Chapter 80: Merfolk Fairy Tales (IV)

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Chapter 80: Merfolk Fairy Tales (IV)

To a mermaid, three years was hardly any time at all. Back in the Dragon Palace, she could easily sleep for five or six years out of sheer boredom. Yet the three years she had spent here had felt incredibly long. Lian gently caressed the red garment woven from silk threads in her hands. It was the first piece of clothing she had ever made, so the workmanship was inevitably rather crude. Even so, it had taken her more than a year to finish it, partly because she had deliberately avoided letting him discover what she was making.

She rose from the large red bed. The fear and disgust she had felt when she first arrived had long since disappeared. She had grown completely accustomed to life without a fish tail and had even come to like these legs, identical to the wizard’s. The way she walked was almost exactly the same as Miao Lichen’s, for he had been the only person she could learn from.

Walking over to the window, Lian hugged the garment a little tighter. She had not thought much of it while making it, but now the difference between what she held and the clothes he usually wore seemed enormous. Setting aside her rough craftsmanship, even the material was nowhere near as fine. Still, those threads were all she had been able to find in the wizard’s house. Weaving them into cloth and making a garment at all was already no small feat for a princess who had always lived a life of luxury.

After staring at the garment for a long while, she carefully put it away. Leaning against the window, she looked toward the path hidden among the flowers in front of the house. Although Miao Lichen kept her confined here, he himself often went out. Every few days, he would leave to gather materials for his experiments. Yet she had never actually seen him perform any experiments, nor had she ever found a place in the house that looked like a laboratory.

The little house was now filled almost entirely with her belongings, while traces of his presence had gradually faded away. The only thing that still made it clear the house did not belong to her was the red color that filled every corner. Everyone knew that Princess Lian of the Eastern Sea loved the color of the ocean.

But that was only in the past. As a figure dressed in red appeared at the end of the flower garden, delight filled Lian’s eyes. Her wizard had returned. She did not know when it had started, but she had grown used to thinking of him as her wizard, rather than Chen or Wizard Chen, names anyone else could use. Whenever he heard those names, she would always notice the slight furrow of his brow or the faint arch of his eyebrow. He never seemed to like them.

She had once asked him why, and the answer had made her heart ache. “Wizards belong to the darkness. Why should they long for the light? My name is Chen ( Morning ) , but I have never looked forward to dawn.” Lian pushed open the door, only to discover that Miao Lichen had not returned alone. There was another mermaid in his arms.

Although she could not see the mermaid’s face, the beautiful fish tail was enough to prove that “she” was a pure-blooded mermaid, one whose beauty was no less than her own. Was her wizard giving up on her?

Lian pressed her lips together and looked at Miao Lichen in disbelief, though even stronger than that was the regret she felt toward herself. He had once told her that if she still had not given him an answer after three years, he would return her tail and let her leave.

She had carefully kept track of the days. At first, she counted them because she wanted to know when she could leave. Later, it simply became a habit. Every time he went out, she would circle that day’s date. Over the course of three years, the place where she marked the dates had become more and more crowded. If she remembered correctly, today was the last day of the three-year period.

But she still had not given him her answer, had she? If she gave him her answer now, would her wizard send that mermaid away? Then would he return with her to the Dragon Palace, become her true husband, and finally have the child he had always wanted? Or had he… already lost faith in her?

∇ Capture Target Lian Favorability: 90.

“Wizard, why did you bring another mermaid back today?” Lian hid the disappointment on her face, but her watery eyes still brimmed with unshed tears, blinking pitifully.

Miao Lichen seemed slightly embarrassed. He tightened his hold on the mermaid in his arms but said nothing. Instead, he carried her into the room and laid her on the bed that had belonged to Lian for the past three years. Lian’s fingers unconsciously twisted together. The mermaid before her possessed a beauty even she could not rival. Her long hair was as blue as the sea itself, and with her eyes gently closed, her long eyelashes trembled ever so slightly, making her appearance all the more endearing. Lian could hardly imagine how breathtaking she would be once those eyes opened. Compared to her, the so-called Pearl of the Eastern Sea seemed unworthy of the title.

