When he first discovered Vivianne on that hill, she fled without looking back.

Was it that terrible? Bad enough that hiding in a remote mountain village seemed preferable? He was dumbfounded by her fearlessness as she ran into the mountain path despite the setting sun.

Until then, he thought he could catch her quickly. The mountain terrain was rough, the woman was pregnant, and her physical strength had deteriorated significantly. Nevertheless, if she insisted on playing hide-and-seek, he was willing to oblige.

There was no need to rush. Darkness would soon fall, and the woman’s movements would slow further. He gave the knights only one instruction: bring Vivianne back without harming a hair on her head.

If you can’t shoot your prey, the only remaining option is to drive them to a suitable place, corner them, and then collect them when they’re trapped. The woman probably thought she was fleeing on instinct, but Kian was slowly driving her toward a dead end.

Of course, he could have caught up with her faster. But she would inevitably be caught anyway, and he needed to collect her with minimal damage. Rather than pursuing quickly, he focused solely on blocking her escape routes.

Rain fell in the darkened mountains. Even strong men would struggle to escape in such conditions. Sure enough, when they confronted each other at the dead end, she was almost in tatters. How pitiful. She had climbed so desperately. Her clothes were covered in mud, and blood seeped through her white skirt where her knees were scraped.

Poor thing. Her trembling fear of capture was amusing.

Come here.

He extended one hand and approached slowly. Even when she instinctively backed away, he thought it was merely because she was frightened. The tedious game of hide-and-seek was finally over.

Though she could no longer escape, he had no intention of holding her accountable if she returned willingly. Despite his gentle coaxing, Vivianne refused to come back and stood her ground stubbornly.

Yes. If she found him so horrible, he hoped she would at least stay by his side for the baby’s sake. When he mentioned the baby in her womb, Vivianne momentarily froze.

Just when he thought he had almost succeeded, she stumbled backward again. Until then, he believed she would have no choice but to return when she ran out of ground to stand on. No, he intended to grab her waist forcibly and pull her into his arms if necessary.

Despite his determination, when she stood at the edge of the cliff, his body stiffened and he couldn’t move. She looked so precarious that one wrong touch might make her fall.

This isn’t right, Vivi.

Come this way. You’ll get hurt.

I told you I don’t like you getting hurt.

“…Please.”

Had he ever been this desperate for someone in his life? The sincerity that escaped without his knowledge felt strange to him. Even when he lived like a parasite with nothing to his name, he had never once begged anyone.

Was it anxiety? Or impatience? Whatever it was, he wished she would just give in and return to his embrace.

In that moment, a self-deprecating smile spread across Vivianne’s face. Then, without hesitation, she threw herself into the sea.

“Vivi…!”

Kian lay flat on the edge of the cliff like a dog. He stared blankly at her falling below.

“…No.”

She fell hopelessly like a rain-soaked flower. Like a fragile bud breaking in the wind and rain, its petals scattering like fragments. Just like that.

He helplessly took in every moment, from her cutting through the open sky to the splash as she disappeared into the spray, creating rough ripples on the water’s surface.

This couldn’t be happening.

This couldn’t be reality.

Where Vivianne had thrown herself, unbelievably, nothing remained.

When he realized she had fallen into the water, his vision raged like the turbulent waters below the cliff.

How could she so easily…

No, why…

His strength suddenly drained, and his upper body collapsed. His arms trembled as they braced against the ground, and his body tilted severely.

He thought she would come back, crying until her eyes turned red. Naturally, as she always had. He thought she would have no choice but to return, even while resenting him for creating this reality.

From the beginning, he had given her no option but to return. He was the one who had driven her to this point, and since she was his from the start, only he had the right to claim her.

She was carrying his seed in her womb, and he thought he had calculated every possible action…

That meager pride crumbled in an instant.

She couldn’t be dead.

She couldn’t have vanished so hopelessly.

This can’t be…

How could you leave me?

That’s impossible.

Let this be a dream. Please, not reality.

If it’s a dream, let me wake up now.

