Kian blinked slowly.

Even when he closed and opened his eyes, she didn’t disappear from his sight.

“Vivi…”

Even when he called her nickname, she didn’t run away.

She wasn’t just some illusion. Vivianne was right before his eyes.

Had his final wish come true? He was lost in such fairytale-like sentiments for only a moment before an ominous premonition crossed his mind.

Vivianne came here to turn into sea foam.

Just like he thought of this place for his end, perhaps she also chose this place as where she would disappear.

There was no other reason Vivianne would come.

Even if it had become an unpleasant memory now, this place was familiar to her too. It was perfectly natural for a mermaid to think of the sea.

When his thoughts reached that point, strength entered the hand gripping the sword.

No. I can’t let you disappear.

The one who should disappear is me.

That was the natural order. If Vivianne turned into sea foam and vanished, how could he live in an empty world without her? He couldn’t even imagine it.

Kian shook his head.

“Don’t come.”

“That’s ridiculous. You’re going to stab your heart with that?”

Vivianne asked in disbelief. Even though he warned her not to come closer, she seemed not to hear those words and was staggering toward him.

Did she already know he was going to stab his heart? How on earth?

He had questions but no time to think. Realizing there wasn’t much time left, his vision went dark.

“I told you not to come!”

Without realizing it, Kian stumbled backward and raised the blade. However, despite his sharp voice, Vivianne paid no attention and approached.

“Back away, Vivi. It’s not like that.”

There isn’t much time left.

So please go.

He didn’t want to show Vivianne the sight of him stabbing his own heart. If she returned to the sea as a mermaid after seeing such a horrible scene, could she truly be happy?

He wanted his final appearance to be decent. He didn’t want to be remembered as someone bleeding from a stab wound. He wanted to avoid that at least.

“Please.”

He begged, but Vivianne kept getting closer.

“Why are you trying to die? Why go that far? What am I to you…”

Her questioning voice trembled violently.

“If I’m so precious to you… why did you treat me like that?”

Her deep blue eyes seemed to shimmer with moisture before overflowing. Watching the tears drip down her cheeks, Kian was speechless.

Making her cry until the very end. He had wanted to take with him the memory of making her smile at the fireworks festival. To show her such a sight. Even he thought he was beyond redemption.

“I’m pregnant. It’s your baby.”

He, who had been backing away, stopped dead in his tracks.

Vivianne was pregnant? Then she won’t turn into sea foam now? She won’t disappear?

Even hearing it, he couldn’t believe it and drew in a sharp breath.

“So don’t you dare die for me. I won’t allow it. You don’t have that right…”

Vivianne held her lower abdomen with one hand and squeezed out the words.

I hated you. There were days when I was full of resentment and hatred.

Why did you kill Annabel? Even when I cried and screamed, you not only refused to give me a reason but denied my very existence, saying I couldn’t possibly be a mermaid.

Living felt like h*ll. Because that was the only way to escape, I tried to stab your heart but couldn’t bring myself to do it.

What I couldn’t bear more than my resentment toward you was my resentment toward myself.

I despised myself more for offering up even my soul because I wanted you. I hated myself more than you who destroyed me, because I couldn’t let go of you in the end.

The memory of feeling even the innocent child in my womb was disgusting like a bug will probably never be forgotten.

It was the same until now.

I despise and resent my weak hatred that couldn’t stab you with this knife that day, ultimately letting you stab yourself.

I hate you yet can’t bear to watch you die.

“You’re going to stab your heart for me? To prevent me from turning into sea foam?”

Sobs overwhelmed her and she couldn’t breathe. Vivianne continued speaking while hiccupping.

“Don’t you dare ask for forgiveness like that. You ask me for forgiveness. Don’t just die on your own…”

“……”

“I’m going to live too… so you live too. Otherwise… I’ll never forgive you. Until I die, I’ll resent and hate you.”

She had resented Kian for k*lling Annabel.

But Kian hadn’t killed Annabel, yet he never told her that fact. It was probably because of guilt over the mermaids he had killed.