“Lian, tomorrow you may leave. Return to the Eastern Sea, to the world where you truly belong. The Dragon Palace has been searching for you for a long time.”

Although Lian had already guessed the answer, hearing it spoken aloud still left her stunned. She was inferior to this mermaid, whether in beauty or in the elegance of her fish tail. Was that why the wizard had abandoned her? Since he wanted a child with a mermaid, it was only natural that he would choose the best one. Because she was not the best choice, she had been discarded. After three years, nothing had changed. In his eyes, she was still nothing more than a tool to bear his child. Had his heart truly never wavered?

A deep sense of loss welled up within Lian. She bit down on her lower lip so hard it nearly bled. Then she suddenly felt a cool touch against her lips. Looking up, she met Miao Lichen’s eyes. Tears streamed down her cheeks. Why had he chosen to abandon her just when she had finally decided to stay?

“I…” Lian wanted to say something, but just then, the mermaid lying on the bed stirred slightly, her eyelashes fluttering. Miao Lichen’s attention seemed to be completely drawn to her. He pressed a bottle of red liquid into Lian’s hand before paying her no further attention. He intertwined his fingers with the mermaid’s, and a power Lian had never seen before flowed from his fingertips into the mermaid’s body.

She had never been treated like this. Aside from when he had first abducted her, she had rarely even seen him use a wizard’s power. At the beginning, she had been the one to say she disliked him. But people in love were never rational. By now, her answer no longer held any meaning for him.

Miao Lichen carefully sensed the power within the merman’s body, releasing his hand only after it had reached equilibrium. Looking at Lin’s delicate features, his expression became somewhat strange. It was only natural that Lian had fallen for him. Someone as innocent as she was could easily be swept away by love. But for the Prince of the Western Sea to fall in love with him at first sight after only a few days together, then become deeply devoted after a second meeting, was absolutely impossible. Let alone agree to bear his child.

That’s right. It was the Prince of the Western Sea who had taken the initiative to offer to bear his child. Of course, nothing would actually happen between them. Wizards passed on their bloodline to other wizards in much the same way humans did, but it was entirely different between a wizard and a merfolk. A wizard’s bloodline could be passed on through the use of potions. That had been Wizard Chen’s intention, not Miao Lichen’s. He had never intended to leave behind any attachments. Not before, and certainly not now.

“When will you send me away?” Lian slowly closed her eyes, taking in the sight of the mermaid lying on the bed. How could she fail to notice the concern Miao Lichen showed this mermaid, even if it remained only on the surface? During the three years she had lived here, he had always brought her interesting things whenever he returned from outside, but he had never shown her this kind of outward concern. She fought back the tears threatening to fall, determined to preserve the last of her dignity.

He had been the one who wanted her to bear his child, and now he was the one sending her away. The choice had never been hers. Thinking back to the fairy tales her grandmother used to tell her, every wizard had been evil. Not a single one had ever brought happiness to a princess. Why hadn’t she fallen for a prince with a beautiful fish tail? Why had she instead fallen for a wizard who knew nothing of such things?

“Whenever you wish to leave, I’ll have a sea beast escort you. He can’t leave my side for the time being.” Miao Lichen released Lin’s hand, his gaze briefly sweeping over Lin’s abdomen. A faint smile curved his lips, but there was not the slightest trace of warmth in it.

“I can leave at any time. But before I go, could you promise me one thing?” Lian looked at Miao Lichen. His tall, slender figure would undoubtedly be considered handsome among humans. She had never met any other humans or any other wizards, but even through the eyes of a mermaid, she could not find the slightest flaw in his appearance.

“I am a wizard.” Miao Lichen did not agree immediately. He was a wizard, one who had absolutely nothing to do with kindness. If it was something simple, that was one thing. But if it was difficult or would affect him in any way, why would he agree?

“My request shouldn’t make things difficult for you. I just… I just want you to become a merman for a little while. Even for a single moment, or even if it’s only an illusion. You were able to turn my tail into human legs, so you must be able to turn your own legs into a merman’s tail too, right?” A faint, innocent smile appeared on Lian’s lips. It had once been her dream: to meet a merman prince who was perfect in every way and spend the rest of her life happily with him. She knew that dream could never come true, but she still wanted to indulge herself, if only for a fleeting moment.

