Inside the room, a commotion reached Marella's ears as she busied herself adorning Eldoris's hair with pearls. Eldoris's cold expression was visibly strained and distressed by what Marella was doing. "What's that noise?" Marella asked, turning toward the door with curiosity.
"I don't know, let's go see," Eldoris said, grabbing Marella's waist and leading her out of the room.
Upon seeing Lotus lying injured on the floor, Marella broke free from Eldoris's grip. "Hey, Lotus, are you unconscious?" Marella asked, lifting the unconscious eel's body.
A female siren with a hostile expression shot a deadly glare at Marella. "Who are you!?" the woman snapped at Marella.
Marella furrowed her brows in confusion. Hearing that hostile tone made her form a theory. "You're the one who knocked Lotus unconscious!" Marella accused.
The mermaid smiled sardonically. "Yes, so what?" the mermaid asked defiantly.
"You've gone too far," Marella growled, her emotions taking over, her blue eyes widening and sweeping across her white irises like crashing waves
From behind, Pippy swam hurriedly toward Marella, then lifted her body along with Lotus's up. "What's wrong with that eel?" Pippy asked. Marella snapped back to her senses, her eyes returning to normal. She glared at the siren with a hostile aura.
"She's the cause," Marella pointed at the siren in front of her.
The siren seemed to answer only with a sharp glare before turning to look at Eldoris with a pleading expression. "Who is she? You don't intend to make her the Queen of the Sirens, do you?" the siren demanded.
Eldoris said nothing in response to the urgent question. "Follow me," Eldoris said, grabbing the siren's arm and swimming away, leaving Marella and Pippy behind.
Marella stared at Eldoris's sturdy back until it disappeared from view, her expression filled with confusion. "Miss Marella, we should take her to the healer," Pippy suggested, snapping Marella back to her senses.
Marella nodded. "You're right, Pippy."
Pippy swam away, carrying Marella on her back with Lotus in Marella's lap.
Upon arriving at Malvis's residence, Pippy pushed past the siren guards guarding the entrance to Malvis's residence. When she reached the spot where she had last been here with Eldoris, she could not find Malvis there. "Malvis!" Marella shouted, looking around frantically for her
Malvis, who had just come in from outside, was surprised to see Marella in his residence. "What's the matter, miss?" Malvis asked, causing Marella to suddenly turn around.
"Please heal Lotus," Marella pleaded, extending her hand holding Lotus's body.
Pippy set Marella down on a large stone, and Marella placed Lotus on the stone while she sat on the edge of it. Malvis approached to check on Lotus. He emitted a green light from his hand and directed it at Lotus. Before long, Lotus opened her eyes, just as Malvis finished his treatment. "Are you still feeling sick? Or not well?" Marella asked anxiously.
Lotus shook her head slowly, looking as though she was feeling much better now. "Thank you, Master Malvis."
A few moments later, Marella was still there, chatting with the two of them. "Who do you think that was just now?" asked Marella, who was enjoying the seaweed, a treat from Malvis. She knew Marella liked seaweed from Eldoris.
Pippy shook her head, unsure. Lotus looked excited to hear Marella's question. "She's the woman who likes Prince Eldoris," Lotus replied, causing Marella to fall silent for a moment.
"Are they close?" Marella asked, full of curiosity.
"I'm not sure, but her name is Myrise. She's the daughter of General Sillith, and she's using her father's position to get close to the Prince," Lotus explained.
Marella nodded in understanding, but a pang of unease washed over her. "Are they being arranged to marry?" Marella asked. Lotus shook her head in response, and for some reason, Marella felt a sense of relief. Marella frowned in puzzlement. Why was she so curious about Eldoris? Let him do whatever he wanted, it wasn't Marella's business. She scowled, suddenly losing all her good mood.
"Are you jealous?" Malvis asked, suddenly appearing with something hidden behind her hand. She sat down on the rock where Marella was sitting.
Marella glared in disbelief, shaking her head quickly. "What? Jealous? No way. I love someone else," Marella retorted sharply, chewing on the seaweed roughly.
Malvis frowned in confusion, looking bewildered. "Someone? You like a human?" Malvis asked.
Marella slapped her forehead, realizing her mistake in a moment of stupidity. She chuckled softly. "I mean another creature," Marella corrected.
"Another creature? You mean him?" Malvis asked, pointing at Lotus, startling the fish so much that the food he was chewing fell from his mouth onto the floor.
Marella shook her head quickly. "You're out of your mind. He's a fish."
Feeling insulted, Lotus snapped back, "You're a stupid fish too!"
Marella pouted in annoyance. "Eat him, Pippy," she demanded, pointing sharply at Lotus.
Pippy shook his head, shooting Lotus a disapproving glance. "He's not my type," Pippy snapped, instantly making Malvis and Marella burst into laughter.
"You've been rejected by two women, Lotus," Marella teased, giggling.
