Why Is That

"If I had to guess," Robin asked with a smile, "you felt bad because Saint Sanming watched the fire at Ohara as a child and danced with joy, so now you feel indebted to me?"

"Sorry, but that isn't it." Miming smiled. He hadn't expected Robin to have uncovered so much about him already. Should he say she was incredibly skilled at gathering information, or that she cared far too much about him?

"I matured rather late. I was still young when Ohara happened," Miming said apologetically. "But I wasn't the kind of Celestial Dragon who would be especially delighted by something so inhumane. Especially after learning about what happened to you."

"Then why?"

For Robin, that night at the harbor when she fled at the age of eleven had been the most dangerous, yet most incredible, day of her life. Someone had recognized her at a glance and hidden her beneath his tablecloth.

She had thought she would drag him down with her, only to discover that the person sheltering her was a Celestial Dragon!

Spandine, who had been pursuing her, did not dare suspect the table right beside him. To give her time to hide until it was safe, that person had sat there eating for a long time.

It had been a wondrous feeling. Robin had been exhausted and starving, yet she had found a way out of a desperate situation, with food and drink to spare. And after learning that he was a Celestial Dragon, she had felt neither fear nor hatred. Instead, it was as though she had climbed aboard a little lifeboat. Once she was full, she had leaned against his leg and peacefully slept for a while. No matter how fiercely the storm raged outside, that tiny space beneath the table had felt