Shaking my head and confirming what Hiroshi said, I started thinking about what we should do.

I started looking around on the one hand, and just laying down there on the other.

I realized that Shou continued to rotate the ship at the edge of it, and Babu and Mila were talking and laughing among themselves as we moved on.

It was a very nice view to see everyone finally having the time to rest and talk about the previous things that they couldn't, so turning my head ahead in another direction, I had let them be and enjoy every second we got in our free time.

And the surprising thing was, when I turned my head to the other invisible end of the sea, I was immersed in the view. The sound of the ocean, the clear image that comforted a person, and the way its waves move from side to side as if they had taken me to another place. It was like it flew me to a magical land and made me forget all my thoughts. I was relieved. I forgot. No matter how much pain there is in my body and mind. Everything was gone for a couple of seconds.

But that lasted until the ship stopped and went down.

As soon as the ship stopped, I was distracted and started hearing clapping sounds and shouting, of thousands of people in front of the palace, while calling out our names or names they had come up with. I was once again filled with honor, happiness, and respect. It was a great feeling that I was never bored with and that warmed me up, even more, every time.

I was just looking at them, and thinking, wondering how much more I was going to keep seeing this beautiful scenery.

Hiroshi, Babu, Mila, and Shou, were all also lost in this situation, just like me. Perhaps not all of them felt happiness or pride like me, but in front of this fascinating sight, we all immersed our own minds in a certain thought and idea. Losing our hearts's softest spot to many more that welcomed us with warm arms and in a way that is grateful. And just then, when we looked at them upon the ship, we took down a wooden plank from the ship, walked up and down on it in order, and landed on the ground again.

The applause couldn't stop. People wanted to come over and shake hands with us. They wanted to know our names, meet us and hear our stories. It was a pretty crowded wave. However, this crowd lasted until the arrival of the sea king.

And when the king of the sea people came, the people withdrew from us, and they fell silent. The soldiers in his commands got in their positions, and were around the king, protecting him. They held the spears in parallel, moving to the ready position once more, forming a path.

And the sea king, just like us, had been wounded in battle, and was walking slowly down the path that opened up. His wounds were visible from the outside, although not very much to worry about. He had slowed down his pace a little more than before, but his steps still felt heavier and came at us.

And when the king saw his daughter, he became uncontrollable emotionally. His face, frozen and staring mercilessly, changed and vanished at the moment he saw her. And while his eyes and face, already began to fill with sweat and tears, he was holding himself with difficulty so as not to break down.

He didn't seem to know what to say. So he just stood there, slowly opening his mouth unwillingly,

"I'm sorry, Mila...my precious girl..."

On the other hand, Princess Mila, decide to not wait for her father to complete his speech, and ran to him, hugging him tightly. She was just letting out her added up emotions, and was expressing her feelings that she had been forced to think intensely and for a long time, and which had been buried in her and suppressed. And crying, on the one hand, she let out her thoughts with a shaking voice,

"No. It was my fault from the beginning. I just missed you so much. I'm sorry, dad.... I'm sorry....."

"I miss you very much too, my dear girl. I'm sorry. I've forced you to do things you've never wanted to do before. I acted for my own desires, for the things I had to achieve on my own, thinking that I was being a father. But I was wrong. I just forced you to do things you didn't want, and I lost you by mowing what I planted myself. Oh, girl... I've been really mean to you so far. I don't think I can make it up to you either. But if there's one thing I want from you, it's to forgive your old father. Not because he's going to erase the mistakes he has made, but because he would know you're more comfortable living your life and moving from those past mistakes he had made."

"No, father. You're not just an old man. You are somebody who is smarter than me. Somebody who could see my mistakes. You've spent all this time trying to save me, and you've come a long way. I-I.... I just ran away from you. From many of my responsibilities. I thought I could get out of this uncomfortable situation, but I scared you even more and caused something like this to happen. You were just thinking about my well-being. You haven't done anything bad. You protected me, just me, and everything..."

