Chapter 5 – The Sound of a Crow (Part 6)

The next day, Ellerdin woke up and looked around with a dazed expression.

‘Did I sleep in the bed last night?’

The soft feeling under her hand was unfamiliar.

‘Could it be that it wasn’t a dream?’

In her hazy memory, she recalled Fernan carrying her to the bed.

The fact that she had relaxed in his arms without fully realizing it made her neck flush red.

‘Surely Fernan doesn’t think I was awake while he carried me?’

Ellerdin pressed her face into her hands. She fanned her flushed face and got up.

First, she needed to find books about the curse, as she had thought last night.

***

Arriving at the library, Ellerdin took a deep breath.

As she opened the door and entered, she saw numerous bookshelves. If she read all those books, she might at least find a clue about the curse.

With determination, she walked briskly into the library.

‘Types of demons… The war between demons and angels… Ancient rituals…….’

Ellerdin skimmed the titles of the books. She planned to take all the books that mentioned demons and read them.

After going through one bookshelf, her arms were full of thick books.

‘I’ll try to read all of these today.’

Ellerdin carried the pile of books to the fireplace.

She settled into a cozy sofa, warmed by the fire, and opened the first book.

The only sound in the library was the occasional crackling of the logs. The pile of books had dwindled to just one or two.

“Hmm…….”

Despite reading so many books, she hadn’t found anything useful.

They were all about distrust of demons and humans, methods to defeat them, or histories of kingdoms that had been destroyed.

The word ‘curse’ was nowhere to be found.

‘Maybe I should look into black magic instead.’

Curses were originally used by black magicians, so perhaps it would be better to search in that direction.

Ellerdin put down the book she was reading and stood up.

Turning to the middle bookshelf, she found quite a few books on curses and magic.

‘Magic to turn people into donkeys… Curse dolls… How to make someone fall in love…….’

As she skimmed through the books, a familiar word caught her eye.

‘Mermaid!’

Ellerdin jumped to her feet. She climbed the ladder as if entranced.

The book titled “History of Mermaids” was on the top shelf.

Carefully climbing the ladder and pulling out the book, a cloud of dust billowed out.

“Cough, cough.”

Ellerdin climbed down the ladder, coughing. Blowing off the dust from the book revealed a nearly erased cover.

‘This isn’t a book?’

Ellerdin curiously opened the cover. Inside were words written in someone’s handwriting.

It wasn’t in book format but more like someone’s diary.

“……my… friend… with….”

Most of the letters were either erased or too scribbled to read.

She turned the pages, trying to find any readable parts, but most were similarly illegible.

However, the last page seemed to have been written more recently and was readable.

“Mermaids are said to change form when they enter the water. On land, they have a human body, but in the sea, they turn into fish. This is similar to our species. Some mermaids have healing powers. It’s satisfying to know that my friend is one of them.”

It was written in a format where the person noted what they had learned and their thoughts on it.

Below that was the name of the writer.

“…Ever…ett… Keallad?”

Keallad is Fernan’s family name. Could this be the mother he mentioned when talking about the festival?

Ellerdin gasped and closed the book.

If so, did Fernan’s mother meet a mermaid in the past? Are there other mermaids besides me and my mother?

If that’s the case.

‘Oh my…….’

Her heart started to pound.

She had never thought that there might be others like her.

The thought that there might be others made her heart race.

She looked around to see if there was any other content, but this was the only book that mentioned mermaids.

She wanted to meet and talk with the previous Duke’s wife.

‘But where is Fernan’s mother…?’

It seemed that he had never mentioned the previous Duchess. What had happened to his mother?

Suddenly, she recalled the white statue that Kaiden had been looking at in the basement last time.

‘Could his mother be related to that statue?’

Should I go down and check the statue now?

Ellerdin leaned back on the sofa and stared at the unfinished book. Her eyes were drawn to one sentence.

「In the sea, they turn into fish.」

Suddenly, she remembered something her mother had told her a long time ago.

Ever since Ellerdin began to understand words, Amelia would hold her and tell her stories.

“Never transform into a mermaid.”

As if brainwashing her, Amelia would always tell young Ellerdin whenever the Earl was not around.

The child, who followed her mother’s words without understanding, only realized their meaning after seeing her mother being abused.

To survive the Earl, she had to maintain a human form.

Ellerdin bit her lip as the past memories surfaced.

When Earl Pure first started his business, his ship had gone far out to sea.

At first, he had rescued a woman who had fallen into the sea, but her lower body was that of a fish, a mermaid.

Seeing this new, unheard-of creature for the first time, Earl Pure was filled with a desire to monopolize this strange being.

He killed all the sailors on the ship and urgently brought her to his mansion.

Driven by simple curiosity and possessiveness, he took the mermaid, who couldn’t speak or use her strength properly, and violated her every night.

As a result, not long after, Ellerdin was born between them.

After Ellerdin was born, Earl Pure lost interest in the mermaid and kept her in a small tank as a collectible.

One day, while dragging the mermaid out of the tank to satisfy his lust, he discovered a scale falling from her fin.

“……This is a magic stone?”

The scale that had fallen to the ground changed color and soon turned into a magic stone.

