CH 89

When she’s about to go there, perhaps she’d even have to wander around a little bit while trying to bypass the barrier. However, her search was at least narrowed to this much.

Ophelia was overwhelmed by the urge to shout out in delight. Though of course, she pressed it down since she needed to be careful about them noticing that she figured out the magic tower’s location. She’d only be fed to the sharks.

Hearing Ophelia said that she ‘found it’, Ariel’s eyes twinkled.

“You found something?”

“Yes. I’ve been in search of this for a while now, and it’s thanks to you that I finally found it. Humans can’t go deep into the ocean, so there were many errors here.”

“I don’t know what you found, but it’s great that you did. But is that all you came here for? My sisters are under the impression that you’re here to change my mind.”

“I’m here for that, too.”

She didn’t want to die, and a promise was a promise after all.

If it was about Ariel going ashore, then there was something she needed to say.

As Ophelia agreed without right away, Ariel grew rather surprised.

“I wasn’t being serious, but you’re really here for that? Even you? I thought you’d understand me!”

“Calm down, Ariel. I believe I misspoke.”

To be more exact, Ophelia wasn’t here to change Ariel’s mind. She was just here to let the mermaid know something.

“I’m here to tell you a story. After you’ve heard it, then I want you to think this through again.”

Instead of throwing away your life, it’s not too late to change your mind.

* * *

Ophelia returned to the sunset spot. The chair moved through the waters and carried her back without even leaving a single drop of moisture on her.

Sante, who had been waiting for her, welcomed her back.

“Did you do well, Princess?”

“Of course.”

“You managed to come back alive, so of course. When they couldn’t knock down Ariel’s stubbornness, those older sisters of hers looked like they’re ready to kill anyone.”

It was something she couldn’t deny. Ophelia chuckled.

A little while ago, Ophelia had a conversation with Ariel.

No, it would be more accurate to say that she told a story.

Ophelia told her the stories that she herself had omitted.

“You traded your voice for legs, and even your sisters couldn’t dissuade you from doing so.”

The reason Ariel had to die. And the reason why her older sisters gave their hair to Alei as an exchange.

“You were fated to die if you were unable to win that man’s love.”

“That kind of magic…”

“It’s a conditional spell, yes. You all said that it was taboo.”

Ariel received legs in exchange for her voice. To complete the spell, the condition was to win Ian’s love. And she were to fail, Ariel’s life was the collateral that the spell would take in return.

Changing oneself from one species to another was an act that went against the laws of nature.

There was a reason why Ophelia didn’t tell Ariel this story right away.

Because, as much as possible, she wanted to gain Ariel’s cooperation without first revealing the past.

But since it’s come to this, Ophelia could no longer hide it.

“I believe I’m responsible for your death. That’s why I’m telling you this.”

Ophelia explained. She wouldn’t stop Ariel from choosing one side or another, and she would respect the mermaid’s choice. In that way, she would no longer feel guilty.

“If you’d like, I can introduce you to a mage who can bring you to land.”

“…The siren said the same thing to me before.”

“It’s probably the same person. He’s our common friend.”

As the story progressed to this point, Ariel looked a little confused.

She didn’t know whether her death was simply a product of one person’s wrong choice, or whether this story about the conditional magic was just something to scare her into going back into the waters.

Besides that, when Ophelia told them about how Ariel’s older sisters didn’t give up until the end just to save their youngest sister, Ariel was nearly swept to tears.

“They mentioned how they had been afraid of you going to land. However, compared to that, what they feared more was the unknown.”

When Ariel was told that the spell that would give her the opportunity to go ashore would potentially kill her, she was greatly agitated.

If it was a matter that involved only herself, then she wouldn’t have been as terrified.

“But even my sisters…”

It was a shock to her to know that even her sisters had sacrificed much because of her choice.

Ophelia watched Ariel wordlessly for a moment, then she opened her lips again.

“Ariel, just to get what you want, there are certain things that you’d have to sacrifice for it. Even when you know that you’ll lose something, if you still think that going to land is worth it, then I will help you.”

Ophelia was being sincere, even despite the threat of becoming a meal for the sharks because she couldn’t keep her promise to Ariel’s older sisters.

“But if that’s not the case, then take a good look at the wish that you carry with you. Does it truly exude brilliance, or does it only look like it?”

The surface of the water glittered like gold beneath the sun. However, if you try to scoop a handful of that ‘gold’, then you’d be left with only transparent liquid.

Ariel looked to be quite shocked after hearing what Ophelia said.

“…I get it now. The reason why we can feel our youngest’s magic from you.”

The sixth-born mermaid princess carefully spoke first. Perhaps because they were able to listen to Ophelia’s story, the other mermaids now regarded Ophelia not with aggression, but with caution.

“It seems like we weren’t able to stop her in the past.”

“Because Ariel was unwavering…”

“If there’s no one who could stop her, that may have been the natural result.”

“Just as Grandfather said, it’s possible to go back in time.”

“It’s amazing to hear that a human can cast a spell to change someone from one species to another.”

As they each expressed their thoughts, they also thanked Ophelia.

However, there was one mermaid who kept silent all this time while her sisters were making a fuss.

The eldest mermaid princess.

She had remained silent all this time, and she came here with them only to take Ophelia back to the nearby shore.

“From here on out, I won’t be going together with you. I don’t want to be seen by humans, you must understand.”

“Of course. Thank you for taking me home safely.”

“I thank you as well. Even after Ariel has heard what you said… if she remains adamant about going ashore, then we’ll have to let her go. Because that’s how we take care of her.”

“You’re not going to stop her anymore?”

“Yes. This is what mermaids say a lot—that fish must live in the water.”

It didn’t just mean that they literally belonged to the water.

“Life is meaningful only when achieving the things you want. Without doing so, then it’s no different than living as an animal trapped in a cage.”

We do not raise ourselves like livestock.

I love Ariel, I want that child to live a long life.

But.

“Rather than that, it would be better for that child to live freely.”

Hearing this, Ophelia was a little startled as she looked back at the eldest mermaid princess.

“…You’re quite an unusual mermaid.”

“Why do you think so?”

“Other individuals from different species who I’ve met usually take freedom as something natural.”

“Ah, you mean the sirens.”

The first mermaid princess snorted lightly in response to Ophelia’s words.

“In that freedom of theirs, they do not hold any sense of responsibility. We mermaids have nine doctrines to follow, but those sirens don’t even have anything like it.”

Just cruelty and selfishness.

The mermaid sounded so cold-hearted, but Ophelia just laughed in return. She knew that sirens and mermaids were on bad terms, so she didn’t want to defend the other side.

“That is not freedom. I don’t want to use that word to refer to those who do not know the duty and loss that comes with freedom.”

Life was the culmination of each choice one would make, but in the time that sirens spent under the false pretext of freedom, nothing substantial would be left. So, they can’t use the word freedom, was what the eldest mermaid princess said.

“When given freedom, it mustn’t be emptiness that greets you in the end.”

“You’re right. That’s why I, too… don’t want to be afraid of being free.”

“You’re quite an unusual human. You, too, won’t have a smooth life.”

Perhaps because the eldest mermaid princess had lived a long time, she spoke in a firm, decisive tone. Her straightforwardness was not dislikable.

With a smile on her lips, Ophelia was about to say her farewell.

But right then, the eldest mermaid opened her lips.

“Ophelia. There’s one thing I will tell you.”