Then could the mermaids who used humans as sacrifices truly be called innocent?

If the sacrifice thrown into the Mermaid’s Sea that day had been her instead of Kian, could she  really not resent the mermaids?

She hated herself for not being able to deny it.

“You never once told me what happened to you all this time. Always solving things alone and judging alone, how can you be so… selfish? If you don’t tell me, how am I supposed to know?”

“……”

“How can you do this to me until the very end… If you die like that… how am I supposed to live? You bad man!”

Vivianne began crying loudly.

She wailed while spitting out harsh words that didn’t suit her.

Strength left Kian’s hand and the dagger fell onto the sand with a thud.

Kian silently embraced Vivianne’s staggering body that seemed about to collapse.

“No. Let go!”

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t hold me. I really hate you!”

She twisted her shoulders. Even when she hit Kian’s chest hard with her fists and pushed against his collarbone, his solid chest didn’t budge. The more she struggled, the tighter he held her.

“I was wrong, Vivi.”

Kian’s voice trembled as he begged for forgiveness. He didn’t dare think he could be forgiven. That’s probably why he had tried to turn away and run even more.

“To try to run away leaving you behind, I was cowardly. I’ll admit everything. Like you said, I only know myself, and I might be rotten to the core. No, that’s exactly what I am.”

Kian began a somewhat disjointed apology. If even someone like him could be forgiven, he would beg and apologize countless times.

No, even if he was ultimately not forgiven, that would be fine.

If the wounded heart could heal even a little because of him, he was prepared to do anything.

When Vivianne’s body in his arms went limp, he wiped her wet, messy eyes. After releasing her who was gasping from sobbing, he knelt on the white sand.

Vivianne’s surprised eyes widened.

“If you’re angry, you can hit me, you can resent me, you can curse at me until you feel better. Even if you never forgive me forever, it doesn’t matter.”

From the beginning, he had only wanted to save Vivianne.

Now she wouldn’t turn into sea foam. She wouldn’t disappear from this world. That was enough.

Nothing else mattered. Even if he couldn’t hold her in his arms, he was grateful just that she was alive.

“If you’ll allow it, I want to spend the rest of my life atoning. Would that be possible?”

Vivianne looked down carefully at the man kneeling before her. Wondering if she was seeing things wrong, she rubbed her eyes with the back of her hand.

Kian’s eyes were red. His pale cheeks were already stained with tear tracks.

At the sight that was hard to believe even seeing it, she reached out to touch his cheek. It was damp and hot. Kian was crying. She felt something warm spreading in her chest.

“Please?”

He grasped Vivianne’s wrist as she caressed his face and kissed her palm pleadingly.

“I’m still not sure.”

Just because he apologized and begged, could the wounds heal instantly? That was impossible.

She still resented Kian, but all sorts of emotions that couldn’t be simply defined as ‘dislike’ were tangled together in layers.

She still hurt when thinking of the wounds he had given her, but at the same time felt sorry for him.

She didn’t want to see his face, yet when she thought of him disappearing, she couldn’t bear it at all. It was an ambivalent emotion that was hard to define clearly.

And though it was absurd in this situation, she somewhat understood what Marchioness Baldwin had said.

Seeing Kian on his knees felt slightly satisfying, while simultaneously making her feel bad because he looked so pitiful.

“I’ll think about it.”

Vivianne didn’t immediately help Kian up, taking small revenge by deferring her choice.

Before they knew it, the sun had been devoured by the sea, and darkness had instantly fallen around them.

She had wanted to reach the male who was brilliant like the moon. Back then, the day when the red moon would rise had seemed so distant.

The red moon rose in the pitch-black sky without even stars. It was an unusually bright and large moon.

In front of the male kneeling before her, Vivianne caressed his wet face and finally became completely human like the full moon.

Someday may she have the courage to forgive him cleanly. No, even if Vivianne couldn’t, wouldn’t that be fine too? Vivianne entertained such an irresponsible hypothesis.

Just for today, she wanted to act very childishly spoiled.