Ferdinand gulped nervously and nodded his head. He was still worried but behaved this time.

Arabella smiled and kissed him on the forehead again, letting her lips linger, wanting to show him just how important he meant to her.

[She’s making my heart flutter again after making me so nervous. But this feels so good. It’s so different from the other kisses we do.]

Ferdinand was blushing when she pulled away.

Arabella smiled and gazed into his eyes as she said, "All I was trying to say earlier is that, though Lobelius is indeed a place that is very dear to me, Valeria and Estrella are no longer just a foreign place to me. Because of all the memories we have made here and in Estrella. I treasure Valeria and Estrella now because of you and of the future that we planned together. They are very dear to me too. Because it is where you are, Ferdinand."

[!!!]

"..."

Ferdinand was speechless and simply stared at her wide-eyed.

"I will not go back on my words no matter what. Even if we fight or have misunderstandings in the future, I won’t go back on my promise that I will go with you and live the rest of my life in Estrella with you."

"...." Ferdinand was still speechless but his face was red. 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

"Nothing that happens between us will change that unless you are the one who would say you no longer want me by your side," Arabella reiterated.

"That will never happen. I will always, always wish for you to be by my side," Ferdinand hugged her tight and lightly hit her forehead with his as he embraced her like she was the most precious thing in this world to him.

And she knew that for him, she was indeed. For Arabella, he was too in the meantime. Once they have Fermin, it would be the two of them.

"That goes for me too," Arabella hugged him back.

[Those words mean so much to me.]

Ferdinand held her even tighter.

They spent several moments of silence just holding each other dearly as if sealing another promise that had just been made between them.

When they finally began talking again, Arabella had to clarify what she meant when they were on the balcony.

"And this is what I was trying to tell you earlier. I wanted to go to Lobelius because I wanted to visit someone we call as Elder Satara. She had seen me as a child and I really liked her and her stories. I want her to see that I am doing well here in Valeria so she would not worry," Arabella explained to Ferdinand why she wanted to see the Elder.

Moreover, Elder Satara was the one whom her parents had sought help when Arabella kept getting attacked by monsters when she was a child.

Arabella wanted to thank the latter and see her again after so long since it was in her previous life that she last saw the Elder.

Elder Satara was getting older by the day so Arabella wanted to visit the former so she would not have more regrets.

After all, the elder had always been kind to her, and it was because of her advice that Arabella survived her childhood.

Arabella also wanted to know why the Elder could tell that she had encountered Ferdinand when she was sixteen.

After the incident at Mt. Callion, her parents sought the help of Elder Satara again. It was then that Elder Satara said that Arabella had met someone with a draconic aura.

And that someone was Ferdinand who had been disguised as Sir Elmir and had a protection barrier left on her.

Elder Satara felt Ferdinand’s presence on the mana he left on her. Things led to another and it somehow led to one of the reasons that Arabella’s parents wed her to Ferdinand.

Arabella formerly thought it was simply because Ferdinand was hailed as The Dragon of Eliora but now that she knew the truth, there might be something more. She wanted to know how and why the Elder knew everything when she was not a magician.

Was the Elder truly a seer?

Alwin said that those were blessings that the Creator of Humans had gifted to some humans just like how the pope and his priests had holy power so, it could be possible.

[Oh, so she truly was not angry with me? She only wanted to visit the Elder?] Ferdinand blinked repeatedly after Arabella’s explanation.

"Yes," Arabella smiled at her husband and his whole face flushed red in embarrassment when he finally realized how great of a misunderstanding he had.

[I... I jumped to conclusions yet again?!!!]

Ferdinand covered his face with his hands but Arabella could still see his reddened ears.

"I... I’m so sorry," Ferdinand peeked in between his fingers to see what kind of face she was making.

"As long as you understand now," Arabella chuckled and kissed the back of his hand and Ferdinand hid his face even more.

[Why do I always have to go to the wrong conclusions? I’m relieved that she’s not angry at me nor was she trying to leave my side. But why do I always come up with the stupidest things that are not even on her mind when she says something? I repeatedly told myself not to overthink but I still keep doing it.]

Ferdinand had an internal debate as he scolded himself for his actions.

"It’s alright now. We are going to Lobelius together, right?" Arabella changed the topic so Ferdinand would stop scolding himself.

"Y-Yes. I want to go with you. I also want to see the Elder," Ferdinand slowly began uncovering his face.

"Alright, let’s go together then. I have asked my maids to prepare. My parents are in Medeus so you don’t have to worry about meeting them. But my brother Benjamin is in Lobelius so you should probably ask your butlers to prepare a gift for him since we would drop by the palace too."

Arabella gave Ferdinand a heads-up so that her brother would not be disappointed.