Chapter 11
Wright stood up with Mu Chen in his arms. “I’ll take him to have his wound treated first.”
He was speaking to Jorah, but his icy gaze was fixed straight on Kyle, as if silently conveying a message:
—Just you wait.
Kyle awkwardly reached up to loosen the collar Wright had grabbed, feeling a little short of breath.
He instinctively looked at the merman lying against Wright’s shoulder.
The instant their eyes met, panic flashed through Mu Chen’s tear-filled blue eyes. His long lashes trembled, and, as if reacting instinctively, he clung tightly to Wright’s neck, burying his soft cheek in the crook of his neck.
Kyle: “...?!%@#!?”
He still couldn’t catch his breath.
The next second, he received a sharp glare.
Mu Chen had finally stopped sobbing and sat perfectly still, like a quiet little cat.
Securely held in Wright’s arms, he passed through the crowd and headed straight for his own bedroom.
Wright’s embrace was warm and strong, shielding him from everyone’s searching gazes. Perhaps because he had just come from the training grounds, a faint scent of cedar still lingered at his throat.
Leaning against Wright’s broad shoulder, Mu Chen’s blue eyes—which no one else could see—were now eerily calm, despite having seemed panicked and helpless moments ago. His fingertips gripped Wright’s lapel.
So this was what it felt like to be loved unconditionally?
He liked it so much...
Wright entered the bedroom and nudged the door shut with his foot.
“I’m sorry...” He carefully set Mu Chen down on the soft bed and gently wiped the tear tracks from the merman’s cheek with his thumb. His usually deep, detached eyes took on a different expression,
“This won’t happen again.”
A merman born into a declining royal family and exiled for years was keenly attuned to emotions. At that moment, Mu Chen read “cherishing” and “protection” in Wright’s eyes.
His tone was calm and steady, yet he was making a solemn promise to Mu Chen.
Mu Chen froze for a moment, then reached out and wrapped his arms around Wright’s waist, curling into his embrace like a little animal in need of security.
As he felt Wright stroke him again and again, Mu Chen contentedly lowered his lashes, while a deeper possessive desire took root in his heart...
Wright was gentle and powerful, the most dazzling presence in the entire palace, even the Empire.
Wright liked him—as one might like a little brother, or a stray cat found on a rainy day...
But he felt that wasn’t enough.
He wanted that affection to belong to him alone.
The first half of his life had been like a shadow wandering through a swamp filled with mud and rocks. Then one day, he slipped through a crack and found a cave that welcomed him—a vast, warm place filled with light.
And so, the shadow in the darkness began to swell. He wanted to claim all that light.
...
“I’m going to apply some medicine. It might hurt a little.”
Wright’s voice drew Mu Chen’s wandering thoughts back.
It would have been better to let a maid apply the medicine. After all, Wright had never treated anyone’s wounds before and didn’t know how much pressure to use.
But since the little merman was emotionally unstable, Wright took the disinfectant iodine himself.
At the mention of medicine, Mu Chen obediently slipped out of Wright’s arms and stretched his silver tail out in front of him.
Although a merman’s blue blood had powerful healing properties, missing scales couldn’t grow back all at once. The tail, once so brilliantly colored, now had several mottled, ragged gaps, and dried blood had seeped into the ghastly pale flesh.
It looked painful.
The cool ointment was gently pressed onto the wound, and the tip of Mu Chen’s tail trembled despite himself.
Wright raised his eyes and met the little merman’s reddened eyes. He seemed to be trying with all his might to hold back his tears.
His hand grew even gentler. “If it hurts, you don’t have to hold it in. You can cry.”
“Mm...”
Mu Chen nodded, still sounding a little stuffy-nosed.
He hadn’t even blinked when his scales were pulled out, but now he was so delicate that tears kept streaming down his face.
By the time Wright finished applying the medicine, the tip of Mu Chen’s once-fair, delicate nose had turned red from crying. Even so, he didn’t forget to say politely, “Thank you, Your Highness.”
With medicine freshly applied to his tail, Mu Chen couldn’t lie down or curl up under the covers, so he sat on the bed leaning against Wright’s shoulder, swishing his tail back and forth with a “splash, splash” in an attempt to dry the ointment faster.
Neither of them spoke. After a brief silence, Wright suddenly said:
“I’ll choose a date and personally announce this engagement to all the people of the Aus Empire.”
He had always thought of Mu Chen as a younger brother, so before this happened, Wright had never publicly expressed his thoughts on the engagement. He had assumed it would be enough to give Mu Chen a reason to stay and help him fend off Jorah’s endless attempts to arrange a marriage for him.
But now, he suddenly realized that more than simply staying, the little merman needed an identity that would let him establish himself in the Aus Empire.
“Hm?” Mu Chen didn’t understand at first and simply lifted his head to look at Wright.
Wright reached out and stroked the top of his head. “Everyone will know you’re my future spouse. This engagement will protect you. Until you’re grown up, no one will be able to bully you again.”
Wright’s serious expression was reflected in Mu Chen’s eyes. “Then after I grow up...”
