Die Melusine - Chapter 33

Kieron had already left, and Melusine stood alone in his absence for what felt like a long time. All the words she had agonized over, carefully prepared in advance, ultimately remained unspoken.

If she had been better at expressing herself, if she could have handled things as skillfully as ordinary humans, would things have turned out differently?

The feelings she had bottled up, one on top of another, were now choking her, pressing against her throat. Why did it always end like this?

With a sunken expression, Melusine reached for the doorknob. She didn’t understand that man. The human world, which had initially seemed smaller and more shallow than her own, now felt impossibly vast and deep. It was as if she were adrift in an endless ocean with no direction, everything around her blurred and out of reach.

All she needed to do was spend a night with Kieron and secure his seed, but her thoughts kept wandering elsewhere. That was why she had clung to Anne, practicing the language of this place day and night.

Because she wanted to be closer to him.

Yet, she hadn’t even been given the chance to speak with him properly. She couldn’t grasp a single drop of his thoughts or feelings.

Creak.

She opened the door cautiously, half-hoping—foolishly—that he might still be nearby. Of course, he wasn’t.

Her neck, where his teeth had sunk in, still tingled. She touched it gingerly with her fingertips. Her lips and body still burned from his touch, yet the corridor outside was filled with nothing but cold air.

No matter how tightly she tried to hold on, the man always slipped through her grasp. His expression, rarely betraying a smile, often seemed so cold it frightened her. She depended on the flicker of light in his golden eyes for solace, but was it wrong to do so? The thought unsettled her.

“What is it you really want?”

A voice suddenly broke into her swirling thoughts. Melusine turned her head sharply.

Estelle stood there, her jeweled dress and mask glinting even in the dim hallway light, nearly blinding her.

“What…?”

The violet eyes behind the mask glanced at the red marks on Melusine’s neck, left by Kieron, before quickly flitting back up.

“I’m curious. What is it you want from my prince? It’s not gold or jewels, is it? You’re not even human, after all.”

My prince. The possessive pronoun in her words stung. It implied ownership, just like one would say “my dress” or “my fish.” Kieron, it seemed, was hers.

“Kieron… baby. That’s what I want.”

Melusine’s tone was matter-of-fact. Humans seemed preoccupied with the idea of owning one another, but to her, it was meaningless.

Or at least… it should be meaningless. Having a child with the man she believed to be Serenhide would be enough for her.

“A baby? The Grand Duke’s? Are you still clinging to that dream?”

Estelle raised her voice slightly, her tone dripping with mockery. Though she nearly laughed outright, she managed to suppress it.

Melusine.

Though they had only crossed paths a handful of times, Estelle couldn’t decide if she was naive or just plain stupid. Either way, it was pathetic.

Deigning to speak to someone so animalistic offended Estelle’s pride, but she decided it was better to set boundaries now. She’d likely have to deal with this creature again in the future.

“Why not?”

Melusine asked, genuinely curious. So Estelle had really been about to say this back in the garden.

“Do I really need to explain? Oh… but even if I did, you wouldn’t understand, so there’s no point wasting my time.”

Estelle shook her head in exasperation, as if the very idea of continuing this conversation exhausted her. She turned as if to leave, her jeweled heels clicking against the floor.

Truthfully, she was still annoyed that Kieron had passed her by at the ball without so much as a glance. Her reaction had been excessive, she realized, and it frustrated her that she had lowered herself to address Melusine at all.

But just as Estelle began to leave, Melusine stopped her, reaching out like someone clinging to a departing shadow.

“Can’t you just tell me? Teach me, please.”

Estelle shook off the hand on her sleeve as if brushing off an insect, her narrowed eyes full of disdain. She suddenly remembered seeing Melusine clinging to Kieron in the city once, just like this.

“Do you cling to him like this, too?”

“Cling…? Is that bad? I do it because I like Kieron.”

“Of course it’s bad.” Estelle sighed heavily, as if she pitied Melusine. “You’re so clueless it’s almost sad. Fine, I’ll explain it to you, so listen carefully. His Grace is only using you to satisfy his desires. Do you understand what that means? Desires?”

“Mm, desires. Things you want to do,” Melusine replied, nodding slowly.

Melusine nodded instinctively. It was natural, almost automatic. She liked him. She wanted to be near him, stay close to him, and, yes, mate with him again. Whether human or beast, the feeling was the same.

“Exactly. But humans are different from animals. Once those desires are fulfilled, that’s the end. There’s no deeper meaning to it.”

Estelle’s carefully crafted, aristocratic phrasing was utterly lost on Melusine. The mermaid simply blinked her wide eyes in confusion, prompting Estelle to sigh softly.

“To put it simply, humans don’t have children with those who are merely objects of their desire. Especially not people like His Grace or myself.”

A faint ripple stirred in Estelle’s blue eyes.

“They won’t? Because I’m… not human?”

Melusine’s voice wavered slightly as the words left her full, trembling lips.

