CHAPTER 852: CHAPTER 12: DILEMMA RESOLVED

"Fisher, you didn’t go shopping... so, you just wanted to find her, didn’t you?"

Hearing Renie’s "sincere" question, Fisher quickly compared the current situation with everything that had happened since Renie and he landed on the island. He glanced once more at the message Alagina held and promptly understood the situation here.

The difficulty certainly lay with Renie and Alagina, but the main conflict was with Renie. They needed to be separated first to have any chance of resolving it. However, he had to first defuse Renie’s aggressive assault. Alagina had no initiative in this chaotic scene, essentially being slaughtered, so her priority was lower.

Fisher quickly made a decision. Without changing his expression, he walked to Alagina’s side and stopped a short distance in front of her. He nodded to Renie and said,

"Um, don’t worry, let me introduce you. This is not an ordinary pirate; she is Captain Alagina, a very kind woman from Sardinia. She has helped me a lot before; Alagina, this is Renie, a friend of mine."

Alagina nodded blankly, unsure if she should mention that they had just communicated, but her usual lack of words left her unable to react after getting intimidated by Renie earlier. Now, standing in front of Fisher, she didn’t want to act that way.

Standing next to Fisher, Alagina had mixed feelings, a mix of the comfort and joy of reuniting after a long separation, and unease. She didn’t want Fisher to know about the unworthy thoughts she had when accepting him in the Southern Ocean.

Renie, however, focused her gaze on the position where Fisher chose to stand closer to Alagina, pausing her attack for the moment.

Alagina might be a fool, but Renie was not. While Fisher’s words were ostensibly comforting Renie, he was actually reassuring Alagina; furthermore, his stance and introduction indicated he wasn’t avoiding the situation, clearly safeguarding the bullied Alagina, meaning he was leaning towards Alagina now...

"Oh, sorry, sorry, I misunderstood. I thought this lady was a pirate villain on the island. Didn’t expect her to be your friend, as she boarded our ship and stopped us for inspection during our first meeting... I got scared back then... but since she’s Fisher’s friend, there’s no need to meet secretly, or is there something wrong with meeting together?"

Though Fisher was subtly protecting Alagina, there wasn’t much aggression in his words. Renie probed again, holding onto her suspicion that Fisher intended to see Alagina behind her back, expressing her doubts.

"Well, there is indeed something not quite right..."

Unexpectedly, Fisher didn’t shy away, his words directly countering, like expressing openly to Renie that her presence here would spoil his and Alagina’s matters, almost like she was redundant.

Renie’s violet eyes blinked without much change in her expression, but her pale fingers clenched the cover of Emhardt’s book, looking pitifully at Fisher, nearly crying out for help.

Clearly, Renie too was taken aback by Fisher’s remark, finding herself at a loss.

Though she said nothing and hardly moved, the surrounding atmosphere dropped a few degrees, making Alagina feel colder than directly touching the Ice Prince himself, Fisher standing motionless, staring straight at Renie.

In the dead silence, she murmured,

"Ah, I see..."

Just as Renie was about to continue her speech, Fisher shook his head and said to her,

"I was worried you might expose my current situation of being pursued by death. Earlier at Old Jack’s, he kept pressing us about our situation in the Northern Realm and our future direction. I had trouble avoiding answering him and feared he’d ask you, so I rushed to drag you away quickly... otherwise, I don’t want to leave so soon."

"Going to see Captain Alagina without telling you was also pretty much for that reason. It’s easier to explain my whereabouts if I’m alone. I might have picked this up from you, after being apart and searching for you for so long, now I too struggle with goodbyes... sorry for the misunderstanding, Renie."

"When I left Nali with Old Jack and the others, I had no one to rely on, nearly being locked in the Golden Palace by Elizabeth my whole life. Thanks to Alagina’s help, I managed to escape the encirclement of the Nali Royal Navy. She treated me well on the ship and arranged a place for Old Jack and the others. So, no matter what, I am very grateful to her... she has helped me a lot before, and coming back this time without bringing anything in return, asking more of her would make me uneasy."

After this speech, Renie’s grip on Emhardt’s book softened slightly, and the cold atmosphere gradually lifted to return to normalcy. She refocused her gaze on Fisher, sitting on a stony ledge, her long, sock-clad legs shifting position silently.