CH 2

A royal palace where the light never fades.

Atisa, where the masters of the Elev Sea reside, was often called by that name. Surrounded by a protective barrier, only the permitted clan was allowed to enter and exit from Atisa and it was so beautiful that words were not enough to describe it.

The magical pearls shone softly, the corals took on a reddish colour, and seaweed enveloped the stone walls with tens of thousands of years of history and gently swayed along the waves.

In the centre of the royal castle, a stone statue of Mer, holding a trident in one hand and a royal sceptre in the other with an aloof expression, as if commanding the sea, was sculpted in a very lively manner. There was no apprehension on the faces of those who came in and out of Atisa, and the young mermaids sang hymns praising the king.

Rayan, who once joined that line and praised the king who ruled this sea and created peace, leaned his body in his seashell at an angle and supported his chin.

He had been doing this for several days. Rayan, who was not intimidated about what had happened several years ago and was always energetic, spent days huddled in his seashell, and the mermaids left him out, pretending that they didn’t care. Rayan, not paying any attention to them, was immersed in other thoughts.

“…yan.”

Were the shapes he saw really human? Did humans come to live in the castle despite not having seen any signs of them for three years? If so, it was the first time Rayan had ever seen a human.

What do humans look like? Both mermaids and humans are creatures of God, and they were created to resemble him. Therefore, he knew roughly that human beings were similar in appearance to the mermaid clan. But they would not have such a beautiful turquoise tail, no webs, and no small gills beside their ears.

“Rayan.”

Were their hair black or dark blue like them? Curiosity bit his tail and it was endless. If it hadn’t been for Alle, he might have been able to see them a little closer.

“Rayan?”

""

“Simere, Rayan.”

“I told you not to… Yuri?”

The one that called him by a name he hated was Yuri of the dolphin tribe.

“I told you not to call me that. Especially in Atisa…”

Eyeing him, Yuri pursed his1 lips and refuted.

“Did you call me?”

“Several times. But what were you thinking?”

“You don’t need to know.”

“It’s obvious that you don’t look sick anywhere.”

Yuri, who smiled teasingly, leaned closely, lowered his voice and whispered.

“You were either scolded by Alle, or thinking about the outside world.”

Rayan immediately rolled his eyes and looked around him. It was a big deal if anyone were to hear. Besides, Atisa had Mer’s eyes and ears everywhere. For example, those armed guardian mermaids passing by.

No matter how much he went to see the outside of the sea at his own discretion, it would be troublesome for those who were patrolling Atisa directly under Mer’s command to hear such things. If they do, it will reach Mer’s ears, and Rayan may never be allowed to cross the protective barrier again.

Of course, he couldn’t go because of Alle’s firm attitude, who was very angry about what had happened a few days ago, and he was grumpy because of it. However, being temporarily blocked and permanently bound were problems that could not be placed on the same line.

“Speak quietly.”

“They won’t hear it like this. So anyway. What were you thinking?”

Yuri, who didn’t even listen, was busy urging him to resolve his curiosity quickly. Yuri’s black eyes, rubbing his shoulders with his snout, sparkled with interest.

“Yuri.”

I think I saw a human. Yuri’s eyes grew bigger as if they were about to pop out as Rayan whispered in his ears. Soon a white light enveloped his body. After humanising his body, he leaned towards Rayan, shaking off his white hair as if it were cumbersome. It was clear that he was urging him to say more. He closed the shell, crumpling Rayan inside as if he couldn’t wait any longer.

The hymn that had been resounding was completely cut off.

“Really? Rayan. Did you really see a human?”

“Yes.”

As soon as the sound from outside was cut off, Yuri immediately asked with an excited voice. Rayan couldn’t be completely sure, but it was probably a human. The black, small figure had definitely moved.

“How did you see it?”

Looking at Yuri who moved closer in contrast to Alle who would have told him to leave it alone, Rayan explained what was going on. As he spoke out what he was thinking, the memory of that day became a little clearer, and the words became faster and the tone increased.

“No wonder. These days, Alle looked at me with brutal eyes as if trying to me.”

Yuri, who had listened for a while, sympathising with him lightly, nodded his head as if he recalled. The two were like cats and dogs, and knowing that Alle’s lips twitched whenever he looked at Yuri, as if in dissatisfaction, he waved his hand as if it was nothing.

“Yuri. Have you ever seen a human?”

“Of course. There were times when I almost got caught.”

Yuri exaggeratedly swept his chest, saying that thinking about that time still gives him goosebumps. Even with that said, there was little chance that Yuri, who was mentioned to be a successor in the dolphin clan, would easily be caught by someone.

“Am I right that I saw a human?”

“Who knows. Are you curious?”

Yuri asked something very obvious. Rather, he had no choice but to make an absurd expression when he asked back.

“Then you can go see it again.”

