"As far as I can remember, my father died along with my siblings," Azul said, lowering his head slightly. "I don’t know why I’m so sure that my mother is still alive, but I think it’s because she’s somewhere those people can’t reach."

"And who exactly are these people?" Calen asked.

The look on his face was enough to make anyone nervous. He seemed ready to hunt someone down right that moment.

Calen and Azul often bickered, but that didn’t change the fact that they cared about each other. The moment Calen learned that someone had hurt Azul and his family, all he could think about was finding those people and making them pay.

"I’m not sure..." Azul said softly. "If I remember correctly, they were a group of rebels who wanted to take control of the kingdom. As for who they really are..." He shook his head. "I’m not really sure."

After that, Azul fell silent. It was obvious he was trying to sort through the flood of memories that had suddenly returned to him. There was simply too much information appearing at once.

His grip on Azura loosened slightly, and Roxanna gently took their daughter into her arms.

"If a rebel group really took over your kingdom, then meeting your mother won’t be easy," Zeir said seriously. "If we’re not careful, we could end up getting captured by them too."

"Yes," Azul agreed quietly. "We need to be careful. But if I don’t know more about them, how am I supposed to tell who is a friend and who is an enemy?"

He let out a frustrated sigh. "Why did my brother have to erase my memories like that?" His jaw tightened. "It’s hard living like this when there’s always something missing inside my heart and mind."

"He was probably trying to protect you," Roxanna said softly.

She squeezed his hand a little tighter, hoping to ease some of the turmoil inside him. "If you had remembered everything back then, you would’ve returned to your kingdom immediately instead of going somewhere safe."

[Knowing Azul... he definitely would’ve done that,] Roxanna thought. A small smile appeared on her face. [He’s too kind. There’s no way he would’ve stayed somewhere safe while his people were suffering.]

"I’m probably not as kind as you think," Azul said, making Roxanna jump slightly. "There are still a lot of memories I can’t remember, so... maybe I was a different person back then. Or maybe I’m still the same as I am now."

For a moment, Roxanna simply stared at him. Then she frowned. "Who cares what kind of person you were in the past?" she asked.

Azul blinked. "What?"

Roxanna adjusted Azura in her arms before speaking again.

"The Azul I know is the one standing right here." Her voice was soft but certain.

"The one who worked so hard to learn how to cook because he wanted me to eat good meals. The one who struggled to learn how to read because he wanted to write love letters for me. The one who is always trying his best to take care of me and Azura."

A gentle smile appeared on her face. "Maybe the Azul from the past and the Azul I know now are exactly the same. Or maybe you’ve changed over the years. But I don’t think a person’s true nature can change that much."

She looked straight into his eyes. "I know you’re kind now." Her fingers wrapped a little tighter around his hand. "And I believe you were kind back then too."

After all, Roxanna knew what truly cruel people looked like because she had lived with one before.

Her ex-husband had humiliated her, hurt her, and treated her like she was worth less than dirt. She had seen how easily people like that could cause pain without feeling any guilt.

But when she looked at Azul, she couldn’t imagine him doing any of those things.

She couldn’t picture him cutting off someone’s fingers, she couldn’t picture him hurting innocent people, and she definitely couldn’t picture him treating his own wife the way her ex-husband had treated her.

No matter how hard she tried, it simply didn’t fit the man she knew.

"So don’t worry," Roxanna said softly. "Just like you promised that you would still love me even after getting your memories back, I promise that my feelings for you won’t change either."

For a brief moment, her voice became even gentler. "You’re still my Azul, and it will never change."

He was the man she had fallen in love with, the man she trusted, and no amount of lost memories could change that.

Calen, who was still standing nearby, pretended to cough. "Yeah, no one will treat you badly even if you were a cruel prince back then."

Zeir calmly added, "But it would be different if you already had a wife."

"I didn’t have a wife," Azul replied quickly. He looked completely serious as he said, "I’m sure of that."

Roxanna chuckled when she heard that. "I’m glad to hear that."

After all, the moment she learned that Azul was actually a prince, a certain thought had immediately appeared in her mind.

What if he had once been engaged to a princess? Or maybe a beautiful mermaid?

[Mermaids are beautiful, right?] Roxanna wondered. [They’re probably much prettier than—]

"You’re more beautiful than anything, my wife." Azul’s gentle voice cut off her thoughts before she could finish them. He looked at her with a warm, reassuring smile.

"What a sweet talker," Roxanna murmured, shaking her head with a small smile.

After that, they went back to talking about Azul’s past. There were still many things he couldn’t remember, so most of the stories he shared were simple details rather than anything important. Even so, every small memory helped him piece together who he had once been.

At the very least, he still remembered the exact location of his kingdom.

"We should probably slow down," Azul said after they had swum much deeper into the ocean.

Roxanna honestly had no idea how long they had been swimming. It felt like hours had passed, but it was hard to be certain. Deep beneath the sea, there was no clear sun or moon to tell whether it was day or night.

Still, as they drew closer to the Aquilian Kingdom, the scenery around them gradually began to change.

Roxanna’s eyes widened slightly as she saw countless glowing algae drifted through the water, lighting up the darkness around them. Some glowed blue, others green, pink, purple, and even gold.

The colorful lights stretched across the ocean like an underwater field of stars.

For a moment, Roxanna forgot about everything else and simply stared because the sight before her was breathtaking.

She had never imagined that the deep ocean could be this beautiful. The colorful lights from the glowing algae danced through the water, turning the dark sea into something that felt almost magical.

"You." Azul suddenly spoke to the giant Kraken that had been following them the entire journey like an oversized puppy. "You’re too big, and you attract too much attention. It’s time for us to say goodbye."

The Kraken immediately let out a low, mournful sound. Its huge tentacles drooped slightly, making it look surprisingly pitiful for a creature large enough to destroy ships.

It clearly didn’t want to leave. After all, whether they had noticed it or not, the Kraken had been protecting them the whole time.

As long as it swam nearby, no sea predator, demon beast, or dangerous creature dared to come close. The giant monster’s presence alone was enough to scare away almost everything in the ocean.

The Kraken let out another sad cry, sounding very much like a puppy being told to go home.

Roxanna almost felt guilty listening to it. "We can see each other again later," she said softly. "Don’t be too sad, Mr. Kraken."

The giant creature immediately turned its enormous eyes toward her. For a moment, it remained completely still, then it let out a much happier sound.

That was honestly a little frightening.

The Kraken happily waved several of its tentacles. One of them carefully reached toward Roxanna before stopping midway, as if asking for permission.

Roxanna blinked. "Does it want a goodbye pat?"

The tentacle wiggled.

"I think... that’s a yes," Calen said.

Trying not to laugh, Roxanna reached out and gently patted the massive tentacle. The Kraken immediately made a pleased sound.

Its other tentacles began moving excitedly as well. "Oh no," Azul muttered.

"What?"

"It wants more."

Before Roxanna could react, three more tentacles stretched toward her.

"Hey!" Calen protested. "You can’t monopolize all the pats!"

To everyone’s surprise, one of the tentacles immediately moved toward Calen. The Kraken lightly tapped him on the shoulder.

"You want a pat too?" Calen asked in confusion.

The tentacle wiggled.

Calen clicked his tongue and hissed softly. "Well... aren’t you such a cute thing."

After they patted the Kraken goodbye, it finally swam away from them slowly so that it wouldn’t attract any unwanted attention.

Roxanna was about to say something when Azul suddenly reached for her hand and pulled her behind a large rock to hide. Calen and Zeir did the same.

"Don’t make a sound," Azul said in a low voice.