Chapter 6 – What Happened at the Festival (Part 1)

‘…Ellerdin?’

Fernan, who entered the garden, looked at Ellerdin without even breathing. She was leaning out of the lake, and a mermaid’s fin was visible above the water’s surface. Ellerdin’s eyes shone much more transparently than usual, and not only her body but also the lake surrounding her was glowing. Her red lips moved slightly under her white skin. Fernan’s heart began to pound violently. 

He had just gone to the library to find her, and when she wasn’t there, he had come here. The thought of having seen such an intimate scene made his whole body heat up.

‘Let’s go quickly.’

She would be surprised if she knew I was here. 

Fernan managed to take a step with difficulty, his feet reluctant to move.

“Huh?”

Ellerdin turned her head. She looked at the entrance of the garden with suspicious eyes.

‘Was someone there…?’

But since it was so quiet, it probably wasn’t. No one would be unaffected by seeing such a sight. 

Ellerdin turned around and looked at her fin. Her lower body was covered in scales, which had a mysterious color. She lightly moved her lower body. Her fin splashed up and down according to her will.

‘Amazing…’

To think her movements were so free. Especially since her legs were always weak and tired, now it seemed she could swim as much as she wanted with this fin.

Ellerdin swam around the lake. The lake, which had seemed so large when seen from the ground, now felt small.

‘When I walked with Fernan, it took a long time to walk around.’

After moving her fin a couple of times, she had already reached the end of the lake. For the first time, she felt a sense of regret. She wanted to reach out to a wider place. 

In the end, Ellerdin, who had been swimming much longer than expected, came up to the surface of the lake. 

As soon as she emerged from the water, her lower body, which had been a fin, transformed into white human legs. The power that had been surging inside her disappeared, and she felt a heavy pressure weighing down on her body. Ellerdin let out a short sigh and stood up. And then.

“Huh?”

Her body swayed greatly.

Thud.

Ellerdin, who had fallen onto the grass, blinked in surprise. She had no strength in her body. It was because she had transformed from a mermaid back into a human.

‘I need to go back quickly.’

Celine would be worried. 

Her eyes began to close in an instant. Unbearable drowsiness washed over her, and Ellerdin slowly closed her eyes. There was a faint wrinkle on her forehead, as if she was trying to resist the sleep.

***

“Gasp.”

Ellerdin opened her eyes wide. As she suddenly sat up, she saw the familiar structure of her room.

‘Did Fernan bring me here overnight?’

When she pulled back the blanket, she found herself dressed in fresh, dry clothes.

‘…Could it be that Fernan did this too…?’

The thought that he might have dried her wet body and changed her clothes made her face flush with heat. Ellerdin buried her face in her hands.

“What do I do…”

A groan of embarrassment escaped her. But embarrassment was embarrassment, and she had things to do. She needed to finish breakfast quickly and go to the library. Hoping to gather better information than yesterday, Ellerdin left her room.

When Ellerdin went down to the dining room, she looked around for Fernan. At that moment, Nisroch brought out food that only Ellerdin would eat.

“Where is Fernan?”

“The master said he’s busy since yesterday and will have his meal in the office.”

“I see. Thank you.”

Nisroch went into the kitchen, and Ellerdin began eating alone.

‘He must be so busy he doesn’t even have time to eat.’

I should bring him some snacks later. 

Ellerdin had become so accustomed to caring for Fernan like a real wife.

***

“Sigh…”

Ellerdin stood before the large bookshelf and let out a deep sigh. The contents of the book she was reading weren’t sinking in. Her mind kept wandering back to what happened when she went up to Fernan’s office after the meal. 

She had taken his favorite snacks, but the words she heard through the door were that he was fine. Though he was speaking kindly, there was a stiff atmosphere in his voice. Even though she knew he was busy, she couldn’t help but feel a bitter emotion in one corner of her heart.

‘Let’s stop thinking about it.’

Ellerdin tried to shake off her thoughts and looked at the book. But for days, she had been looking at books that only contained nonsense about needing true love or a kiss of truth to break the curse.

‘At this rate… nothing…’

Ellerdin bit her lip. As the information about the curse didn’t come out as easily as she thought, she grew anxious. However, the moment she picked up another book, a passage she hadn’t noticed before caught her eye.

「A curse is a tangled thread, so it is important to know the hidden heart of the target.」

Ellerdin stared blankly at the sentence. She suddenly stood up as if she had realized something.

