What exciting news could she be so eager to share?

It was also their first conversation since Kian had cleared his schedule of the obligatory Friday 3 PM tea time with the former Duchess. She must have accumulated many things to say during that time—perhaps he should have prepared some tea for the occasion.

With this wry thought, Kian carefully observed Eleanor’s ridiculous appearance.

“My child, you surely know that the ‘Mermaid’s Sea’ is an essential shipping route from Larson to neighboring countries.”

“Of course I do.”

“Since ancient times, there have been many sudden shipwrecks in the ‘Mermaid’s Sea’—just like that day. That’s why a certain ritual must be performed once every ten years. You should know what this ritual is, as the master of Larson, you’ll need to conduct it secretly yourself from now on.”

“Yes. So please get to the point without beating around the bush. There’s no one here but me.”

Kian exhaled softly, feeling his patience wearing thin.

“First, you need to find a person. Usually, we would bring a boy with no relatives from an orphanage. Any boy old enough to perform simple tasks on a ship would suffice.”

A boy to perform simple tasks on a ship. Kian felt an unsettling sense of familiarity at this part. After all, that had been his exact role when he first boarded the ship that day.

“…And what happens to this boy?”

Kian swallowed hard before meeting her gaze directly.

“What becomes of him?”

“What do you think happens?” she asked with a mocking laugh.

How would he know? His only memories from the ship were running simple errands, talking with Joshua, and falling asleep without incident. Nothing unusual had happened.

“Sadly, the poor thing becomes a sacrifice. A living offering to appease the ‘Mermaid’s Sea,’ where the waters frequently swirl like whirlpools and wail madly.”

Her face wore an expression of perfect contempt.

“The ritual itself isn’t anything grand. A direct descendant of Larson simply boards the ship and throws the sacrifice into the sea—that’s all.”

It was also a sneer directed at the pitiful boy standing right before her—the boy from that day.

“…I haven’t heard reports of your nervous exhaustion progressing to delusions. Perhaps it’s time to change your physician.”

Let her talk. He wasn’t foolish enough to be shaken by the words of a madwoman. He had grown accustomed to ridicule from a very young age. He simply needed to ignore it or pay it back in kind.

Just as Eleanor von Larson had always taught him, Kian maintained his composure.

“Yes. You’d like to believe I’ve lost my mind.”

“Haven’t you?”

“You’re right. I am mad. For quite some time now, I suppose? When my precious son died overnight—how could any mother remain sane after holding a funeral without even a body?”

She poured out her resentment like a dam breaking.

“I thought our esteemed Duke of Larson wouldn’t believe the words of a madwoman, so I prepared this specially for you. It’s passed down only to the head of the family, so it’s yours now.”

Kian awkwardly accepted what she handed him—an extremely old and worn notebook.

As he flipped through it, the smell of aged paper wafted up. Skimming through, he saw what appeared to be records: which month and day, how and whom they had thrown in to perform the ritual. It was a record of murders committed throughout generations under the name of sacrifice and ritual.

“Oh, truly. You still don’t believe me? You’re beyond help. Of course, you don’t have to believe it.”

“……”

“Well then, listen to this too, treat it like fiction. It’ll be quite entertaining.”

Noticing Kian’s fingertips trembling as he held the notebook, Eleanor smiled even more brightly.

“Back then, the Duke said he would burn sleeping herbs. Out of minimal compassion for his own blood, I permitted it.”

That day, his last memory on the ship was uncharacteristically saying a prayer before falling asleep. Then feeling a suffocating terror, and when he next opened his eyes, finding himself collapsed on a beach.

There was clearly a gap in his memory.

“How benevolent I was! To burn those expensive sleeping herbs for an impurity that should have been disposed of long ago, or better yet, never existed in the first place! Isn’t that right, Kian?”

Eleanor’s eyes, brimming with tears, were filled with hideous bloodshot veins. She was confessing her atrocities as deliberately as possible, suppressing her agitated tone by swallowing rapid breaths.

“But why… did you return alive?”

Eleanor staggered closer to Kian. With trembling hands, she cupped his cheek and caressed it repeatedly in disbelief. Kian simply looked down at her with empty eyes.

“You were the sacrifice. You should have died, devoured by that sea that day. So why is my son gone? Since when does the sacrifice consume the original?”

In an instant, her thin hand flew up and struck Kian’s cheek with all her might.

Whether from the sudden slap or the raving madwoman before him, he heard a ringing in one ear.

Kian slowly turned his face back to its original position. Though she had been the one to strike him, Eleanor von Larson sat crumpled on the floor, sobbing as though she had been the one struck.

