Chapter 31

It was a slender arm, white as powdered lotus root, caressing inch by inch along the man's taut, muscular waist and hips, moving with flirtatious, intimate strokes. The boy's soft, crimson lips lingered and sought kisses at the man's cold fingertips, while his silvery, supple tailfin wound tightly around another long, elegant tailfin—restlessly pressing and rubbing together, entwined as if they were a pair of loving, tender-hearted lovers, inseparably close.

His other hand, pale as milk and almost bloodless, slid with natural ease along the man's alluring waist and abdomen, tracing upward across his chest and Adam’s apple, finally resting upon that breathtakingly handsome face...

“Look, Dir. See? I prepared all these with my own hands for you… Do you like them?” the boy said with a sweet laugh, his casual gaze sweeping toward the pile of gleaming, pearl-blue crystal walls stacked like small mountains, and to the corner where a group of beautiful, rare sea fish found themselves trapped and helpless, forced into a frenzy by the predatory lionfish. In mere moments, the briny, swirling water was stained red and black, murky with scattered fish scales drifting in the currents, and the boy’s voice brimmed with pride and a desire for praise.

If one looked further up, the ceiling of the crystal chamber, veiled in a misty blue haze, was crowded with floating, precious sea fish. Their bodies glimmered with a strange, blood-red hue as they drifted and collided, boneless as hydrogen fish, or like eerie red blossoms blooming and swaying mid-water, each exuding an ominous aura.

A closer look would reveal that those fish suspended in the water were all dead, nothing but lifeless, thin-skinned husks, hollowed out and stuffed with a blood-like liquid sloshing in their bellies.

“Do you like it?” the boy murmured with infatuation.

But still... there was no reply—not even a perfunctory word.

“Dir, my love, are you still angry with me?” The boy’s fingers gently traced the man’s calm face.

“I really know I was wrong… I regret it. Can you forgive me? Please? I’ll be good from now on, never unreasonable again…” His tea-colored eyes shimmered with unshed tears, and Slancer's hopeful voice pleaded with the unresponsive man, sorrow written deeply across his delicate features.

“As long as I can be with you, I’ll never care again about my lowly status, nor crave any crown or glory. I only want you… want to be with you forever, to adventure together, to face the unknown, to travel with you to the warm northwestern seas you’ve always dreamt of… We’ll always be together. And for you, when my coming-of-age day arrives, I’ll switch back to my female gender, so… we can even have our own children… Dir, wouldn’t that be wonderful?” the boy whispered, his exquisite face radiant with a naive, contented longing.

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In another lavishly decorated chamber—

“Dir, what’s wrong?”

A well-built, handsome middle-aged man flicked his powerful tailfin, then gently gathered into his arms another mermaid—a beautiful, melancholy female whose expression was bleak and downcast, soothing her with tender kisses to her long hair.

“…Yes, Mopes… I’m worried…” The sultry, ambiguous-featured female mermaid named Dir turned her head slightly, her naturally seductive face clouded with worry. She paused, then quietly confided, “In a few days, it will be Mopes’s wedding. I can’t help but feel uneasy…”

“Dir, Pess is already grown and sensible. Besides… his chosen partner, the one you recommended so highly… In my eyes, those two children are a perfect match in beauty. Although Slancer is the youngest of the southern merfolk clan, as long as you’re happy, any decision I make—will that rascal Mopes dare oppose it?!” the man declared with domineering affection, willing to decide his own son’s lifetime marriage just to coax a smile from his beloved.

Dir was amused by his forceful words, her mood lightening. She turned leisurely in his embrace, gazing at him with deep affection. “…Mopes, we’ve been together nearly two years now… and I’ve only ever asked one thing of you… I owe that child—Slancer—a debt of kindness. Please, let me repay it, won’t you?”

“Hm… well, let’s not talk about the past…” The dignified merman looked at the beauty in his arms with infinite tenderness, then doted, “This marriage… I’ll follow your wishes.”

“Thank you… Mopes…”

“Don’t be silly…” he teased, lightly tapping her pert nose.

Perhaps reassured by his reply, Dir finally relaxed. Her slender arms naturally wound around his neck, and she pressed a grateful kiss to his lips. But the man, captivated by her allure, drew her tightly into his iron embrace, indulging in an intimate, lingering passion with her.

