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After Three Mates Abandoned Me, I Became the Siren's Beloved
Novelix
Completed
Everyone in the Reef Isle tribe knew me as the pampered little mermaid princess — spoiled rotten by her mates. I demanded the finest food, the finest clothes, and threw tantrums at my three mates at the slightest provocation. I did it because I was doted on. Loved. And because of that, I ran wild. Then an outsider came to our tribe. A mermaid named Elara. Compared to my willful arrogance, she was gentle and radiant. Countless merman warriors vied for her attention. But she didn't lean on any mate. She raised her little merchild alone, and was building a thriving life for herself, one that turned heads. Little by little, my first mate began to grow tired of how spoiled I was. The day Corvin left, my two remaining mates were still furious on my behalf: "Corvin, you chose to walk out yourself! Don't you ever think about crawling back to Coral!" But not long after, my second mate left too. I looked at Lyric — the only one I had left — and felt tears sting my eyes. "Lyric… do you think my temper is that awful too?" Lyric stroked my hair. "Don't think nonsense. They're the bastards. They just don't know what they had." Until, with my own eyes, I saw him swaying that silver-blue tail of his. Trailing behind that outsider mermaid, following her every stroke. So humble. So desperate. Just for the chance that she might glance back at him. I turned and fled, bursting into the coral dwelling of our chieftain, Papa Thalos. "Papa, the next time the tribe sends someone for a marriage alliance — let me go."
Chapters (3)
第1章
Everyone in the Reef Isle tribe knew me as the pampered little mermaid princess — spoiled rotten by her mates.
I demanded the finest food, the finest clothes, and threw tantrums at my three mates at the slightest provocation. I did it because I was doted on. Loved. And because of that, I ran wild.
Then an outsider came to our tribe. A mermaid named Elara.
Compared to my willful arrogance, she was gentle and radiant. Countless merman warriors vied for her attention. But she didn't lean on any mate. She raised her little merchild alone, and was building a thriving life for herself, one that turned heads.
Little by little, my first mate began to grow tired of how spoiled I was.
The day Corvin left, my two remaining mates were still furious on my behalf:
"Corvin, you chose to walk out yourself! Don't you ever think about crawling back to Coral!"
But not long after, my second mate left too.
I looked at Lyric — the only one I had left — and felt tears sting my eyes.
"Lyric… do you think my temper is that awful too?"
Lyric stroked my hair. "Don't think nonsense. They're the bastards. They just don't know what they had."
Until, with my own eyes, I saw him swaying that silver-blue tail of his. Trailing behind that outsider mermaid, following her every stroke. So humble. So desperate. Just for the chance that she might glance back at him.
I turned and fled, bursting into the coral dwelling of our chieftain, Papa Thalos.
"Papa, the next time the tribe sends someone for a marriage alliance — let me go."
...
"Coral, have you lost your mind?!"
Papa Thalos, once he'd caught his breath, stared at me wide-eyed.
"That's the Siren Court we're talking about! Every other mermaid prays not to be chosen — and you want to hand yourself over?!"
My eyes stung red as I clutched at my gauzy skirt.
The Sirens dwelled in the deepest, blackest trenches of the ocean. They bore no daughters of their own, and could only continue their bloodline by taking brides from the shallow-sea mermaid tribes each year.
Unlike the gentle mer-folk, the Sirens possessed voices that could enthrall any living creature — songs that could lure the mightiest whale sharks willingly into the abyss.
Their power was strange. Their possessiveness absolute. They never shared their mates with another male.
One life. One love. One mate.
And for that very reason, no mermaid ever wished to swim down into those cold, black trenches.
"Did they… do something to you again?!"
Papa Thalos's voice went cold. He was already flicking his tail, ready to swim out, when I threw myself in his way.
"Don't! Papa, please — don't!"
I flung my arms around his waist, shaking my head desperately.
"Don't fight my battles for me anymore…"
When Corvin and Kaelen had left, I'd gone crying to Papa. That mermaid Elara had moved farther and farther away because of it — and still, they hadn't come back to me.
The cold looks they gave me that day were still so vivid they made me tremble:
"Cordelia — put away your bullying for once. Elara did nothing wrong, and she was nearly driven from the tribe because of you."
"Without your chieftain Papa to stand behind you, what are you really?"
