The impact echoed sharply throughout the training grounds as the laughter disappeared.
I looked directly into his eyes. "You've lost." My voice remained calm. "There is no reason to disgrace yourself further."
The boy jerked his arm away. His glare shifted between Lady Euphyllia and me before an unpleasant smile slowly appeared. "Oh." He laughed. "I understand now."
Several others looked over curiously. "So that's why."
He folded both arms. "Her little knight has become rather protective."
Another boy chuckled. "Perhaps, he fancies Lady Euphyllia."
Laughter erupted almost immediately. My grip tightened around the practice sword. 
Before I could think of an appropriate response, Lady Euphyllia rolled her eyes. "Oh, don't be ridiculous." She stepped around me without the slightest concern before casually throwing one arm across my shoulders.
The familiar gesture came as naturally to her as breathing.
"Aurelian's practically family." She smiled brightly. "Besides..." She gently nudged my shoulder. "He'd never survive being married to someone as troublesome as me."
More laughter followed. Even Lord Esteban, watching from the pavilion nearby, hid a smile behind his teacup. I laughed too. Because everyone else did, and that's what I was supposed to do.
Family.
The word lingered quietly inside my chest long after everyone had returned to training. It shouldn't have hurt. It was, after all, exactly what I had always wanted. A place to belong. People to call home.
So, why did something inside me ache when she said it?
I didn't understand. Not then. Perhaps, I was simply tired. Perhaps I had taken one too many blows to the head during training. Whatever the reason, I found myself looking toward Lady Euphyllia once more.
She was already laughing again, helping the very boy who had shoved her back onto his feet as though nothing unpleasant had happened at all.
Always kind. Always forgiving. Always smiling.
The afternoon breeze lifted several loose strands of her dark hair as sunlight caught the silver-blue of her eyes. For reasons I still couldn't explain, my heartbeat forgot its rhythm.
I looked away almost immediately. Moon Goddess. Something was very wrong with me.