“It’s all because of you. You should have died… Because you didn’t die, my son died instead. A worthless thing like you should have died. No, you should never have been born. Why was something like you even born in the first place? It makes no sense. No sense at all.”

Muttering for a long time about whatever grieved her so deeply, she began pounding her own chest with her fists, struggling to breathe. Then she lunged forward again, grabbing Kian by the collar.

“Give me back my son! If you were the sacrifice, you should have died properly in that sea. Even now, if you die… sob… my son… will return here. How dare something like you! Because you returned alive…! A sacrifice doesn’t consume the original. You’re a monster! It’s all your fault!”

Her wailing accusations mingled with the sound of pouring rain, creating a dissonant ringing in his ears.

Watching this absurd scene, a bitter smile spread across Kian’s lips.

“…How is that my fault?”

“What?”

His black pupils had settled into a cold, hard stare.

“To believe such nonsense and throw living people into the sea—if divine punishment exists in this world, think carefully about who deserves it.”

He forcibly removed her trembling hands from his collar and threw them aside. Eleanor von Larson’s body fell helplessly to the floor.

Just like the child who had once collapsed under the lash of her belt.

“Let me say it again in case you didn’t understand. This is your divine punishment.”

Kian lowered himself before the sobbing Eleanor and murmured.

“You’ve grown weak. When I was young… I was truly terrified when you got angry.”

He neatly smoothed her disheveled hair and closed the open window. Outside, threatening waves surged high, perhaps due to the downpour.

“You’ll see. Even in death, I will never forgive you!”

Suddenly, a flash of lightning struck, followed by the sound of thunder. Simultaneously, her cursing and shrieking continued behind him.

Do as you please. It made no difference to him.

“As you wish. Since you miss your son tonight, I’ll assume you’ll be sleeping in his room.”

Kian bowed politely while looking into her bloodshot eyes.

“I wish you a good night.”

With those final words, he left the room.

The next day, Eleanor von Larson’s body was found hanging in that very spot.

* * *

After the annex emptied, Kian enlisted in the navy and began his voyages. In truth, beyond the pretext of Larson tradition, there was no clear reason for this decision.

Was it because of his promise to Joshua not to fear the sea? But by allowing his mother to end up as she did, perhaps he had gone too far in keeping that promise. Or was it stubbornness—a desire to prove that he was not the sacrifice?

No matter how he thought about it, it all seemed pointless.

Those beautiful creatures were either stupid or careless, occasionally getting caught in pirate’s spoils or sometimes even in something as trivial as fishing nets.

“Captain. It’s a mermaid.”

And just when he was about to forget, one would appear before him—trembling and begging for mercy with a pale blue face.

Kian stared blankly at the mermaid that had been hauled onto the deck like a fish on a cutting board.

To throw people into the sea for the sake of such lowly creatures. They said mermaids bewitched people with their songs, driving them mad before devouring them—monsters, truly. Their very existence repulsed him.

Just looking at one made him nauseous, bringing back the ringing in his ears from that night.

Even he recognized this as blind hatred. Or perhaps his anger, having nowhere else to go, had driven him mad.

“…What should we do with it?” the adjutant asked after watching him cautiously for some time.

“K*ll it.”

He wouldn’t care if the entire Larson family were wiped out. If he died right now, he wouldn’t feel particularly wronged. After all, wasn’t he supposed to be a living sacrifice? Shouldn’t he have died that night in that sea?

…So go ahead, try to curse this sacrifice.

“Make it clean,” Kian added as his adjutant drew a gun.

* * *

In the Duke of Larson’s bedroom, Vivianne stood by the window with the balcony doors wide open. She was holding her puppy tightly in her arms.

“An, look! Kian will be coming from over there.”

Vivianne pointed to the sea with an excited expression. An seemed to be enjoying himself too, sniffing the sea breeze with his nose twitching.

An’s jet-black eyes darted back and forth.

“Here, look at this. This is my treasure.”

Though no one else was watching, Vivianne whispered as she secretly showed the compass around her neck to An.

“When Kian comes, the needle moves. Hard to believe, right? I feel the same way.”

Suddenly, the compass needle pointing toward the sea began to tremble. Vivianne’s blue eyes widened.

“I think Kian is coming! Are you excited too, An?”

Her heart began to pound. Vivianne stamped her feet excitedly and nuzzled her cheek against An.

Shortly after, a naval ship docked at Port Erich.

—

T/N: I am so sorry for adding so many translator notes, but I just cannot shut up about this novel. The way I gasped and just took a moment to take this chapter in. Everything makes sense now—not quite, but we’re getting there. So many things happened in a span of 20 chapters, and we haven’t even gotten to the part where Vivi discovers the secret room yet! Whew.