Marella's eyes widened when she saw the beluga whale swimming toward them.
"Eldoris, are you serious!?" Marella asked in a panic as the whale drew closer.
"DORIS, WATCH OUT!" Marella screamed in panic when the whale was right in front of them. She quickly covered her eyes with both hands.
Eldoris's mocking laughter made her open her eyes again and feel around her body to make sure she was still in one piece. Marella breathed a sigh of relief while wiping her forehead with her arm, even though there was no sweat since they were in the water. She glared at Eldoris. "That's not funny! That whale was going to eat us!" she snapped angrily. Eldoris stopped laughing and turned toward the beluga whale now beside Marella, startling her.
"Are you interested in eating this creature?" Eldoris asked, pushing Marella toward the whale, making Marella feel terrified.
"Hey!" Marella struggled, trying to break free from Eldoris's grip. She certainly didn't want to be eaten by a whale.
The beluga whale just rolled its eyes lazily, then swished its tail in front of Marella. "That's rude!" Marella complained irritably, as the water current from the tail's swish hit her, messing up her hair. She would have been knocked over if Eldoris hadn't held her body tightly.
Eldoris shook her head, chuckling. "Aeris has no appetite for a tiny creature like you," his sharp remark made Marella feel insulted.
She knew her body was too short, but she didn't need it pointed out. "I'm damn skinny! Unlike you, whose arms are covered in cables," Marella retorted, pointing at Eldoris's clearly defined, well-trained muscles.
"That means my body is muscular," Eldoris boasted, flexing his biceps, causing Marella to roll her eyes in exasperation. Even so, she occasionally glanced over because, after all, she was just an ordinary girl who liked muscular guys, even though she often denied it.
Marella tugged on Eldoris's arm. "Can't we go to land?" she asked. She was hungry again and wanted to eat on land. Seaweed didn't fill her up at all; she needed rice or cereal.
Eldoris raised an eyebrow. "Do you want to get hunted by humans?" he asked, making Marella snort. Wasn't Marella actually human too?
"Come on," Marella pleaded, tugging at Eldoris's hand with a pleading expression, like a child asking her mother for a toy. "You're so handsome, Doris," she coaxed, stroking Eldoris's strong jawline.
Eldoris gripped both of Marella's shoulders. "You don't even know the kingdom's rules. We'd better go somewhere else," he said, leading Marella away as they swam. Marella scowled, but a faint smile flashed across Eldoris's lips for a moment.
Marella looked out at the ocean, which felt quieter than she'd expected—especially since they seemed to be far from the mermaids' settlement. Eldoris's words didn't match his actions.
Eldoris surfaced, and Marella felt the fresh air above the water again. She took a deep breath. "Ah, feels good," she murmured. When Marella looked around, she was surprised to see a black shoreline in the distance, with a few people relaxing there.
Her eyes widened at the sight. Marella broke free from Eldoris's grip, trying to swim away toward the shore. Unfortunately, she ended up drowning. Eldoris dived in swiftly, catching Marella's unbalanced body, and brought her down slowly. With a fierce glare, Eldoris stared at Marella with concern. "What the hell are you doing?! Do you want to get caught by humans?" he asked angrily, causing Marella to lower her head in fear as she faced Eldoris's sharp, dark eyes piercing into her.
Marella couldn't reveal the truth that she was human, afraid of being accused of lying again like before. "I… I just got too excited when I saw the surface," Marella said nervously and fearfully. Eldoris grabbed Marella's face, forcing her to look up.
"You're making me worry," Eldoris said with a gentle gaze he rarely showed to anyone. However, he quickly realized it and returned his expression to its usual stoic state. Because of Marella's fascination with the mainland, Eldoris couldn't bear to see the sad look on the girl's face. He decided to take Marella to an uninhabited island filled with lush vegetation and dense trees. Eldoris set Marella down on the shoreline before disappearing by swimming back into the water.
Marella kept breathing in the air with a broad smile on her face, feeling relieved to breathe fresh air again. She turned around, "Dori—" her words trailed off when she didn't see Eldoris behind her. Marella called out to Eldoris several times, but he didn't appear or answer her calls. Marella tucked her tail between her legs and hugged it with both hands. She was certain Eldoris had left her, how heartless of him.
Suddenly, a head emerged from the water, revealing Eldoris, who began swimming toward the shore to reach Marella, who was still curled up, clutching her tail. Eldoris looked at the makeshift mermaid in front of her in surprise. Wasn't she the one who wanted to come to the surface and see the beach? But why did she now look sad and frightened? Eldoris gently patted Marella's shoulder as she reached her, startling the girl and causing her to instinctively kick Eldoris in the face with her tail. Marella immediately realized she hadn't kicked a ghost or a pervert, then covered her mouth in shock at Eldoris's expressionless face as she held back her frustration. She quickly stroked Eldoris's flushed cheek, red from the kick. "Sorry, I didn't know it was you. I thought you were a pervert," Marella said with an awkward laugh, though her face had gone pale under Eldoris's piercing gaze.
