Without any doubt, Claudia leaned over and asked, “How exactly?"

She was very curious about it.

As soon as Claudia finished speaking, she felt an itch on her cheek.

Claudia's ears turned red as she blushed.

Acting as if nothing had happened, Zaria whispered in Claudia's ear, “Five years ago, after a competition in Aelcrest, you saved someone who was washed away by the rising tide. Don't you remember?"

That night, Zaria had seen her life flash before her eyes. She thought she was going to die. Since her childhood, she had never been able to swim. But for some reason, she had an innate love for the sea.

It happened during her sophomore year. She and her friends went on a trip to Aelcrest. Upon arriving there, they heard about a motorboat race that was going on and curiously went to watch it.

After the competition was over, the sun was setting, and it was the perfect time and place to watch it. With a single-lens reflex camera, Zaria climbed up to the outermost reef to take pictures of the beautiful sunset.

She was so focused on taking the perfect pictures that she didn't notice the rising tide. By the time she heard her friends' shouts of warning below, the sea water was already almost drowning the reef.

In a panic to get out of there, she lost her footing, slipped and fell into the sea.

The salty sea water welcomed her and played with her in its intense tide. As she struggled to keep her breath under the water, a feeling of total terror possessed her.

She could already see herself dying. But she was only 20 years old.

There were still so many things she hadn't had the chance to do yet.

At the time, she didn't know her knight in shining armor was Claudia.

She thought it was CC. CC swept in like a warrior from the abyss and caught her before the sea took her to its depths.

Before then, Zaria thought she was going to die in the sea. But when she saw CC's arm reaching out for her, it seemed like the last and only hope she could have.

So, she held on to her with all her might, her desire to live more intense and powerful than her exhaustion after fighting with the water for what seemed like an eternity. In the midst of the chaos, she heard a soft female voice asking her to let go.

The woman's soft voice must have held some sort of charm, because as soon as she spoke, Zaria found herself calming down. She didn't completely let go of CC, but she didn't hang on so tightly anymore.

When she let go of her legs, CC asked her to get on the motorboat.

However, Zaria was still in shock and didn't know how to manage that simple task that seemed so difficult now. And with the sea that was even more frightening at night, it was very difficult for her.

In spite of this, CC remained calm and said encouragingly, “Don't be afraid. I'll hold the motorboat and you can climb up with my help.”

Crying incessantly, Zaria finally climbed the motorboat. CC got on after her and drove back to the seaside.

At the shore, one of Zaria's friends had fainted out of fear. The other had called the police and ambulance. The shore was already filled with people.

Zaria got off the motorboat and collapsed on the beach, her weak legs unable to carry her.