Henry got back to Lioncrest Kingdom where he was greeted by the familiar guards and servants of the castle.
Meanwhile, when he got off Boy's saddle, the horse immediately galloped towards the old stablemaster of the royal castle, "Oh! Christopher! How I missed you! You have no idea how terrible the stablemaster that handled me previously."
Christopher, the old man who has been working as the royal family's stablemaster for more than half of his life, grinned widely as he spread his arms wide and accepted Boy into a hug.
The man had long mastered the art of hugging horses. If a horse as large as Boy came marching toward you with fervor, you better pray you won't break more than just a bone. But Christopher was different. He only budged a little but no sounds of bones cracking were heard.
Perhaps it was an old technique or footwork. Nevertheless, it's still impressive.
"You just got back in time." Out of the castle doors stepped the King and Queen, Henry's parents.
But before Henry could take a step forward, a familiar face peeked out of the doorway.
"Ariel?" Henry tilted his head in confusion and a little bit of surprise. Why does this Ariel look a bit...different?
'Ariel' grinned and shook her head as she stepped out, "Wrong! Guess again!" She was wearing almost nothing on her top, only a bra made of seashells and a tightly knitted seaweed and vines that create a makeshift skirt that covers her lower body.
However, now that Henry got a good look at her, he realized that this 'Ariel' is not Ariel! The first thing that gave it away was her hair color. Instead of the bright scarlet red, this one's hair was more brownish.
The second was her height. She was taller than the real Ariel, at least as far as he could remember.
And lastly, several more heads peeked out of the same doorway, all bearing the same facial features as Ariel's but different hair colors and styles.
"You must be Henry!"
"Hi Henry!"
"Wow. Ariel wasn't exaggerating, you really do look handsome!"
Then they all stepped out and revealed themselves. Their appearances varied, others were shorter, some taller. While one had white-blonde hair, the other had yellow-blonde hair. Two of them had full dark hair while the other two had brown colored hair, one darker than the other.
'What're her sisters doing here?' Henry froze and stared at them, 'And if her sisters are here, then that means…' suspicion clouded his mind and the next scene just clarified that.
It was the real Ariel's turn who peeked her head and then jumped towards him in elation, "Henry! You're finally back!"
He subconsciously spread his arms and accepted her hug, his confused eyes darting back and forth between her and her sisters.
When she separated, he finally asked a genuine question, "Why're you here with your sisters?"
Ariel laughed him off, "Oh you silly. Tomorrow is your birthday! Of course, I'll be here!"
'I know that. But the thing is, I don't remember telling you when my birthday is…' He internally screamed in his mind while on the surface, he smiled at her.
"You remember? Well, that's sweet, thank yo—" His voice trailed off to a stop. In his peripheral vision, another figure stepped out from the doorway. He doesn't need to focus his pupils on him, his danger senses were screaming at him.
On the other hand, Ariel acted as if everything was just normal, "Oh, Dad! Look, Henry's finally here! You remember him right? You met him already."
King Triton, son of Poseidon the Greek God of the Sea, King of the legendary Atlantis, the kingdom under the sea, a minor god of the sea, and there are definitely many more titles that he might've missed.
'Mom, Dad. What are you doing inviting a literal god into our home! Where the hell is Master Elias?! Give me a break please!'
While mentally screaming, Henry forced a strained smile, hoping it wasn't noticeable. He approached King Triton, who had perfectly blended in with the locals with his higher than average height, bulging muscles, and a pair of legs.
If Henry wasn't aware of the man's identity, he would've mistaken him for a tribal barbarian deep in a forest somewhere.
"It's good to see you again, King Triton. Welcome to my humble abode." He gave him a deep bow, a somewhat universal custom when greeting someone. As of now, he's not yet aware of the customs back in Atlantis, for all he knows they punch someone in the head when greeting. Or maybe something worse than that, this is Greek after all.
A large hand clasped against his shoulder, its grip tightening for every second until it stopped after five. He may not show it to his face but Henry is doing his best not to show an expression of pain. Everyone is staring at them after all.
Due to his height, King Triton had to bend his body down and speak, "It's good to meet you too, Henry. I am delighted to get to know you better. It's unfortunate that we separated in…not so good terms the last time we met." When he got to this point, the tight grip loosened, giving him relief, "I'm here to make amends for you."
Maximus, smelling that something was wrong, stepped forward with a soft smile, "Let us all head back inside, shall we? I already sent someone to make us breakfast."
With that, they went in. Of course, Ariel just had to make things worse as she hooked her arm with his, making him feel the glares of a certain King of Atlantis poking behind his head.
———
At the dining hall, the entire room was lively. Henry doesn't know whether he should be thankful or not as Ariel was forced to sit on the far end of the table alongside her sisters.
Bullet dodged? Not really, when the one who forced her to sit there was King Triton in the first place who took the opportunity to sit beside him instead.
So while King Triton was engaging in a heartfelt conversation with his parents, Henry was filling himself to the brim as fast as he could. He had already finished two plates of dishes and was on his way to finish the third one when his father found the perfect opportunity to include him in the conversation.
