When she opened her eyes, she found herself in an unfamiliar space she had never seen before. Startled, Vivianne froze stiff and could only blink.

Just moments ago, she was definitely alone in her room praying. What was happening?

She was dumbfounded. First, she rolled her eyes around to assess the situation.

The cave, thickly overgrown with seaweed, was dark with no sunlight penetrating through. It was not just eerie, but downright gloomy.

Was this deeper than the mermaid palace? She felt a chilling coldness, perhaps from the water temperature.

She had always sung about wanting to leave the mermaid palace, but now the unfamiliar sensations against her skin felt more frightening than fascinating.

“Hello, Princess.”

She hadn’t sensed any presence at all.

Vivianne’s shoulders jerked when she saw the woman who had suddenly appeared before her.

Regardless, the woman circled around Vivianne, looking her up and down.

“From what I can see, our princess has the most beautiful and desirable tail of all, yet you want legs instead?”

“W-who are you?”

The woman smirked at Vivianne’s face, which had turned as white as if she’d seen a ghost.

“Me? I’m your savior.”

A savior, out of nowhere?

Though they had met while she was praying, the woman seemed far from anything related to salvation. With purple hair, blood-red eyes, and heavy makeup, she was beautiful but creepy. Though she had the appearance of a mermaid, she exuded an obviously dangerous aura.

To be honest, she was scared. Her fins were trembling and she wanted to hide, but she felt she needed to stay alert or she might be eaten alive.

Vivianne let out a soft breath to maintain her composure. First, she carefully recalled what had happened before coming here.

When she had prayed to become happy, an unknown voice had responded. Then when she opened her eyes, she was here.

“I’ve come to reward the good princess who was praying.”

The woman before her definitely had the exact same voice she had heard earlier.

Magic, perhaps, or something like that?

At any rate, this wasn’t a normal situation. When Vivianne remained cautious, the woman let out a derisive laugh.

Then she waved a potion bottle in front of Vivianne’s face. The bottle containing green liquid looked grotesque at first glance.

“Don’t you want legs?”

But ‘legs’! Vivianne’s pupils dilated slightly with excitement and anticipation.

“Drink this and you’ll get legs. Not interested?”

“…I want them!”

When Vivianne reached out as if enchanted to grab the potion bottle, the woman snatched it away teasingly.

“I’ll give it to you.”

The woman raised her eyebrows as if doing her a favor.

“Of course, it’s not free. We need to make a deal.”

“You mean there’s a price?”

“Correct.”

This woman is a witch.

Vivianne instinctively realized the woman’s identity through her behavior.

She had read about deep-sea witches in books. They were wicked beings who lived in black caves deep in the ocean, granting wishes in exchange for mermaids’ souls.

Why had her desperate prayer reached a wicked witch instead of god? Was it because she had dared to wish for something forbidden and unreasonable?

Perhaps this was a field that required forbidden dark arts rather than divine grace.

However they had become entangled, she wasn’t sure of the exact circumstances. What mattered was that the witch was attempting to make a deal.

“Before that, I want to ask something. Do you really think that just having legs will make a human love you?”

The witch asked, resting her chin on her hand with a contemplative expression. There was clear mockery in her question.

Well, she had to admit it.

She knew better than anyone how unreasonable her wish was.

“No. I can’t guarantee that.”

Vivianne answered firmly while looking straight into the witch’s eyes.

“What I want is a chance. With legs, at least I can try to approach him first.”

“Interesting.”

They said she lived locked up, and she thought the princess would be completely ignorant about the world. But it seemed she wasn’t entirely a deluded dreamer.

“Alright. I’ll give you the potion. In exchange, I want a ‘mermaid’s tear.'”

“A mermaid’s tear?”

“Yes. Give me one of the ‘mermaid’s tears’ you possess.”

A ‘mermaid’s tear’ was a crystallization containing a mermaid’s soul, with one in each eye, two in total. She was proposing to trade one of them.

“Your eyes are so pretty, Princess.”

The witch stroked near Vivianne’s left eye with her long finger. Her touch was greedy, as if looking at a delicious fruit, making Vivianne’s skin crawl.

“This potion will only temporarily give you legs. In other words, it’s incomplete. The rest is up to you, so listen carefully.”

Incomplete?

There were conditions to complete the contract. Vivianne perked up her ears while holding her breath.

“The full moon rises every month. When the ninth full moon from now rises, there will be a red moon. If you are carrying that male’s offspring by then, you can become human through that power.”

Carrying offspring? Did that mean she had to mate with that male?

