Livia Horn rubbed her face, flushed from retching, with the back of her hand, silently cursing with her eyes. Without a voice, it was all she could do.

Triton seemed to sense her silent outburst and smiled, his eyes crinkling. His bright blue eyes sparkled elegantly, like the midday sea glistening in the sun.

His smile was dazzling enough to make even heavenly goddesses jealous, yet it felt annoyingly out of place given his rotten nature, forcing her to eat spoiled food.

“Even without a voice, your eyes are quite loud,” he said.

He chuckled, shaking his shoulders, and slowly approached Livia. As they drew closer, their eyes silently and sharply assessed each other.

Her weakened body instinctively recoiled, but Livia forced herself to stand tall.

Her body, worn from hardship, revealed her bony frame. Under her stiff collarbones, her thin body strained to stand, breathing in ragged gasps.

In moments like this, she needed to keep her wits about her. No matter how grueling the trials she faced, losing her mind would lead to her downfall.

Hadn’t she already resolved when she plunged into the sea? She believed she could endure anything. If she could survive and avenge her family, then…

Livia’s eyelids fluttered open and shut. Each time, memories of her family flashed by, memories she clung to with all her might.

Her father’s voice telling her it was okay to be a little lazy, Iason always giving her the most food on her plate, and the soft hair of her younger sibling wrapping around her fingers.

That beautiful immortal was merely a means for her revenge.

The catastrophe she willingly embraced to avenge those humans who cruelly burned her family.

Yes, that was all.

As she took a deep breath, her face gradually regained its calm.

Finally, Triton stood before Livia, his gaze glinting with interest.

“As expected, your spirit is something to admire. Your mind seems quick too… not bad for a mere human.”

Triton’s shadow fell over Livia as he approached, so close that Livia had to tilt her head back to look up at him.

He was huge.

Even without transforming into his divine form, the man appeared to be two heads taller than Livia. Considering Livia wasn’t particularly short for a woman, his height was truly immense.

‘That body must be tougher than steel,’ she thought.

Livia’s eyes glided down the contours of Triton’s powerful physique. Each movement made his warrior-like muscles ripple threateningly.

His heart was likely hidden beneath even thicker muscles. How thick could it be? Could Echidna’s dagger pierce it in one swift strike?

Her gaze deepened, trying to gauge the heart hidden beneath the muscles. Though she wanted to press her hand against it, her returning sense stopped her.

And that tattoo…

She wondered what the black tattoo, stretching from one shoulder down to his heart, meant. He must have chosen to bear that image himself, so did it hold some grand significance? Or perhaps it held a clue to his weakness.

‘Is that a conch? That shape looks like a shark…’

Wasn’t the sea god said to be the leader of the sharks? Perhaps that’s why the strange pattern resembling shark teeth kept catching her eye.

As she unconsciously tried to examine the tattoo covering his shoulder, Triton crossed his arms over his chest. His muscles bunched even more tightly, obscuring the tattoo on his chest.

Frustrated by the obscured view, she furrowed her brow, and a voice filled with a chuckle reached her ears.

“You’re practically devouring me with your eyes.”

Not understanding at first, Livia blinked, then realized what he meant. She almost blurted out a denial, but bit her lip and stepped back.

What was the point of explaining with a voice that wouldn’t come out? It didn’t seem necessary to explain anyway.

Turning her head sharply to avoid looking at him, she sensed him staring intently for a while before he walked past her, as if it didn’t matter.

At that moment, the water rippled, and two massive shadows pushed into the room. Startled, she turned to see two beautiful black and white sharks approaching her.

“……!”

Sharks, and not just any sharks, but a pair of black and white ones.

Even with her limited knowledge, Livia had never heard of such sharks. Especially with that golden conch insignia on their foreheads.

‘Are they the sea god’s envoys?’ she wondered.

Even though they were several times her size, she didn’t feel afraid. In fact, their jet-black eyes looked almost cute to her.

Their circling movements seemed gentle, but that was her naive misconception.

At some point, the black shark began nudging Livia’s shoulder like it was brushing past her. The white shark tried to stop it, pushing the black shark away with its body, but the black shark wouldn’t listen. As Livia stumbled from a swat of its tail, the black shark’s movements became more aggressive.

This troublesome shark…

Glaring at the black shark with undisguised annoyance, Livia found the shark pushing its large head directly toward her.

“Sympho.”

A languid voice stopped the black shark. The black shark, which had been rushing toward Livia, immediately turned and headed for Triton.

Sympho, Sympho… Annoying Sympho, just like its master.

As she repeated the black shark’s name to herself, Triton gently patted the thick flesh of the black shark hovering near him and whispered.

“Why are you being so mischievous, Sympho? You’re not one to bully the weak.”

Triton’s words made Livia feel her spirits sink. It stung to be openly dismissed as weak, but he wasn’t entirely wrong.

‘Being underestimated isn’t necessarily a bad thing for me…’

Perhaps it was better to let them continue underestimating her. Livia furrowed her brow, pretending to be more upset, and glared at the black shark and Triton.

The shark flicked its tail as if to say, ‘What are you going to do about it?’

That blasted creature, really…

As Livia’s gaze sharpened, Triton spoke with amusement.

“You’re really fearless, aren’t you?”

Though his lips didn’t curve into a smile, his interest was evident. The sharks circling around him also kept their eyes fixed on Livia.

“Come here.”

His indifferent voice called out to her, gesturing slightly for her to sit in front of him.

Livia stubbornly continued to glare at him and his sharks before reluctantly moving forward.

Were they really supposed to sit face-to-face like friends? She couldn’t fathom his intentions for asking her to come closer, which made her suspicious.

A strange, squishy chair she had never seen before enveloped her body as she sat.

What on earth was this? It vaguely resembled a jellyfish, but it didn’t seem alive.

“It took about three days.”

Startled by the voice interrupting her inspection of the chair, she looked up.

“You finished later than I expected. You seemed so confident; I thought it wouldn’t take long.”

Livia’s face, previously pale, flushed with anger at his words. It was infuriating to have her life-threatening ordeal dismissed as merely a delayed task.

Her chest burned with frustration and resentment, but having chosen this path, she could only grit her teeth in silence. A fervent wish to repay him with the same pain was deeply etched into her soul.

“You seem to have lost some weight from all the effort. I prepared something for that.”

Just as a mischievous smile appeared on his lips, he let out a low whistle.

The breath that escaped his lips transformed into vibrations, spreading like waves.

Footsteps echoed from beyond the pearl curtain. It wasn’t just one or two people. Sensing something unusual, several nymphs entered, each carrying a large platter.

“……!”

Livia’s eyes flickered slightly as she observed them.

‘Audike.’

The nymph who had taken her to the gods’ banquet was there. Audike seemed startled to see Livia too, but quickly set down her platter and disappeared in an instant.

The other nymphs did the same. Like well-trained soldiers, they swiftly completed their tasks and vanished without a backward glance.

In the end, all that remained was a table laden with food from the land. Livia looked at Triton with a hardened expression as she took in the sight.

“Eat.”

…Was he mocking her right now?