At this point, the two of them were holding a glass of whiskey. Booming laughs and lap slapping were happening from time to time. Thankfully, there aren't any photo albums for his mother to dig up from the attic to show off his embarrassing pictures.
"Henry! Remember that time when you were a kid refusing to believe in gods? I couldn't help but remember how you kept shouting that you only believe in science and how it'll rule the world in the future." When he was finished, Maximus had that certain smile on his face, as if daring him to repeat those things he just mentioned now that a literal god is sitting at the table with them.
It's clear that the man is already drunk. He probably already chugged two bottles of whiskey and it's probably his indomitable human will that is keeping him awake.
As for his mother, she had already finished eating before Henry finished his first plate. No matter what era, women were always mindful of their weight and the amount of food they ate. She probably had only two spoonfuls of rice, and a teeny tiny bite of sausage.
Fortunately, though, she dragged the girls somewhere in the castle, so at least Henry no longer felt that embarrassed.
"…You know, I was just a kid at that time. I only believe what I see, not what I hear from other people."
Just as Maximus's bubble of excitement burst and he was about to point at Henry and look at Triton, as if to tell him, 'See? See? I was right!' he suddenly passed out, face flat smashing against the surface of the table.
Seconds later, a snore can be heard from him.
Henry sighed and waved his hand to a nearby servant. The man instantly knew what to do and along with two other servants, they carefully carried their drunken King to his chambers.
Leaving Henry alone with King Triton. Who definitely drank more bottles of whiskey than Maximus and yet, there's barely a hint of drunkenness on the minor god's face.
At first, there was silence between them. But it's more like Henry keeping as quiet as possible while hoping he wouldn't be noticed (even if he knew it's impossible).
Then King Triton spoke, "You're not the only one who doesn't believe in gods. The more time that passed by, the less humans believed in our existence."
Henry turned his head, "If that were the case, couldn't gods simply descend again and reveal your existence? All it takes is a few fancy tricks and you'll get millions to believe you again for another thousands of years."
King Triton snorted at that.
"If only it were that easy. Tell me, how many gods and goddesses do you think exist on the entire planet?" Facing this sudden question, Henry was caught on the spot. His sharp mind immediately unravelling everything he read about gods and religions.
"I'm guessing Greek Gods aren't the only religion gods who exist?" His answer stemmed not just from the books but also because he had already met a god long before this. The Sun God of Egypt, Ra. The same man who granted him the blessing of being nourished and empowered under the sun.
Triton nodded his head, "Greeks, Norse, Egyptian, Hindu, Romans, and many more. This Kingdom's belief centers around Christianity, isn't it?"
Henry nodded his head. Even in this life, he still sees Jesus Christ himself as the one true King and the King of Kings and all those things. Once it's already engraved into your bones starting from childhood, it's kind of hard to part with it even in another life.
King Triton nodded his head, "Yahweh is a complicated man. He's neither a god nor any other race. Even my father and his siblings are curious about his existence."
"So what, Jesus is like an anomaly? He just popped out of nowhere and dominated more than half of the world's beliefs?"
"That's the closest explanation I could have to describe him." He placed the empathy whiskey bottle on the table and turned to face Henry who now doesn't feel nervous facing the god, "But let's change the subject. That's not why I stayed here alone with you. I wish to apologize."
"Apology accepted." Henry crossed his arms and nodded his head. He has no time for dramatics and tearful conversations. He could slightly understand King Triton's feelings during that time.
His daughter was in danger and all he could think about was her safety and everything else. Only when he's assured that she's safe does he finally calm down to think things through. It's normal for parents regarding their children.
"No. That won't do. You'll soon be Ariel's husband. It is only proper for me to apologize and compensate you for saving her at that point in time when I failed."
And then finally, Triton did something that shocked him. The herculean man bowed his head in front of him, "I'm sorry for abandoning you in your time of need. And I'm also sorry for all the time spent before I could apologize properly like this."
"I assume Ariel already apologized to you. But I'll still apologize to you on her behalf. I have pampered her too much, and she has never known the true value of being sorry for her actions. I never scolded her as much as I did to her sisters back in the day."
'Typical children hierarchy. The oldest and middle children get the bare minimum treatment while the youngest gets the royal one.' Honestly, Henry wasn't surprised. It seems even gods weren't an exception when it comes to treating their children.
'I mean, look at Zeus. All of his older siblings were allowed to be swallowed by their mother but when it came to him, he was saved. Tsk tsk tsk.'
"That's why I came to a decision on how to properly compensate you. I'm going to grant you my blessing."
————————————
[I'm fully aware that this chapter isn't enough to bring back the readers we lost from the disaster of the Little Mermaid arc. I want to improve the two characters (Triton and Ariel) so they would better fit into the future chapters and wouldn't get that much hate.
And yes, I was only able to tackle this discussion now that I'm on a summer break. So expect more small talk like this and story improvements in the future chapters.
As for the ending of the chapter, I guess Henry will soon become the Blessed One instead of the Chosen One with the amount of blessings he now has. Instead of Binding Vow Merchant like Sukuna, we have Blessing Merchant Henry lol.]