‘So refreshing.’

Vivianne successfully overcame her first crisis. After swimming in the sea under the moonlight and cooling her soles, she felt much better. It was a refreshing sensation.

Her tail had completely disappeared, and her legs had returned. As the burning sensation subsided, a wave of fatigue washed over her. She wanted to hurry back to her room to bathe and sleep.

Even after confirming that she no longer had a tail but legs, she still felt uneasy.

Sitting on the rock, she checked multiple times. She wiggled her toes and splashed water by stomping both feet. They were definitely legs. Vivianne sighed with relief and slowly made her way back to shore.

‘…Ugh, so cold.’

Had she swum for too long after such a long time? She seemed to have overdone it in the momentary feeling of liberation. As soon as she left the water, a biting cold enveloped her skin.

While in the water, she hadn’t noticed because the temperature was warm. But coming out soaking wet, despite it being summer, her jaw involuntarily trembled and her teeth chattered.

She was glad she had brought the shawl. Vivianne wrapped her arms around herself, shivering as she carefully headed toward where she had left her shawl and shoes.

She wasn’t sure how many more times this would happen, but having solved it once, she felt somewhat more confident. Though it had caught her off guard, she thought her plan had been relatively perfect. Now she just needed to get back to her room, bathe, and sleep as if nothing had happened.

‘Where did they go?’

But the problem arose from an unexpected place.

She had definitely left them here. But her clothes and shoes were gone.

How strange.

Had she misremembered where she placed them?

No, that was impossible.

This was the exact beach where she always hid behind rocks to secretly watch Kian during his walks.

Once a month she would gaze at him longingly, then spend the next twenty-nine days savoring that memory. It would be stranger if she didn’t know the geography of this place.

She definitely hadn’t placed them where waves could wash them away. She deliberately put them in the spot where Kian always paused to look up at the moon. The tide never reached that far, and it was easy to remember.

She thought she had stored them in the perfect spot. But truly, they had vanished without a trace.

‘What should I do?’

An overwhelming sense of despair came over her. While she could do without the shawl, she couldn’t lose the shoes Kian had given her. She had to find them before returning. Unless someone had taken them, they should still be on the beach. Vivianne walked with her eyes fixed on the ground, completely soaked.

“Looking for these?”

The familiar voice that reached her ears made her blood run cold.

Hoping it wasn’t true, she looked up, and there was Kian.

With an expressionless gaze, he dangled her sand-covered shawl and pair of shoes, seemingly showing them off. Vivianne’s eyes darted around, unable to focus.

“What exactly are you doing here?”

How did he know to come here?

Did he come looking for me?

She had doubts, but thinking back, she had always secretly watched Kian walking here.

He probably came for a walk and happened to see her.

Her body had been in such pain, and she had rushed for fear her tail might appear at any moment, so she hadn’t thought deeply about it.

She had narrowly avoided disaster. If she had been just a little later, she would have faced Kian in her mermaid form. Fortunately, she had confirmed her legs had returned while in the water, and they were already back when she sat on the rock.

Vivianne thought she should find a more secluded spot on the beach for future emergencies. But first, she needed to deal with the male who was staring at her suspiciously.

“…Were you out for a walk, Kian?”

“Do I look that idle to you?”

Kian asked irritably as he spread out the shawl wide. He wrapped it tightly around Vivianne’s body, and seemingly finding it insufficient, took off his jacket and draped it over her.

Vivianne’s face turned pale.

“I-I’m fine, Kian. The night air is cold. You’ll be cold too.”

“Drop that pathetic concern. I think an explanation is needed first.”

“……”

“This situation. What is it exactly?”

Despite his gentle gesture, his cold voice froze Vivianne’s lips stiff. Indeed, this would seem strange to anyone.

“I’m asking what this is.”

How should I explain? Her mind went blank. Naturally, this wasn’t something she could honestly talk about.

“I… I couldn’t sleep. So I came out for a walk and impulsively decided to go into the sea.”

Vivianne squeezed her eyes shut. She had no choice but to lie. Even to herself, it sounded like a flimsy excuse. Though the situation was unavoidable, a deep sense of self-loathing washed over her.

“In the middle of the night, because of you…!”

Startled by his thunderous voice, Vivianne stared at the ground with a pale face.

Kian, who had raised his voice in a somewhat agitated tone, paused for a moment. Seemingly realizing he had lost his composure, he rubbed his face and let out a long sigh before continuing.

“Do you know how many people couldn’t sleep and were searching for you? All because of your thoughtless impulse?”

“…I’m sorry.”

Her lips trembled even as she apologized. Kian looked Vivianne up and down as she shivered, then let out a deep sigh. Then he gently lifted her wet body into his arms.

“Let’s go for now.”

Her thoroughly soaked appearance in his arms reminded him of the day he had found her.

* * *

Even after lying down to sleep, sleep wouldn’t come.

Theodore, who had been lying blankly in bed, tossed and turned for a long time before suddenly sitting up.

“…What did I just see?”

He couldn’t believe what he had witnessed.

He felt dazed, like he had just woken from a dream.

Unable to sleep, he had been sitting on the hill overlooking Coral Beach when he spotted Vivianne.

He was about to acknowledge her and ask her to wait while he went down, but then realized how late it was. Since it could cause misunderstandings if someone saw them, he decided to quietly observe unless she was in danger.

At first, he thought she was out for a walk because she couldn’t sleep. Although they had walked in the glass greenhouse together, she might have needed another walk if she felt restless. Like himself, who had come to the beach because his busy mind prevented sleep, Vivianne might have felt the same.

The master had probably upset her over the waltz issue. It would have been stranger if she could sleep well in that situation.

So he watched quietly. She neatly placed her shawl and shoes on the sand and suddenly headed toward the sea. At first, he thought she just wanted to dip her feet.

During their walk together, she had mentioned enjoying walking barefoot on the beach. But in an instant, she went deep into the sea and disappeared.

Was she going for a swim? Surely she wasn’t thinking anything bad?

His mind raced with countless thoughts. His body moved before his mind could process. His only thought was to run to the sea and save her. Just as he was about to dive in, Theodore witnessed an unbelievable sight.

What splashed with the waves was definitely Vivianne. But as she descended below the surface, a fin with a mysterious glow undulated with the waves.

…Just like a mermaid.

Theodore could only freeze in place before the sea.

I must have seen wrong. Surely it was an illusion.

With such a dazzlingly beautiful woman under the moonlight, he might have been mistaken.

It must have been an optical illusion in the darkness. That’s what he naturally thought.

But Vivianne had been underwater for a long time and hadn’t resurfaced.

Could she have drowned?

Was she unable to escape because of a leg cramp?

Anxiety overwhelmed him. These thoughts came under the premise that he had seen an illusion. Though he was not an excellent swimmer, he could manage the basics, so he immediately dove into the sea.

As he cut through the waves, he once again saw a tail fin breaking the surface. Vivianne, who had reached the surface, was gracefully swimming through the waves.

“…This can’t be real. It’s impossible.”

Theodore kept muttering to himself as he recalled the memory. He hoped it was just an illusion created by the moonlight. It was too vivid to be a dream, yet too difficult to accept as reality.

Yes. What if.

What if her true identity was really a mermaid…?