Side Story.20

Dark blue waves surged.

White foam trailed behind him like a splendid cloak, sparkling dazzlingly.

[……You.]

Silver hair shining with brilliant colors, even more beautiful features.

Maia gazed into the deep, indigo eyes of the merfolk, momentarily dazed.

The merfolk stared at Maia for a while, then spoke to Adelstein and Hyperion, who stood on either side of her as if to protect her.

[New master of destiny, young transcendent to succeed us. There is a conversation I wish to have alone with this woman. Could you please leave us?]

“A conversation……? Is it something you can’t say in front of us?”

“What are you talking about? Why should we trust you and leave Maria with you?”

But faced with immediate resistance, the merfolk surprisingly looked troubled and glanced at Maia.

Meeting his gaze, Maia felt a strange, inevitable intuition that he had already seen through her true identity.

“I’m fine. So……”

“Hey, you—”

“Enough. Hyperion.”

Hyperion started to protest, but fortunately Adelstein stopped him.

“Understood. ……We’ll wait over there, so call us anytime if anything happens.”

“Yes, thank you.”

Adelstein, with worried eyes, glanced between Maia and the merfolk, who looked beautiful on the outside, then dragged Hyperion away.

“What, how can you trust that guy and leave her so defenseless?!”

“Just calm down, Hyperion.”

Their voices faded into the distance.

“……What is your name?”

After watching them for a moment, Maia swallowed and turned to the merfolk.

[Liriata. My true name is Liriata.]

……Liriata?

A ripple ran through her violet eyes.

Wasn’t that the name that always appeared wherever merfolk were involved?

The pendant-shaped artifact he created with his power was a treasured relic kept in the Adelstein Empire.

It was definitely called ‘Merciful Liriata’……

[It seems you know my name.]

“That’s……”

[No need to hide it from me. I know you are from a far future.]

“!”

Maia was deeply shaken.

She hadn’t said a word, but he had seen through her just by looking.

“……That’s right. My name is Maia Hansberg, and I am from thousands of years in the future.”

But Liriata was said to be the most merciful among the merfolk rulers, cherishing human life, so she felt safe to speak.

[I see. But it doesn’t seem you came here by your own will.]

Liriata spoke in a noble voice, waiting for Maia’s answer as he quietly watched her.

Maia bit her lip and took out Aeterna’s staff from under her long cloak.

“It’s because of this. This staff is a relic imbued with mysterious power made in this era, passed down to the future where I lived. I happened to touch it, and in that moment, an unknown force pulled me into the heart of the past.”

Liriata silently reached out his hand.

Maia hesitated for a moment, then handed the staff to him and continued.

“I tried dozens of times to manifest its power again, but nothing happened. ……Please, I beg you. Tell me how I can return to the time I lived in.”

Liriata quietly stroked the staff, seeming to think deeply, then looked at Maia and spoke.

[There is no particular difficulty. The reason this relic cannot manifest the power that sent you to the past is simply because it only held enough power for a single time travel.]

“……What? Does that mean……”

[If I imbue it with power again, you could immediately return to your own time.]

Her pale face lit up with joy.

But, hope lasted only a moment.

[However, the problem is that you’d return with this relic still in your possession.]

Liriata, looking down at Maia’s now-bright violet eyes, added.

Her delicate eyelids trembled.

……Is that the problem?

“What…… Grand Duke Aeterna will have the relic in the future anyway. That’s fate.”

[No, you’re wrong.]

Liriata shook his head firmly.

[This is the only relic in all of time and space. The one you possess is the very one Aeterna had, and the one his descendants will inherit.]

“What……. Then.”

[If you take this relic back, it will cease to exist in this era. The past and future will be twisted, and perhaps even Aeterna’s descendants may disappear entirely.]

Maia was shocked.

She had never anticipated the consequences of the relic disappearing.

So, through all time, Aeterna’s staff—only one, in her hand……?

“Then what should I do? Without this staff, I can’t return……!”

Driven by desperation, Maia pleaded.

[……Living in the past is also an option.]

Liriata answered gently, with a hint of pity.

“That’s—!”

It was nonsense, to live in the past.

She would have to abandon everything she’d achieved…… never see those she loved again.

Above all, Hyperion……

She could never see the one she loved again.

[Doesn’t the one you love exist in this era, too?]

At that moment, Maia was crushed by the quiet echo of Liriata’s voice.

