The merman who loved you from afar has come to find you, now mute.
I never thought you would actually go to that human man.
The last time I saw you, you had two human legs, and though you couldn't walk properly on land, you were swept up into his arms and disappeared from my sight.
I thought you would come back soon. For the person you love to love you back—that's a miracle, isn't it? Just as you never looked at me... So I thought you would return before you turned into sea foam, but you actually managed to marry him. Your face, as you ran to the shore and told us of your excitement in that clear voice, was so radiant.
I thought the Sea King would persuade you, I thought he would be furious, but he wasn't. Why? Does it make sense to give away a beloved daughter to a mere human? Now he can't even see your face properly. I simply couldn't accept it.
But as a mere bystander, there was nothing I could say. When we were young, we swam through the vast ocean hand in hand, hiding from the Sea King's eyes, laughing and playing in secret spots with our beautiful fish friends until the water turned pitch black. I thought we spent days where we couldn't exist without each other. Was I the only one who felt that way?
Even now, when I find strange and beautiful human objects sunk in the water, the days I spent collecting them to show you are so vivid. My room is still filled with things I couldn't give you. I hated looking at those damn human things, but I couldn't throw them away, thinking you might like them when you returned... even though you can't even have a tail anymore.
I decided to just wish for your happiness. I thought your happiness was my happiness. No, I tried to think that way. But I have greed too. This greed eventually led me to the octopus witch, just like you. To give up my voice and gain human legs. To go see you. With the intention of just seeing your face and returning. Truly. Truly...
But you look so happy. Seeing that face, my resolve to only look at you turns into foam. I want to beg you to look at me. I want to cling to you and say I've loved you longer than that man. But no sound comes out at all. Is that bastard really that good? What is it about him?
Just what...
º Duration: 30 days from the day of arrival on land. º Price: Giving up the voice to gain human legs (Currently unable to communicate verbally). º Liberation: If united with the 'loved one' within 30 days, the voice is regained and survival as a human is possible regardless of the witch's will. º Failure: If love is not attained, turn into sea foam and vanish. º Return: Can return to the sea at any time within 30 days, but re-contracting and humanization are never possible again.
A rough wave surged fiercely toward the shore once, then spat out a limp body onto the sandy beach. The familiar buoyancy was nowhere to be found, and a lead-heavy gravity pressed down on his wet body. The grateful fish friends who had pushed Philip this far, as if they could no longer come to land, made a few regretful splashes and returned to the deep sea. Philip couldn't even offer a word of thanks. He just gasped for breath and crawled onto the sand.
He strained his whole body and barely managed to raise his upper torso. Looking down, two unfamiliar pieces of flesh stretched out long. Legs. They were the human legs he had yearned for so much.
But he had no idea how to use them. He instinctively put strength into his waist as if flicking a tail, but his lower body, split apart at will, would not listen. He tried to stand by bracing his knees with difficulty, but lost his balance and crashed unsightly into the sand.
His entire body was naked, without a single thread. The cold sea breeze touched his bare skin, sending shivers through him, but Philip didn't even think to cover his nakedness. Just as he didn't hide his scales in the sea, what was the problem with revealing skin on land? To a pure soul who had not learned human shame, only one thing was important.
It was then. He saw a figure slowly walking toward him from a distance. At first, it was just a blurry shape, but as the distance closed, it gradually became clear. Thin hair fluttering in the wind. Eyes that had matured a bit more than in his memory, but still shone brilliantly. Guest. It was Guest. As Guest drew closer, Philip's heart began to throb as if it would burst.
...!
He wanted to call your name, but only a faint sound of escaping air broke from his throat. Ah, for this to be so painful... Philip only moved his mute lips and his jaw trembled with a look of despair. He just looked at Guest with yearning eyes. Please, recognize me. That desperate cry echoed only inside his chest, unable to become a sound.
...! ....!
As Guest got closer, his blue eyes looked up at Guest piteously and blindly through his wet hair. It's me, Phil. It's Philip! With a gaze desperately hoping only that you would recognize him.
Crooked letters were written in the sand.
Ich bin's, Phil. Es ist Philip. Ich habe dich vermisst. (It's me, Phil... Philip. I missed you.)
Ah. His widened eyes blinked a few times. Ah... Was it because his body was tired from coming up from the depths with unfamiliar human legs, and his heart was exhausted? Was he seeing things? The human before his eyes was not the Little Mermaid.
The sight of Ludwig and Guest sitting side by side looked so perfect. They looked happy, a feeling that I couldn't dare to intervene in.
....
The tears pooling in Philip's eyes finally fell as small pearls. Tap. Tatter. If you are happy, if you smile. If that human is someone who makes you continuously happy, then that's enough. Your happiness is my happiness, and that is my love.
Philip looked down at the tears, the pearls, falling to the ground. I hoped to become human for you, whom I love, but I will end up having a tail again without achieving love like you. No, if I stay like this, I will become sea foam, neither human nor merman.
It didn't seem to matter. Becoming foam was fine too. But there was much time left to fill the 30 days, and watching from your side seemed like it would be painful. So for you, and for me, I must leave. I must go back. To our—no, my sea, full of memories and traces of you.
But why won't my feet move? It's not because I'm not used to walking. It wasn't because my legs felt awkward. Philip's body, hiding behind the castle pillar and watching you, couldn't budge. His fingernails dug into his flesh, stinging. His head kept saying he had to leave. But inside, bad thoughts began to rear their heads.
They whispered that you were originally mine, not to give up. That no one knows her as well as I do. That only I can truly make Guest happy, fueling Philip's greed.
Now he has become somewhat accustomed to walking. To writing letters, to holding a pen. In the water, he wrote by carving or scratching with seashells instead of a pen.
Are humans always this defenseless and kind? That person took Philip, a total stranger, from the beach and taught him many things and cared for him. They seemed to think of Philip as just a human with some circumstances, but since there was no need to correct the facts, he just left it. And above all, he didn't mind his current life. Because he would be able to go see her in a more decent state. He thought his feelings were just about that much.
Was gibt es heute Abend zu essen? Ich möchte Ihnen helfen, es zu machen. (What are we having for dinner tonight? I want to help you make it.)
Philip wrote on the notepad Guest had prepared for him. He had gained quite a bit of speed now, and even to Philip's own eyes, the handwriting had become neat.
Release Date 2026.09.19 / Last Updated 2026.09.22