Harem Survival System: Stranded On An Island With Beautiful Women-Chapter 29: A Good Memory

He had never thought much about shells before, but the way she talked about them, with such fascination and warmth, made them seem almost magical.

"You really know a lot about this," he commented.

Maya grinned. "Of course! My grandma used to take me shell hunting all the time when I was a kid. She taught me how to tell different types apart."

Lucas tilted his head slightly.

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He had never heard her talk about her family much. It was... kind of nice, getting this small glimpse into her past.

"You must've collected a lot back then," he mused.

"Oh, tons!" Maya laughed. "I had an entire box full of them. But my mom made me get rid of most of them because she said they smelled like the ocean too much."

Lucas smirked. "So basically, she was tired of your room smelling like fish?"

Maya sighed dramatically. "Unfortunately, yes."

He chuckled, shaking his head as he shifted the shells in his hands.

Even though he had originally complained about holding them, he found himself actually enjoying listening to her explanations.

Maya reached for another shell, but before she could take it, one of her friends — Emma — nudged her shoulder.

"Maya, come help me find some pink ones!" Emma said excitedly.

Maya glanced at Lucas before flashing him a quick smile. "I'll be back. Don't drop those!"

Lucas scoffed. "Yeah, yeah."

As she ran off to join Emma, he looked down at the shells in his hands. His fingers traced over the rough, smooth, and ridged textures.

It was funny. He hadn't expected to care about something as simple as seashells. But Maya made them interesting. She made everything interesting.

Leo's voice suddenly called from a few meters away.

"Oi, lover boy! You done collecting seashells, or do you want me to find you a pearl while I'm at it?"

Lucas rolled his eyes. "Screw off, Leo!"

His friend just laughed, shaking his head as he went back to whatever he had been doing.

Lucas exhaled, turning his gaze back toward Maya.

She was laughing as she dug through the sand with her friends, her eyes bright with excitement.

He smirked slightly.

The sound of the waves rolling onto the shore mixed with the excited chatter of Maya and her friends as they continued digging through the damp sand.

The evening breeze had begun to cool, carrying the salty scent of the ocean.

Lucas stood beside Maya, still holding the handful of seashells she had unceremoniously dumped into his arms earlier. He sighed, shifting them slightly in his grip.

"You know, I didn't come here to be your personal shell carrier," he muttered.

Maya ignored him, too engrossed in her search.

She dug deeper into the wet sand, her fingers moving with precision, determined to find something special.

Lucas couldn't help but watch, a little amused by how serious she looked.

Then, her hands stopped.

She gasped loudly, eyes wide as she carefully pulled something out of the sand. Lucas leaned in slightly, curious despite himself.

It wasn't like he cared about seashells, but Maya's reaction told him this one was different.

She wiped some of the wet sand off the object and held it up, her mouth stretching into an elated smile. It was a shell unlike the others — larger, with a shimmering, iridescent surface streaked with swirls of deep red and fiery orange.

It almost looked like a miniature sunset trapped within the shell.

"No way!" she nearly squealed, jumping in excitement. "A fire opal shell!"

Lucas blinked. "A what now?"

Maya turned to him, practically shoving it in his face. "A fire opal shell! These are super rare! You don't just find them lying around!"

Lucas took a step back, trying to avoid getting sand in his face. "Okay, okay, geez. Relax."

Maya was completely ignoring him now, cradling the shell like it was some kind of priceless treasure.

"I can't believe this! These only show up in certain waters, and they're said to bring good luck to sailors! Oh, man, I have to keep this one!"

Lucas sighed, shifting the other shells in his arms. "Right. Good luck. Because luck has been doing us wonders so far."

Maya playfully stuck her tongue out at him. "You don't get it. This is a big deal!"

She kept going, talking about the history of the shell, the legends surrounding it, and how collectors would pay a fortune for one.

Lucas tried to listen, but after about a minute, his mind started drifting.

His gaze lifted from Maya to the sky above.

The first stars had started appearing, tiny pinpricks of light scattered across the vast darkness.

They shimmered so brightly, so beautifully, like distant memories written across the heavens. Something about them tugged at a part of him he hadn't thought about in a long time.

He remembered lying in the grass as a child, his mother sitting beside him, pointing up at the stars.

"See that?" she would say, tracing invisible lines between them with her finger. "That's Orion. The hunter."

Lucas would follow her gestures, squinting at the sky, trying to connect the dots. "Where?"

His mother would laugh softly, shifting so that he could see better. "Right there. Those three stars in a row? That's Orion's Belt. And those stars above and below? That's the rest of him."

Lucas had always loved those nights.

His mother had a way of making the sky feel like a giant storybook, filled with legends and myths.

They would lie there for hours, connecting stars and creating their own constellations, making up tales about heroes and monsters.

For a long time, he had wanted to be an astronaut — just so he could get closer to the stars.

That dream had faded over the years. Life had a way of doing that.

"Lucas?"

Maya's voice pulled him back to reality.

"Huh?" He blinked, turning to her.

"You totally spaced out," she said, narrowing her eyes. "Were you even listening?"

Lucas hesitated, then scratched the back of his head. "Uh... yeah. Something about luck and sailors."

Maya sighed dramatically. "Figures. You're hopeless."

She shook her head, but instead of looking annoyed, she smiled and held out the fire opal shell.

"Here," she said.

Lucas raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"I'm giving it to you," she said, placing it gently in his hands.

He frowned, looking down at it. "You're just giving away something that rare? I thought you said it was a big deal."

"It is," she said, stretching her arms above her head. "But I don't need it. And besides, maybe you need the good luck more than I do."