Livia Horn ran frantically, until she finally stopped when she was out of breath.

She couldn’t remember anything about what had happened. When Dionysus approached, she felt strangely good; her mind went blank, and she thought it didn’t matter anyway. Although she hadn’t consumed any alcohol, she felt as if she were intoxicated.

It was dangerous.

If she had stayed there just a little longer, she couldn’t even imagine what might have happened. As she caught her breath with her knees on the ground, Livia looked up at the shadow passing by her feet. Somehow, the black shark was circling above her head again.

Could it be that it saved her earlier?

That enemy of her, saving her? No way. That black shark always bared its teeth at her. It would nudge her with its body, picking fights, and last time, didn’t it run to Triton with her in its mouth like some prey?

Embarrassingly, Livia had fainted with the shark’s teeth on her. It moved so fast that her body shook and twisted wildly, making it impossible to stay conscious. She wished she had remained unconscious longer. Unfortunately, she woke up right in the middle of enemy territory.

Recalling that dizzying moment, Livia let out a long sigh.

The more she thought about it, the less she believed that the black shark had intentionally saved her. Maybe it got excited seeing a land beast. Or perhaps it didn’t know Dionysus was there and got excited when it spotted her.

Whatever the reason, it didn’t matter. Right now, she just wanted to be alone.

‘Go away.’

Livia waved her hand at the black shark. Being voiceless was inconvenient every time. But the black shark seemed to interpret her gesture as a signal or threat, and instead, it charged at her with fierce speed and bumped into her.

Ugh.

With a sound of something breaking, her slender body rolled over. It wasn’t painful, but the impact felt like her insides were turning upside down, and Livia’s face turned pale in an instant.

“…Ugh.”

She hurriedly vomited. Since she hadn’t eaten anything, only stomach acid came out, but the sensation of her insides flipping was horrible. Wiping her mouth, Livia glared at the shark with disbelief.

It might have been her imagination, but the shark seemed a bit cautious. Its vigorously wagging tail slowed down a little.

Damn toothy fish…

Grinding her teeth, Livia picked up a stone nearby and threw it at the shark with all her might.

Thunk.

With a dull sound, it hit the shark’s forehead squarely. Annoyingly, it didn’t seem to bother it much. Still, whether it noticed Livia’s displeasure or was upset itself, it circled around once and then quietly flew off to another place.

Only after the shark completely disappeared did Livia relax and slump to the ground. Crawling under a giant coral tree, she leaned against it for a moment.

She was tired.

She must have come quite far because the music from the feast was barely audible. Only a deep, heavy silence filled the air. The coral tree was enormous, and its shadow was very dark. Without a light, no one would be able to find her.

Resting in that darkness, Livia closed her eyes for a moment. She wanted to rest here, where no one else was, even if just for a short while.

However, before long, Livia had to end her brief respite.

“Get out of the way, go away!!!”

It was because of a scream she heard not far away.

***

Audike, who had been enjoying the feast with her fellow nymphs, stepped outside in a bad mood.

It was because of Letis, who started speaking frivolously the moment she drank. Despite being scolded by Nephea, Letis couldn’t stop badmouthing the human woman again.

“You all know, right? How vile humans are. Just thinking about that vile human being in our palace makes me want to throw up.”

“Filthy human woman.”

“That vulgar wench! It wouldn’t be enough to tear her apart! Next time I have to bring food, I might just release pufferfish poison. Come to think of it, that’s not a bad idea. Maybe I’ll go hunt pufferfish tomorrow. Or blue octopus poison might work too.”

As Letis’s words became increasingly offensive, her companions gradually left her side.

Letis used to gain popularity by often gifting her companions with pretty coral pins and pearl earrings, but even they left her because of her excessive slander. Just as Audike was about to leave with them, Letis suddenly grabbed her wrist.

“You’re the one who brought that human woman, right?”

“…What?”

“I heard everything. You were the one who brought her, right? Why did you do it? What’s your motive?”

The issue had already been resolved with Phorkys and Nephea. They had mistaken her for a nymph, and due to a shortage of hands, they had taken her along to help with work. Although the feast was disrupted that day, there hadn’t been any further remarks from Triton, so Audike’s involvement was concluded.

Nephea had even advised her to feign ignorance, as discussing it further would only lead to more gossip.

However, somehow, Letis had discovered the situation and was now making an issue of it.

“There’s no motive; it just happened that way. I’ve already explained everything to the higher-ups. Why do you keep making things up? Aren’t you the one with ulterior motives?”

“What did you say? Say it again! What did you say?”

She easily dodged Letis, who staggered and lunged at her, and stepped outside. Letis slipped and fell to the ground, screaming in anger. Audike had heard that Letis had once been hurt by a human. She didn’t know the details, but Letis’s hatred for humans was excessive. Her reverence for the gods was also extreme.

‘Is she really going to get pufferfish poison or something?’

It was entirely possible. Audike was genuinely concerned that some action needed to be taken.

‘I can’t let this go. I should talk to Nephea about it tomorrow.’

Fatigue washed over her. Forget the feast; all she wanted was to get some rest today. Since all her colleagues were at the feast, it might actually be nice to rest quietly alone. She was crossing the corridor at the end of the main palace when it happened.

Audike suddenly looked up at the place where the master resided.

A vast window that neither held back those leaving nor prevented those entering. Though it was indoors due to the roof, if one desired, they could see inside from anywhere outside and enter at will.

But who would dare to easily spy on or intrude into the domain of the absolute ruler?

That room, open on all sides, held significance because of this. Nothing in this sea could threaten him. This world was entirely his, and everything within it lay under his dominion.

However, something not belonging to him now occupied the realm of the absolute ruler.

Something the sea did not embrace, something from beyond the water.

A being born of chaos, swimming through the air, a creature of the earth.

Audike recalled the human woman she had briefly locked eyes with earlier that day.

Eyes that shone brightly, skin tanned unlike the pale sea nymphs, hair like red coral.

In hindsight, she was clearly different. Perhaps that’s why she caught her attention. She remembered how she had unknowingly taken her by the hand and led her around, not realizing she was human. It had caused some trouble, but there was nothing to be done about it now.

The best course was to avoid getting involved any further.

With a brief sigh, Audike hurried her steps. The shortcut to her quarters passed through the shell graveyard. It might be a bit eerie to go there now, but it was only a short distance. She was nearing the large, unusually dark coral tree when it happened.

As if to chastise her for her complacency, something suddenly appeared from the darkness, startling her.

“Oh, hello, beautiful?”

She was so shocked that she couldn’t even scream. Audike bit her lip as she backed away in surprise.

A satyr!

This was bad. She hadn’t expected that beast to be here!

Satyrs were half-human, half-beast creatures that Dionysus kept around. They mostly guarded Dionysus’s vineyards but occasionally ventured out when transporting his wine.

Blinded by lust, these brutes would raise their g*nitals at any moment, attacking both humans and nymphs indiscriminately.

Triton had banned satyrs from entering because they harassed the nymphs so much. So Dionysus usually didn’t bring them here, but it seemed this one had come to deliver wine. Normally, they wore collars on such occasions, but it looked like this one had broken its collar and escaped.

“Oh, you don’t know how long I’ve been waiting for someone to come out.”

The satyr licked its lips hungrily as it slowly approached Audike. Its grotesque member swung between its legs, and the broken collar dangled from its chest.

Audike quickly turned to flee, but the satyr was faster. It blocked her path in a single leap, grinning hideously as it drooled.

“Come on, let’s play.”