If someone asked Isisra Selan, princess of the Elze Kingdom—one of the most prosperous top-tier nations beneath the four great empires—what the most unforgettable memory of her life was,
she would answer without hesitation: the life-and-death crisis seven years ago.
Back then, she had just turned nine—arrogant, self-important, utterly lacking the demeanor expected of royalty.
And it was that version of her who met the boy she would care about most in her entire life.
He was completely different from her.
Though around the same age, he was low-key and steady, restrained and self-possessed.
Brilliant yet never arrogant, from humble origins yet unmoved by wealth or status.
He harbored grand ideals; he wanted to change the world…
Yes, she fell in love with him at first sight.
When that brief month came to an end and the royal attendants arrived to take her home, he pushed her away without a trace of reluctance—as if shaking off a nuisance.
In that moment, Isisra’s heart nearly shattered.
She didn’t understand what she had done wrong.
She was royalty; he was a commoner. Wasn’t it only natural for someone as exalted as her to demand his service?
She grew angry when he ignored her, upset when he was close with another girl, and constantly tried to monopolize the boy who made her heart race.
The Isisra of that time was indeed somewhat spoiled.
Wealth, power, beauty—the praise people lavished upon her had convinced her that staying by her side was the highest honor.
Moreover, as the kingdom’s sole princess, anyone who remained close to her was practically guaranteed to become king in the future.
Yet he didn’t care in the slightest; he even showed faint disgust.
The Isisra of that time was truly terrified and utterly confused.
She was ignored, treated as if she didn’t exist.
She could only watch him quietly in the dead of night as he worked in the hangar, sweat dampening his forehead, moonlight gently falling upon him.
Especially when she saw the boy who treated her with cold indifference speaking freely and intimately with that other girl—her heart felt as if it were being torn apart.
In the end, her overly prideful self left in a huff.
And that parting lasted a full seven years.
She was truly heartbroken for a very, very long time.
Less than a day after returning to the palace, her father and mother noticed something was off.
They exchanged smiles and gently told her:
Their little Isisra had fallen in love.
She had fallen for a boy who was indifferent to power and wealth, and who far surpassed her in both appearance and ability.
During that period, whenever she had free time, her mother would pull Isisra into her arms and recount how she—once the daughter of a viscount—had pursued her father when he was still a prince.
She taught Isisra how to face these feelings, telling her that to pursue a boy like that, she first had to make herself more outstanding.
So she began to change.
She studied etiquette and learned proper respect for hierarchy; she delved into magical knowledge, fully unleashing her talent.
The more she felt the gap between herself and the boy, the more she realized just how dazzling the person she loved was—and the harder she worked.
In the words the boy and his childhood friend once used to describe her,
she truly transformed from a unreasonable “little golden furball” into a princess worthy of the title.
Over these seven years, she had learned much and changed much.
She followed every rumor about the boy, her heart stirred by every piece of news concerning him.
When she heard that the boy was actually the Empire’s imperial daughter, her heart nearly broke.
Fortunately, she ultimately trusted her own judgment and refused to believe the notorious rumors spread by the imperial family.
Until not long ago, when a secretive noble began discreetly seeking assistance on the international stage.
The messages he released were cryptic and incomprehensible to outsiders.
But Isisra understood.
Because only someone who had lived alongside that boy could decipher them—all of it was information about him.
In the end, she sent people to track down that shady noble and learned from him the whereabouts of the person she had longed for day and night.
Now, he had finally escaped the Empire that had imprisoned him—which meant her chance had finally arrived!
And now, after so many years.
Through days of persistent pleading, her father and mother had finally agreed to let her enroll in this academy as the princess.
But they also issued a strict order…
—When she returned home next, she must bring back the boy who had caused such a tremendous change in their little Isisra. They wanted to personally vet him for their precious daughter.
“Hehe.”
Standing on the platform, gazing down at the night-purple figure below who, as always, seemed exclusively favored by the starry sky.
Watching the emotions in his eyes shift from shock to confusion, then tint with embarrassment.
Isisra knew he had recognized her too.
Soon after, with a hint of fleeing in panic, he quietly slipped out of the grand hall and vanished from her sight.
If she could, she truly wanted to chase after him right then and there—to tell him how much she had missed him, how much she yearned for him.
But she couldn’t; she still had to finish this speech.
Moreover…
That boy hated girls who lacked a sense of boundaries.
She had changed; she was no longer the person she used to be.
If she could go back to seven years ago, she would cling to him with everything she had, no matter the cost.
“I won’t let you escape again.”
Gazing at the back she had dreamed of for so long, she whispered softly.
“Your Highness, is something the matter?”
Hearing her murmur, the principal beside her asked with concern.
“No, it’s nothing.”
Isisra replied with a polite and graceful smile.
“By the way, Principal,”
“How are the arrangements I requested earlier coming along?”
She suddenly remembered and quickly followed up.
“Oh, of course it’s all been taken care of.”
“But Your Highness, why are you so attached to that particular dormitory? Is there some special reason?”
Single-occupancy dormitories at this academy were quite expensive.
After all, this was a place of learning, not indulgence.
Different tiers of dormitories were more a symbol of status and position.
Though limited in number, they rarely filled up completely.
With the princess’s status, she could easily secure the best-located room, neighboring the heirs of great nobles.
He truly couldn’t understand why she insisted on that remote one.
Even offering double the price to the current occupant to move elsewhere and free it up for her.
“It’s a girl’s secret~”
She didn’t answer directly, merely giving the principal a playful wink.
“But…”
“Pfft!!!”
The principal still looked puzzled and seemed about to press further, but the female vice-principal beside him discreetly jabbed him hard in the side with her elbow and rolled her eyes in exasperation.
“Hehe.”
Watching this amusing scene, Isisra’s beautiful sapphire eyes curved into crescents once more, and she turned her smiling gaze toward the door through which the boy had departed.