Please… please!

Cold rain poured down, but the rain on his face was hot. His vision blurred. Liquid—whether cold sweat or tears, he couldn’t tell—streamed down repeatedly. His stomach ached like it was being torn apart.

“…Find her.”

He barely opened his mouth through the pain that felt like his blood was burning. Staggering to his feet, Kian looked at the knights with bloodshot eyes.

They all wore bewildered expressions.

“We must save her. A person… fell into the water.”

Unable to stand properly, he looked like a broken doll. His voice cracked with a metallic sound, but he paid no attention to it. Despite their lord’s command, the knights couldn’t move for a while.

Anyone could see it wasn’t a height from which someone could jump and survive.

For a human, especially such a fragile woman, it would be impossible.

* * *

The basement, where no light entered, was damp and gloomy.

Kian sat in a chair facing Theodore, who was bound in shackles. His empty eyes showed no warmth. Theodore kept his head bowed toward the floor, completely motionless. His face, covered in bruises with split lips, was clearly a mess at first glance.

They remained silent for a long time beside the precariously flickering candle.

“…Why didn’t she come back?”

Kian was the first to break the silence.

What was the use of asking for reasons now? He found himself ridiculous for bringing up such a pitiful question.

That day, despite everyone’s objections, he rented a boat and went out to sea. Having clearly seen her fall into the water with his own eyes, he couldn’t just do nothing.

He had to save her.

He had to pull her out of the water.

He felt he would go mad if he remained silent.

Mobilizing the knights, he searched meticulously below the cliff where Vivianne had fallen, but with no significant results. First, diving provided no visibility. It was night, and heavy rain was falling, so this was to be expected.

Though he knew it was madness, he hoped she was alive. No, he hoped to at least find her body. That’s why he couldn’t leave that place for a long time.

“I did it out of greed. I wanted to protect her.”

Theodore laughed emptily even after giving his answer. It was because he realized how futile his wish had been.

That day, he had caught a very large rabbit. He thought she would like rabbit stew, but he couldn’t make it for her. After escaping from Larson, he couldn’t even feed her meat once. Despite his bold promise to protect her, he felt only self-deprecation at his incompetence.

Vivianne’s morning sickness was particularly severe, making it difficult for her to eat breakfast, so he had picked wild strawberries for her. Whenever he casually handed her a handful, she would put them all in her mouth and smile happily. That smile was so beautiful.

Now he would never see that smile again.

“…Unlike you, I thought I could make her smile.”

“I considered you my person, but you betrayed me. Who can I blame? It’s all because I let my guard down.”

“Your person.”

This time he laughed explosively out of incredulity.

“How can you say such an abominable thing when you don’t even trust me?”

He had run away with the woman of someone who was once a friend, once a master. Moreover, since she had come to harm, he would likely face immediate execution.

Yes. Facing death anyway, he wanted to say what was on his mind.

“Kian, your problem isn’t that you let your guard down… it’s that you didn’t trust Vivi. That woman is a mermaid.”

Matilda knew it too. Theodore seemed to have known it already.

“She confessed to my mother that she was a mermaid. Didn’t she tell you?”

No, she did. She had pleaded several times, saying she was a mermaid.

“You probably didn’t want to believe it. You hate mermaids. I understand your reluctance to believe. But Kian, how can that be love if you can’t accept her as she is?”

Theodore shook his head and added:

“I don’t think Vivi is dead. No, she can’t be dead.”

“…What do you mean?”

“That night when the mansion was turned upside down because she was swimming in the night sea. I saw it clearly with my own eyes. When Vivi entered the sea, she grew a tail and became a perfect mermaid.”

As Theodore asserted this, Kian’s gaze trembled miserably.

“Vivi is a mermaid, so she must be alive somewhere.”

Anyone who heard this would surely call it madness. But he never expected that he would be the one who most wanted to believe this madness.

How ironic.

He had denied it, insisted she couldn’t be a mermaid, but now he desperately wished, more than anyone, that she was indeed a mermaid.