Deep beneath the sea, in the underground of Atlantis.

“…There are two. That woman must die. Stupid fools. Stupid… Hecate…”

In the dark prison, a woman with a torn mouth muttered endlessly.

Her body, torn apart and regenerated hundreds of times in that short period, resembled nothing more than rags. The dark red blood she shed pooled on the floor without a chance to dry, beginning to rot, yet no one paid her any attention.

Everyone who drank seawater hated and despised this woman.

She was a traitor, one who attempted to rebel against the sea god.

The woman, transformed from the most beautiful serpent into an ugly witch, repeated the same words with rolled-back eyes. These words seemed the most intense desire and curse engraved in this witch’s soul.

“My spells… are two. That woman will die. She must die. Because my spells are two… Hehehe. It only ends with death, must die… that woman dies. You will surely be unhappy… ugh, aaaargh!”

After a brief period of recovery, the time of pain when her body split apart came again. Blood trickled from Echidna’s already clouded eyes and burst eardrums. Soon after, her long mouth and tongue became stained with bright red blood, and her mutterings, resembling those of a mad woman, dissolved into the bloody water.

“Th… ugh… wo…man… die… huh…. My… spells… two… huaaaagh!”

Echidna’s voice faded away in the empty darkness.

Of course, no one remained to hear it.

***

The emergency gathering dispersed as quickly as it had assembled.

Once they somewhat resolved the agenda, the Tritones hurried back to their respective positions. Each had things they needed to protect.

Triton too felt anxious to hurry back, having left Livia behind, but he had to spare time when several Tritones desperately requested his help.

Only after lending his strength, giving advice, and promising to personally look into matters too difficult for them to handle on their own did the last Triton leave the meeting hall.

Triton lifted his head to look at the sunlight filtering through the seawater to gauge the time.

Though well past noon, the hour remained too early to be called evening. If he hurried back, he thought he might watch Livia eat dinner.

No matter how upset she might become, Livia never grew picky about food or skipped meals.

He never tired of watching her chew thoroughly and swallow with little gulps. Something both trivial and cute existed in how diligently she ate to take care of that small, fragile body.

Just as he let out a small laugh thinking of Livia, Actius returned from cleaning up the underwater meeting place and said with a moved expression.

“Were you waiting for me? You could have gone ahead!”

…He hadn’t particularly been waiting, but seeing Actius’s expression so bright, Triton tactfully decided to keep quiet.

“The cleanup?”

“Of course, I finished it perfectly!”

The sea had naturally compressed due to the sudden gathering of Tritons. The ecosystem had inevitably fallen into chaos, so work was needed to inspect and restore the destroyed area.

Though not originally Actius’s job, because this gathering had proceeded without time for preparation and the damage proved severe, even Actius had to lend a hand.

“I see. Then let’s head back now.”

Just as Triton turned his head, the sunlight that had seeped into the seawater sparkled while circling above his hair ornament. Glancing at it, Actius added curiously.

“By the way, why are you wearing all your hair ornaments? For someone who doesn’t like decorating…”

“I received it as a gift, so I should wear it.”

At Triton’s words, Actius’s face grew even more confused.

Gifts constantly arrived. If Triton had worn all the gifts he received, he should have been wrapped so tightly that not an inch of skin showed.

Moreover, this one appeared even cruder than any gift that had ever come before. While the coral itself possessed superior quality, the craftsmanship in carving the coral and the finishing looked terrible.

Actius’s face grew quite displeased as he examined the coral pin closely.

“I don’t know which sea it was sent from, but this seems very disrespectful. How dare they present such shoddy work to Triton…”

“Livia made it herself. She has an excellent eye for choosing premium coral, and quite good skill too, don’t you think?”

“…The one who made it is Lady Livia! Oh, heavens! I almost misjudged due to my tired eyes lately, but looking again, this undoubtedly represents the most beautiful coral in the world. Wow! Not only Lady Livia’s eye for quality but her craftsmanship truly appears remarkable!”

…He had nearly vanished without a trace.

Actius hurriedly showered praise on the hair ornament while cold sweat drenched his back. He had to move his mouth faster than ever to survive.

“The color, the shape, why, nothing here deserves fault. Moreover, seeing how well it suits you, Lord Triton, clearly much devotion went into making it. Hahaha!”

Perhaps not disliking those flattering praises, Triton gently agreed with a rather benevolent expression.

“Indeed. How she made this with those small hands… My bride truly possesses talent.”

Satisfaction spread across Triton’s face as he nodded and spoke. He genuinely seemed to like that coral ornament. To think that a god who possessed all the seas would smile like that over a mere ornament made of coral pieces.

What had that human woman done to Lord Triton? Strange and fascinating to see how Triton, who had treated humans as less than deep-sea dust, changed every time he appeared.

To think that the emotion of love held such tremendous influence.

Well… Perhaps that explains why rumors persistently circulated about the love gods being ancient deities who existed from the beginning. Though with Aphrodite and Eros, no one had given a clear conclusion about it, so it remained just a rumor.

“A, a handmade gift seems even more amazing! Um… I hear that among humans, when they marry, they exchange tokens of love, could this represent something like that?”

“Oh? Is that a custom among humans?”

“What? Ah, yes! They call it wedding gifts… I don’t know exactly, but that’s what I’ve heard.”

“A good custom. Then I can’t just receive without giving.”

Triton paused and rubbed his chin thoughtfully. Judging by his sparkling eyes, he had already planned to shower Livia with all sorts of gifts, and now he had found a good excuse.

“Come to think of it, I heard this area has beautiful blue coral colonies.”

Triton, who had stopped moving, slowly looked around before his gaze settled on one spot.

As he stretched his hand toward it, bubbles rose from the seafloor, and suddenly an entire large coral colony floated up.

“Since I received red coral, perhaps I’ll give blue coral in return.”

As soon as he finished speaking, the corals floating in the air began spinning in place, seemingly showing off their appearance to Triton. After examining them for a while, Triton picked out the most sparkling blue coral among them. A deep blue coral with a transparent hardened surface that sparkled silver rested in his hand.

“This will do.”

Triton imagined Livia adorned with coral that matched his hair color. While anything would suit her, thinking of Livia wearing something they had exchanged as tokens of their hearts filled him with such deep satisfaction that his heart felt tight.

Livia had apparently struggled for days to make the coral ornament, and he felt somewhat guilty for choosing a gift so easily.

‘What else shall I give you, Livia.’

He had often heard stories of kings falling for devastating beauties. Though he had laughed at them as ridiculous tales before, now he thought they might be quite possible.

For you, for us, it felt like he could do anything.

Just as Triton fiddled with the blue coral in his hand while thinking of Livia.

From the distant sea, a familiar figure swam flying toward Triton at a terrifying speed. Actius’s puzzled voice emerged as he frowned at the approaching figure.

“Dugong…?”

Why would the one who should be guarding the palace come here…?

The approaching speed alarmed them. Triton, who had been holding the coral reef, also tensed up as soon as he saw Dugong. The anxiety he had forgotten rose again.

…It couldn’t be.

The heart that had been trying to reassure itself that nothing was wrong completely shattered upon seeing Dugong’s urgent expression. He stepped forward in one stride toward Dugong, who approached with obvious urgency.

“L-Lord Triton!!! Terrible, terrible news…!”

Before he could even press for what had happened, Dugong cried out in a terrified voice.

“Lady Livia has disappeared!”