HTWBB Chapter 36

"Rietta."

"A name as beautiful as its owner, Rietta. I'm Jeffrey, Crown Prince of the Byantor Royal Family."

"Crown Prince?"

Jeffrey twisted his lips at an angle. It was an arrogant expression.

"That's right. We'll be meeting often from now on. Would you call me Jeffrey, or rather, Jeff?"

Rietta blinked and nodded. Her vision flickered again.

Pleasant resistance, cold temperature, blocked light. Underwater again.

Abel was near a small cabin lit by somewhat dim light. Not a house made from caves or other marine materials, but a cabin built from land's wooden planks.

Rietta wasn't around. Judging by the slightly open door, she seemed to be inside. Abel considered how far the spell caster would show him Rietta's past.

He didn't know what had happened to Rietta after she was swallowed by white light in the captain's cabin. He needed to leave this place at an appropriate time.

Since the familiar contract wasn't yet complete, it would be difficult, but it wasn't as if he couldn't forcibly break through.

'Should I observe a bit more for now?'

He followed Rietta's traces into the cabin. Unlike the exterior that resembled land architecture, the interior had a delicate mixture of sea and land elements.

Most eye-catching was the lamp. Wondering how fire could stay alive underwater, he realized it wasn't a candle but seaweed that glowed on its own.

Abel turned his gaze from the lamp similar to the light seeping from the captain's cabin. Bookshelves filling three walls were packed with books leaving no empty space. The long desk placed beneath them also had a sickening amount of items scattered about.

Rietta sat at the relatively tidy table before them with a mermaid he'd never seen before.

"Say it again. What do you want me to do?"

"Human legs. Not just changing when out of water like now, but permanent legs. That's what I want."

Abel stopped the step he'd been taking forward.

"My, I didn't mishear."

"Please, El."

"Explain why they must be permanent. As you said, we can naturally use legs when we go up on land."

"I want to go to the kingdom's capital. There's no sea there, so to stay continuously..."

"Wait. You mean you're going inland, now?"

Rietta nodded. The woman cried out in shock.

"You've gone mad, Rietta! Does Her Majesty know?"

"...I'll tell her."

The mermaid with golden hair as if it held the sun gazed at Rietta with eyes that looked at a troublemaker. She drained the teacup before her in one gulp as if her throat was parched, then opened her mouth again with a sigh.

"I know you admire the land. But staying there continuously isn't acceptable."

"Why? I thought you of all people would understand me."

"Would it be mere understanding? That's exactly why I can't allow it, my dear Rietta."

Though her gaze held a mixture of sympathy and concern, her tone alone was resolute. Abel thought this golden-haired mermaid, who shared not a single resemblance with Rietta, might be related by blood.

Slowly moving beside the table, he gazed at Rietta with her hands firmly clasped. Despite the resolute opposition, she showed no wavering. She anticipated every negative response and had no intention of yielding.

Abel superimposed the present Rietta over that image. As he could tell well enough even in a short period, she never backed down before her goals and convictions.

"Please, El Nas. I'll pay any price."

Therefore that statement was more a notification than a request for permission or pleading. El Nas before her seemed to fully understand that as well.

A few more rejections and requests with predetermined outcomes passed. El Nas finally said weakly.

"...It won't be as beautiful as you think."

"I know."

"Don't try to judge based on what you've seen in books. Why would you make such a choice? They can't be trusted. They're vicious and selfish."

"I'm not trusting them, El Nas."

Rietta's blue eyes shone with a face full of conviction.

"I want to learn more."

"About what?"

She pulled something small and glittering from her bosom and held it out.

"Things like these."

Eyes that had been sharply raised inevitably lowered their tails gently. El Nas seemed well aware of the few items clutched in those innocent hands.

Taking the faded pocket watch, she quietly smoothed its edges. As if recalling a very distant past, her gaze grew distant even while looking closely.

Muttering to no one in particular that this was why she ended up like this, El Nas raised her head. Her gorgeous golden hair swayed lightly.

"You're too much like me."

"...Am I?"

El Nas smiled. Returning the watch immediately, she opened her mouth heavily. Instead of the affection that had permeated her voice until now, sternness took its place.

"Fine, Rietta. I'll grant your request."

"Thank you, El."