“All right.” Miao Lichen nodded. For Lovely, this was indeed a matter of seconds, requiring neither time nor effort. He did not even need to lift a finger.

The legs concealed beneath his robes transformed into a fish tail. Unlike an ordinary merfolk’s, however, his scales were red, gleaming like rubies as they reflected shimmering rays through the sea.

A satisfied smile spread across Lian’s face. Without another glance back, she left, walking toward the place where Miao Lichen kept his sea beasts. In the past, while he was away, she had explored every inch of this place because she had not wanted her future home to feel unfamiliar. Now, every scene here would become nothing more than a memory. She drank the red potion in the bottle, and the tail she had once been so proud of returned to her. Yet she felt not the slightest bit of joy.

She cast one last look at the house. The wizard who had once belonged to her was brushing aside another mermaid’s long hair. The slight furrow in his brow made him seem vividly alive. Although she could not see his expression clearly, after spending so much time with him, she knew he was not truly angry. That mermaid seemed to be in poor health. He was worried about her.

The tenderness she had once believed belonged only to her… A proud smile curved Lian’s lips, carrying the dignity of a mermaid princess. Then she turned and left without looking back. Only she knew that the image lingering before her eyes was that of the wizard with a merman’s tail. If only… the one she had come to like, even love, had truly been a merman. Merfolk were a race of unwavering devotion. Once they chose a mate, they would never leave them.

∇ Capture Target Lian Favorability: 100%.

∇ Main Mission 2: Capture the Female Protagonist, Eastern Sea Mermaid Princess Lian (Complete).

∇ Continue?

“Yes.”

∇ Mission Continued.

∇ Main Mission 1: Capture the Male Lead, Western Sea Merman Prince Lin (Favorability 100).

Lin propped himself up. In truth, he had never been unconscious. His exquisitely beautiful face, delicate enough to blur the line between male and female, was framed by a pair of eyes as deep blue as the sea itself. Yet unlike the ocean’s gentle waters, they were filled with sharpness. His beauty was easily overshadowed by the force of his presence. In the next instant, however, his expression softened once more. His voice was pleasant, yet carried not the slightest trace of femininity.

“Tie your hair up. You wouldn’t want me to mistake you for a woman, would you?” Miao Lichen lifted a few strands of Lin’s sea-blue hair, his brows knitting slightly. Clearly, he felt no particular attachment to such beautiful long hair.

“I thought you preferred me like this. Your gaze toward that mermaid princess was rather gentle.” Lin tied up his sea-blue hair and calmly changed into men’s clothing. His eyes drifted toward the red fish tail that had suddenly appeared on Miao Lichen.

‘So this is the power of a wizard…’ A power even more mysterious than a mermaid’s song. His hand clenched slightly. ‘If I possessed such power, would everything I desired become mine?’ He lowered his gaze, hiding the scarlet hue that had crept into his eyes.

∇ Capture Target Lin Favorability: 30.

No one knew that when Prince Lin of the Western Sea was born, his eyes had been scarlet red. The murderous aura surrounding him had nearly engulfed the entire Dragon Palace of the Western Sea. Even so, he was the Western Sea Dragon King’s only son. At least for now. Whether it had been offering himself in exchange for Lian’s rescue or choosing to remain by the wizard’s side, his goal had always been the same: power. He sought the strength to seize everything into his own hands, rather than remain someone incapable of controlling his own fate.

Miao Lichen glanced at him before turning and leaving the room. The moment he stepped outside, the red fish tail vanished without a trace. Gentle? Heh… it was nothing more than a habit. The flowers blooming throughout the courtyard withered as though cursed, only to bloom again with petals as red as blood. They were the legendary flowers that bloomed along the banks of the Bridge of Oblivion in the underworld: Red Spider Lilies, also known as Manjusaka .

What the princess had seen was nothing more than a beautiful dream, a dream that had bloomed for her alone.

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