Rayan tilted his head, not knowing what to say. Who doesn’t know that, but how many days has he been stuck in Atisa? Had it been possible, he would have already gone to check again. But Alle was wary of it. In case Rayan became too curious about humans.

“I heard it on my way here and there, but I think something happened to the killer whale clan.”

“To the killer whale clan?”

Alle hadn’t shown any changes, so he had no idea.

“It’s a relaxed atmosphere, so maybe Rayan didn’t even know. I just heard it a little while ago. It shouldn’t be a big deal.”

Seeing Yuri who said it was no big deal, Rayan immediately stopped worrying.

Come to think of it, even if he was only Simere in name, if anything had happened to the killer whale clan, he would have known it too.

After the concerns had subsided, he realised why Yuri had said this out of nowhere.

What he was saying was clear. Alle was the heir to the killer whale clan. It is unknown what happened, but due to a problem with the clan, the elders of the killer whale clan would summon Alle, and he would be stuck in the territory of the killer whales for the time being.

He looked at Yuri who twisted his long, wavy black hair as if it belonged to him and wriggled his body closer to him.

“Rayan. Would you like to go check it out then?”

He grinned and whispered in a low voice.

———

So, when it was night again, Rayan peeked out over the sea.

Due to Alle’s surveillance, he was stuck in Atisa for a long time and could only come out after a few days, so the round moon was slightly distorted. However, the scattered moonlight and starlight still subtly illuminated the surface of the dark sea as if swallowing the darkness.

“…”

Instead of admiring it as always, Rayan glided towards the coast of the cliff. Rayan, revealing himself with only half his eyes peeking out, looked at the castle on the cliff. As if proving that he had not seen anything wrong that day, a whitish light shone from the castle.

“It really looks like humans live there.”

Yuri, who was circling around Rayan, lightly splashed water and played around, added confidence to his thoughts. Those lights were truly traces of humans. His heart was full. However, he did not close the distance.

Alle, who would monitor him, was absent, but he could not get very close.

“Don’t make any trouble while I’m away. Rayan. If you do, I’ll continue to call you Simere from now on. Do you understand?”

It wasn’t just because he was scared of Alle, a killer whale who threatened with sharp eyes. After hearing about the outside world from Yuri, Rayan had always wondered about humans and was curious, but when he thought that he might actually face humans, he couldn’t go any further. Maybe it was because the bloody history that he had heard since young was engraved into his subconscious memory.

“Rayan. Then I’ll take a break while I’m up.”

Yuri often inevitably came up to the surface, but had no interest in humans, so he quickly lost interest. It seemed that Rayan heard him, but it was true that it would be troublesome if he were to get caught. Anyway, seeing him hesitating like that, Yuri decided not to worry too much.

He showed Rayan the outside world, but his original intention was to give him something interesting because he felt sorry for him who lived in oppression, and now it was cute to see him with sparkling eyes. Yuri didn’t actually want Atisa’s only prince to be kind to humans.

“Don’t make trouble when I’m not here.”

“Who are you? Are you sure you’re Yuri?”

Yuri nagged like Alle would. It couldn’t be that Alle transformed into Yuri to test him?

After shaking his absurd imagination off, Rayan glanced at Yuri who laughed and joked with him, and then disappeared in the distance. Probably not too far away, to lie on his torso and relax.

After Yuri, who had been bustling next to him, disappeared, Rayan felt a little awkward. Whenever Rayan departed from the boundary of Atisa, it had always been with Alle. But this was complete freedom. Rayan, unable to overcome the awkwardness, rolled his eyes and swam forward a little, then stopped repeatedly.

As expected, he couldn’t get any closer.

After looking around for a bit more, Rayan decided that he should return to Yuri when a flock of letans2 gathered around Rayan.

Not all tribes living in the sea were allowed to enter Atisa, but most people living in the sea admired and loved the mermaids, the ruler clan. Rayan waved his tail to greet them and winked. At the sign of the little mermaid’s favour, the letans gently waved their tail fins. Rayan glanced at the castle while playing lightly with the letans.

Then he soon paused.

The light glistened softly on the cliff, not on the castle.

“Bye. See you later.”

Saying goodbye to the letans, who had flocked around to play with him, Rayan glided towards the cliff. As he got closer, the flickering light became clearer and the person holding it looked very dim. Rayan raised his head up and fixed his gaze on top, thinking.

That was a human.

His heart swelled.

“…”

Then, as the human hand drew a parabola, the glowing object suddenly fell down. Surprised by the fall, even though it wasn’t that close, Rayan moved his body. What used to shine when in human hands quickly faded away as soon as it touched water. What happened? Was it a magic ball that only shines when touched by human hands? Rayan, who was curious, approached it cautiously.

Then, the sun fell down.

No, it was a little boy resembling the sun.