As time passed, Erich’s body grew cold. His faint breathing sometimes stopped.
Rayan didn’t just sit helplessly the whole time. At first, he ran to the castle where Erich lived. Because that was Erich’s home. But Rayan couldn’t even get close. Unlike that time, ferocious and menacing men stood in front of the gate with black flags erected on the wall, barring the people from entering.
‘Reveal your identity.’
‘Catch him!’
Rayan was about to be taken away once for wandering around, unable to identify himself. Previously, he would have been captured, but now that he had matured, his physical abilities far exceed those of a normal human.
After escaping them and returning to the cave, Rayan felt a new sense of helplessness.
If he were human, he would have known what to do in a situation like this. But he was a mermaid. The knowledge of the human world was all the fragmentary things Erich had passed on, and they were useless right now.
Erich may have taught me the human language, but he never once told me how to save a dying human.
Fortunately, there might be a way to save him in Atisa, but he couldn’t take him with him. He committed a sin on his own and came to this place, and they will not embrace Erich if he went there. He would be lucky if they didn’t drown him in unfathomable depths. So it was like that.
“I don’t like the outside world very much.”
Rayan decided to reach out to someone who could possibly let him go at the crucial moment.
“More than that, you have become a great adult. Rayan.”
‘Should I say congratulations?’ Asha kissed the top of Rayan’s head and whispered. Only then did Rayan raise his gaze upward, which had not left Erich.
“Asha.”
His voice trembled terribly.
“Can you save this kid?”
There was a crumb of hope in it.
“Why do you ask me that?”
“Because I saw it.”
“…”
“I saw it before. Life is restored when Asha sings.”
It was purely coincidental. He watched as Asha inadvertently hummed during his conversation with him, and the lifeless coral nearby slowly came to life. He then overlooked it pretending he didn’t know. For some reason, he had an inexplicable feeling that if he opened his mouth, the coral that barely came to life would die again.
“Please help me.”
“…”
“Please save Erich. please.”
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
“You say ‘please’ despite having eyes that don’t trust me.”
Crtj’r tjcv ufcais agjmfv atf mbgcfgr bo tlr fsfr. Snfgs alwf tlr olcufgcjlir ygertfv, la alcuifv ecvfg tlr fsfr.
“…”
Lbk mbeiv tf agera tlw, ktfc tf wluta yf atf gfjrbc tf kjr mtjlcfv ab Cgalrj?
Lf atbeuta atja atf vfmfqalbc mbeiv cba ijra obgfnfg, rb tf pera qjrrfv la boo jr cbatlcu, yea la kjr abb lcafcalbcji atja atf ojma atja tf tjv yffc ublcu bea kjr vlrmbnfgfv. Dfrlvfr, tf gfwfwyfgfv atf ibbx lc atf fsfr bo atf rtjgxr atja qjrrfv ys bc atf kjs yjmx ab Calrj.
Their yellow eyes were shining as if they were enjoying a prepared tragedy. Their whispers reached the ears of the guardian mermaids, and were transferred to Mer.
“And why do you think I would save a human? Poor Rayan. I’m a mermaid too. Perhaps, I might have experienced first-hand the history of centuries ago.”
Asha still didn’t erase his smile and destroyed Rayan’s hopes one by one.
“But…”
Rayan’s eyes turned red. Tears welled up in his eyes and finally fell. Asha, who lowered his eyes following the tears, picked up one of the countless pearls scattered around him.
“Friend, we’re… friends.”
“I never affirmed that.”
“You said it was interesting, you asked me to make it interesting.”
“This isn’t very interesting.”
Rayan became more and more desperate. If it wasn’t for Asha, Erich couldn’t be saved. He would have to watch Erich’s breath stop the whole time. What could he do after that? Would he be able to live on his own?
He spent more time not knowing Erich than the time he knew him. But he knew that time was not absolute for emotions. Rayan loved him. Maybe even more than he realized.
“Then what do you want from me?”
“You have to give me something that will interest me. For example…”
Asha’s hand touched Rayan’s heart.
“Can you give your guardian stone?”
The guardian stone was their source of life.
“I… that… If I give you the guardian stone, will you save Erich?”
If they lost it, their lives would soon come to an end. So, it was no different than Asha asking if Rayan could exchange his life for Erich’s.
“If you prove your love like that, there’s nothing I can’t do. I will save him.”
“…”
“What are you going to do?”
‘Which one would you choose?’ Asha smiled alluringly and demanded an extreme choice.