After their tender union—

A faint, tentative squeaking came from behind sheer veils.

“You can come out now…” Reclining in the ample, rounded shell of a giant clam, the female mermaid cast a languid glance toward the sound.

“Chirp chirp chirp (Mistress, why did that perverted demon king leave in such a hurry this time?)” A little fish with transparent, lustrous scales poked its head out timidly from behind the veils.

Dir smiled, beckoning with a fingertip for the little fish to swim closer. “…What’s this? Weren’t you hoping that demon king would leave sooner? Now he’s gone in a rush, and you complain?”

“Chirp chirp chirp! (Hmph! It’s his fault for being so bad! Every time he flirts with you, he never leaves so quickly—he’s always whispering sweet nothings!)” The little fish waggled its short tail, grumbling as it swam closer, muttering about the man’s usual misdeeds.

“It seems the Vienn family from the western sea sent word… No wonder he left in such haste…” Dir replied lazily, her bare, alluring body still marked with faint red bites and indelible kiss marks, her expression full of seductive charm.

“Chirp chirp! (Dad just came back!!) Chirp! (He looked furious!!)” The little fish mumbled, rubbing affectionately against Dir’s slender, flushed fingertip.

“Little rascal, go fetch him. I have something to ask…” Dir lowered her eyes, hiding the turmoil within, and gave her instructions without hurry.

“Chirp! (Alright!)” The tiny fish nibbled reluctantly a few more times before swirling away.

Soon—

“Chirp! (Mistress…)” Another vividly colored little fish swam over.

“Did something happen with Slancer?” Dir’s brows furrowed as she asked directly, her hand absently rubbing at the corner beneath her reddened right eye—a nervous habit when her emotions ran high.

“Chirp chirp chirp!” The little fish flapped its tail in distress, clearly aggrieved and furious.

Dir listened in silence for a while before asking, frowning, “So now… he’s happily lost in that undersea forest with that male mermaid?”

“Chirp! (That’s right!) Chirp chirp chirp! (Dir! I really don’t know if your sacrifice for him was worth it!) Chirp! (You even used precious foreign blood to change your orientation and remade yourself entirely!!!) Chirp! (And look where that brat you care so much about is now?!)” The little fish was so agitated its eyes bulged and gills flared, nearly bursting with indignation.

Dir’s expression was blank as she sank into silent thought.

“Chirp! (Enough!!) Chirp! (Mistress, I won’t spy on that ungrateful brat anymore!!) Chirp chirp! (I just saw him skinning one of my kind alive!!)”

“And the male mermaid with him… does he have anything special?” Dir’s voice was cold, but her eyes held a flicker of hidden wrath.

“Chirp… chirp chirp! (Yes… under his right eye is also the mark of the Slocheid Orchid…) Chirp! (Which means he has…)” The little fish trailed off, its beady eyes glancing at Dir with uncanny intelligence.

“So that’s how it is… Such a transfer of affection…” Dir’s lips curled into a mocking smile. Her expression was full of resignation and loneliness, yet within it lingered a trace of unacknowledged bitterness.

“Chirp! (Mistress… you shouldn’t have gone soft back then…) Chirp chirp! (That boy is ungrateful! He’s just using you!)”

“That’s enough… say no more.” Dir waved a weary hand, a bitter, self-mocking smile on her lips. “…All along, I was the one being willful…”

But since what he’s always cared about is fame and power,

Then I will do all I can to make up for him, even knowing he approached me with ulterior motives from the very start…

Yet, I allowed myself to sink, to drown in it…

So,

No matter what means I must use, even if it means forcing myself away from him, enduring the agony of changing my blood, destroying myself, remaking my face… and switching my gender, even submitting myself to others… none of it matters anymore…

I only want him to be happy…

So that he will never again come to me, tearful and wounded, lamenting how someone among our people abused or humiliated him…

That pitiful, battered look could always pierce my heart, cutting me to the core.

But I had no power, no status, no strong clan to rely on—what could I possibly use to save him?

In the end… I could only leave that little one behind…

Grow stronger, step by step…

Until I have the power to change his fate… even his life…

Author’s Note: Yes, in fact, this is a story of a “bottom who tricks the top, the top changes gender, seduces the father, the father schemes against the son, and the son tricks the protagonist”—a vicious cycle of entanglements…

There will be a third update tonight!