Chapter 137

“What do you think you’re doing?”

The voice, as clear as if it were driven into his ears despite the strong sea wind, made Esadien slowly turn around.

‘Of course she followed me.’

A woman with distinct red hair stood a short distance away.

‘Her voice shouldn’t carry well over that distance.’

He found the woman, who used magic as effortlessly as breathing in a way different from the ‘Minuelle’ he knew, a little intriguing.

Unlike when they had met before, Esadien nodded with a casual demeanor.

“…Lapheche Céleste.”

Lapheche couldn’t have failed to notice that this Minuelle was up to something. Even if by some chance she had, he didn’t think a sorceress would be unable to deal with poison.

‘But she’d pretend not to notice and let things escalate until she was in danger herself.’

If Minuelle’s plan was to get rid of Lapheche by killing her, Lapheche’s plan was to kill Minuelle socially. Esadien had ruined the way for her to remove the thorn in her side without lifting a finger, so, as expected, her resentment erupted.

“Why did you interfere with the Lady? You said you would be my friend. You said you’d help me!”

Lapheche’s face was a mess of frustration.

“It was a chance to get rid of her cleanly!”

Theodore was deeply infatuated with Lapheche. However, what a family needed and what the head of the family wanted were not always the same.

‘A divorce… are you serious?’

‘The only business partner for Tregosnan is the Karnian family. They’ve been taking losses without a word of complaint. If you separate…’

Theodore’s vassals all showed their disapproval. They all knew how much they benefited from the Karnian family. Their financial power, of course, but their military strength was also growing exponentially through their exchange with the knights. Even Theodore, who had brought up the divorce, knew this.

With their thoughts so turbulently intertwined…

‘I need some time to think. Perhaps the Count truly needs a different spouse, not me.’

Minuelle had slipped away, saying she needed to organize her thoughts. The person who always flew into a rage and overturned the chessboard, the person who made Lapheche look pitiful, was gone. This left the positions of the usually pitied Theodore and Lapheche ambiguous.

Esadien answered Lapheche’s protest indifferently.

“I didn’t want to leave things as they were.”

It was his honest feeling, but to Lapheche it sounded like he was mocking her, and her eyes turned hostile.

“And why are you here? Does Theo know?”

“Do I look that foolish to you? I came for something else today.”

Something else?

He had expected she came to retaliate for him moving Minuelle, whether it was a warning or an attempt at persuasion. Esadien observed Lapheche with a calm gaze and soon found the answer.

“…It’s Austin.”

She had followed Esadien, who had left without telling anyone. That would have been impossible without a spy. Moreover, in this place, Lapheche was a great sorcerer’s apprentice. It was impossible that her talent hadn’t caught Austin’s eye. Didn’t he lure her into the Chitrum in Esadien’s ‘original’ world?

Lapheche smiled coldly.

“You’re brilliant. I’ve hidden it well all this time.”

“Does Theo know about your relationship with the Second Prince?”

“Of course not. He’s a patriot. Don’t worry, my deal with the Second Prince is the last one.”

Since she had secured the position of the great sorcerer’s apprentice, she no longer needed the power of the Chitrum or Austin.

“And that last deal is…”

“That’s right. It’s to get rid of the Third Prince.”

Esadien’s gaze flickered downwards.

‘Originally, I was going to walk in.’

Even if he couldn’t part the sea like Minuelle and be welcomed by the sea tribe, he expected that his biological father in this world would show himself if he entered the sea.

So, didn’t he just have to get in somehow?

Having made up his mind, he calmly provoked her.

“Let’s finish this quickly.”

“If you wish.”

Lapheche, who disliked the humid wind, immediately agreed. A magic, which could not be called perfunctory, gathered at the tip of her casually outstretched finger, and in the blink of an eye, it took shape and shot towards Esadien.

Pew!

Esadien dodged the attack and leaped down. He saw a spatter of bloody water rise to the surface with the impact that struck his back and his entire body.

‘…What happened to the mermaid who turned into water bubbles?’

Did she just disappear? Or did she return to another world, his true world that he didn’t know, and become happy?

‘I hope she became happy.’

Esadien wished for it, as he also wished the same for himself. His body, not even swimming, sank slowly as if weighted with a stone. Watching the color of the water darken, Esadien slowly closed his eyes. His consciousness was fading.

‘…Minuelle.’

His body would be washed ashore a short while later to a distant beach, where he would be rescued by Minuelle, who was on a trip. The fact that an amnesiac prince and a wounded youngest daughter of a duke’s family would cautiously begin their connection from this incident was something Esadien, who had left this place, could not have known.

***

Esadien’s eyelids fluttered and then slowly opened. A bluish mass came into his blurry sight. It was the King of the Sea Tribe.

“You’ve returned.”

The King felt both joy and despair at the same time. He was proud and happy that his son had kept his heart and returned. But the self-loathing that he had failed to return to reality after going through the same ordeal tormented him.

‘Maya. My son is… very different from me.’

