CH 1

The sound of waves, as they brushed across Ophelia’s feet, was deafening.

And by her feet on the coast was an unconscious man.

It was apparent that he got shipwrecked. From head to toe, he was soaked in sea water.

The ragged hems of his clothes might have been bitten off by fish or torn by a reef. His pale skin, which seemed like it was never touched by the sun, had many scratches all over the place. And it wasn’t clear if he was still breathing, or if his breathing was just too faint.

Ophelia leaned closer and put a finger under the man’s nose.

She could feel a shallow breath going past her index finger.

He’s alive. After confirming this, Ophelia stood up without any hesitation.

If it were any other person, they would have tried to call someone to help rescue him, or at least shook the man to try and wake him up. But not Ophelia.

She already made that mistake in her past life.

As Ophelia stood up, she turned her gaze to the reef at the other side of the coast. She saw red hair disappearing behind the reef.

Red hair that was exactly like Ophelia’s. And she knew who owned that hair.

‘There you are.’

She was the one who brought the man to shore.

The Little Mermaid, the unfortunate girl who died from a broken heart and dissolved into sea foam.

She was the real savior of this man.

Originally, Ophelia would have rescued the man after the Little Mermaid brought him here.

“I’m not going to save you.”

But Ophelia already knew what would be waiting for her in the end.

“Someone else can do that.”

It was a fatal mistake to be misunderstood for someone else and to be stigmatized as a fake savior.

So, Ophelia left the shore. Without carrying anyone, without calling for help.

She didn’t need him in her second life.

* * *

About five years prior in another life, there was a scandal that rocked the entire continent.

Grand Duke Ronen—the Lord of the Principality of Ronen, which was the center of continental maritime commerce—made a sudden wedding announcement.

And, the Milescet Empire’s illegitimate princess.

It was a marriage between the Grand Duke of Ronen and the illegitimate Imperial Princess whose presence had already been forgotten by many.

Everyone questioned this ill-matched marriage.

The Grand Duke could have found a better match, but why must it be the illegitimate princess?

But an answer was quickly found.

When the Grand Duke had been lost at sea, it was the illegitimate princess who saved him just in time.

This encounter led them to talking with each other and as they shared more of themselves to the other, love had sprouted. Of all people, it was the illegitimate princess who was the most probable candidate for an unwanted political marriage.

But just like that, the Grand Duke decided to devote the rest of his life to the woman who saved him.

While their union was blessed by all, they swore before the officiant.

「 Let’s love each other and make each other happy for all of eternity. 」

At that time, there was absolutely no doubt about the oath, because both the Grand Duke and the illegitimate princess were happy.

Until a week passed, and it was revealed that the one who saved the Grand Duke wasn’t the illegitimate princess.

* * *

Ophelia silently stared at what was in her hand.

Translucent yet opaque, a fingernail-sized flat object that resembled a crystal grain.

It was the scale of a mermaid.

Ophelia had this object in her possession for quite a long time. She got it about five years ago.

She had it ever since she found out about the ‘truth’, so it should be about five years.

A conversation she had with a mage crossed her mind.

“A mermaid’s scale? It’s my first time seeing it.”

“Really? Is it hard to get?”

“Of course. Mermaids are rare creatures, and some say that this only comes off when they die. It’s more precious than a mermaid’s tears.”

“I’ve heard of their tears. When a mermaid cries, their tears become jewels.”

“That’s a famous story. The feelings of a mermaid are precious.”

That’s how the mage explained it. Their feelings were precious.

So whenever a mermaid cried, their tears became jewels, and when a mermaid died while feeling a great emotion, it was said that only their scales would remain.

“There aren’t many cases, but the scales left behind by a mermaid that died by the hands of a mermaid hunter are said to be poisonous.”

“Then they’re dangerous.”

“That’s right. If you don’t mind me asking, where did you get this…?”

The wizard’s eyes were full of questions.

Perhaps he was trying to ask if she had killed a mermaid personally.

But the turmoil she was feeling wouldn’t have been so unpleasant if that had really been the case.

Ophelia replied with a bitter smile.

“Someone just gave it to me.”

It was a wedding gift. The sisters of the dead mermaid gave it to me. They said it was her last will.

—Ariel asked me to give it to you.

She had never met this mermaid before, whose hair was shorter than the tear marks on her face. Ophelia wished she could believe that the water running down her cheeks was from the ocean.

It was the week after Ophelia got married.

They went on a honeymoon to the coast where she and her husband met for the first time.

Then, one morning, she went alone to take a stroll along the beach, leaving her sleeping husband.

She met the crying, short-haired mermaids there.

