When Aurora woke up, the hum of helicopter des filled her ears. For a moment, she felt as though she were still dreaming.


    "Julian..." she murmured hoarsely, her voice raspy after calling his name all night. She opened her drowsy eyes and saw him gazing at her.


    "Awake?" Julian asked gently, his soft eyes fixed on her. Aurora blinked and realized she was nestled in his arms.


    She wasn''t at home. This didn''t feel like being in a car, either. ncing around, she noticed they were inside a helicopter.


    "Where are we going?" she asked, her voice still groggy.


    "You finally managed to take some time off. I''m taking you on a vacation," Julian replied, yfully brushing her nose with his finger.


    Though they had been inseparable for a long time, it was usually Julian who initiated intimacy. Aurora had taken the leadst night for the first time, and it left him feeling utterly fulfilled. Hearing her call him "Master" repeatedly had stroked his masculine ego to the point where he wanted nothing more than to merge herpletely into himself.


    "Vacation?" Aurora asked, recalling how he had mentioned wanting to take her abroad for a break. "Are we leaving the country?"


    "No need," Julian said with a teasing smile. "Leaving the country would''ve been too rushed. This is a spur-of-the-moment idea. I''m taking you to a... secret base of mine." A secret base? Aurora was intrigued. What kind of ce could he possibly mean? "Where is it?" she pressed.


    "You''ll see soon enough."


    Aurora sat up in anticipation. Only then did she notice that Julian had dressed her in a white sundress. He was so meticulous, taking care of her like a doting caregiver. Curious, she peered outside, but Julian instinctively pulled her back into his embrace. At first, Aurora didn''t think much of it. They were flying over the vast blue ocean, its shimmering surface like a giant mirror, soothing to the eye. asionally, small inds dotted the horizon. Her gazended on one particr ind, and something about it struck her as unusual-it looked heart-shaped.


    Maybe it''s just the angle, she thought, dismissing it momentarily. But as the helicopter approached, the ind came into full view. It was a perfect heart shape.


    Aurora froze. She covered her mouth in disbelief as the helicopter began descending toward the ind. This had to be Julian''s surprise.


    "How... how did you find this ce?" she stammered, her voice tinged with amazement. After all, a heart-shaped ind seemed like a miraculous creation of nature.


    Julian wrapped his arms around her from behind, resting his chin on her shoulder. "It''s a long story," he began. "Years ago, when I was on a business trip, I stumbled upon this ind by chance. It wasn''t as perfectly heart-shaped as it is now, but you could vaguely see the outline.


    "When I saw it, I immediately thought of something you once said. So, I bought the ind and had it sculpted into its current shape throughnd remation. I originally nned to gift it to you for your eighteenth birthday. But then I heard Hayden was nning to propose to you, so I abandoned the idea."


    He paused, his voice tinged with a hint of pain. "At the time, I was so conflicted. I even considered destroying this ind, as if erasing it could somehow erase you from my world. But of course, that was just the desperation of a broken heart. Deep down, I knew that no matter how much I tried to sever ties, I could never truly erase you from my memory. Because, Aurora, I''ve loved you since you were just a little girl."


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    Julian''s confession left Aurora both touched and amused. "You''re such a creep. I was just a kid back then-I didn''t even know anything."


    Though she joked, she fully understood how much Julian had suffered back then, torn between his feelings for her and the impossibility of acting on them.


    Julian gently stroked her hair, lost in thought. He remembered the time she had fallen into the sea and clung to him like a frightened little bunny. It was in that moment that he had vowed never to let her go, no matter the cost.


    Back then, he had merely been a teenage boy, stranded in the middle of a raging storm at sea. The crashing waves and howling winds were terrifying, and he knew the dangers lurking beneath the surface better than anyone.


    Was he afraid? Of course. But the sight of the tiny girl who had fallen into his arms gave him a purpose. He had to get her back to the ship safely. That belief had kept him going.


    "Yeah, you didn''t know anything," he said, his tone carrying a hint of teasing. "But you were the one who said you wanted to marry me. I kept that promise and waited for you to grow up. I even nned the perfect proposal. And then-you turned around and got together with my nephew."


    The exaggerated hurt in his voice made Auroraugh.


    "Alright, alright. That''s all in the past. Don''t we have our happy ending now? Is it toote for me to ept this ind?" she asked, yfully patting his back.


    "It''s always been yours," Julian said softly, dropping a kiss on her cheek.


    The two of them fell into a shared silence, their thoughts drifting back to their time at sea. asionally, the ship would dock at small inds to replenish supplies like fresh water and food. Little Aurora and Julian would lean on the ship''s railing, resting their chins on their hands, watching seagulls glide through the sky and crew members haul crates of fruit and provisions aboard.


    "What do you think is on that ind?" Little Aurora once asked, pointing at a nearbyndmass.


    "People, flowers, grass," Julian replied vaguely.


    "I wish I could go and see," she pouted. "But Daddy says I can''t."


    "Your father has his reasons. Not every ind is safe to explore. Some belong to other countries, and without permission, we''d be stopped," Julian exined patiently, his voice steady, though he was only a teenager himself.


    "Oh," she said, her disappointment evident.


    "Are you upset?" he asked, noticing the faint sadness in her eyes.


    "In my picture books, inds have beautiful flowers, green trees, and little fairies. Maybe the fairies don''t want humans bothering them, so they won''t let us visit," she said, her voice filled with innocent wonder.


    Julian smiled at her childlike imagination. How could he exin the harsh realities of the world to someone so pure?


    "One day, I''ll take you to an ind," he promised. "And it''ll be all yours. You can go wherever you want."


    "Really? Do you have magic or something? When I get my ind, I want to build a house in the trees-a ss house. There will be lots of bunnies and other animals, flowers, and grass. I''ll y in the sand and build castles by the sea. Daddy never has time to build sandcastles with me..." Her voice trailed off, her excitement coloring her words.


    Julian tapped her nose yfully. "Then I''ll build sandcastles with you. How''s that?" "Yay!" The little girl''s eyes sparkled with joy.