‘I need to talk to Father. Why did I forget this obvious thing?’

Ellerdin hurriedly left the library.

***

Meanwhile, Fernan, who was looking at documents in the office, frowned with a flushed face. Whenever his concentration slipped even a little, the events of last night came to mind. 

Last night, when Ellerdin was too late in returning, he went to bring her back and found her lying on the grass, then hurriedly brought her back to the castle. Fortunately, thanks to the heating effect in the garden, she was wet but maintained her body temperature. However, the problem arose after moving Ellerdin. 

To lay her on the bed, he had to take off her wet clothes. When he looked down, her white clothes were wet and translucent, revealing her skin. Fernan inhaled sharply. He hadn’t paid attention to this part because bringing her back was the priority. 

Fernan, holding Ellerdin, fell into a dilemma.

If Celine had been there, he could have asked her, but unfortunately, today, Celine had left for Leston’s territory. She had said she would return by dawn, but there was still time until she arrived. 

After a moment of hesitation, Fernan gently laid her on the soft rug on the floor. Deeply asleep, she was breathing with her eyes closed. As he grabbed the collar to undress her, Fernan felt as if he was truly committing a crime. 

In the end, Fernan stood up abruptly and tore his own shirt with his muscular arms. With the sound of tearing fabric, pieces of cloth fell. Making the torn clothes into a blindfold, he covered his eyes. 

With trembling hands, Fernan slowly undressed her. He began to gently wipe Ellerdin’s body with the thickest towel he could find, but for him, who had senses beyond human, it felt vividly real. 

Ironically, with his sight blocked, his sense of touch became even more sensitive, and her body’s curves felt more realistic than usual. He gritted his teeth at the soft yet resilient sensation. 

Feeling a strain beneath his back, Fernan stood up abruptly after finishing wiping Ellerdin’s body. To escape quickly, he swiftly fetched clean pajamas from the wardrobe. However, dressing her was much more challenging than wiping her. Since he couldn’t dress her while she was lying down, he carefully lifted Ellerdin and leaned her against his chest. The small breaths escaping from her mouth tickled his chest.

‘Calm down… calm down.’

With trembling hands, Fernan inserted the clothes around Ellerdin’s neck.

‘Now… the arms… where should the arms go…’

He tried to guide her slender arms into the clothes, but he couldn’t find the holes properly, and her arms kept slipping out. Just as he was feeling despondent over the repeated failures, Ellerdin let out a small sound and shifted her body. Her small hand pressed firmly on a particularly prominent spot beneath Fernan.

‘…!’

Fernan froze, unable to breathe.

‘This can’t go on…’

Fernan gritted his teeth as if he would crush them. With superhuman precision, he perfectly inserted Ellerdin’s arms into the sleeves. Quickly dressing her remaining arm, Fernan hurriedly laid her on the bed and left the room. When he returned to the office, Mollek appeared with a pop in midair.

“Master!”

Mollek called Fernan with a smiling face, then closed his mouth at his appearance.

Fernan looked as if he was in a very angry state. His eyes were shining menacingly, and his fists were clenched tightly as if to kill someone, with veins bulging all over his body. Though he was already large, the muscles that had been hidden emerged, making his body appear even larger than usual.

“I’ll… be going.”

Mollek laughed awkwardly and disappeared in a hurry.

After the flashback ended, Fernan let out a sigh. It was hard to see her face. Seeing her innocent face would remind him of last night’s events. Because of that, even though Ellerdin had come earlier, Fernan couldn’t open the door. He had no face to show her.

‘A trash that deserves to be killed.’

Fernan gritted his teeth. Ellerdin was making such efforts thinking of him, but he didn’t want to admit that he was feeling lust for her.

‘Lust… how could, how could this happen.’

Fernan slammed the desk with a fist filled with anger. With a bang, the thick wooden table split in half. He looked down at the floor with a distressed expression.

‘Seeing her with such filthy thoughts is unacceptable.’

Ellerdin truly shone, and he feared that upon seeing her, he might want to kneel and confess all his sins. Even she wouldn’t be able to accept such shameless feelings.

‘Let’s do what I can.’

Fernan waved his hand once to restore the broken desk to its original state. There was a mountain of preparations to be made for the estate’s construction. With a short sigh, he picked up the documents.