And she heard the story of the dead mermaid.

She saved the shipwrecked man from drowning at sea, and because she fell in love with him, she sold her voice to walk on land.

But when she arrived at the shore, the man already had a lover, and the man believed it was his lover who saved him.

—My younger sister… Our Ariel… She had red hair and blue eyes just like you…

—That’s why… That’s why she said she would come out to the shore… to stab the man in the heart…

—But in the end, she couldn’t do it and became seafoam…

—All that’s left is this scale… She asked me to give it to you…

Ophelia pieced everything together even when she couldn’t listen carefully.

The man who the mermaid saved.

‘Ian Carle Ronen.’

The man Ophelia loved, her husband, who promised to devote the rest of his life to her.

But now, that same husband was uncomfortable just being in the same room as her.

‘I thought you were my savior.’

It’s funny, but this was what happened.

When she was in the middle of the crisis of a political marriage, he was the one who saved <i>her.</i> And he gazed upon her as if she were the most precious person in the whole world.

He said he loved her and would do anything for her.

So she took his hand, believing his words. And he put a ring on her finger.

As soon as Ophelia found out the ‘truth’, she knew that everything would change.

Ophelia wasn’t the only one who heard the stories of the short-haired mermaids.

Ian, who belatedly learned that Ophelia wasn’t his savior, also listened to their stories.

About the other being who saved him, and about her death.

Still shocked by what she had heard, Ophelia went back on her way back to her husband, who she thought was still sleeping, but she saw that Ian himself was standing behind her on the beach.

—Ian, since when have you…

—It wasn’t you.

—…What?

—I thought it was strange.

Ophelia had never heard Ian speak so coldly before, and neither had she seen such a troubled expression on his face.

It’s like there was a sharp whistle echoing in her mind, telling her to wake up from her sweet dream.

…Since then, she couldn’t remember how they returned to the Principality of Ronen.

And soon after, she was thrown into unfamiliar circumstances, forced to endure everything all on her own with no one to support her.

Nobody in the Principality of Ronen acknowledged the illegitimate princess as the Grand Duchess.

The situation could have changed if she had the support of the Grand Duke, but ever since that day, he had been avoiding Ophelia.

Even if they met from time to time, the loving gaze he once had for her had vanished without a trace.

Judgmental gazes. Outwardly friendly attitudes. Disjointed conversations.

For the past five years, she had been truly lonely.

Even if they were to have a divorce, she wouldn’t be able to return to where she came from because the Empire wasn’t generous enough to accept an illegitimate child once more.

‘I thought I’d be happy once I got married.’

How did it become like this?

Ophelia desperately tried to restore their broken relationship.

She struggled to establish herself as the Grand Duchess among those who disregarded her, and she also tried to increase the time she and her husband spent together.

She believed with all her heart that one day, it would all change. Someday, her life here at the Principality wouldn’t be so unbearable.

But just when would that be?

‘I’m tired now.’

Even the day before, Ophelia stood waiting in front of Ian’s office for half a day.

His aide said that she should come back when Ian was done with his work. But she stood there for a long time like a servant.

When the sun went down, Ophelia felt that something was amiss, so she opened the door to the office.

And found that no one was there.

Ah.

Nothing was going to change.

No matter what she did, she would always be the fake Grand Duchess, and Ian’s heart would never be hers again.

Just why did she try so hard all this time.

‘You didn’t know your place. That’s what you get.’

The Little Mermaid who sacrificed her voice should have been here instead. Not Ophelia.

Even if she was a fake savior, the shoes she had to fill were too big.

‘Ariel, you hate me too, don’t you?’

So then, Ophelia asked the mage about how the mermaid scale could be used.

—If a strong curse was cast upon it, then it’s dangerous just by having it, and it would affect the person who took it. If the mermaid died while blaming someone…

—You mean, eating the mermaid scale would kill you?

—…That’s right.

This was enough to confirm that Ariel must have truly died while blaming Ophelia for taking her place.

That must be why she asked her sisters to deliver this to her.

Without hesitating, Ophelia put the scale in her mouth.

Unlike its solid appearance, the scale melted as soon as it entered her mouth and when it went down her throat.

‘I’ll never get in your way ever again.’

She didn’t want to live while being a fake savior.

She just wanted to be happy.

‘…Ah.’

Her head felt heavy.

Ophelia closed her eyes and her consciousness faded.

Then, it came back.

A familiar yet unfamiliar landscape was right before her eyes.

“Grand Duke Ronen. This is the first time you’ve attended an Imperial ball, isn’t it?”

It was at the banquet hall where Ophelia met Ian for the first time.