“Are you conscious?”

Despite the concern in his question, there was no response. She simply blinked, staring vacantly like a doll that had lost its soul.

Vivianne, who had been lying down, slowly sat up. Her eyes darted around in confusion before filling with an unfamiliar fear.

“I’m sorry.”

Her lips barely moved as she uttered her first words in a voice so small it seemed to shrink into itself.

“It’s alright. Thank goodness you’re safe.”

“…Theodore.”

She suddenly choked up mid-sentence and swallowed hard.

“What happened to him…?”

“Why are you suddenly asking about him? Theodore…?”

Kian immediately sensed something was wrong but hoped against it. He desperately wished it was just his imagination, merely unfounded anxiety creating phantoms in his mind.

“What about Matilda?”

“Matilda?”

His desperate wish remained unfulfilled.

“…What happened to Matilda?”

Why is she suddenly talking about Matilda? How would she even know who Matilda is?

“It’s all my fault. I’m sorry…”

She continued apologizing incoherently.

Her memories have returned. There was no denying it now. Looking at her eyes, trembling like a candle flame in the wind, Kian felt his words catch in his throat.

Seeing his gaze drop, she grew visibly anxious. Her face contorted with urgency before she began pleading desperately.

“I ran away alone. Theodore and Matilda did nothing wrong. I insisted I didn’t want to go home. So please…”

“…It’s okay.”

Kian pulled Vivianne’s trembling body into a tight embrace.

“It’s okay, Vivi. Both Matilda and Theodore are safe.”

Was it fear? Despite his reassuring pats, her spine stiffened like a wooden board.

“L-liar. You’re lying.”

“What do you mean I’m lying? What are you saying?”

“If I do something wrong…hic… you said you wouldn’t leave Theodore and Matilda alone…”

What terrified her so much? She simply wouldn’t believe him. Vivianne shook her head frantically while Kian held her more firmly, supporting her body.

“Don’t you remember? You were with Theodore at Baldwin’s estate all this time.”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to do it. Sob…”

He hadn’t intended to interrogate her, but she curled up defensively, taking his words as a threat. Overcome with extreme fear, she seemed unable to understand what he was saying.

Her pitiful voice soon dissolved into sobs. Her shoulders trembled as they grew damp with tears.

“None of this is your fault. It’s all mine.”

If only he had realized this sooner. If only he had said these words earlier, would things have been different?

No matter how much she struggled.

Downward, ever downward.

She only sank deeper.

Just like that night, when she was thrown as a living sacrifice into the Mermaid’s Sea.

* * *

He finally managed to put her to sleep with herbs that had calming effects after she had been crying and anxious. Though he repeatedly told her that he hadn’t harmed anyone and that everyone was safe, she simply couldn’t believe him.

Vivianne continued to fear him regardless of what he did. Had it been only fear driving her actions all along? Not desire or love?

Her eyes contained nothing but terror, those other emotions apparently never having existed between them.

She had claimed she wanted him so desperately that she had sacrificed her very soul to be with him. Did she no longer want him?

Realizing this made his breath catch in his throat. The collapse of everything he had believed in made it difficult to maintain his composure.

“Lady Vivianne’s condition requires further observation.”

“Her memories seem incomplete. Will she be alright?”

“Such confusion is quite normal during recovery.”

The physician acknowledged cautiously. From what she was saying, Vivianne seemed stuck in memories from right after her escape. The moment she opened her eyes, she worried about Theodore who had fled with her and Matilda who had told them about the orphanage.

Perhaps due to the shock making her emotionally fragile, she couldn’t even comprehend when asked if she hadn’t seen Theodore herself at Baldwin’s estate. She simply appeared overwhelmed.

“What should I do?”

“For now… ensuring her stability is most important.”

“I understand.”

Kian nodded slowly. His own state wasn’t much better. He currently lacked the courage to face her properly. With her fearing him like some monster, staying by her side risked worsening her condition.

