Robin smiled like that because he had truly seen how happily and freely Saul lived in Elbaf.
Once, she had thought Saul had really died at Kuzan's hands.
That had left her blaming herself throughout her subsequent life at sea.
If Saul had not tried to save her, he would not have been killed by Kuzan.
Of course, precisely because of her connection to Saul, she knew her life was not merely a continuation of Ohara, but also something Saul had risked his life to protect.
That was why she cherished her own life all the more.
Everyone who knew her kept far away from him and called it the Devil Child.
As though she were a plague, everyone avoided her like the scourge.
Until she met Lott.
She learned from Lott that Saul was still alive.
From then on, she had looked forward to the day they would meet again.
Now, her wish had finally come true. Here in Elbaf, she had met the Giant Vice Admiral who had been willing to sacrifice his own life to save her from the Buster Call.
Though there were tears, they were tears of joy.
Saul smiled because he saw Robin alive and well, and happy.
In fact, after the Buster Call on Ohara, his severe injuries had left him bedridden for nearly two years.
But even while lying in his sickbed, he had kept following Robin's situation.
He had wanted to stay by Robin's side and protect her, too.
But for certain reasons.
He could not do that and could only watch helplessly as that frail figure drifted through life at sea.
Until one day, he saw Robin wearing a long-absent smile again in the newspaper.
He knew Robin had found companions willing to protect her.
At last, his anxious heart