Chapter 19 - The Mermaid Princess's Little Brother

Translator's Note:

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Half a year had passed since Rito's disappearance... Glen's parents had urged him countless times to return to the palace, but he continued to dwell in the seaside mansion where he had spent so many hours with the youth. The household staff had been reduced to a minimum, and there, in solitude, he lived—untouched by the outside world.

 

His appetite had long abandoned him. His meals consisted only of alcohol, accompanied by a morsel of bread. At times, the prince would attempt to read, but he lacked the strength of will to follow the lines of text for long. Whether his body had grown frail, whether he had become emaciated, or even whether his appearance had become ghastly—none of this mattered to him.

 

In fact, whenever his mother would arrive with yet another candidate for marriage, he would don his most soiled garments and leave his hair unkempt, deliberately presenting himself in a wretched state. He sought to make clear that his spirit was deeply unwell. In truth, the prince was keenly aware that he was suffering from an illness of the heart.

 

In the garden, they had created a grave for Rito, in the very spot where the blood-stained foam had once been absorbed by the earth. Glen could only find solace when he stood before it. Fastened upon the gravestone was the black eyepatch that the youth had once worn, and as Glen gazed upon it, memories of Rito's face, his voice, and his form returned to him. In his mind, he carried on conversations with him. He would say, "Rito, I am so lonely without you," and the merman would laugh and reply, "I will be back soon, just wait for me."

 

"Rito... when will that be? I've waited so long. The alcohol I once could not bear has grown stronger, yet even now, it no longer makes me drunk."

 

As he spoke to the grave, tears fell upon the earth, scorched by the summer sun. Would his voice, his tears, reach Rito, who had dissolved into the soil of this garden?

 

Kneeling before the grave, Glen placed his left hand upon the youth's eyepatch and his right hand over his heart. Thump, thump—it beat as usual. He did not remember it clearly, but he had been told that Rito's heart had been very small. By taking it into his own, Glen had avoided death by poison, but now he was left to live in loneliness.

 

Elsa, the one who had poisoned the boy, had been captured. Yet, as the daughter of a noble, she had not been tortured or sent to the underwater prison. Instead, she was confined to the northern tower of Hazes Prison. Few knew the truth—that the prince had been the one poisoned. Officially, she was accused of poisoning a foreign woman, a lover of the prince. Naturally, the weight of these two crimes was vastly different.

 

However, the girl did not consider her escape from death a blessing, and she declared that she had intended to die soon after killing Rito. In truth, there had been poison in both cups.

 

"If only I had gathered my courage sooner, I wouldn't have brought shame upon Elsa. And you wouldn't have become a target…"

 

The prince had repeated these same words before the grave countless times over the past six months. Even now, tears welled in his eyes, tears that seemed as though they would never dry. He longed to become one of those tears, to seep into the earth and follow after Rito.

 

He wondered if Rito was resting beneath the lush green grass. How could he follow one who had turned into nothing but bloodstained foam?

 

(You were the merman who saved me on that stormy night. And not long after, a small page appeared, while my dolphin friend vanished. Could it be that you were also that dolphin?)

 

The prince turned his gaze toward the sea, pressing his hand against the tear-soaked earth. Though the youth had perished in this garden, he was not bound to this grave. If Glen wished to see him again, he would have to return to the sea. The soil here, well-drained as it was, meant that the boy who had become foam had likely already returned to the ocean's embrace.

 

As the thought crossed his mind, the sea seemed to consume his soul, calling to both his heart and body. He longed to ride the waves, to drift upon them, letting them take him to whatever shore or seabed they pleased. And at last, to be with Rito once more.

 

"If we cannot meet here, no matter how long I wait, then I shall come to you myself. I'm sorry for my parents, for my people… but you saved me twice. My life should have ended on the night of my birthday. Even if I cannot meet you and instead become a piece of seaweed at the bottom of the ocean, if I can fall into an eternal sleep in your homeland, that will be an ending I can accept."

 

Under the sun—the source of all life—Glen stared out to the sea, preparing himself for death. He climbed over the garden's fence and made his way to the sandy beach. His steps down the cliffs were light, without the heaviness of one approaching their final demise. For the prince now, dying in the sea was nothing more than reuniting with the one he loved.

 

He wondered why he had not done this earlier—his desire to submerge himself in the ocean was so strong. He longed to reach Rito's homeland, the place where he rested. Glen moved across the black rocks with ease and removed his shoes upon the beach's white sands. Fine shoes or clothes were no longer of any importance to him. Barefoot, dressed in only his undergarments, he dashed toward the sea, his long hair bouncing with each step.

 

"Rito!"

 

He cried out—not as a prince, not as a noble—but simply as a man madly in love. His feet splashed through the soft, lapping waves as he ran into the shallows, sending water flying. There were few servants around, and those who remained were busy, so he didn't fear someone seeing him. Even if they did, he was certain none could stop him now.

 

He should have done this long ago. He had made so many missteps in his life. If only he had been as determined from the moment he first came to this palace…

 

"Rito… Rito!"

 

He was certain that, as a merman, Rito had paid a price to meet him. But Glen had hesitated too often, leaving him to suffer alone.

 

Yet this time, there would be no hesitation. He was ready to devote his life to love, thinking of nothing but Rito.

 

***

 

Glen swam desperately through the summer sea, chasing the setting sun, further and further from the shore. As the sun sank beneath the horizon, his limbs began to betray him, his muscles weary and his strength dissipating into the twilight. Gazing up at the sky, which matched the color of Rito's eyes, he felt himself reaching the end of his endurance. A deep weariness overtook him, one that no willpower could fight, and slowly, his body began to sink.

 

He tried to float on his back in the water, but no shore was visible in any direction. The water had turned cold, and his mind began to grow foggy. The prince lost all sense of direction, sinking deeper, unable to tell where the sky ended and the sea began. There was nothing to grasp onto, nothing to hold him back from the ocean floor. The twilight sky above was a beauty beyond words, and he felt no regret.

 

Thinking of the water that enveloped him as being connected to Rito, the pain of drowning softened. His body was wrapped in the tender embrace of the sea, and despite the deadly exhaustion, Glen felt invincible.

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