Mermaid Trap

After a short stroll with Theodore in the glass greenhouse, Vivianne returned to her room before sunset.

What had Theodore been about to say? He suddenly grew reticent. The fact that he mentioned the newspaper while talking about waltzing made her think he was going to tell her something about Kian’s fiancée.

She wanted to press him for details, but there must have been a reason he held back. Theodore wasn’t like Kian, who enjoyed making her curious.

Besides, if what he was going to say was something she didn’t want to hear, it would send her plummeting further into despair. She lacked the courage to face that.

After finishing her unusually brief walk, Vivianne returned to her room.

For a long time after returning, she remained by the window, staring at the carriage path. Even as the sunset gave way to dusk, Kian did not return.

When will Kian come? Maybe he won’t come today either.

Whether it was due to lack of sleep or something else, she felt drained. Or maybe it was just her mood.

Her head was foggy, and her body felt heavy.

Matilda brought her dinner, but Vivianne declined, saying she would sleep early.

Vivianne took a warm bath and went to bed earlier than usual.

* * *

Vivianne woke up groaning, sitting up in bed.

‘It hurts.’

She realized immediately that something was wrong. Her whole body was hot and drenched in cold sweat. Her feet, especially the soles, felt like they were burning.

‘…Could it be today?’

Vivianne gazed out the window as if in a trance. Outside, the darkness had settled in, and the moon hung full in the sky.

“A full moon.”

She muttered as if spellbound.

It was the first full moon since she had come ashore.

Before drinking the potion the witch gave her, the witch had warned her.

Until you become fully human, you might revert to your original state, so be careful. Burning soles were a sign, and the whole body would ache. Especially on the night of a full moon, it was most dangerous.

If it persisted, she would revert to her mermaid form.

The potion was incomplete, and this was a side effect. The witch advised her to swim in the sea under the moonlight. Though she would temporarily turn back into a mermaid, cooling her feet in the seawater would make her human again. The witch assured her that she would be okay for a while after that, even giving her specific instructions.

So, it was happening now. The feeling in her feet was undeniably unusual. If she continued to suffer here, she would revert to her mermaid form.

‘Get up.’

Vivianne dragged her aching body out of bed, placing her feet on the floor.

Standing made the heat and pain worse, almost unbearable.

It was hard to move with the searing pain, but she had to hurry.

Becoming a mermaid here would be disastrous.

Annabelle’s words that mermaids could never be happy on land came to mind.

Humans would trap mermaids in glass cases or ponds.

They wouldn’t love them; they would just confine and own them.

How far had she come to reach here?

How had she even reached Kian after arriving? With what resolve was she holding on now? She couldn’t afford to turn back into a mermaid. If she failed to fulfill the contract, she would turn into sea foam.

‘Before anyone notices, I need to get to the sea. Submerge myself.’

She had to hurry.

Stumbling out of her room, Vivianne suddenly remembered something she had forgotten.

Leaning against the wall, she turned back and opened the wardrobe with difficulty.

Though she was in pain, she couldn’t go out barefoot and in a negligee.

She grabbed a shawl and slipped on the low heels Kian had gifted her recently, then left the room.

* * *

Deep in the night, the only sound on the coral beach was the crashing of the waves.

Splash-, swoosh-. Splash-, swoosh-.

The familiar sound, like the beating of a heart, calmed her. The deserted white sand beach had an air of solitude.

Enduring the burning sensation in her feet, Vivianne reached the shore and stood still for a moment, lifting her head to gaze at the full moon.

“…It’s beautiful.”

The large moon was still stunning. It shone brilliantly, alone in the dark sky.

Once a month, on the night of the full moon.

She recalled the happy times when she would come ashore to see Kian.

This beach hadn’t changed much. The only differences were that she now had legs instead of a tail, and Kian wasn’t here. Everything else was the same.

She had first seen Kian from behind that rock over there. She would crouch down, hiding her body, fearful that the bright moonlight might reveal her identity.

It was strange. This was the first full moon she experienced on land, and Kian wasn’t here. Considering the pain she was in, maybe it was a good thing he wasn’t.

She had longed for the land so much, but even though it was only temporary, returning to the sea felt strange.

It’s okay.

I’ll come back anyway.

There was no time for sentimentality.

She quietly placed the shawl she had draped over her shoulders on the sand. Next to it, she neatly placed her shoes.

These would be her traces of humanity when she returned.

Would Kian wait for her?

Maybe not. Most of the waiting had always been her burden.

But then again, maybe he would wait. Vivianne couldn’t be sure.

Seeing him waiting at unexpected moments made her heart drop, then swell with emotion. Like the full moon, he would fill her heart completely, only to shrink and leave her feeling hollow as time passed.

As if he would disappear, swallowed by the darkness. Just when she was sinking into despair, he would start to fill her heart again, as if it was a lie.

He was a man whose true form she could never grasp, making her longing even more intense.

“I’ll be back, Kian.”

Her lonely farewell scattered over the waves. Vivianne, bearing the burning sensation in her feet, walked step by step into the sea.

As the crashing waves gradually soaked her body, she was submerged. Before she knew it, her legs had disappeared, and she felt free again.

‘…It’s a tail!’

In place of her legs, a tail had appeared. It was still as beautiful and shimmering with a mesmerizing blue hue, like the light refracted in the sea.

Vivianne wiggled it for the first time in a long while. The sensation of the heavy water wrapping around her fins reminded her that she danced much better with a tail than with waltz steps.

I wish I could show him, but I can’t. Still, it’s a dance I can enjoy alone without feeling lonely. Her tail quivered with joy.

She had always resented her tail, but meeting it again felt like reuniting with an old friend.

Yes. This is the rock.

Reaching the familiar rock, Vivianne hid behind it as she used to. There was no Kian to spy on, but hiding like this felt fun, like playing hide and seek.

‘So cool.’

Vivianne felt her feet cooling down as she descended deeper, cutting through the water.

She swam down further, relishing the coolness enveloping her body.

* * *

Kian didn’t return to the mansion until it was completely dark.

Remembering the unfinished tasks from the morning, he went straight to his study. He reviewed some overdue documents and then took a short nap on the long sofa. When he woke up, it was still dark around him.

He picked up the documents again, but then he noticed the dessert bag he had bought. On the way back to Larsson, he had stopped the carriage and instructed his aide to fill it with sweets.

Not like him at all.

Why did he buy these?

If he bought them, he should deliver them. But his nap had made it all vague. He considered sending them through Matilda in the morning, but suddenly he was curious about the woman’s whereabouts.

Would she still be awake?

If she was, would she be waiting for his footsteps like that day? It was a cruel curiosity.

So he headed to the fourth floor of the main building. If she was asleep, Kian planned to just go to his own bedroom.

Upon reaching the fourth floor, Kian walked inside and saw a door slightly ajar.

Careless. He had specifically told her to lock the door when she slept. Had she been so tired that she forgot? He opened the door, ready to scold her.

“……”

The room was empty, as if no one had ever been there. An empty room.