Chapter 2
Victoire treated me more kindly than anyone else when I first arrived at the ducal estate. But when I failed to awaken my power quickly, his attitude toward me gradually changed as I grew older.
Victoire began to reveal his true nature right after I awakened my power.
“You don’t want this to break, do you? You’d better listen to me. I have no need for useless things that don’t benefit my house.”
He threatened me while showing me the Mermaid’s Tear.
It was a promise made with the Sea God, a token of protection. If it were to break, my power would disappear, and my life would come to an end. More than anything, no one knew what calamity might follow if a token granted by a god as part of a sacred covenant were shattered.
As time passed, Duke Victoire demanded things of me that were utterly wrong.
The token of the promise tightened around my neck like a noose.
“Ariel, are you doing this properly? If you don’t want to die, then do exactly as I say!”
He roared in fury, gripping the mermaid’s pearl tightly in his hand.
At the sight of the orb—looking as though it might shatter at any moment in his grasp—my body began to tremble.
I was terrified. I was afraid.
Each time I refused his demands, Victoire responded with even greater coercion.
At first, he locked me in a dark room and starved me. Eventually, to get what he wanted, he did not hesitate to resort to violence.
With my leash firmly in his hand, I barely survived each passing day.
My body grew thinner with every day, bruises blooming across my skin one by one. Even the Mermaid’s Tear began to crack little by little.
Victoire’s greed knew no end. In the end, he coveted a throne that was never meant to be his, seeking to overthrow the emperor and seat his own son in his place.
Just thinking about it made my whole body shake.
He’s a bad person. I’ll never forgive him.
Because of him, Tirie—the son of Duke Elphiers, who should have become emperor—died.
And the responsibility for everything was placed on the shoulders of a child barely ten years old: me.
“Your Grace, please spare me. I only protected the Victoire family. I did everything you ordered me to do. I was just—ah!”
“For the people’s resentment to fall on you is what allows me to rule in peace. There’s nothing left for you to protect now, so there’s no reason for you to exist anymore. Don’t you agree?”
Before my eyes, Victoire stomped on the Mermaid’s Tear and crushed it underfoot. At that very moment, my gaze met that of a familiar figure standing behind him.
Why is that person here…?
Crack.
The already fractured orb split cleanly in half.
In that instant, all the strength drained from my body.
The people did not stop their accusations as they watched me slowly die, hanging there.
“You witch! The Sea God dares to toy with humans!”
“Because of her, our empire is in danger! Kill her! We must make sure war never breaks out on this land again!”
After Victoire became emperor, the empire fell into chaos. The people needed someone to blame—and that someone was me.
“I’m sorry… I’m so sorry…”
I wept as I begged for forgiveness.
Those were the only words I could say to them.
I never wanted to harm anyone. But I couldn’t refuse.
I was just scared. I was afraid. I wanted to live. I didn’t want to die.
The pain carved into my body every night, the fear that I might die at any moment—it all wrapped tightly around me.
I couldn’t abandon my duty, so I had no choice but to do what was demanded of me.
“I didn’t want this. I didn’t want to hurt anyone! Please believe me, I just… I just wanted to live!”
But no one listened to me.
No one—except for one man.
“Child, I know this is not your fault. What sin could a ten-year-old possibly bear?”
Duke Elphiers, who must have found this moment more hellish than anyone, did not curse me or blame me.
The duke who had fought Victoire to the very end ultimately fell to his knees.
“It is my fault for failing to find you. Do not burden yourself with guilt.”
…Failed to find me?
Only then did I notice that Duke Elphiers’ eyes were the same color as my hair.
Something slipped from his weakening hand.
A pearl, split cleanly in two, rolled across the floor.
Why… why do you have that?
Along the fractured surface of the pearl, an enigmatic light shimmered, rippling like water.
The Mermaid’s Tear.
A medium that carried the voice of the Sea God, and a family heirloom meant to receive divine protection.
The Mermaid’s Tear that Victoire had crushed before my eyes—yet for some reason, it was now in Duke Elphiers’ hand.
“This was never meant to be discarded like this… I don’t understand how it ended up in his possession. I’m sorry. I couldn’t protect you.”
Ah… ah…
The moment I saw it, I understood.
He was the one who was meant to receive the god’s gift.
The true owner of the Mermaid’s Tear was not Victoire—but Duke Elphiers.
And so, because of my forced, unwilling choice, I met the most brutal death of all.
Before the eyes of the Sea God, I was left hanging under the sun, slowly drying out.
“Ariel, Ariel…!”
My father’s desperate cries echoed in my ears.
I couldn’t protect them. I ruined everything. I…
I failed to protect those I was meant to safeguard. That guilt crushed me completely.
The Sea God was the strongest of all and the one who created me, yet even he could not help me.
Gods were only permitted to intervene in human affairs once humans had betrayed them first. In the end, my death was necessary for the god to deliver a punishment equal to their crime.
That was an unspoken law among the gods.
The reason the enraged god was able to wipe out every living being on the continent was because humans had first killed me—the god’s gift and protector.
The Sea God raged, and torrential rain poured down as if it would swallow everything.
My vision blurred. In my fading sight, I saw the land sinking beneath the water.
After my death, the world met its end that way.
I stopped recalling my past life and shook my head violently.
So I can’t afford to be stupid again!
When I opened my eyes, I was back in the sea. And to avoid repeating my past mistakes, I immediately sought out Duke Elphiers.
To be honest, I was also afraid that Victoire might find me first, so I hurried.
The problem was—I came too hastily.
How could I not even think about awakening my power? Am I really that stupid…?
I trudged down the corridor. My short legs moved nonstop, yet I hadn’t even made it halfway.
“Of course. Without power, I’m useless. This time too, I…”
If I had power, maybe I wouldn’t have been cast out.
I wiggled my small fingers and stared at them.
“I’ll be abandoned again. Victoire will find me. What should I do?”
Useless Ariel.
This time, I wanted to protect Duke Elphiers and Tirie.
I thumped my head lightly with my fists.
If I can’t be of help, it’s no different from before.
“I’m useless…”
Isn’t there some way to grow up faster? I wish I could suddenly grow tall in just one day. Humans grow older every year.
In my previous life, I awakened at seven. That meant I still had to pass three more birthdays.
…That’s too far away.
“I can’t see what’s ahead. It’s pitch-black.”
Thud.
“Oof.”
I was pushed back by a solid obstacle blocking my path and fell flat on my bottom, my face crumpling.
“I-I’m sorry. I must have gotten in the way of someone important. Useless Ariel will get up right away.”
I stretched out both hands and pressed them against the floor. Then, with a small grunt, I pushed myself up.
“…Are you hurt anywhere?”
“I’m f-fine. I’m not a child worth worrying about, nor am I useful. Thank you for your concern.”
“Useless? Please don’t say such things. Every child in this world is precious and lovable simply by existing!”
Startled by the loud voice, I looked up.
A man in uniform was looking down at me. When I flinched, he bent down to meet my gaze.
Lovable?
I tilted my head at the unfamiliar word. I had never heard it before.
Useful. Valuable. Helpful.
Those were the words I had heard most often in my previous life.