"It's not free. I'll have to receive payment."

"What price?"

Slender fingers lightly tapped the table. Red lips pronounced a brief word.

"Your voice."

"What?"

Rietta reflexively asked back. El Nas said again in a deliberately emotionless voice.

"Give me your beautiful voice."

A moment of silence hung between them. Abel involuntarily examined the area around Rietta's neck. The voice like scratching the surface of very rusty, rough metal came vividly to mind.

Surprised by the unexpected condition, she froze for a moment, then readily nodded.

"I'll do that."

"...There isn't just one price. To obtain enduring human legs, you'll also have to give me one of your 'air bure.' Can you do that?"

"The magic channel side?"

"No, the left one. I need it to seal your tail. You won't be able to breathe underwater like now, and wound recovery won't come easily either."

"I understand."

"Lastly, I'll ask. Do you truly want this?"

This time she didn't hesitate.

"Yes. I do."

At the answer without wavering, El Nas let out a deep sigh.

"You'll regret it."

"That's also my choice."

She stared at Rietta for a long while before rising from her seat. Then she pulled out something round from somewhere on the desk where no empty space could be found. It looked like a thin hollow glass orb.

Through vision suddenly growing dim, he could see her placing a slightly glossy cloth beneath the glass orb.

The clear voices gradually grew distant as if heard in sleep. Just before falling completely into darkness, Abel thought he made eye contact with El Nas.

And like lighting a candle, the surroundings brightened again. He was sitting at the table he'd been looking down at moments before.

"What are you trying to do?"

Abel's lips rose crookedly. Nothing had changed. Two cups of tea. A slightly less bright lamp. The other person's teacup was completely empty, while his cup hadn't been sipped at all.

The difference was that he now occupied the seat where Rietta had been sitting.

"Pleased to meet you."

El Nas, who greeted him with a grin, tapped her teacup. Tap. The neatly emptied tea filled up again.

"I'm El Nas."

"An unnecessary introduction."

"Since you'll continue to be with Rietta, we should exchange greetings."

El Nas calmly sipped her second cup of tea. Abel realized the woman before him had pulled him into Rietta's memories. Very deliberately at that. Most likely she'd planned to bind him while showing him memories of the past.

But he couldn't guess the reason at all. His thoughts suddenly reached Rietta's current condition. What was she planning to do to her?

However, based on the past he'd experienced so far, there was no basis to suspect this El Nas. Didn't she seem to have a close relationship with Rietta and worry about her no less than a parent would?

"Don't do that."

"Do what."

"You're considering whether to break out of my space right now."

"Where is Rietta?"

"That child is safe. She's just reclaiming what's hers."

Abel, who'd been blinking, looked down at the tea before him. He wasn't naive enough to believe whatever was revealed.

But he also didn't sense any signs of scheming. Nor any indication of lying.

Eventually relaxing his body, he propped up his arm and rested his chin on it.

"So. Why did you call me here?"

"By any chance, have you formed a name-bound contract with Rietta?"

"Not yet. Though I've received confirmation."

"I thought so. Actually, it seems it'll take some time, but maintaining the space requires magic. So I borrowed some of yours. That's okay, right?"

Despite saying she'd stolen magic, El Nas brazenly tilted her head.

Abel reflected on whether magic had disappeared while drifting through Rietta's past.

Since large amounts had drained from the battle at the shipwreck, he would have noticed even a slight disappearance. He hadn't felt anything like that at all... Abel frowned.

There definitely had been a moment when he felt momentarily fatigued while following Rietta. Even though that shouldn't have been possible in an illusion.

"It sounds like you were planning to divert my eyes and steal my magic."

"I can't say you're wrong. But you were the one who first invaded my space."

"I never did that."

"Think carefully. What you did right before Rietta touched the music box."

Naturally without time to think, he'd reached out to pull her from the activating magic. He'd thought he clearly grabbed her arm, but when he opened his eyes, he was alone in the sea.

The meaning of what El Nas was saying was clear. Originally, only Rietta should have entered this space, but he'd intruded on his own. After detecting an unplanned impurity, El Nas tried to exclude him, but for some reason decided to use him as a magic supply source instead.

Abel, whose thoughts reached that point, flicked the edge of the teacup.