TMTML 02

Chapter 2

Although I pretended to accept him reluctantly, the truth was that I was quite fascinated by the mermaid I was seeing for the first time in my life.

I watched the fragile mermaid, who had nowhere to hide, twenty-four hours a day.

Perhaps, from the mermaid’s perspective, it felt like a form of abuse.

“Hello?”

I tried talking to him, but the mermaid didn’t even open his mouth.

So I came up with a hypothesis: perhaps he couldn’t understand human speech, or perhaps mermaids simply couldn’t speak.

“My name is Servain.”

At first, I introduced myself quite kindly.

Until then, I hadn’t thought much of it.

I had taken the mermaid in because I was worried he would be killed immediately.

My plan was to keep him for a while and then tell my father, “I’ve grown tired of him, but I’ve become attached to him in the meantime, so please let him return to the sea.”

What I hadn’t anticipated was that the mermaid was simply too beautiful.

Before I knew it, I was talking to him constantly like a madwoman.

“Your eyes are the same color as my mother’s.”

The terrified mermaid couldn’t run away.

All he could do was listen to everything I said.

And seeing him like that filled me with a strange sense of satisfaction.

“You’re still so beautiful, even in this situation…….”

Day by day, I became captivated by the mermaid.

I prevented the other servants from seeing him and never mentioned the mermaid to my father.

I hated my father, but I had to admit one thing.

In the end, I was his daughter too.

Perhaps this strange obsession was something that had been passed down through our blood.

Whenever I pretended not to pay attention to him, the mermaid would slowly swim around inside the cramped tank.

He couldn’t move very much and would simply sway his beautiful tail gently back and forth.

His slender neck and wrists, his pale white skin, his softly undulating hair, and his tail that seemed to hold the light of the moon.

Every part of him was horribly stimulating.

“You can speak, can’t you?”

I asked while staring at the mermaid’s throat rather than his eyes.

He had never spoken until then, but for some reason, I had a feeling that the mermaid was capable of speech.

“Otherwise, why would you look so much like a human?”

I wanted to squeeze the mermaid’s slender neck and force his mouth open so I could examine the vocal organs inside.

“Tell me.”

I slowly closed the book I had been reading, got up from the bed, and approached the tank.

The book that had been in my hands moments ago was about human anatomy, particularly the structure of the vocal cords.

“If you won’t express yourself, I’ll have no choice but to find out for myself.”

As I stood before the tank, the mermaid grew frightened and pressed himself into the corner.

His pretty tail fin swayed gently with the rippling water.

It was impossible to tell whether he was trying to escape or tempt me.

The tank was made entirely of glass.

There wasn’t even a single object inside it, so there was nowhere for the mermaid to hide.

I pressed my face close to the tank.

Only a thin pane of glass separated the mermaid from me.

“I’m going to take you out of the tank and make you breathe with your lungs. When you open that beautiful mouth of yours, I’ll be able to examine the inside of your throat.”

The mermaid’s body trembled with fear.

I could see his large eyes shaking and wavering.

I couldn’t see it clearly because he was underwater, but from the redness around his eyes, I was certain he was crying.

“So even a mermaid’s tears aren’t jewels..………….”

As if entranced, I reached out my hand.

There was no way it could pass through the glass, yet the mermaid flinched and moved backward.

I slowly stroked the surface of the glass.

I traced the harmonious shape of his eyes, neither too high nor too low, and wiped away his tears before running the back of my hand from his cheek down to his neck.

I was curious.

Were a mermaid’s tears salty, just like a human’s?

Was his skin this smooth, like glass?

Was the skin covering his cheeks, hands, arms, and every other part of his body this smooth?

Whenever I looked at his hands, as white as swan wings, I wanted to press his hand against mine.

Just before that thought could become reality, the mermaid began trembling and opened his mouth.

“I-I can…………….”

“I can………………speak……………….”

His voice was as beautiful as I had imagined.

My reflection in the glass showed the corners of my mouth stretched upward as though they were about to split apart.

I will not become like Father.

I will never lock away someone I love and make him suffer.

That isn’t love.

The diary I had written when I was very young suddenly seemed meaningless.

I picked up my pen and read the recent entries in my diary, which had now become a record of my observations of the mermaid.

The mermaid hasn’t eaten for a month. I don’t know what he eats, so I put fish in the tank, but he didn’t eat them.

The mermaid’s voice was very beautiful. If it is that beautiful, I can understand why he treasured his voice.

He said his name was Mel.

