Looks like she was a child who'd been overly sheltered. There weren’t many people living on Heaven Island, but it still had a proper school where children were taught to read and understand the world. But Nina had always been homeschooled. Her home was the palace right behind her. Arthur and Ashley suddenly found her a little pitiful. She wasn’t so much a princess in a palace as she was a canary in a gilded cage. She lived in luxury, yet had no freedom at all. How was that any different from a bird in a cage? The captain of the guards noticed the tension and quickly stepped in. “Miss, your two friends are an engaged couple. Of course they have their own secrets, ones they can’t share with others. Let’s go back, alright? Don’t disturb them.” He meant to coax Nina to head home, but the moment she heard his words, her cute round face clouded with hurt. “Secrets between you two?” “I’m an outsider?” By the time she said that last part, she was on the verge of tears. The captain realized immediately that he’d said the wrong thing. Seeing Nina’s eyes welling up, he panicked and didn’t know what to do. Nina looked up at Arthur and Ashley with tearful, pleading eyes. “Ashley, Arthur, I know you two are really close, but… but Nina wants to be your friend too. Nina wants to be close with you too.” By the end of her sentence, her tears were falling. Arthur and Ashley were both flustered. What?! Why is she crying already?!They hadn’t even done anything! At that moment, Arthur didn’t know whether he should be mad at Nina’s family for keeping her so sheltered and isolated, or if he should feel sorry for them. Nina was just too naive. She honestly thought his relationship with Ashley was simply a close friendship. How could she not realize it was so much more than that? They were doing way more than just “getting along”! They had daily deep communication, for crying out loud!! Arthur was ready to lose it. As helpless as he felt, weirdly enough, he didn’t actually find Nina all that annoying. Was it because she looked a little like him? Had he subconsciously started seeing her as a little sister? Ashley tried to comfort Nina, stammering nervously, but she had no experience handling this kind of thing either. She was panicking too. Just when the three of them were at a complete loss, a deep, booming voice suddenly rang out from behind them, urgent and concerned. “Nina! Nina! What’s wrong? Who upset you?!” The moment Arthur heard that voice, he froze. Nina’s eyes lit up. She wiped her tears with one hand and dashed past Arthur without hesitation. “Grandpa! You’re finally back!” She jumped into Benjamin’s arms, wrapping her little arms tightly around his neck, kissing his face over and over. Benjamin quickly caught her, making sure she didn’t fall. His warm, loving voice was full of tenderness. “My sweet Nina, did you miss me?” Nina nodded hard. “Yeah! I missed you so much I thought I was gonna die!” Then she suddenly remembered Arthur and Ashley. She jumped down from Benjamin’s arms and eagerly tugged him toward them.“Grandpa, come here! I made two new friends! Hurry, I’ll introduce you!” Seeing how excited she was, Benjamin looked amused and curious. “Oh? Nina made new friends? Two of them?My Nina’s amazing.” He didn’t hold back his praise. But Arthur stood stiffly in place, frozen. He could hear the voice coming closer and closer, and his body turned around slowly, almost unwillingly. His heart was a mess of anticipation and fear. It had been so long since he last heard that voice. So long, he’d almost forgotten what it sounded like. But now, hearing it again, his eyes instantly brimmed with tears. When he was little, that same kind, gentle voice had told him— “As long as you’re alive, there’s always hope.” But he’d searched the world, in this life and the last, and never managed to find the man behind that voice. Arthur’s whole body tensed. He was trembling—not just from nervousness, but from fear. He desperately hoped it was the man he’d longed for all this time. And he was terrified that it wasn’t. That it only sounded like him. When Arthur finally gathered the courage to look up at the approaching figure— Their eyes locked. Both of them froze. It was real. It was really him. Tears spilled from Arthur’s eyes instantly. He opened his mouth, trying to speak, but his throat was so dry that no words came out.