"And where are your parents?" Asked Arthur as he motioned for Shen Shen to sit beside him.

"They died."

"Oh…"

Arthur looked at her sad expression and sighed. He stretched his hand and rubbed the top of her head to comfort her.

"If you want, you can come with me."

He stopped for a second before continuing, "My homeworld isn't big but I'm sure you'll fit in. Also, you and my daughter are quite alike."

As he said that, Shen Shen's body twitched as he raised her head and looked at him

"You daughter?"

"Yes, I have a daughter who's a bit older like you but she's talented, like you."

Timos never spoke of Saly so it's the first time Shen Shen is hearing of this. She became more depressed as she felt left out, like she didn't belong with her parents.

'Did they purposely leave me behind?'

Slowly, tears started flowing down the girl's cheeks, startling Arthur, who involuntarily retracted his hand, thinking that it's his fault.

"W-what's wrong?"

Shen Shen tried her best to control her tears as she rubbed her ears and shook her head, indicating that she was fine.

Unfortunately, her eyes became wetter and she ended up sobbing even more.

Zaarae looked at Shen Shen then slightly moved her index, causing a gentle force to push the little blue-haired girl into Arthur's arms.

The parasite didn't push Shen Shen and, instead, softly patted her back, trying to calm her.

"There there, everything going to be alright. Don't cry."

Arthur wryly smiled and spoke with a tender voice, "You're a big and smart girl, don't cry."

Zaarae palmed her forehead as she heard his ridiculous words, which only made Shen Shen cry even more.

Fortunately, she stopped after ten or so minutes, but she remained in Arthur's embrace. His chest became wet because of her tears but he paid it no heed and continued patting her back, feeling inexplicably sad and sorry for her. She did come out as a rude girl when he met her but that was probably because of the tragic events that may have happened to her. She was trying to seem outwardly strong to not get used or deceived, or so thought Arthur.

"I, I'm fine n-now."

Shen Shen's face a shade of red as she tried escaping Arthur but he pulled her right back and put her on his lap while saying,

"Don't cry anymore, okay? As long as I'm here then no one will bully you. Here, show me a smile."

He smiled at the girl and pointed at his lips, wanting her to imitate him. His comical actions, which are the opposite of his usual coldness when interacting with others, caused Shen Shen to giggle and feel more relaxed.

…

"Ah! I wish master would treat me like that too."

Fariya complained as she looked at the warm atmosphere between Arthur and Shen Shen. It's the first time she saw the parasite behave so kindly, after all, he's usually grumpy and rarely talks. Zaarae glanced at the succubus and muttered,

"Blood is thicker than water."

"What?"

"Nothing. It doesn't concern us."

The Empress turned around and looked at the wall of darkness far away from the drifting dark cloud. This wall was the boundary between the Demon Realm and this desolate space which houses countless stars and barren planets.

***

Two more days passed, the relationship between Arthur and Shen Shen deepened and the latter opened up to her father. She showed him a few interesting tricks she learned from Timos, like the unique water magic which is capable of miraculous feats. It's even more effective than Midolf's Life energy, which is supposedly the best for healing injuries, both physical and mental ones.

"Arthur… Arthur! Did you finish it?"

Shen Shen excitedly jumped up and down, trying to see if the parasite finished the item. He promised her that he'll craft a beautiful necklace for her and he's been busy for ten straight hours, making the girl impatient.

She wanted to see the shape of the pendant but his broad back blocked and although she could circle around take a peek, Shen Shen refrained from doing so, considering it as 'cheating'.

"Hold on, I'm almost done."

Arthur chuckled and did the last touch before appraising the necklace. He felt very satisfied with the result, furthermore, the item looked exquisite and very beautiful, a perfect thing which matches the girl's blue hair.

The necklace was embedded with a wisp of his Ethereal State, which makes the wearer feel calm and resistant to mental attacks.

Additionally, a personalized defensive water-formation was hidden inside, only to be activated if the wearer is in danger. However, this was not all as the pendant, if injected with a bit of Water Energy, is able to teleport the user to a random location thousands of miles away. It also facilitates the flow of Water Magic and helps the wearer accumulate energy at a faster rate.

The necklace was graded as a 1st-grade Godly-ranked Artifact and named 'Friendship' by the crafter, Arthur.

Shen Shen's mouth opened wide as Arthur presented her the breath-taking necklace, which was made from an ocean-blue crystalline material and shiny silver metal. It was a circular necklace with ten of those blue crystals engraved inside, while silver covered the rest.

"Do you like this?"

"Like it! I like it!"

The girl jumped in joy as she immediately put the necklace on only to feel a cool and refreshing energy enter her body, resulting in the relaxation of her muscles and the regulation of her energy and blood circulation.

"Good good!" He caressed her head and said, "Don't ever take it off, okay?"

"Yes! I won't! I promise!"

A wide happy smile could be seen on the young girl's face as she clutched the necklace and danced around. Zaarae walked up to the girl and crouched down, also handing her a gift.

"Here, little Shen, a gift from me too."

Zaarae softly smiled as she gifted a wrist bracelet to the youngling. The bracelet was also blue in color but had three black lines, each with an incomprehensible letter from a foreign language.

Shen Shen accepted the gift and hugged Zaarae before putting on the bracelet too and gazing at it.

The gift of the Empress and the parasite urged some of the rest to give a precious and protective thing to Shen Shen. Fariya blew a kiss on Shen Shen's hand, causing a minuscule, almost unnoticeable purple heart-shaped tattoo to appear. It's literally a protective charm which will entrance any victim as long as they aren't too strong.

Midolf and Radolf jointly gifted a thin saber just like the one Lucy's uses. It was half black and half white and complimented Shen Shen's water magic, boosting its efficiency.

Any one of these gifts will sell for an absurd amount of spirit stones yet they were given to a young girl, who doesn't know their true worth yet, nevertheless, none of them regretted it as they received a warm hug from the excited Shen Shen.