ITHMF 02

Chapter 02

What about me looks like a ghost!

The thought that I’d been mistaken for the one thing I hate most in the world made my face scrunch up. When I glared at him with a look of disbelief, the boy gave an awkward laugh and made an excuse.

“No, I mean, think about it. You’re in the water in the middle of the night, and your hair’s soaking wet—it’s a pretty understandable misunderstanding, don’t you think?”

Well… I suppose that’s true.

Other mermaids had told me that humans usually don’t go into the sea at night. I wanted to deny it, but considering how I must have looked, I could see his point.

Especially since humans these days don’t even know mermaids exist.

As I nodded in understanding, the boy’s lips twitched slightly. He seemed to want to say something, but then closed his mouth again.

He seemed to be wanting to ask about my identity. Questions like whether I was really human or not.

Sensing danger instinctively, I quickly spoke up.

“Why are you here?”

“Ah, me? Hmm… I just had a lot on my mind.”

“A lot on your mind?”

“Yeah. I came out hoping the sea might help me sort things out.”

“And did it? Get sorted out?”

At my question, the boy seemed to ponder for a moment, then grinned at me. His face, which had been deep in thought as if troubled, suddenly became playful. I’d thought he was a handsome, melancholy type, but when he smiled, the atmosphere was completely different.

“I don’t know about sorted out, but I think I found something interesting.”

As he said that, his gaze was fixed directly on my face.

“…You’re not talking about me, are you?”

“Hmm, who knows?”

He is totally talking about me.

I couldn’t help but laugh at the absurdity of it. Then I suddenly realized I’d been casually chatting with this boy without even noticing.

I couldn’t even run away, and here I was just sitting around making small talk…

But he didn’t seem like a bad person. His gentle voice and the way he looked straight at me felt sincere. Because of the kindness I occasionally sensed from him, I didn’t think he’d try to harm me.

Was that why? Even though I knew I should run away before my identity was exposed, I somehow felt at ease, and my guard kept crumbling.

As I fell silent, lost in thought, the surroundings grew quiet. A cool breeze swept through the silence.

My shoulders, exposed above the water, felt cold, so I sank a little deeper into the sea. He then asked, as if he’d been waiting.

“But aren’t you cold? The days are getting warmer, but it’s still chilly at night.”

“I’m in the water, so I’m not cold.”

“…Isn’t it usually colder in the water?”

The boy tilted his head in confusion. Feeling a pang of guilt, I vaguely made up some excuse.

“I, I have a special constitution.”

“Really?”

Even as I said it, I knew it sounded strange. Sure enough, the boy’s eyes narrowed with suspicion.

But he just glanced between my face and the seawater, then nodded without asking anything further. He probably knew it was a weird excuse, but seemed to let it slide, sensing I didn’t want to talk about it.

He’s really not going to ask more?

Of course, even if he had asked about my identity, I had no intention of telling him…

Still, I wondered if it was okay to let it pass so easily, but there was no need to stir up trouble. For now, letting it go was better for me.

I glanced around cautiously, then turned my gaze to the sky.

“But don’t you need to go home? It’s getting pretty late…”

The moon was already beginning to tilt.

There was so much I wanted to ask him, but it was time to go back. To keep my identity hidden until the end, I needed to send him away first. That way, I could return to the sea with peace of mind.

On one hand, I felt like I was letting go of someone I might never see again, but rumors of ghosts living in the sea or someone suspecting the existence of mermaids would be troublesome too.

Fortunately, the boy readily nodded.

“I was about to leave.”

“Good thinking. Go home and get some sleep now!”

“Yeah. But before that, I have something I want to ask you.”

“Wh-What is it?”

Don’t tell me he’s going to ask what I really am now? I tensed up rigidly, staring only at his lips.

Seeing me all stiff, he let out a light laugh.

“You’d think I was going to eat you, the way you’re looking at me.”

“So what is it? What do you want to ask!”

“Your name.”

“My…! …My name?”

“Yeah. I’m curious about your name.”

Why would he suddenly ask for my name?

I never imagined he’d ask for my name, so I was completely dumbfounded. As I just blinked blankly, he waved a hand at my eye level to get my attention. Finally coming to my senses, I swallowed hard.

A name… should be okay, right?

There’s no way my name would give away that I’m a mermaid, and I’d like to know the name of the first human I’ve ever met anyway.

“Serinel Edmund. And you?”

“Kairan Sephern.”

The boy, who introduced himself as Kairan, smiled softly.

“Kairan…?”

Somehow, that name felt incredibly familiar.

As I unconsciously mulled over his name, I was suddenly struck by a shock as if someone had hit me on the back of the head.

Kairan Sephern?

Kairan? Kairan?!

In that instant, unfamiliar memories flashed through my mind like a lantern slide. And then, I realized one shocking fact.

“No way…”

Am I… reincarnated into the book right now?!

After parting with Kairan, I couldn’t remember how I’d gotten back to the castle. Driven by shock, I moved on autopilot and somehow found myself back in my room.