Lotus simply turned away, feeling annoyed and sneering at both of them. "Pippy, take me home," Marella pleaded, and Pippy nodded in agreement.
Marella climbed onto Pippy's back. "See you later, handsome healer," Marella called out, waving her hand at Malvis while winking flirtatiously as she rode away on Pippy's back.
Malvis chuckled playfully. "See you later, Sweet Siren."
Marella held tightly onto Pippy's back. "Lotus, do you know a beautiful spot around here?" Marella asked, and Lotus nodded in response. "Take me there," Marella pleaded.
Lotus swam ahead to show Marella and Pippy the way, until they arrived at an underwater river, with a log lying on its bank. Marella was transfixed by the underwater wonder. She had thought underwater rivers were just tall tales from the news, but it turned out a place like this really existed. Marella sat on the riverbank with her tail submerged in the water, which felt quite different. The river water felt refreshing. Marella raised her hand, but her ring finger was scratched by a twig. "Ouch," Marella groaned, feeling a slight cut on her hand.
"Miss, are you okay?" asked Pippy as she and Lotus approached with concern.
Marella shook her head gently. "I'm fine, just a small cut."
A shiny object caught Lotus and Pippy's attention. "What's that?" asked Pippy.
Marella looked at her middle finger. There was a beautiful diamond ring set there. "It's a ring," Marella revealed.
"Why are you wearing this, miss?" Pippy asked, getting curious
"It means you're in a committed relationship with someone, you could say engaged, and you're planning to get married in the future," Marella explained, making Pippy nod in understanding
"So you're in a relationship? With whom?" Pippy asked, firing questions one after another
"Do you two love each other?" Lotus asked this time.
Marella smiled faintly, thinking about everything she'd done for Noel. "Yes, I love him, but he doesn't," Marella said softly.
Suddenly, the echo of a song caught Marella's attention. It was a beautiful song, yet it sent a chill down Marella's spine. "What's that sound?" Marella asked.
Lotus listened to the singing as well. "That's the Sirens' seductive song," said Lotus
Curious, Marella asked Pippy to take her to the surface. She saw several beautiful female Sirens sitting on rocks jutting out of the sea, humming sweetly. They weren't wearing skirts like the one Marella wore, since that was merely a fashion choice, not a requirement. They sang so beautifully that Marella wanted to appreciate them if she ever met them again in Darchole. A medium-sized fishing boat sailed closer upon hearing the song, as if hypnotized by their melodious singing. Several other Sirens emerged, swimming toward the boat while humming sweetly, causing everyone on board to fall silent, frozen in place. The Sirens extended their hands as if inviting the men to approach them, while some, half-conscious, stared greedily at the sirens' beautiful bodies and rushed to the ship's edge to approach the sirens, whom they mistook for beautiful women since only half their bodies were visible. At that very moment, the sirens pulled them all into the water with a strength far greater than the men's, leaving them floundering as they came to their senses
The Sirens attacked the men with predatory stares, biting them as if they were wild beasts devouring their prey. Marella and Pippy widened their eyes in shock at the terrifying slaughter. Marella closed her eyes, too afraid to watch. Meanwhile, Lotus glared angrily at the Sirens. "Those seductive Sirens still haven't learned their lesson, even though the laws of Darchole clearly forbid Sirens from preying on humans anymore," Lotus declared.
"Why do they act like they're possessed?" asked Marella, turning her body away, too afraid to look ahead, her heart too weak to witness such things.
"Sirens have always liked to prey on all creatures. Fortunately, they've changed now, though there are still a few sirens who retain that predatory instinct toward creatures like humans," Lotus explained. "I must report this to the royal authorities," he replied.
Marella nodded, her spirit still high, keeping her eyes firmly closed. "Yes, you're right. Let's go back. I don't want to see blood or torn flesh."
The three of them swam back into the water toward the siren's castle.
In a castle corridor, "I don't like this, Myrise," said Eldoris with a cold, icy expression, her face devoid of emotion.
Myrise chuckled sarcastically. "That's because you're interested in that mysterious Siren, isn't it?!" Myrise accused, snapping. "Besides, is she really a siren? She looks more colorful," Myrise asked doubtfully.
"Are you doubting me?" Eldoris asked, narrowing her eyes menacingly.
Myrise seemed flustered by that sharp gaze. "I—it's not like that, it's just… she looks so beautiful," Myrise said, lowering her voice at the end of the sentence
Eldoris gave a faint smile. "You know the reason, don't you? She's incredibly beautiful, so stop bothering me," Eldoris warned, swimming swiftly away and leaving Myrise alone.
Myrise clenched her fists in fury. "I must become queen. I won't lose to any siren," she growled, her voice filled with rage and fury.
"Just you wait. I'm sure that girl is fragile and weak, so it will be easy for me to manipulate her and bring her down," Myrise muttered to herself with a smirk on her face. Myrise swam off in the opposite direction from the one Eldoris had taken earlier
...Eyes Of The Sea...
...Happy Reading...