There was no time to dwell on the choice. Erich was truly at his limit now. It seemed that the ragged breathing was about to give way. The blood that was gurgling out stopped coming out for some time already, as if there was nothing more to pour out. If Rayan spent his time deliberating, he would die.
“It’s a very easy choice.”
However, in the first place, this was not a problem worth spending a long time on. Rayan came to a conclusion without the slightest hesitation.
“I will gladly give it to you.”
Anyway, he wouldn’t be able to live if Erich died. He would die little by little while going to and fro on this vast sea. In that case, it was right to give his life to save Erich. That was his choice. He was also confident that he would not regret it.
“So please save this child.”
“…”
“Asha.”
Asha was still smiling, but it looked strangely twisted. He lifted Rayan’s chin and met his gaze.
“Rayan. Is it worth it?”
Rayan brushed off his hand and turned his gaze to Erich.
Blond hair that was mottled with blood but still brilliant, a pale face that had lost its blood beneath it, and a cooler-than-usual body temperature… Was it worth risking his life to save Erich?
“I’ve always been curious about the outside world, their daytime.”
The beautiful sun, the sky bluer than the sea, the white clouds, the rustling wind, and even humans.
“Thanks to this child, I was able to see the daytime world for the first time.”
“…”
“I also came to know a lot and learn a lot.”
He knew he was valuable to someone and learned to love. Erich told him everything he hadn’t known about for decades since he was born. Those two years weren’t just two years, they were his whole life.
Rayan was grateful for the night he met Erich. For saving him by accident, for answering his call, for giving him his name.
“Isn’t that enough?”
Enough worth saving him for.
Having made a decision, Rayan, fearing that Asha might change his mind, put his own hand, which was hardened with Erich’s blood, on his chest without hesitation. A transparent blue gem floated on the palm of his hand. Rayan held it out to Asha with a trembling hand.
“…”
Asha didn’t accept it. Even the smile that hung like a painting on his face was nowhere to be found.
“Asha.”
“…”
“A…sha…”
Rayan’s hands trembled and slipped as he called out again and again. Only then did Asha open his mouth.
The languid but captivating voice became a particle of light and covered Erich’s body. Rayan laid down next to Erich surrounded by light as if collapsing and exhaled a thin breath.
Rayan was slowly dying as much as Erich’s pale complexion was blushing.
He was not afraid of death. There was only one thing to worry about.
“… Asha. Please send me to the sea.”
So that Erich will never know about my being gone. To be forgotten, just like this.
Asha didn’t answer. Rayan didn’t even have the energy left to hasten his answer, so he just held Erich’s hand tightly.
May your hands always be warm.
Rayan seemed to have had such thoughts in his scattered consciousness. Ah. He wished he could be just a little bit happy with other humans. It was petty, but he couldn’t help it. He would be jealous if he did as much for others as he did to himself, and greed is a petty thing.
“Rayan. I acknowledge you for your love.”
Asha, who was watching Rayan’s guardian stone and the tears he shed on his hand, suddenly opened his mouth.
“So why don’t we make a bet?”
The straight green eyes that had been aimed at the human turned to him. Asha didn’t really want to laugh, but it was funny at the same time. Such self-destructive affection, such unreadable behavior,
And for some reason, he felt uncomfortable about the way he was dying.
“Between your great love. And me.”
That’s why the words came out impulsively.
The corners of Rayan’s mouth twitched upward as if he were hearing something ridiculous. As if the dying himself had the strength to make a bet. Asha lowered his body a little and whispered into his ear. His voice was so low that even he himself could not hear it.
The green eyes trembled. Rayan, who rolled his eyes from side to side as if thinking, took one look at the human and nodded his head with difficulty. That was it. In the end, Rayan couldn’t help but close his eyes in his dissipating energy.
Asha confirmed that Rayan had lost his consciousness and placed his hand on the human body. The blue-colored guardian stone seeped into the human body.
“… How great is your love.”
With a wry smile, Asha picked up Rayan, who was drooping, and left the cave.
The only thing left in the cave was the human with trembling eyelids and countless pearls surrounding him.
Oh this was not what I was expecting
What the-
Thanks for the chapter 🌹
I love this novel so much thank you for translation
Is this the start where the title comes in? 😢
Sensing lots of angst in tthe future now…
✨Let the misery begin!! ✨
It’s getting interesting.
And I wonder if Asha had once a human too he loved.
Thx for the ch ٩( >ヮ<)۶