[He seems to care for you especially, even here.]

Liriata, as if reading Maia’s heart, spoke again in a warm, comforting voice.

[Surely, you could love each other again, even here.]

Love each other again……

Maia breathed rapidly, her face twisted.

Was it possible?

That thought came first.

But soon, Maia denied it.

No, no.

The one she loved, the one she came to love after all that time……

“It’s not the current Hyperion.”

The man who watched over her childhood, who devoted himself to her while hiding feelings she couldn’t know.

He was the man she loved, and even if they were the same person, she could not give him up.

Maia closed her eyes tightly, letting out a deep sigh.

She feared the distortion that would arise from something essential to the past disappearing.

Yet, for Hyperion, for Lihi, for all the time she had built up—

It didn’t feel right to let it all turn to nothing.

[There is plenty of time, so think it over and come find me. The moment your body enters the sea, I will sense you and come.]

Watching Maia’s struggle, Liriata left only those words and disappeared into the dazzling spray of the waves.

“…….”

Maia stared at the sea where she had vanished, then slowly walked away.

“Maria.”

Ah, of all times.

Maia looked at Hyperion, who approached as if he had been waiting, with trembling eyes.

“What’s wrong, why do you look so pale? Did something happen?”

Hyperion searched Maia’s face with a worried expression, his voice even carrying a hint of menace.

“Did that ancient monster threaten you?”

His grip on her arms was so strong it hurt.

But the harsh tone and the concern hidden within were traits Maia had often seen in the future Hyperion.

“…….”

The one she loved was the future him.

But she couldn’t go to him.

She couldn’t imagine how the distortion that would result would affect them……

“You……”

The painful conflict that consumed her heart made her body react instantly.

A transparent tear rolled down from her violet eyes.

Hyperion froze, unable to even breathe.

“Goodness……”

Then Hyperion gritted his teeth and began striding toward the quiet, surging sea.

With the momentum as if he would overturn the sea to forcibly summon the merfolk, Maia hurriedly wiped her tears and grabbed him.

“No, no. Nothing happened!”

“If nothing happened, why are you crying?”

His cool golden eyes turned to her.

That was……

Maia felt a maddening frustration at her inability to explain.

“Anyway, Liriata did me no harm! So please, just calm down, Hyperion!”

“Ha……”

Hyperion furrowed his brow deeply and sighed.

Still, his fierce momentum had calmed considerably.

Good.

Maia let out a quiet sigh of relief.

“…….”

And Adelstein, watching them from afar, unconsciously hardened his expression.

“When did those two become so close…… How strange.”

Krshunie Polaris, quick to notice Adelstein’s reaction, quietly smiled and whispered.

His gaze, tinged with faint delight and pure malice, sparkled as it fixed solely on Maia.

* * *

The coastline steeped in dark night.

Small-bodied young merfolk swam in the shallow water, their elegant scales shining under the moonlight pouring from the sky.

Curious black eyes gazed at the land where all lights had faded.

The younger they were, the greater their curiosity toward humans and the land.

A pleasant, soft voice hummed quietly in their sensitive ears.

The young merfolk’s faces brightened.

In the moonlight reflected on the water, the owner of the voice appeared.

“You came out again today?”

With a graceful smile, the one who spoke so familiarly was none other than Krshunie Polaris.

[Yeah! Because we want to see you, Krshunie!]

[Continue the story from yesterday! Did the merfolk succeed in winning the human boy’s heart? Did they live happily ever after?]

The young merfolk splashed and eagerly spoke, their faces flushed.

Krshunie, smiling kindly, approached the waves.

Behind him, a white, silver net slowly trailed like rippling waves.

“Yes, the human boy became interested in the mermaid.”

Krshunie spoke in a low voice, as if rolling the words inside his mouth.

“He gave a name to the one who had none, and tried to grant whatever she wished for. Even if it meant killing the family who tormented her.”

[……I see.]

The story was more cruel than expected, and the young merfolk exchanged glances, slightly flustered.

[So, what name did the mermaid give the boy?]

Suddenly, as if curious, they changed the topic and asked.

Krshunie smiled, his eyes curving.

In his grasp, the veil-like net was held tightly.

“He named him after himself, Krshunie.”

[……Huh? Krshunie, that’s…….]

[That’s your name, isn’t it? How did……. Kyaaah!]

The merfolk, who had been speaking absentmindedly, screamed in terror.