Chapter 01

The Day She Lost Her Grandfather

Imperial Year 678, May 15.

This was the saddest day of Sertisha’s life.

It was the day she said goodbye to Roderick Lithea, the head of the Lithea family who had supported the family for generations—and Sertisha’s beloved paternal grandfather.

The day before her grandfather passed away had been no different from any other.

The elderly sea otter, who had lived well beyond the age of five hundred, spent most of his days lying in bed due to his advancing age.

When the sunlight streamed faintly through the window, his light brown beard shimmered along with it.

Sertisha stayed close by her grandfather’s side every single day, afraid that one day, his gentle touch might disappear forever.

Oh, and where were Tisha’s parents, you ask?

When Tisha was very, very young, her grandfather had told her that her mommy and daddy had become sea-star pearls.

So, when she was still a baby, Tisha would search through the pearls scattered across the ocean every day, hoping to find her parents.

Back then, she genuinely believed that her mommy and daddy were trapped inside clamshells and couldn’t come out to see her.

Every time she opened a shell with both hands, she would bring her ear close to it, wondering if she might hear a familiar voice coming from inside.

But now, she knew all too well that it wasn’t true.

She hadn’t wanted to know the truth, but she had learned it anyway.

After all… Tisha was already a six-year-old adult!

No, wait! She was a big, strong sea otter who would soon be turning seven!

Her grandfather had promised that when she turned seven, he would officially recognize her as a fine, grown-up sea otter and take her with him all the way to the distant seas.

Hearing those words had filled Sertisha with so much pride and excitement that she had been unable to fall asleep for a long time that night, sitting beside a window where the sea breeze drifted in.

She had been counting down the days, eagerly waiting for that moment.

But…

Her grandfather could no longer keep his promise.

It had become a promise that would never be fulfilled, no matter how long she waited.

My grandpa was such a wonderful grown-up sea otter. He always kept his promises…

That day, her grandfather gently patted Sertisha’s head with his trembling hand and spoke.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t keep my promise. Truly… I’m so, so sorry… my precious little one…”

His voice, whispering apologies over and over again, hurt so much that it brought tears to her eyes.

Mm-mm, no, Grandpa.

Tisha doesn’t mind if you can’t keep your promise. So please don’t cry, Grandpa…

That day, Sertisha fell asleep holding her grandfather tightly in her arms, as though he were a bubble on the ocean that might disappear at any moment.

Even in the final moments before she drifted off, she could feel his chest rising and falling ever so slowly.

Just a little longer. Let’s stay together just a little longer.

She cried out those words silently in her heart.

And the next morning, her grandfather lay beside her, cold as the ocean itself.

Not a trace of warmth remained.

Before anyone could even explain to her that the absence of warmth was what death meant, Sertisha was forced to confront the reality of it with her entire being.

The butler and the household servants, both the older sisters and older brothers who worked there, collapsed in tears inside her grandfather’s bedroom.

The family’s vassals and adult relatives began preparing his funeral.

Truthfully, even then, Sertisha still didn’t really understand what death meant.

Raised as her grandfather’s most cherished granddaughter, she had never witnessed or experienced anyone’s death up close before.

So, even when they were preparing to place her grandfather inside his coffin, she still couldn’t fully grasp that he was dead.

Amid the relatives rushing about in every direction, she could only stand there, frozen in place.

As though Sertisha alone had been left behind in a different flow of time.

The day of the funeral arrived.

As befitted the funeral of the head of the Lithea family, the venue was lavishly decorated.

Among the beastfolk, it was customary to adorn funeral halls just as extravagantly as wedding halls. The only thing missing was the food. Otherwise, the hall glittered with the Lithea family’s signature sky-blue coffin and countless white flowers.

An endless stream of mourners visited the Lithea estate.

The adult relatives busily moved about, warmly welcoming the guests who had come to pay their respects.

Not a single person here was crying in sorrow.

In the place where grief should have been, there were only carefully calculated smiles.

Sertisha gazed down at the beautifully decorated sky-blue coffin. Then, she looked at the white flowers, the sky-blue ornaments, and her adult relatives, all elegantly dressed in black.

Even though they had lost their father, none of them seemed the least bit sad.

Instead, they appeared busy exchanging greetings and strengthening their connections with the guests attending the funeral.

The lavishly decorated funeral hall…

It was so luxurious that it almost hurt her eyes, yet to Sertisha, everything looked nothing but black.

A coffin that appeared black. Black flowers. Her older cousins, laughing and chatting at a funeral where they should have been solemn.

And the dark gazes that discreetly sized up Sertisha, the girl who would become the family’s next head.

Everything around her had turned black and white.

It was as though the entire world had suddenly grown cold.

More frightening than her grandfather’s death…

Was the situation unfolding right before her eyes.

Sertisha’s heart throbbed with a sharp, stinging pain.

Only then did she finally understand that she had truly lost someone precious to her.

And then, amid the scene that had faded into black and white,

a man who was the only one to possess any color stepped up beside Sertisha.

The dazed little sea otter naturally turned her gaze toward the man with deep blue coloring.

The man, whose dark navy-blue hair was neatly swept back, looked down at the sky-blue coffin in which her grandfather lay, isolated and alone.

Is he… human?

I can’t sense any of the energy that beastfolk usually have…

Sertisha studied the man sharply.

He isn’t here to hurt my grandpa, is he…?

He was as tall as the enormous coniferous tree she had planted with her grandfather when she was little.

His thick forearms looked as hard as boulders.

His long, amber-colored eyes were fierce and frightening, like those of a wild wolf.

His nose bridge and jawline were as sharp as blades.

Sertisha was looking at a man with a piercing, intimidating appearance unlike anyone she had ever seen before.

Ignoring Sertisha’s gaze, the man silently stared at her grandfather for a while.

Then, he turned his scornful gaze toward the relatives who were laughing and chatting so amicably.

“What a fine mess this family has become.”

This was the day Sertisha first met the man who would one day become her father-in-law.