Chapter 17.
With the water still clouded by the silt of the shattered reef, my mistress drifted into view, and the sight of her sent a cold shiver through my human spine that nearly made my heart stop.
' What's that she's holding?'
She looked like a goddess of death rising from the trenches. Not only was her presence overwhelming, but she was currently dragging what seemed to be a massive, bloodied shark by the tail fin.
' This woman keeps becoming more and more frightening each time we meet, just how strong is she?'
Judging by its terrifying proportions, the beast was far greater in size than I had been in my transformed state, its life clearly snuffed out without being able to resist much.
That I thought since I didn't see any signs of injury on her body.
"I'll ask you once more... what exactly are you doing with them?"
Her sudden chilling tone snapped me out of my disbelief.
Seeing how cold and vacant her gaze had become, I swallowed hard, the salt water feeling like lead in my throat.
I was unconsciously trembling; this was the first time I'd seen my mistress looking truly upset, and the aura she was radiating was enough to make the local wildlife flee for miles.
Even the school of tuna caught in the net couldn't help but turn docile at the moment.
"P-pink hair and pink scales..." Artria stammered, her voice barely a whisper.
Her face had gone from pale to a ghostly white, and her eyes were fixed on my mistress with a terror that went beyond mere physical threat.
"What is the cursed child doing here... So far from her nest."
Artria gritted her teeth, her entire body shaking as if she were being choked by the sheer weight of the tension.
'Cursed child? Was she referring to my mistress?' The thought raced through my mind, at least now I had more information on who she actually was, but.
This was the first time I'd heard anyone give her a title, And yet I had no idea why they would call her a cursed child.
"Cursed child? Hehehe... you people still dare to call me that, don't you?" My mistress's expression darkened even further, and her signature cruel smirk emerged on her face, though it didn't reach her eyes.
The hatred in her voice was palpable, thick enough to make the very lithosphere feel as if it were pressing in on us.
I felt the tension rising to a breaking point.
One wrong move from Artria or Garin, and my mistress would turn them into the same kind of shredded meat she was currently dragging behind her.
I knew I couldn't just stand by and watch. If she killed them, she would be killing my only potential leads to the outside world, my only chance at eventual freedom.
'I have to get these two out of here, now!'
"Mistress!"
To everyone's absolute surprise, the murderous tension shifted into a bizarre, awkward situation as I desperately propelled myself toward my mistress.
Without giving her a chance to react, I wrapped my arms firmly around her waist and buried my sobbing face against her abdomen.
"You left me for so long!" I wailed, my voice muffled but loud enough to startle all three of them. "I thought you'd finally abandoned me in this dark, scary place!"
"How could you leave your most loyal servant alone for that long!" I cried, intentionally making my voice sound more accusing than hurt, leaning into the role of a distraught, clingy pet.
But while I was "sobbing" against her, I frantically waved one of my hands behind my back, making sharp, shooing motions toward the two young merfolk.
'Take the hint, you idiots! Get out of here while I'm distracting her!' I screamed in the silence of my mind, hoping with everything I had that Garin and Artria were smart enough to recognize a diversion when they saw one.
"How am I supposed to survive down here without you to guide me? Did you finally decide I wasn't worth the trouble anymore?" I continued my theatrical outburst, clutching her even tighter.
"Have you gotten tired of me already, Mistress? If this humble servant of yours did anything wrong, all you had to do was tell me so I could reflect on my actions! I didn't mean to push you away!"
My fake sobs grew louder and more pathetic with every second. Right now, the sea witch was staring down at me with an incredibly awkward, bewildered look.
Her hands hovered in the water, not quite knowing whether to push me away or strike me down, completely derailed by my sudden, pitiful outburst.
Good! That was exactly what I was hoping for.
I caught a glimpse of Artria out of the corner of my eye.
She was staring at the exchange with a cringe look on her face.
She clearly didn't expect to see the "mighty shark" reduced to a blubbering mess at the feet of a pink-haired mermaid.
Well, she could consider this humiliating display an apology gift for almost eating her tail, because I had absolutely no intentions of ever doing this crap again.
Fortunately for me, Garin proved to be the quicker study. He grabbed Artria's arm and gave her a sharp tug, and the two of them used the opportunity to flee.
They didn't even drop the net; instead, they used the momentum of the fish to increase their speed, darting away into the deep blue like a pair of streaks.
My mistress's expression faltered as she saw them fleeing into the distance, her predatory instincts flaring.
Yet, the moment she tried to peel me off or move me out of the way to give chase, I increased the rate of my sobbing, tightening my grip and making it as physically awkward for her to move as possible.
I continued to cry and carry on, babbling nonsense about my loyalty and my fear of being alone, until I was absolutely certain that Garin and Artria had gone far enough to disappear into the vastness of the sea.
Only when the last shimmer of their blue tails faded did I allow my "sobs" to start tapering off into shaky, rhythmic breaths.