I crawled sluggishly into bed and frantically tried to organize my chaotic thoughts.

“So… the past me died, and I was reborn, but it’s into the book I loved so, so much?”

Summarizing the situation in one line, I let out a hollow laugh.

How does that even make sense? Reincarnating into a book?!

My head was throbbing, so I clutched it with both hands and groaned.

“This is insane…”

Wondering if I was dreaming, I pinched my cheek hard. The sharp pain made my eyes well up with tears.

That hurt like hell…

Rubbing my sore cheek, I thought about my name.

I didn’t remember much about my past life—who I was or how I lived—but one thing was crystal clear.

‘Serinel Edmund.’

This was the name of an extra from the book I’d loved so much in my past life, *Flora’s Flower Shop*. Being a mermaid, a special race, and the one who passes her purification ability to the female lead Flora, I remembered her vividly even though she was an extra.

“So I’m that Serinel now…”

Does that mean I get to meet the female lead too?

I decided to just accept my reality. Once I accepted it, I started seeing the good points.

Besides, I didn’t really have a choice. I’d already lived thirteen years as Serinel, so it was hard to see ‘Serinel’ as someone separate from me.

Rather than agonizing over a shaken identity, it was more comfortable to just coolly accept that I had become that extra, Serinel.

Besides, I get the advantage of seeing my favorite characters up close!

Spinning positive thoughts in my head, I recalled Kairan, whom I’d met today.

“Ha, if I’d known this would happen, I should have looked at his face more carefully!”

I regretted not paying more attention to his features, instead being solely focused on the fact I’d met a human.

Of course, it was because the memories suddenly came back…

But why did I regain my past life’s memories all of a sudden?

I had many questions, but they weren’t something I could figure out just by thinking. I guessed it was because I was shocked by hearing the familiar name.

Once the shock of regaining my past life’s memories subsided, the contents of *Flora’s Flower Shop* started coming back to me.

The cave where I met Kairan—that was the place where ‘Serinel’ and the female lead meet in the original story.

I’d thought it was just a pretty place, but it turned out to be quite significant. And meeting Kairan there meant…

“Riose’s health has worsened.”

The male lead of the original story comes to Prinerois, where his villa is located, leaving the capital behind because his mother, Riose’s, health had suddenly deteriorated.

Riose had always been frail, and with an unknown illness on top of that, she was weakening day by day. So she came to Prinerois for recuperation.

Kairan must have come to the cave today because of Riose. In the original, it said he would seek out the coastal cave to clear his mind whenever Riose’s condition became critical.

Knowing how much Kairan must have been suffering alone in that place, I couldn’t help but feel sorry for him.

“I should have listened to him a little longer…”

I felt bad for not being able to offer proper comfort. It would be a bit much to suddenly act like I knew him, but I could at least listen to him talk.

Should I visit him again?

I knew it was dangerous, but maybe because it was the male lead, Kairan, I felt like it would be okay even if my identity was exposed.

Of course, I’d do my best to hide it, but even if I was found out, I had a feeling he wouldn’t go around spreading rumors.

Whatever the case, there was something else more important right now. Putting aside thoughts of later, I sat up from where I’d been lying.

“First… let me organize what I know.”

After pulling out the diary I’d hidden under my bed, I sat at my desk.

Let’s see, the most important thing in the original story is…

Tapping my chin with my pen, I carefully pieced together the original plot.

“Right, the Transcendent! That’s the most important thing.”

I wrote the word ‘Transcendent’ in large letters in the center of my diary. Then I circled it and even added a star for emphasis.

In the original novel *Flora’s Flower Shop*, the Transcendent was one of the core settings of the story.

In the Arheldia Empire, those born with the power of gods were called ‘Transcendents’. Literally meaning those who transcend human limits. They could freely use supernatural abilities like water, fire, and healing.

There could be up to three Transcendents in a generation, and no two had the same ability. The next Transcendent would only be born when the one with the original ability died.

Furthermore, the power was passed down through bloodlines, so Transcendents were born into only three families.

Arheldia, the heart of the empire; Sephern of Verdancy; and Idith of Clarity.

The three families had shared joys and sorrows in many ways, so the protagonists had known each other since childhood, which was an added detail in the original story.

However, great power always came with a price, and the more Transcendents used their abilities, the more a malignancy accumulated in their bodies.

This malignancy could not be removed by any means, and once it started building up, they had to endure the pain until death. In severe cases, it could even cause a rampage.

In the original story, the ones who awakened as Transcendents were the male lead Kairan and the sub-male lead Peiron.

Kairan, the ducal heir, and Peiron, the crown prince.

As these future leaders of the empire suffered from the malignancy, the imperial family and the Sephern Ducal House joined forces to find a solution, but they couldn’t find even a single clue.

Meanwhile, the female lead Flora receives the purification ability from Serinel, and by chance discovers that this ability can purify the malignancy.

The original story then follows the intertwined fates of the male and female leads as they struggle and grow.