Of course, she liked him and wanted to be held by him. Perhaps because she was in heat, the thought of carrying his offspring seemed like it would make her incomparably happy.

But it wasn’t something that could be forced. Just as she disliked forced marriage, she couldn’t force such acts with that male just because she wanted to become human.

Even if mating was successful, conception might not happen on the first try. So she had to consider the possibility of failure.

“What happens if I fail?”

“Simple. The other one becomes mine too. With your entire soul taken away, you’ll disappear into sea foam.”

A contract using the soul as collateral. It was a high-risk contract from the start.

Though she wasn’t unprepared, disappearing into sea foam? Would she vanish as if she had never existed?

“…”

An overwhelming fear began to wash over her. She felt the blood drain from her face.

“Want to see my collection?”

The witch showed her collection to Vivianne, who was hesitating in a daze, as though she were showing off. The jewelry box was full of ‘mermaid’s tears’ of various colors.

Perhaps because they contained mermaids’ souls, each had different colors and transparency. They sparkled with their own unique light, like rare gems.

“Aren’t they pretty?”

So many mermaids had made wishes like this. There were quite a few displayed in pairs. Their owners had probably turned to sea foam. When that thought occurred to her, it felt chilling.

“Well, what will you do?”

Perhaps there would come a day when she’d regret making such a reckless decision.

Vivianne knew that in this world, more things didn’t go as planned than did.

Conversely, if she gave up and went back now? Could she really not regret giving up this opportunity?

The conclusion was simpler than expected.

“I’ll do it, the deal.”

Even if she couldn’t become happy.

She didn’t want to run away before even trying.

“Give me legs.”

* * *

The warship was in an uproar. After a pirate suppression operation had ended, the deck was busy with people carrying in the spoils taken from them.

Kian von Larson, who had overseen this operation, stared blankly at the creature trembling while tied up in ropes.

Though its pale face and fear-filled eyes were perfectly human, below the waist was perfectly fish-like.

Strangely, it was neither human nor fish.

“It’s a mermaid, Lieutenant. What should we do?”

To the adjutant’s question, Kian commanded with emotionless eyes.

“Kill it.”

* * *

Though the season was entering summer, the night air was still cool. The southern Erich coast was relatively warm, but after sunset, the boundaries between seasons would become ambiguous like this.

The warships that had returned from their operation were anchored along the coast.

Thump, thump. The irregular sound of military boots on the sand soon faded. As dismissal time approached, the surroundings became somewhat chaotic.

It was common for unit discipline to loosen after landing, but today, as if there was something interesting to see, they were gathered in a circle, murmuring amongst themselves.

“Find out what’s happening.”

“Yes, Lieutenant.”

The adjutant moved quickly as soon as Kian’s order fell.

Since it had been grueling training, he didn’t plan to push them too hard. But he too was tired from the overnight training.

Perhaps that’s why the small commotion that arose after all duties were finished wasn’t particularly welcome.

“There’s a woman who collapsed on the beach, sir.”

He didn’t ask any additional questions and immediately headed there. Through the circle of silhouettes, he could see the collapsed woman.

What had happened? The woman was curled up without a single thread of clothing. Though her long hair clung to her body, wrapping around it, it couldn’t completely cover her white skin.

A n*ked woman among dark-clothed men. Kian’s neat brow furrowed at her defenseless state.

“Enjoying the show?”

The unit members, startled by their superior’s sharp voice, retreated like the ebbing tide.

The cape Kian threw landed softly on the woman’s body.

“I don’t recall giving the dismissal order yet.”

When he raised his eyes sharply, the unit members’ gazes all dropped to their feet.

“Return to formation before I enforce military discipline.”

Kian wrapped the cape around the woman’s body before lifting her himself. She was quite light, causing Kian’s eyes to naturally turn to her.

Had she been washed up by the waves? As soon as he held her, a strong scent of the sea wafted up. His arms felt like they held a ball of fire. Looking down, he saw her breathing heavily and trembling slightly.

Her eyelashes fluttered. When she managed to lift her heavy eyelids, ocean-blue eyes wavered like waves.

She tried to mumble something while moving her lips. Her voice wouldn’t come out properly, making it impossible to understand what she was saying. The woman, delirious with fever and rambling, soon dropped her head. Perhaps finding human warmth pleasant, she kept burrowing into his arms.

Not even able to open her eyes properly, yet still. So fearless.

A laugh escaped him.

“Lieutenant, let me take her.”

“No need.”

When the adjutant tried to take her, Kian flatly refused and ordered.

“Call Matilda.”