In the current times, where military power was needed, magic stones that were gradually depleting were the most valuable items.

“Money… money! Haha, I’ve caught a real fish!”

Seeing the scale, Earl Pure repeatedly violated the mermaid to obtain more money.

However, no other offspring were born after Ellerdin.

He brought countless doctors, but they said that mermaids originally couldn’t bear children and that Ellerdin’s birth was a miracle.

From then on, Earl Pure began to live by plucking scales from Ellerdin’s mother, Amelia.

Even though he was an Earl, his extravagant spending habits had strained his finances.

Earl Pure abused Amelia for many years, and when her scales were nearly gone, he targeted Ellerdin next.

However, no matter what the Earl did, Ellerdin never transformed into a mermaid.

Amelia would transform into a mermaid immediately upon touching water, so the Earl splashed water on Ellerdin several times a day.

But each time, Ellerdin would shiver from the cold and repeatedly apologize.

Seeing that Amelia’s scales were almost gone and Ellerdin still hadn’t transformed, Earl Pure realized that Ellerdin didn’t have any mermaid blood.

His anger turned into violence against Ellerdin, and it worsened after her mother died.

“Why doesn’t Mom transform into a human?”

Ellerdin asked, almost crying. Amelia just smiled faintly and stroked Ellerdin’s cheek.

If she had known that she was different from her pure mermaid mother, she wouldn’t have asked such a question. Ellerdin repeated to herself.

‘What did Mother think when she looked at me?’

She must have resented me a lot. How terrifying it must have been to see me not transform despite the Earl splashing water on me, while also feeling relieved.

I couldn’t even imagine the pain she had to endure.

‘……Let’s stop thinking about it.’

Ellerdin pressed her forehead.

Bad memories were lingering.

At that moment, a new memory surfaced among the painful ones.

‘……Fernan.’

Oddly enough, thinking of Fernan made her previous memories feel insignificant.

She recalled his ever-bright smile. His gentle voice calling her echoed in her ears.

Suddenly, Ellerdin remembered the pond that Fernan had gifted her and touched her reddened ear.

‘Should I go for a bit?’

Since it was late at night, no one would come there.

Ellerdin gathered her outerwear and left the library.

Looking up at the sky, she saw stars embedded in the black night sky.

Thinking of seeing the stars from the glass greenhouse, Ellerdin ran to the garden with excited steps.

The garden was sparkling even in the dark night as always. She carefully walked to the lake.

The clear, blue water seemed to be inviting her in.

Ellerdin extended her bare foot as if entranced. The cold surface of the water touched her sole. A round ripple spread out.

She slowly dipped her feet into the water. The water gently climbed from her soles to her insteps.

‘Ah… it feels nice.’

Ellerdin’s cheeks flushed red.

She was now sitting on the grass with her shins submerged in the lake.

The feel of the grass through her clothes was pleasant. Closing her eyes, she felt the cool breeze brush her ears.

The wind reminded her of Fernan.

In the beginning, she was amazed at how much he defied all common sense. Thinking of all the things he had done, Ellerdin chuckled quietly.

‘How can he be so free?’

It must be the influence of the previous Duke and Duchess.

‘Judging by the writing of the previous Duchess, she seemed to be a very cheerful person.’

She thought that perhaps his cheerful nature was thanks to the Duchess. 

If I ever had children, how would they grow up?

‘Could I raise a child well like the previous Duchess?’

She imagined scenes of playing in the water and going on trips with children. And Fernan was standing beside her.

‘What am I thinking……!’

She had naturally imagined forming a family with Fernan.

Ellerdin buried her face to hide her flushed cheeks.

Even though no one was watching, she felt embarrassed and glanced around.

At that moment, Fernan’s laughter echoed in her ears again. It was the cheerful laugh he always had when she was embarrassed.

‘……Thinking of Fernan again……!’

She thought of him so often that she felt she needed to clear her head.

The clear, blue lake came into view.

Ellerdin closed her eyes tightly and plunged into the water. As her body sank, the cool water enveloped her.

‘Oh……? I can breathe…….’

It felt more comfortable than being on land, as if this was her natural habitat.

‘I can open my eyes…….’

Beyond her blinking vision, she could see the inside of the lake clearly.

Looking up, she saw the moonlight shining on the surface. The moonlight flickered with the ripples.

Ellerdin sat in the lake with a dazed expression. The various sounds she heard on land were now inaudible.

‘I didn’t know it would feel this comfortable.’

She hadn’t expected it to be this much.

Outside the lake, she felt secure with Fernan, and inside the lake, she felt it was entirely her own space.

‘I might have longed for water every day.’

She didn’t want to leave. It felt like she had found a cozy nest.

‘Should I try transforming?’

She hadn’t realized it before, but being in the water made her feel a strong sensation of something being coiled inside her body.

It felt like she could release it if she just relaxed a little.

However, the only reason she couldn’t was the compulsion she had to suppress her power since childhood.

‘How long will you live tied to the past?’

Ellerdin opened her eyes wide.

She felt like she could break free now.

Ellerdin took a deep breath. She felt the tension in her body slowly release.

The faint energy within her drained away in an instant and began to be replaced by something else.