"Thump, thump… thump."
"Come in!"
The office door opened, and Lena Sterling entered, a clear hint of panic visible on her face.
Indeed, ever since the battle ended, Lena had been recalling what she did inside Adrian Vale's mech cockpit, and she had been intentionally avoiding him. She hadn't expected him to call her over so quickly. After all, it was an order from a superior, impossible to refuse, but she was genuinely in a state of distress.
"Close the door!"
Adrian glanced at Lena's slightly panicked face and spoke.
Speaking of which, this was the first time Adrian had seen such an expression from her. He suddenly realized that as long as Lena wasn't wearing her usual ice-cold mask, he exceptionally enjoyed watching any expression she made. Adrian even began to wonder if there was something wrong with his own psychology.
"Have a seat!"
Seeing Lena close the door, Adrian pointed to the sofa in the office.
Lena, after sitting down, kept her head slightly lowered, not daring to look at Adrian. Her hands were on her lap, nervously pinching her fingers, her panic fully evident.
Adrian walked over, leaning against his desk, and looked at Lena with eyes full of interest.
"You must have asked your father and confirmed that I didn't lie to you, right?"
"Yes, I asked on the way back!"
"Then can you tell me now what exactly I said eleven years ago? After all, I have no memory whatsoever before the age of nine! It couldn't be that I made some grand vows of eternal love when I was eight, could it?"
Adrian, who had originally intended to make a joke to lighten the mood, suddenly found Lena raising her head, her beautiful eyes wide, staring at him.
Uh... could he have accidentally hit the nail on the head? Was the previous him that amazing? That was at eight years old, and Lena should have only been eleven back then!
But Lena's gaze clearly expressed shock, as if saying, 'You remembered?'
"Really?"
Adrian looked into Lena's eyes and asked cautiously.
Lena merely nodded slightly.
Oh my god, no way, vows of eternal love at eight years old?
Adrian couldn't help but cover his head, a headache forming.
Wait, why the headache? The person in front of him was, by all accounts, a rare super beauty, and her figure was beyond reproach. Why should he have a headache?
Moreover, he didn't dislike Lena. Ever since he saw her smile once on the bridge, he hadn't been able to forget it and had even wanted to see it again.
At this moment, Adrian recalled that scene on the bridge, that scene in the mech cockpit, and he recalled...
It seemed there was no need for a headache at all.
"Lena, you know now that I have no memory before the age of nine. If possible, could you tell me about the past?"
Adrian walked over and sat beside Lena, looking at her as he spoke.
The latter nodded slightly and began to speak.
It was when Adrian was eight years old. Back then, Solomon Vale was not yet President, and Admiral Marcus Sterling was not yet the famous military god of the Federation. The two families even lived in the same large compound.
From a young age, Adrian would follow Lena, who was three years his senior, around. His catchphrase was that he would marry Lena when he grew up. Who knows how this boy became so precocious, but from the age of five, this catchphrase continued until he was eight.
Lena's ice-cold face was not something that developed recently; she had been like that since her mother's death when she was a child. However, even though she maintained an icy expression towards her own father, she would only smile in front of Adrian, who constantly called her his wife.
It could be said that Adrian's childhood was spent entirely with Lena. In Lena's heart, Adrian's position was even higher than her father's.
After all, Marcus Sterling was already a lieutenant general at that time, constantly leading troops outside, and Lena would only see him a few times a year. At home, there was only a nanny hired by Marcus Sterling.
It wasn't until Adrian was eight years old that Solomon Vale became the new President of the Federation. As a result, Adrian's family could no longer continue living there and had to move to the Presidential Palace.
At their farewell, Adrian still didn't forget to shout to Lena, "I'll marry you when I come of age!"
At that time, the eleven-year-old Lena even gave Adrian her first kiss in front of Solomon Vale, though it was just a fleeting touch.
"I'll wait for you!"
This was the last thing Lena said to Adrian.
A few weeks later, on Adrian's ninth birthday, he accidentally fell down the stairs. When he got back up, he was no longer the same Adrian as before.
At that time, the Presidential Palace's bodyguards immediately sent Adrian to the infirmary. However, since his body had already been repaired by the system, the doctors naturally couldn't find any injuries.
Adrian, who knew he had transmigrated and had not acquired the memories of the original owner of the body, claimed from that day forward that he had lost all his memories.
However, Lena had been waiting for Adrian to come back to her, as she herself couldn't enter the Presidential Palace to see Adrian.
So, she waited for many years, until Lena had just graduated from the Interstellar Military Academy and entered the Mars Base.
By chance, she helped Marcus Sterling deliver a batch of equipment to the Interstellar Military Academy and saw the man she had thought about for so many years standing at the entrance of the library.
Although the man had grown up, Lena recognized him at a glance, but what she didn't know was that his memory completely lacked any trace of her.
Lena, who had intended to walk up and call out to him, instead saw a Western girl, whose beauty was in no way inferior to her own, emerge from the library. What followed was a scene that broke her heart.
Adrian immediately followed that girl, walking beside her, laughing and talking non-stop the whole way, even though the girl barely acknowledged him. The girl was Adeline Hart.
That time, Lena returned to the Mars Base with red eyes, which even startled Marcus Sterling. However, no matter how Marcus Sterling asked, she remained silent.
Finally, Marcus Sterling could only learn from the accompanying personnel that Lena's emotional state had drastically changed after returning from the Interstellar Military Academy.
After some investigation, Marcus Sterling discovered a name: Adrian Vale, a new student who had just enrolled that year. After a few more days of investigation, he learned that Adrian Vale was constantly revolving around Adeline Hart.
As for Adrian's past with Lena, he knew about it. He also knew about Adrian's amnesia. So, how could he not know why his daughter had become like this now?
But what could be done? Go to him and demand an explanation? Ask Adrian for an explanation? What explanation could you ask from someone with amnesia?
This matter could only be left unresolved, but it was from that day on that Marcus Sterling began to pay attention to Adrian's situation at the Interstellar Military Academy.
Two years later, Adrian graduated early and came to the Mars Base with Marcus Sterling.
At this time, Marcus Sterling still wanted to help his daughter. Perhaps after the two reconnected, Adrian could recover his memories? Even if he didn't, would Adrian necessarily not get back together with Lena? His daughter was no worse than that Hart girl, okay?
This was Marcus Sterling's thinking at the time, so he arranged for Lena to be Adrian's adjutant.
Unfortunately, things worsened again. When Adrian and Lena reunited after more than ten years apart, Adrian showed no recognition of Lena, which completely chilled Lena's heart.
It wasn't until Lena saw Adrian personally piloting a mech to rescue her, and in the mech cockpit, she emotionally lost control and asked Adrian why he pretended not to know her, why he forgot what he had once said, that she heard a possibility from Adrian that she had never considered:
"I'm sorry, I lost my memory ten years ago due to an injury, so I have no memories before the age of nine!"