leaving the first life aside, ezekiel truly never interacts with athy enough for him to “have a reason” to love her other than surface level things.
we readers love her cause we’ve seen her grow up and we know what she’s like. she endearing and whimsical, funny and rather brave. and her growth and development is wonderful as well.
for ezekiel, the most he’s seen of her are the short interactions where he teased her and then found her cute? when she cried because his majesty practically banished her and he solidified his feelings, recognising that he doesn’t feel good seeing her sad? i want to say that it’s infatuation at most, and far from love. but he’s still relatively young lol, like the main cast are all still in their teens, i think? hence i find it kinda amusing how he can say this so confidently.