Marella tried to lighten the mood when she noticed the fish Eldoris was carrying. She got an idea and snatched the fish from Eldoris's hands. "Did you catch these fish? In that case, let's cook them!" Marella exclaimed, causing Eldoris's brow to furrow. She had never heard the word "cook" before; she didn't even know what it meant. Marella stared at the fish with a hungry gleam in her eyes, then handed them back to Eldoris. "Clean them," Marella ordered, leaving Eldoris confused. To her, the fish were already clean since they'd spent their entire lives in the water.
Seeing the confusion on Eldoris's face, Marella clicked her tongue. "Scrape off the scales and gut them." Marella took the fish and began scraping off the scales with her fingernails since there was no knife there. Eldoris watched Marella, then drew a sword that suddenly appeared in her hand and began scraping the fish's scales just as Marella had done. Seeing the object that appeared in Eldoris's hand, Marella was amazed. "What is that?" Marella asked.
"My precious," Eldoris replied as she finished scraping the fish's scales.
Once the fish were clean, Marella held out her hand. "Can I borrow it? I want to clean out the inside of the fish," she asked. Eldoris took the fish, slit open their bellies, and removed the innards. Meanwhile, Marella looked around for something, then dragged herself over to a pile of dry wood. She picked up a piece of wood and arranged it, then rubbed the two pieces together quickly.
"What are you doing?" asked Eldoris, who had suddenly appeared behind Marella.
Marella kept rubbing the two pieces of wood together quickly. "Just wait and see, you'll find out," she said with a smile as a flame began to appear from one of the pieces of wood. Marella placed the burning piece into the pile of wood she had arranged. Slowly, the flames spread into a campfire. "Finally," Marella exclaimed with a beaming face as she watched the campfire, while Eldoris stood transfixed, recalling how to build a campfire from a Boy Scout camping trip.
"Are you a witch?" Eldoris asked, since in his view, fire only existed at the Earth's core and in undersea volcanoes.
Marella scoffed in annoyance at Eldoris's question. "Of course not," she replied curtly, furrowing her brow. She then picked up a few pieces of wood that had been stripped of their bark and held out her hand to ask Eldoris for the fish. Eldoris handed over the fish while watching what the mermaid was doing. Marella skewered the fish onto the wood and placed them over the flames. She turned to Eldoris, who was just watching, "This is called cooking," Marella explained, causing Eldoris to nod enthusiastically. She was curious what would happen after the fish were placed near the fire. Marella chuckled, holding back a laugh, as she saw Eldoris's funny expression—like a little child listening to her mother's explanation. Marella began fanning the fire with leaves, assisted by Eldoris at her command.
Marella lifted one of the fish, blew on it until it was half-cool, then tasted it. She smiled, savoring the salty flavor of the fish even without salt. Marella took another fish and handed it to Eldoris. "Try it, trust me, it's delicious," she said confidently.
Eldoris took the fish and tasted it. Marella was surprised to see Eldoris immediately eat half of it without choking on a bone. Eldoris nodded contentedly, "Delicious, you're amazing," he praised, making Marella feel on cloud nine. This was the first time her cooking had been praised by anyone other than her father. Usually, her mother always criticized it for being too salty or lacking salt.
"If you're still hungry, take some more," said Marella as she continued to enjoy her fish. The sky began to turn orange, signaling that dusk had arrived. Eldoris, who had been waiting for Marella to look for crabs in the sand, approached her. "Huhu, I couldn't find any crabs," whined Marella, showing her reddened hands, which worried Eldoris.
"Why?" asked Eldoris.
Marella pouted. "It's all his fault!" she exclaimed, pointing at a crab standing not far from her with an annoyed expression. The crab flung a seashell at Marella, hitting her forehead and leaving a red mark. "Damn crab!" Marella snapped, her face twisted with frustration.
Eldoris chuckled as she stroked Marella's reddened forehead. "Does it hurt?" he asked, to which Marella replied with a quick nod.
"Let's go home it's getting late. I need to make sure you sleep tonight so my father will believe you're a mermaid," Eldoris suggested, wrapping his arm around Marella's waist, ready to carry her into the water.
"But tomorrow we have to eat that crab, okay," Marella said, making a deal, still holding a grudge against that annoying crab. Eldoris nodded in agreement, and then they entered the water together.
At the same time, from a rescue boat, someone stared in awe at a small, uninhabited island. A man tapped his shoulder. "Hey, what's wrong? Did you find Marella?" asked the man with curly hair.
The man who had been staring shook his head, then walked toward the edge of the boat.
...Eyes Of The Sea...
...Happy Reading ...