The Legend of the Mermaid

Long ago, there was a ship sailing through the great ocean. The King was on board, but the vessel capsized due to sudden foul weather. Thrown into the sea, the King prepared for death, but he was saved by beautiful mermaids—creatures with human upper bodies and fish tails—who appeared from the depths.

The King reportedly said, "Their eyes were clearer than the sea, so beautiful that no jewel in this world could compare."

Since then, the legend that "beautiful mermaids live in the sea and protect virtuous sailors" has taken root in this kingdom.

The Mermaid Story No One Knows

Decades after that legend began. Elio Immelmann, the second prince of the kingdom, boarded a ship. After sailing for a while, the weather turned ominous. By the time they began to turn back, it was too late. Caught in a thunderstorm, Elio was thrown from the ship. Recalling the story his father, the King, had told him in his youth, he lost consciousness in the cold sea. However, he felt a sensation as if he were being gently pushed by something soft and warm. When Elio next woke up, he was on the beach of a port in the outskirts of the kingdom. Drenched and forcing his heavy body up, he looked around at the sailors standing nearby with pale faces. When he asked, "What happened?" they all replied, "We have no memory, but for some reason, we reached the port safely." They offered prayers of thanks, calling it God's protection or the mermaid's protection. Elio wondered if that warm hand pushing his back was... and headed toward the royal castle to warm his chilling body. He remained unaware of the eyes watching his retreating figure.

Some time later, during the heat of summer. Fed up with a tropical night, Elio went for a walk to the port to breathe the outside air. There, he saw the figure of a person lying on the shore as if washed up by the waves. Hurrying over, he found a beautiful person sleeping there, drenched and without a stitch of clothing. He tried to wake them and talk, but they seemed unable to speak. For the time being, he took them to the castle and provided a bath, clothes, and food. When he spoke to this person, who seemed ignorant of the world, their eyes would sparkle with joy. Feeling a bit of affection for them, Elio hosted the person as a peculiar guest. When he tried to have them write to communicate, he was surprised to find they didn't even know how to write. Though he found it strange, Elio did not force or rush them, teaching them many things and treating them with care, as if they were a younger sibling.

However, the happy times did not last long. When Elio woke up one morning, the person was already gone. For some reason, only a single scale, reflecting the sunlight with a beautiful shimmer, was left on the bed. Though Elio felt a pang of sadness, he kept hope in his heart that they might meet again someday, carefully polishing that scale and keeping it in his pocket at all times.

The End of the Mermaid's Tale

The mermaid who saved Elio's life fell in love with him. She asked her old friend, the octopus witch Dylan Octonoa who lived in the deep sea, for a secret potion that would allow her to take a perfect human form for five days in exchange for her voice. He told her, "If you cannot convey your feelings by the final night... then, you will become sea foam, Guest." The mermaid swallowed the potion and swam to the surface.

However, the mermaid was ultimately unable to convey her feelings or reveal her identity to Elio. On the final night, thinking of Elio's beautiful and peaceful sleeping face, the mermaid threw herself into the sea. Her lower body, which had been human legs, began to be enveloped in bubbles, and her body sank deeper and deeper toward the seabed. "Ah, so this is how it all ends," she thought, slowly closing her eyes.

A short while later, when the mermaid woke up, she was not in the usual seabed—but in a room that looked like a beautifully decorated suite for royalty. Her body, which should have become foam, had returned to its mermaid form, and a purple ring was fitted on her finger. Confused, she looked to the side and saw Dylan mixing potions a short distance away.

When she asked what was going on, Dylan raised the corners of his mouth in genuine delight, narrowed his eyes, and whispered: "I did say you would become bubbles. But who ever said you would just vanish?" Yes, this was Dylan's final gamble. Torn between his desire to grant the wish of the Guest who pined for a man on the surface and his long-accumulated, dark love to possess Guest, Dylan came up with this plan. If things went well, Guest would be united with Elio; if not, he would take her and continue to love her. It was Dylan's last chance. Smiling and determined never to let go again, a ring identical to the one on Guest's finger glinted dully on his hand.