The mermaid, who had gradually begun answering me, has stopped speaking again. He hasn’t eaten anything since coming here.

……If I pluck out his scales one by one, will he at least scream?

When had I become this obsessed?

Perhaps I was an even worse person than my father.

I had sworn that I would never become like him.

That was why I could freely hate my father in my heart.

But what if I was wrong?

What if I was no different from him…….

I hurriedly turned my head.

The mermaid was lying weakly at the bottom of the tank.

His complexion was pale and emaciated, and his scales had lost their luster.

My heart began pounding.

Could Mel become sick and die like Mother if this continued?

An ominous thought crossed my mind.

I immediately got out of bed and ran toward the tank.

Bang! Bang!

“Wake up!”

I pounded on the tank with all my strength.

Mel startled awake, but soon closed his eyes again.

For the brief moment when he opened them, there had been no life in his gaze.

Seeing him like that, I could no longer keep my composure.

Bang! Crash!

“Wake up!! Wake up, I said!!”

“Young Lady! What happened?!”

I had never shouted before, so the servants were startled and rushed into the room.

Afraid that they might become captivated by the mermaid, I drew the curtain around the tank and shouted sharply.

“Don’t come in!”

“M-Miss…………….”

“Get out! Can’t you hear me? Get out!”

I grabbed an object and threw it at them, and the servants hurriedly closed the door and left.

Swish!

Only after they were gone did I pull the curtain open again.

After suddenly throwing such a hysterical fit, my fragile body felt dizzy and nauseous.

“Ugh………………ugh…….”

Mel stared blankly at me as I thrashed about before closing his eyes again.

His gaze was empty.

Mel had no interest in whatever I said or whatever I did.

Then, a good idea occurred to me.

Yes. Maybe it’s because the tank is too small.

I had heard that even humans could go insane if they were confined to a very small room.

“That’s right. There was a lake in the forest.”

There was a small lake in the forest where I had gone on a picnic with my mother when I was very young.

“A lake. I’ll take you to the lake.”

When I had left the mansion with my mother to see the lake, she had been smiling without a trace of darkness on her face.

Remembering that moment made me feel as though I had finally found the answer.

I smiled and shouted while pressing myself against the tank.

“I’ll get you out. I’ll take you to the lake.”

“……You’re going to let me out of here?”

Only then did Mel open his eyes.

“Yes.”

I nodded with a smile, and surprise and joy slowly appeared on Mel’s pale face.

I looked at that expression with satisfaction before adding a condition.

“But from now on, don’t ignore what I say.”

“I won’t! I promise!”

Mel nodded frantically.

It was the most desperate and earnest movement I had seen from him since he had come here.

I watched him with slight dissatisfaction before calling the servants and giving them an order.

“Move the tank. We’re going to the forest.”

For the first time in several years, I left the mansion.

My body, which would normally develop a fever the moment it was exposed to a cold breeze, was functioning perfectly well now.

I had the servants carry the tank.

Inside the moving tank, Mel looked both excited and anxious.

“Don’t be nervous.”

I spoke to him gently.

Mel rolled his eyes around before giving me an awkward smile.

It was a smile clearly meant to please me.

“Yeah……………… Thank you.”

“Of course you should be grateful. I’m taking you out of your tank, after all.”

I spoke proudly as I looked at him.

One of the servants then spoke.

“We’ve arrived, Young Lady.”

“All right. Wait here for a moment.”

“Yes.”

The lake in the forest hadn’t changed at all over the years.

Even though the weather was growing chilly, the nameless grasses surrounding the area continued to grow lushly beside the clear water, decorating the lake.

The lake boasted crystal-clear water.

I could even see several small fish swimming inside.

It looked small above the ground, but its interior was incomparably larger than the tank.

I thought Mel would like this place much more than the tank.

“This is the lake.”

I proudly introduced his new home to Mel.

“My mother used to like this place, so you’ll like it too.”

For a moment, Mel looked as though he were thinking, What does that have to do with anything?

But soon, his attention was stolen by the lake.

“Do you like it?”

“……Huh? Yeah, of course.”

Mel answered distractedly as he stared at the lake.

There was a look of bewilderment on his face.

I didn’t know why, but judging from the way he kept leaning toward the lake, it seemed he wanted to see what was inside as soon as possible.

I decided to grant Mel his wish.

I nodded toward the servants.

“Release him into the lake.”

The servants immediately joined forces and began tilting the tank.

The water inside quickly spilled into the lake.

Just before entering the lake, Mel looked at me with anxious eyes.

Whoosh—.

“I hope you like your new home.”