Chapter 1

I am a mermaid.

To walk toward him, I swallowed a dark potion, shedding my tail for a pair of legs.

Every step felt like treading on sharp blades, yet I endured it all willingly.

He took me in, promising to protect me for the rest of my life.

Then, his ex-lover returned.

She orchestrated one accident after another to frame me—a slashed costume, a staged fall down the stairs... And every single time, convenient "eyewitnesses" immediately pointed their fingers at me.

He believed them all.

Until a falling stage light crushed her legs.

He pinned me to the operating table, personally severed my legs, and transplanted them onto that woman.

What he didn't know was that anyone who walked on these legs would have to suffer the excruciating agony of stepping on knives.

He simply told me coldly: "You ruined her ability to dance, so you will pay with your legs."

That night, alone and broken, I wheeled myself to the beach.

Using only my bare hands, I crawled across the coarse sand, into the crashing waves, and returned to my true home.

——Leaving him to stare at the security monitors, watching helplessly as I sank into the dark sea, never to surface again.

————

Slap.

A sharp, stinging slap echoed in the room as Arthur’s hand struck my face with brutal force.

My head snapped to the side, and a high-pitched ringing instantly filled my ears, blurring out the rest of the world.

From the hospital bed across the room came Victoria’s loud, dramatic sobbing.

Arthur immediately pulled his hand back. Without so much as a second glance at me, he quickly walked over to the bed on the other side of the room.

He leaned over and gently rubbed Victoria’s back.

Once her crying quieted down a little, Arthur turned around. His brow was furrowed, and his gaze fell on me, cutting like a knife.

"Why did you tamper with the theatre's rigging?" Arthur demanded, staring me down. "You know the stage is Victoria's life. Now her legs are crushed by the light fixture. Are you happy?"

Last night, halfway through Victoria’s ballet rehearsal, the lighting rig above her collapsed, landing squarely on her legs. Afterward, she was immediately rushed to Arthur’s hospital.

I stood rooted to the spot, looking at Arthur, pressing my lips together in silence.

I had been at the hospital all day yesterday. I hadn't taken a single step near that theatre's backstage.

But for the past few weeks, whether Victoria’s costumes were shredded or she conveniently tripped down a flight of stairs, there were always "eyewitnesses" or "evidence" at the scene pointing the finger at me. And Arthur always believed I was the culprit.

I had cried, I had explained, and I had pleaded, but it was absolutely useless. I didn't know where this fabricated evidence came from, nor why those so-called eyewitnesses wanted to frame me.

All I could do was repeat that I didn't do it, over and over, until my voice grew fainter and fewer people cared to listen.

"I didn't do it."

Arthur snapped, "Several crew members saw you near the rigging! Did they all take a bribe to frame you together? Or do you think Victoria would destroy her own legs just to set you up? Do you have any idea that even if her bones heal, she will absolutely never dance again?"

I said nothing.

"Say something." Arthur pressed, his voice turning even colder when I remained silent. "Stop acting so innocent, Aria, you must take responsibility. I'm a surgeon, an absolute authority in this field, and I know that current medical technology allows for living bone and nerve transplants. Since you ruined her legs, you're going to transplant your legs to her."

My head snapped up. "No. I won't."

Arthur scoffed, "There is no 'won't'. I will personally arrange and perform this surgery."

I looked over at Victoria. She immediately shrank behind Arthur's back, her hands gripping his shirt sleeve tightly, fear flickering in her eyes.

I stopped at the foot of the bed, looked right at her, and told her earnestly, "Victoria, you cannot use my legs."

"Aria, are you still refusing to admit your mistakes even now? She lost her entire career, and all you're losing are your legs!" Arthur interrupted me.

I ignored him and continued speaking to Victoria. "These legs will hurt. If you attach them to your body, you will be in agony. No human can withstand this kind of pain."

Victoria froze for a second before tears spilled down her cheeks again. She started sobbing loudly. "Arthur, I know Aria hates me... but I never thought she would make up such a lie just to keep me in a wheelchair forever. If you have to force her, then forget it. I don't need her legs. It doesn't matter if I have to sit in a wheelchair for the rest of my life..."

"Enough!" Arthur stepped forward, shielding Victoria completely behind him. He pointed toward the door and shouted at me, "You are vicious to the core. You crippled her, and now you say these things to provoke her. Whether you want to or not, this surgery is happening."

I looked at the utter disgust written all over Arthur's face. Without glancing at either of them again, I turned, pushed open the door to the ward, and walked out.

The hospital corridor was eerily quiet.

I followed the hallway all the way out, leaving the building and stepping onto the private beach outside.

This luxurious private hospital and sanatorium, built right on the coastline, belonged to Arthur. He grew up here and owned everything in it.

The cold night wind blew against my face, and the waves crashed against the sand. I looked out at the sea, and my memories surfaced uncontrollably.

My name is Aria. I am not human. I am a mermaid.

Many years ago, too playful for my own good, I stranded myself on this very beach as a child. It was a young Arthur who found me, saved me, and rowed a small fishing boat out to sea alone to return me to the water.

From then on, he had always insisted to everyone that he had seen a real little mermaid, though everyone around him dismissed it as a little boy's hallucination.

After growing up, I couldn't stop thinking about seeing him again. Just like in the fairy tales, I swallowed a magic potion, shedding my tail in exchange for two legs.

A few months ago, a hurricane swept across this coastline. I took the opportunity to come ashore, pretending to have passed out, and was taken in by Arthur.

To stay by his side, I hid my mermaid identity and told him I had amnesia. Arthur thought I was just an ordinary victim of the hurricane and gave me a home here.

But that potion came with a price.

To walk toward him on these legs, I endured excruciating pain every single day, as if walking on shattered glass. But I never complained.

During this time, we got to know each other and gradually fell in love—until a few months ago, when Victoria reappeared.

Victoria was an outstanding ballet dancer. Before I showed up, she and Arthur had been together. Back then, Arthur was only eighteen and still hung up on the little mermaid from his childhood. Later, he saw Victoria starring in the ballet The Little Mermaid at the theater. Sparked by that connection, they quickly met and got together.

But it wasn't long before Victoria left Arthur to pursue her career.

A few months ago, she came back.

And ever since she returned, everything went wrong. She frequently orchestrated various accidents to frame me, and Arthur went from initial hesitation to completely siding with her.

Time and again, he stood me up on our dates for her. Time and again, he reprimanded me in front of everyone for her. And now... he was going to give my legs to Victoria.

The tide washed up, sweeping over my ankles. A conch shell drifted to a stop by my feet.

I bent down, picked up the shell, and pressed it to my ear. From inside came the sound of the ocean waves and the voice of my underwater clownfish companion.

"Aria... Aria, are you there?"

"I'm here," I choked back my tears.

"Aria, we've spoken to the ocean. In a few days, on the night of the full moon—as long as you are willing to give up everything and return to the water—the sea will grant you a tail again and welcome you home."

I stood there stunned, wrapped in a long, unbroken silence.