Thud.
"Cough, cough… What a heartless old man! How could he throw me into the sea for no reason? As expected, he's not a good guy. I should be more careful when I meet him next time… But no matter what, he's so f*cking powerful! He literally threw me hundreds of meters just by relying on his physical strength. For a moment, I thought I'd been shot from a cannon."
"Thankfully, there were no sharks near the island, or I might have become their food. Panting heavily," Ed lay on the beach like a dead dog after his frantic swim back to shore, complaining angrily.
Well, today's been eventful, anyway. I should take a nap to replenish my energy, or it'll be difficult to get home, Ed thought, closing his eyes as he lay on the soft, cold sand at the edge of the beach. However, just a few minutes later, as he was basking in the soft morning sun, someone stood beside his head, blocking the light and making him frown.
Ed slowly opened his eyes, but what greeted him was so shocking that his "little brother" instantly woke up and became as hard as a rock. A girl was standing behind him. Although he couldn't see her face, because there was something else beautiful to look at, she was undoubtedly a beautiful girl wearing a gown, standing just a few centimeters from his head.
So when Ed opened his eyes and looked up, what greeted him was the beautiful pink love cave between her legs, waving at him, as if inviting his little brother inside to have some fun.
While Ed was enjoying the scenery, the girl seemed to realize his eyes were in the wrong place, and so was her position. Like a frightened rabbit, she jumped back with a scream and put her hands over her vagina, covering it through her gown.
"Sorry! I didn't mean that, but you were standing in the wrong place, and I just happened to open my eyes. It was completely accidental," Ed explained, proclaiming his innocence before reluctantly getting up from the ground. He wondered why this unknown girl wasn't wearing any protective clothing under her gown.
Maybe she's open-minded, like Raila? Wait, Raila isn't a girl; she's a woman with children. So maybe she just likes the feeling of being open and having the cold air touch her privates? Hmm, that could explain it…
"Hena? What are you doing here?"
Yes, this unknown girl, whose pink parts Ed had seen with his crystal-clear eyes, was none other than Hena, the eldest daughter of his lover, Raila. He had saved her from being raped by her stepfather, who had long since turned to ash under the wrath of the Stone Mother, or so Ed had learned from others.
"I saw you flying through the air and crashing into the sea while screaming, so I thought you might need help. That's why I came here… But if you don't need me, I can go away," Hena said, her face turning as red as a tomato.
She stuttered, likely due to the embarrassment of Ed having seen her private parts, but she somehow managed to finish what she wanted to say. However, judging by her posture, if Ed showed even a hint of annoyance or said he didn't need help, she would definitely run away at full speed.
"Oh, that's great! Then come here and help me walk. My legs and arms are crying from tiredness. I never expected that swimming such a short distance would tire me out so much. I think I need to increase my exercise time," Ed said with a fake, tired look.
Hena hesitated for a moment before nodding hurriedly and coming to his side. She grabbed his left arm, draped it over her shoulder, and let him use her as a walking stick. Together, they headed toward Ed's house, which was just a few hundred meters away from the beach.
"Thank you. If it weren't for you, I might have had to spend the entire morning on the beach recovering," Ed said lightly, trying to calm Hena, who was holding onto him as if he were a live electric wire, her entire body tense and vigilant to the extreme.
"N-No problem, it's normal. You did fall quite far from the beach… By the way, if you don't mind, can you tell me how you flew like that?" Hena asked hesitantly, seeming to relax slightly upon seeing that her savior was easy to talk to.
"Would you believe me if I told you that creepy-looking old man with something wrong in his head threw me into the sea just because I was vigilant around him?"
Hearing Ed's words, Hena's face showed confusion, clearly not believing that an old man could throw a person so far.
"Well, forget it. You wouldn't believe me anyway. So, how have you been… I mean, after that incident? If you want to talk about it, you can tell me. Both Aunt Marcy and your mother have said I'm a great listener and have all the qualities to become a good psychiatrist." Ed paused, then added, "Sigh, a psychiatrist is someone who helps people learn to cope better with life and relationship issues and mental health conditions, just like in your situation. I can see you're scared of me. If I poked your belly with my finger right now, you'd definitely run away like a frightened rabbit."
After finishing, Ed fell silent and continued walking toward his house with Hena's help, admiring the beautiful scenery around him and wondering what techniques he should try with Raila tonight. As for Hena's matter, if she wanted to talk, he'd be more than happy to have a wonderful chat with his potential step-daughter and try to help her. But if not, there was nothing he could do.
"I feel scared…"
Just as Ed was on his third romantic fantasy involving Raila, Hena's soft, crying voice reached his ears. He looked at her and saw tears already falling from her eyes like a waterfall, dealing an instant emotional critical hit to Ed. After all, even though they weren't officially family, it was still hard for him to see a girl crying beside him.
So, he quickly pulled his arm from her shoulder and gave her a bear hug, patting her back to calm her down. However, this seemed to have the opposite effect. After being hugged by Ed, she started crying even more loudly.
Thankfully, there are trees here, and no one can see us from afar. Otherwise, people might misunderstand and think I'm bullying her.
"Let it all out. Don't hold back. You can cry as much as you want. There's no need to suppress it. It's natural for you to be scared after what happened that day. Not just anyone in your place would be this strong. Believe me, you're much stronger than you think. If it were someone else in your situation, they might not have been able to fight back, but you didn't give up at the last moment. That shows how brave you are. You've just never realized it."
Like a good friend, Ed comforted her gently, stroking her back after she stopped crying. His encouragement seemed to have some effect. Just a few minutes after he finished speaking, she let go of his embrace, wiped her tears, put his arm back over her shoulder, and continued helping him walk toward his house.
"Well, brave girls don't stay silent for too long… Hahahaha…"
Seeing that Hena was unusually silent after calming down, Ed brought his face close to hers as they walked and spoke with a smile, making her burst into laughter. Only then did he nod with satisfaction. This means I was right, I really do have the qualities to become a psychiatrist. At the very least, it's powerful enough to pick up girls, and both mother and daughter have fallen under its godly effect.
"Thank you, Ed. That was really helpful… If… if you're free, you can come to my house for dinner tonight. Mother likes you very much; she'd be happy to see you," Hena invited in a low voice, blushing hard. If only she knew that the guy she was starting to like had already been "eaten" by her mother, she would surely be so heartbroken she'd start crying again.
"Sure, I promise I'll be there… Well, your house is quite big, right? I might as well bring my pillow and blanket and have a sleepover with you guys. That way, we can all have a lot of fun tonight," After conjuring this wonderful idea to get closer to his future family, Ed ignored the dumbfounded look on Hena's face and decided to implement his plan for the evening. As for Aunt Marcy's dinner invitation, he could postpone it to lunch. She definitely wouldn't mind.
"Ah, okay, do as you like. I'll ask Mother, but you don't need to bring a pillow and blanket. We have a few extras at home," Hana didn't seem to understand that Ed had only mentioned them as a formality. Hearing her response, he could only sigh helplessly at her naivety and nod.
For the rest of the way, Ed shared interesting stories from his previous life, including how he found treasure and his mother's bones. This moved the innocent girl so deeply that she repeated Ed's own advice back to him, hugging him and urging him to cry if he needed to and let out his hidden emotions.
After receiving his own advice back from a girl ten years his junior in mental age, Ed fell silent and didn't say another word until Hena almost begged for his forgiveness. In this way, they soon became friends. Hena, who had initially hesitated to even come near him, ended up giving him a hug and a goodbye kiss on the cheek for his company and for saving her back then, before running away at top speed.