For Vivianne’s stability, he temporarily kept his distance while Alice took full responsibility for her care.

He couldn’t go to his office either. Though he couldn’t watch over her directly, he stayed in the nearest room in case of emergency. That room happened to be his bedroom.

“About that issue…”

Kian started to speak but paused. He felt deep self-deprecation at having to worry about pregnancy in this situation.

“If you’re referring to pregnancy… there are no signs yet.”

“…I see.”

She had fallen into water, suffered a fever, and regained her memories but remained confused. He knew how abnormal it seemed to be asking about pregnancy without needing to be told.

“Your Grace, you look terribly unwell. Are you alright?”

He found it difficult to sleep or eat. The full moon had passed, leaving less than a month remaining, yet the situation had only deteriorated.

Vivianne. What should I do? How can I save you?

He felt lost, like walking through fog.

I don’t need to stay by your side. If I could just save your life, prevent you from turning to sea foam… I would gladly sacrifice even my soul.

The merciless flow of time felt cruel.

* * *

Vivianne’s eyelashes fluttered as she struggled to lift her heavy eyelids.

“Princess, are you awake now?”

Her vision was blurry. A round face hovered before her. Vivianne blinked silently for a moment before realizing someone had called her “Princess.”

“You’ve been sleeping so long, we were worried. Princess.”

They definitely said “Princess.”

For someone to call her Princess, that must mean…

In her hazy consciousness, her vision doubled. A familiar face flickered before becoming clear.

“Annabel…”

The moment she called the name, Annabel’s face vanished like a mirage. Standing before her was not Annabel but Alice.

“I’m Alice, Princess. Do you recognize me?”

“Princess…?”

“Yes, Princess.”

Alice answered with an overwhelmed expression.

“You… knew about me…?”

Vivianne asked, bewildered.

She had confessed to humans before that she was once a mermaid. However, she had never revealed her royal status.

“What mermaid in the kingdom wouldn’t know the Princess?”

“Then, Alice, are you possibly…?”

“Yes, I’m a mermaid too, Princess. Duke Larson brought me here.”

“K-Kian did?”

“Yes.”

Suddenly, the taxidermy room she had seen downstairs flashed in her mind, making her dizzy.

“No, Alice…”

“What? What do you mean, Princess?”

“You haven’t told Kian you’re a mermaid, have you? You mustn’t let him find out.”

Despite her urgent warning, Alice merely tilted her head in confusion, hearing this information for the first time.

“If Kian learns your identity… he might h-hurt you. Kian hates mermaids.”

“That’s impossible.”

Alice flatly denied it.

“The Duke treated my sick baby and even allowed my family to stay here.”

Was this unexpected information? Vivianne’s eyes darted back and forth, unable to make sense of it.

Hadn’t Kian hunted mermaids?

Thinking about her sisters surrounding her in the taxidermy room still made her blood run cold. Yet Alice was saying something completely contradictory to what Vivianne had known.

Her mind was muddied like turbid water with fragments of suddenly emerging memories.

Vivianne sat up and looked again at Alice’s lower body. Instead of a tail, she clearly had legs.

Of course she did. Mermaids couldn’t survive on land. Even she hadn’t known Alice was a mermaid until recently.

“So Alice received legs.”

“That’s right. I made a contract with the witch because I found a male I loved.”

Alice had a daughter. She had become human by bearing a male’s offspring.

“What about Matilda and Theodore? Do you know what happened to them?”

Vivianne asked urgently. Though her memory wasn’t complete, worry for them had occupied her mind since she regained consciousness.

“Who are they? I don’t know those people…”

“The head maid. Matilda is the head maid.”

“…The head maid is someone else.”

Judging by her expression, she didn’t seem to be lying. Vivianne felt a headache coming on and grew nauseous.

“You must have had a terrible dream, Princess. Right?”

In truth, she had only just regained consciousness, making it difficult to distinguish between reality and dreams.

She needed to sort out what was happening.