Wright: “When you come of age, I’ll find a way to end the engagement. So you don’t have to worry. It will protect you, but it won’t bind you.”
“From today on, this is your home.”
At the word “home,” Mu Chen’s eyes trembled. He asked, “Then, can I...”
“Call you Big Brother?”
Wright smiled. “Of course.”
...
Meanwhile, in Catherine’s chambers,
Kyle lifted the gauze to inspect the wound on one side of his face in the mirror. “Did you hear what he said? He told me not to go too far. What’s that supposed to mean?”
“I’m his son! I got scratched by that fish, and he tells me not to go too far!”
Catherine pressed a hand to her temple. “Why did you make such a scene, then call a bunch of people over to see it? No matter how much you hate that fish, couldn’t you have dealt with him in private?”
Kyle’s hand paused as he touched his wound. “What are you talking about?”
Catherine: “It’s just the two of us here. You don’t have to keep pretending.”
Kyle grabbed at his hair in frustration, his voice rising several notches. “Pretending about what?”
“You don’t think I did that to his injuries too, do you?”
Catherine fell silent for a moment, giving him a look that said, “What else?”
Kyle was so angry he could barely get the words out, like a volcano on the verge of erupting. “This morning, I did... I was the one who entered his bedchamber first, but I fucking—absolutely did not touch that damn fish!”
“I told you, the moment I touched him with the fishing net, he slashed it apart! He even slashed open my face!”
As he spoke, he knocked over a glass in his agitation.
With a loud crash,
“If that’s really what happened...” Catherine lowered her eyes to the shards of glass scattered across the floor and let out a derisive snort. “Then you can’t even beat a fish.”
...
Kyle’s face darkened. His lips moved a few times, but in the end, he said nothing.
Catherine watched a maid bend down to sweep up the glass shards. “For now, keep your head down and stop drawing attention to yourself. Put the original plan on hold until the next palace banquet. I think...”
Kyle roared, “Why should I?”
Catherine rose from the soft chair and slowly walked over to Kyle. “Did you see how Wright treated that merman today? He thinks you hurt his merman. Do you think he’ll just let this go?”
She had indeed underestimated that merman.
...
On the biggest livestreaming platform in the Aus Empire,
[Aaaaaah, they’re playing scenic footage! Does this mean the stream is about to start again?]
[Sob, sob, where’s the little merman? Why hasn’t he streamed for days?]
[I miss the little merman so much, damn it! If he doesn’t come out soon, I’m going to the palace to steal him!]
[Above, let’s go together. I’ll bring a sack.]
Just as the comments were getting more and more excited, the livestream screen flickered a few times, and the handsome face of a man appeared in the center of the frame.
Wright wore a crisp white shirt and the solemn black military uniform of a high-ranking general in the Empire’s mecha corps. A silver aiguillette ran from the top button of his uniform to his left shoulder.
A lock of blond hair fell across his fair, high forehead, further enhancing his noble, detached air.
[Is that... a prince?]
[Help, the prince is so handsome!]
[The prince actually appeared on camera, aaaaaah, I’m dead!]
[Where’s Fishy? Why isn’t Chen cub with him?]
The screen was silent for a moment before Wright spoke in a low voice,
“Today, I’d like to announce something to everyone.”
The camera pulled back. Wright was seated upright in the palace reception room. At the center of the coffee table was a transparent display case holding a dazzling crown. Its inverted-triangle gold band was studded with lustrous pearls, and beneath the largest pearl in the center hung a sapphire pendant as pure as the ocean,
“Mu Chen will become my future spouse and a member of the Aus imperial family... And this crown is my engagement gift to him.”
The comments in the livestream went wild again.
[Aaaaaah, it’s official!]
[Little Pearl!!!!! That’s what we’re calling the little merman from now on!]
[Sob, sob, he’s so doting!]
[Is the prince staking his claim?]
Meanwhile, off-screen,
Mu Chen sat on the soft velvet carpet with Good Boy in his arms, projecting the livestream playing on his smart-brain into the center of the bedroom.
“You saw it that day, didn’t you?”
At the time, Good Boy had been in his bedroom, which was separated from the indoor artificial lake by just one door. That door was made of semi-transparent glass.
“Whimper...”
As if sensing some kind of danger, Good Boy’s ears stiffened.
Mu Chen scratched under its chin with a fingertip. “But it’s fine. You can’t tell anyone anyway.”
After letting out a frightened “whimper,” Good Boy couldn’t help purring contentedly, “Purr, purr.”
Mu Chen’s gaze slowly traced the man’s striking brows and eyes on the screen. His eyes curved into crescents as he rested his chin on Good Boy’s fluffy head, speaking as if to the dog, or perhaps to himself,
“Only I can call him Big Brother.”
“No one else can.”
...
After that day’s livestream ended,
All of Blue Star’s mainstream media reported the breaking news: The Crown Prince of the Aus Empire had commissioned a crown made from twenty-one blue-and-white pearls and a sapphire as a gift for his future spouse, naming it the “Aus Pearl.”
From then on, the last merman on Blue Star had a new title.
—The Pearl of the Aus Empire.