How many nymphs had wanted to serve at the meal just to catch a glimpse of that human woman? Among them, of course, was Letis, a devoted follower of Triton.

“Hmph! I knew it! She was hideously ugly!”

Letis proclaimed this as soon as she returned from serving, addressing the other curious nymphs. The nymphs who had carried the dishes with her frowned, but she remained adamant.

“Not just ugly, but she had a terribly vile and mean look! Her hair was all frizzy, like it had been singed by the sun. So, don’t even think about pairing such an ugly human with Lord Triton in your minds. That would be blasphemy!”

In truth, Livia wasn’t ugly at all. In fact, she was quite pretty, with green irises encircled by a subtle golden hue that gave her eyes a mysterious look.

She might not have been a beauty to rival the gods, but she certainly didn’t deserve labels like “hideously ugly” or “terribly vile.”

“Stop making things up, Letis. She’s not someone who deserves that kind of talk. And what does her appearance have to do with you anyway?”

Audike found herself retorting in anger. That day, she ended up having a big argument with Letis.

Dealing with Letis was always exhausting. She was good at her job but too interested in the affairs of those above her.

Recalling that day, Audike shook her head and suddenly felt a gaze upon her. She looked around, sensing someone watching her, and on a whim, glanced upwards.

“……!”

Underneath a cascade of red hair, she locked eyes with those clear green pupils. The sunlit green eyes seemed to be intensely watching Audike, as if they were wanting to speak. Startled, the blue-haired nymph hesitated, then quickly turned away.

She fled from the spot as fast as she could.

***

Audike.

She was the nymph who had helped Livia when she first arrived at the Golden Castle. Or more accurately, the one Livia had used.

“…….”

It had been bothering her for a while. If they ever met again, she wanted to apologize at least once.

She had taken advantage of Audike’s kindness and ended up causing her trouble. With a small sigh of regret, she noticed a pair of dots, one white and one black, approaching from a distance. Triton’s sharks.

Oh, those blasted black sharks.

Livia quickly hid behind a pillar. The sea castle had no windows, so there was no way to stop them from coming inside. And there was another issue.

Where on earth were her clothes?

Being completely unclothed, she couldn’t just run outside. The only silver lining was that with her clothes gone, she could see the spot on her chest where she had stabbed herself with the dagger.

Livia looked down at her body. The skin near her heart was smooth, without a scar. It was as if someone had healed it.

“…….”

The memory of Triton’s face flashed in her mind just before she died, leaving her with a slightly strange feeling, but she quickly shook it off. She pulled out the golden dagger and tore a curtain-like fabric hanging by the window.

It was fortunate there were curtains in a place where sunlight didn’t reach. She wrapped it around herself, tied it into a short chiton, and quickly ran to the window in the opposite direction.

Just as she jumped out of the window.

“……!”

There was a loud splash, and a huge mouth scooped her up.

***

Above the surface, the sunlight sparkled brilliantly.

The waves were calm, and the splashes from the leaping fish shimmered like jewels outside the water before disappearing. Amidst this, the sobbing cries of pirates, sprawled with twisted limbs and sinking into the sea, tainted the tranquility.

“Please, spare me. I beg you, please…! Ugh!”

“I was wrong, I was wrong! Please… Ahhh!”

“Aaah! Please…!!!”

Triton sat with his legs crossed on a chair made of sea foam, listening with bored eyes to the despairing cries of the humans. He had heard these pleas so many times that he could recite them by heart.

It was tedious, incredibly tedious. The most frustrating part was that even after being punished, they would make the same mistakes again.

Dugong, who had been searching inside the pirate’s ship, burst through the door with a fierce expression. In his arms was a very small, bloodied creature.

“Damn it! It’s already dried up and dead. The only survivor is this baby. They kept it alive, claiming young ones are precious.”

His words, delivered with a snort, were laced with anger.

“Please, spare me! Spare me, please!”

“If you let me live, I’ll be good. Have mercy…!”

Sensing the impending tragedy, the pirates lay prostrate on the ground, begging for their lives and admitting their wrongs.

Triton’s brow furrowed at the sickening pleas that polluted his ears.

A few months ago, over a hundred sirens living in hiding on the eastern Equis Archipelago had disappeared. Upon investigation, it was discovered that rumors had spread claiming that eating a siren’s heart could extend one’s life, leading all sorts of people to hunt them down.

A hundred years ago, there were rumors that eating a mermaid’s tail could cure diseases, and before that, drinking the blood of sea nymphs was said to grant immortality and eternal youth. Now it was the sirens’ turn.

Those on land seemed to think there was some miraculous fountain of immortality beneath the sea, constantly seeking the secret to eternal life from the ocean.

“How foolish.”

Muttering softly, Triton extended his hand, and a water arrow shot out, piercing the head of the loudest pleading pirate.

“If you knew it was wrong, you shouldn’t have done it… I guess you wore your head as decoration? Oh, now that it’s gone, it’s even more useless. Might as well use it as Kraken food.”

As he spoke with a chuckle, an octopus tentacle that had quietly appeared dragged the headless corpse into the sea.

The other pirates, witnessing this, began to scream. To reduce the noise, he shot water arrows into their mouths one by one. The Kraken, expecting a feast below the ship, embraced the pirate ship.

With a crunch, the massive ship shattered in an instant. The ship tilted, and a few humans who hadn’t yet been executed scrambled frantically toward the side that hadn’t tilted.

It was always the same scene: commit a crime, receive punishment, and wail. Even after a hundred or a thousand years, the foolishness remained unchanged… By now, those desperate tears, repentance, and lamentations had little effect on him. After all, they would repeat the same actions.

It was unbearably tedious. Just as the suffocating cynicism was about to choke him, bubbles rose from the sea, and a massive black shark leaped out.

His shark, Sympho, rushed toward him immediately. And in its sharp teeth, it carried something “not boring.”

“What is it, Sympho? Why did you bring that?”

As Triton frowned and asked, a small body squirmed and suddenly moved as if to spring out.

“You damn shark…!”

The woman, who seemed to have fainted for a moment, shook her head while clutching her forehead and then noticed the teeth still holding her. She quickly lunged forward. Her small hands desperately tried to pry open the sharp, hard teeth.

“One day, I’m definitely going to make shark steaks out of you! I mean it! I really do, ugh…!”

Her voice, gritting her teeth, was filled with frustration. Sympho, seemingly pleased that Livia had woken up, shook its head from side to side, welcoming her. With a cry, the woman tossed about, reached out and managed to hit the shark’s eyes.

The shark, unable to blink, was startled and opened its mouth, allowing her to escape through the loosened gap.

Hahaha!

Livia tried to laugh triumphantly, but someone else laughed first.

Startled, Livia turned around. Her pupils dilated in surprise, and silvery-blue hair shimmered like fish scales over her expanded pupils. The beauty of the man, so stunning that even looking up at him felt daring, flowed along the corners of his mouth. In his deep blue gaze, Livia stood. His eyes, capturing only her, sparkled with amusement.

Triton!

His name slashed through her heart. Regaining her composure, she quickly surveyed her surroundings.

The ship, nearly sunk with only the stern remaining, countless soldiers of Triton, and a massive tentacle she had never seen before.

…Tentacle?

“Oh my, what is that…?”