“Even if you were human, it wouldn’t make much of a difference. But yes, that’s part of it. Do you really think His Grace would share his bloodline with a creature he can’t even communicate with?”

“…Go back.”

It was only then that Melusine remembered the last thing Kieron had said to her.

Quietly go back.

“What? Me?”

Estelle furrowed her brow in disbelief before noticing the growing pallor in Melusine’s face. A smile crept onto her lips.

“Did His Grace really tell you that? To go back?”

Of course he did. Estelle’s face lit up as her suspicions were confirmed. The scene from the ballroom flashed in her mind: Kieron dragging Melusine out with a hardened expression and sharp eyes. It hadn’t been anything meaningful—just annoyance and displeasure.

“Yes…”

Melusine’s response was barely audible. At the time, she’d thought he’d meant something else. But maybe it was all a misunderstanding. Maybe this human woman was right.

“Then why are you still here?”

Estelle’s confident tone carried a hint of impatience as she stared directly into Melusine’s now-watery eyes. Her elevated chin and composed demeanor radiated triumph.

“Goodbye, Melusine. It was nice meeting you,” Estelle said smoothly, giving a polite nod before turning and walking back toward the ballroom.

Before Melusine could reply, she was already alone again, standing dazedly in the corridor.

She wandered, almost in a trance, toward the ballroom doors. Through the slight opening, she could hear the lively chatter of humans and the mingling sounds of music and laughter spilling out into the hallway.

Her eyes followed Estelle’s retreating figure until she spotted Kieron standing near a massive column.

Melusine froze, her body flinching as though moving toward him was instinctual. One foot stepped forward before she could stop herself. Her entire being reacted whenever she saw him now, as if drawn by an invisible thread.

Estelle leaned close to Kieron, whispering something into his ear, a soft smile gracing her lips. Kieron stood silently, listening, his expression unreadable.

They were conversing—something that felt utterly out of reach for Melusine.

An odd weight settled in her chest, like a heavy stone wedged just beneath her ribs. Her heart felt constricted, and her whole body tingled. A surge of emotion, sharp and overwhelming, clawed its way upward, threatening to spill out.

It was as though a massive wave was about to crash, but she couldn’t let it.

In the end, Melusine turned and ran.

She didn’t know where she was going. Her shoes, pinching her feet with every step, were abandoned somewhere along the way. She ran as far as she could, away from the shimmering chandeliers and their dazzling lights.

***

Melusine hadn’t set out with any particular plan or intention. She simply wanted to breathe a little easier.

No matter how often she leaned her head out of a window inside the estate, her breath would quickly become labored again. The only time she felt any relief was when she soaked herself in the tub, but even that had its limits.

I’ll go to the sea.

That was all she thought.

Her mind was a tangled mess, and she wanted to let the seawater wash it all away. She knew the sea, her true home, wasn’t far from here.

Melusine walked past the training grounds of the secluded palace, where she often secretly watched Kieron, and continued toward the outskirts of the estate. She almost lost her way several times but relied on the salty tang of the ocean breeze to guide her.

When she had ridden with Kieron, they had reached the shore quickly. But on foot, it took much longer.

The sand at this beach was much softer than at the more distant one he had taken her to before, tickling her bare feet as she stepped onto it. Even in the dim light, she could tell from the pale shimmer of the water that the sea here was shallow.

Splash, splash.

As she waded closer to the waves, the rising tide lapped at her feet and ankles, the cold water stinging her calves. A sharp ache spread through her legs—her body’s signal that her tail was about to return.

Should I go back to Vercez?

The waves crashed rhythmically against the shore, their sound the only thing breaking the heavy silence. The dark clouds above, signaling imminent rain, obscured the moon, shrouding everything in black. Melusine gazed at the indistinct horizon, where the sea and sky blended together, lost in thought.

If this is truly the end, if his words were genuine…

If there was no deeper meaning to what Kieron had said, if she couldn’t get what she wanted from him and if he didn’t want her in return, there was no reason to hesitate any longer.

All she had to do was dive into the sea and swim back to Vercez Island, no matter how many days it took. She could reunite with her sisters and tell them about her unexpectedly long sojourn among humans.

She would explain how she’d been caught in a human net while swimming, how she had mistaken the man who saved her for Serenhide. And how, in the end, she returned empty-handed, without even carrying a child.

Perhaps during her next breeding season, she would venture out again to find another human man.

One who might truly be her Serenhide.

Step by careful step, Melusine edged closer to the sea. The water now lapped at her knees, and a dull pain seeped through her legs as the transformation began.

But… would another man do?

Would he be as strong, firm, and searing as Kieron?

Would he shatter her and then fill her so completely, as if nothing had ever broken?

Was it because the world around her was so dark now that all she could see was the glint of his golden eyes?

Foolishly, I want to see him again.

Just before her body fully reverted to its mermaid form, she squeezed her eyes shut.

One more step, and it would truly be over.

She knew this, yet that single step felt insurmountable. She stood still, wavering for what felt like an eternity.

And then, faintly, she thought she heard the distant whinny of a horse.