The king couldn't let her daughter go along with the painful speech she was telling him, so he just silenced her by hugging tighter, and just said something simple to let go of her disappointment in herself.

"I love you, my little girl. And I always will."

"Me too, Dad. I love you too."

Although there have been disagreements and shouting between them, both of them knew how precious each other's beings were. They were father and daughter. Blood and bones that couldn't be separated to live nor given an option like that. Like a nail stuck on a piece of skin, Mila and the king knew that wasn't just a moment of getting together again, but much more of understanding the pain of losing each other.

So on, being with another once more, they just felt the joy and happiness to hug each other, and just smell the scent of their skin.

They just stood there, crying for the hopeless situation of not being able to bring the chances or the moments that they could have said something much nicer, and not being able to feel those moments they have wasted and not acting much better and simpler.

And when the king stopped hugging his daughter, he turned toward the people and shouted strongly,

"My daughter is back! Let's have a feast in honor of this and in honor of our heroes who brought her back! And remove all of the curses that today has brought down on us!"

Upon the words of the king, the people began to applaud strongly and start the festival even more loudly than before. They just flood down the stone bridge and everyone gone through to eat the fancy food that had been made. With all of the decoration, musical instruments playing behind, and people still being happy about the fact they would live another day peacefully, was so heartwarming I just sat down there and watched everything.

I even had built up the habit of enjoying the reward, not only the gold that we got, but the smile and happy faces that were created around us. It was just the biggest reward we could ever get.

But even though, I myself felt slightly guilty afterward.

After all, I asked Babu to talk to his father about Mila. I knew that all these people would go to war, and that we would lose out on many things in this war, even though I couldn't decipher them all. Perhaps, seriously, people should not have been dragged into such a thing, but the fact that a father thus suffered without being able to protect his daughter, that the public was only afraid of a certain power, or that I would shut up to some opposition like this, it all seemed to me unreasonable. To just let it happen, as I've said to myself over and over again, was nothing rather than ridiculous. It was just mind tearing.

But even though I had lost myself upon those again, I put out the flame that was burning in my heart for a while and went up to Babu to thank him.

"I'm grateful that you talked to Mila and convinced her against her father. Seriously, it was a big-time help."

"After you guys split up with the team, I was obviously quite scared and nervous. I thought the explosion would be a big block for us. But if I waited there in fear, or scared of it, I wouldn't be able to help you and I'd feel worse. So I'm glad we stuck to the plan."

"I'm glad you were there, Babu. Glad that you were always there for us."

"As always!" Babu replied smiling brightly.

Babu then started talking excitedly,

"Come on! Let's go after the king before he disappears! All this stuff is making me hungry!"

I was in the same mood as he was. After the fatigue and brutal battles that this adventure has given us, and being and acting as always, the rumbling of his stomach could be heard loudly and he began to talk to me willingly to leave there and go to any dinner table.

"You're right, let's go."

Following the king, we made our way to the banquet at his request. Once again we had entered the palace, but this time not as criminals, but as heroes. The preparations had been made for us and everything felt more sincere. People were looking into our eyes not because they had to look or because their attention was drawn to us, but because they were really wanting to look at us and express their joy. Everyone was in a separate feeling, making it not only a banquet, but a special feast. And the king, together with his daughter, was leading, and was showing us the way. They were creating a path by going ahead of us, pulling us into the event as much as possible, and providing the greatest pleasure we could get from it. Honestly, I didn't know if it was something we deserved even for that, but it really felt good at that moment.

The feeling of respect, as it you may give earlier to take it back later. Just like a returning fate, it was the most inevitable but the most precious part of this. We were moving with ready and fast steps inside the palace, having fun thinking about what we were doing as a team and just messing with each other. However, when we reached the corridor of the palace, there was another person waiting for us. Another face, that was covered with wonder and sparkling in her eyes. Going from her tip to her toe, she was as silent as the sea beneath us. But her presence, standing right there, stood out more than we could oversee. And when we got to the hallway of the palace, that person was waiting, in front of us.

"Ryuu...."