He hadn’t abandoned his lover to become king. He had rebelled against his father just like Esadien, but had nearly been extinguished, failing to return to reality. It was his father who saved him. In exchange for his life, he had to sit on the throne. He had lived a life no different from being sealed away, unable to go to the land for 20 years.

‘If I had succeeded back then…’

Maya would still be alive, and Esadien wouldn’t be looking at him with such hatred.

“You… and you call yourself my father?”

As soon as Esadien came to his senses, he clutched his chest and burst out in anger. The feel of the hard locket under his clothes gave him a sense of security. It had been a gamble, but he had truly returned to ‘reality’.

The king admitted defeat.

“I’m sorry.”

“You didn’t even ask for my consent, you just forcibly threw me into a cesspool. I never wanted your throne!”

“I’m sorr…”

“Save your useless apologies!”

Esadien’s voice, which was growing louder, stopped abruptly because of a light touch on his shoulder.

“Esadien. What’s wrong?”

The hand that was holding the locket dropped. The voice, similar yet different from the Minuelle of his dream or another world, felt even more real than the locket against his skin.

Esadien slowly turned to face Minuelle. She was holding his shoulder, glaring at the King.

“He’s not a person who would get angry without reason. Your Majesty, if you don’t tell me what happened, things will get very difficult for both of us.”

“That is… well…”

While the king stammered with a somewhat weary look, Esadien clutched Minuelle like a lifeline and tattled on him.

“He said he would kill me if I didn’t accept the throne.”

“What did he say?”

“He told me to marry a person from here, not you.”

“…”

“When I refused, he knocked me out. I just woke up.”

After hearing the whole story, Minuelle’s hands trembled as she patted Esadien’s broad back. At the same time, the look she gave the King over his shoulder was so intense that it felt as if the seawater might boil.

“How could you do this!”

She had believed him when he said he was asking because he wanted to meet his son so badly!

“The Spirit of Water directly blessed him as a friend and bound the bracelet to him. What do you think she’ll say when she finds out that your kin tried to steal my partner!”

The king looked around. The courtiers, who had been stealthily disappearing one by one since Minuelle had entered the court, were now nowhere to be seen. It was lonely… The position of a king was this lonely.

“Having a reason doesn’t justify everything you do!”

“I couldn’t…”

“That’s an excuse, because there was another choice! Your Majesty betrayed both me and Esadien!”

Minuelle was so angry that her hair seemed to be swaying.

“How could he do that to the person I just got back!”

Her anger was clearly mixed with self-reproach. It was because Esadien had suffered an unnecessary pain because of her. The bracelet, studded with the essence of water, resonated with her emotions, creating a ripple. It felt as if the seabed itself was rumbling.

Watching this, Esadien felt a feeling that was difficult to describe. The closest description would be that he had found someone on his side. Someone who would trust him and walk with him his whole life, his own ally.

“…Minuelle.”

The voice, forced out of his choked throat, was tiny. Still, Minuelle immediately turned to him.

“Esadien, are you okay? I’m truly… truly sorry. I was so easily swayed by his words, looking for an easy and fast way…”

Minuelle’s face was truly expressive. While she said those words, worry, anger, and self-reproach flashed across her face.

Esadien watched it all with a feeling of awe. With trembling fingertips, he caressed her lips, which looked like they were holding a flower petal, the corners of her eyes, and her eyebrows, which were slightly drooped with apology.

“You’re the same… but so different.”

“Pardon?”

“Minuelle. You are a one-of-a-kind person.”

Esadien was certain. Even if Minuelle were mixed with a hundred identical-looking people, he would be able to recognize her. No one could mimic this loveliness.

However, Minuelle, who didn’t know exactly what Esadien had gone through in the trial, was just puzzled.

‘Was the shock…too big?’

The king didn’t miss the moment Minuelle fell silent and apologized further.

“I am sorry. My son may well forgo children.”

“What in the world are you talking about…! Don’t you know the difference between what’s appropriate to say and what’s not!”

Esadien’s face turned beet red as he raged as if his previous emotional moment was a lie. To not only deceive Minuelle but also treat him like an animal was too much.

Minuelle, on the other hand, asked with wide, clear eyes.

“Why? If Esadien refuses, does the duty get passed down to the next generation?”

“Well…”

The king’s voice trailed off as he leaned on a pillar.

Woooong.

With a resonating hum, a gentle light emanated. Only then did Esadien realize that the walls and pillars of this court were all made of the essence of water.

“We cannot presume to know the full intention of the Spirit. But if no other member of the tribe is allowed the throne, wouldn’t it be natural to summon the child you two bear?”

“Natural?”

Esadien’s patience finally ran out.

“Minuelle, let’s go. I don’t want to keep you here for another minute.”

Minuelle decided to leave with the fuming Esadien for now and followed him silently. The king stood there watching them until their figures completely disappeared.

‘He was so angry, I suppose I won’t see him again.’

As Esadien had severed ties, may the tribe’s duty to protect the Spirit also release him. May he live forever as a being of the land.

This was the wish of a foolish father who, until the end, had to treat his son as a member of the sea tribe rather than as a son.