"I can't believe I ever loved a mermaid as vile as you."
That night, I clung to the only mate I had left — Lyric — and wept until I fainted.
But now… even he didn't want me anymore.
In the silence, Papa Thalos sighed.
"Coral, you are Papa's only daughter. Papa cannot bear the thought of you so far away. But Papa cannot bear to see you suffer, either. The drawing is in three days. Think it through, and then come to Papa. All right?"
I left Papa's dwelling.
And the moment I stepped outside, I saw Lyric waiting there.
He was leaning sideways against the coral doorpost, a small yellow anemone pinched between his fingers, gazing at it as though nothing else existed.
I knew that anemone. Today, he had pressed himself close to Elara's side and coaxed it from her palm.
When he saw me, he tucked the anemone away, and his eyes curved warmly.
"Coral?"
I wiped at my eyes and swam right past him without a word.
"Coral — where are you going?"
I didn't look back.
I'd only gone a little farther when I realized there was no sound behind me. I whirled around — and saw Lyric hovering far away. His brow was furrowed, his hand cupped carefully around that fragile little anemone, protecting it from the current that threatened to tear it apart.
Something inside me trembled.
I shouted at him, half-frantic: "Lyric! Why aren't you following me?!"
The louder I shouted, the more passing tribesfolk turned to stare.
But he only raised his eyes slightly. The setting sun filtered through the surface, drawing his shadow long and mournful across the seafloor.
An inexplicable panic began to rise in my chest.
I flicked my tail hard against the water, gritted my teeth, and was about to swim toward him. But in the next breath, I heard him speak.
"Coral… I can't go home with you anymore. Elara needs me."
He turned.
And swam toward Elara's dwelling.
---
第2章
Only I was left in the house.
Inside the coral hearth, the glowing jellyfish Lyric had placed there that morning still drifted, pulsing softly. I tried to add a new one to the fire, but it slipped from my fingers and swam away.
Without thinking, my lip trembled into a pout. And then, all at once, I realized — there would be no one left to soothe me anymore.
My nails dug into my palms.
I refused to believe Lyric would truly cast me aside. I whipped my tail hard and rose to my feet, swimming out toward him.
Stumbling, blundering along the way. I lost count of how many times I struck the rocks.
Finally, battered and bruised, I knocked at that shell door.
But it wasn't Lyric who opened it.
Corvin stared, startled at the sight of me. His gaze fell on my wounds, and his expression grew unreadable.
"What are you doing here?"
He had been my first mate.
Back when he was with me, he used to complain that I was always swimming off recklessly, that he was afraid I'd crash into hidden reefs and shred my scales. He'd frown and call me careless — but he'd silently trail behind me, cleaning up every mess I made.
His scoldings had been merciless. But I remembered too, how after every cold face, he would sneak up to my shell-bed. Brushing away the tear tracks I'd left behind in my sulks with the pad of his thumb. Then, mistaking my faked sleep for real, he would press clumsy, feverish kisses to my skin, one after another.
I didn't look at him. I only strained anxiously to see past him into the room.
Ignored, Corvin's hand tightened unconsciously around the doorframe. He gave a cold laugh and called into the house:
"Lyric! You let one of them chase you all the way here? What are you going to do if Elara finds out?"
The currents of near-winter were cold and swift.
I was wearing only a thin shell-gauze dress, my face pale as I watched Lyric swim out. His clothing was in disarray, his long hair floating loose in the water. On the side of his neck was an unmistakable, fresh bite mark.
His eyes swept impatiently over Corvin, then landed on me. A flicker of irritation crossed his gaze.
A chill sank through me. I stepped back on reflex.
Then, suddenly, a heavy deep-sea sealskin cloak dropped over my shoulders. I looked up — but I could only see the tense line of Corvin's jaw.
And when Lyric reached me, he had returned to that same familiar, gentle self. For a moment I almost thought I'd imagined that look.
"Coral? How did you get yourself in such a state?"
I bit my lip.
"Lyric — I, I won't beg anymore for those red coral berries that only grow beyond the outer reefs. I won't complain that the pearl trinkets aren't shiny enough. I won't cling to you and chatter when you're exhausted…"
"From now on, you'll be my only mate — I don't want anyone else. Please, don't leave me alone. Please?"
The more I spoke, the more frantic I became — I didn't even notice Corvin's expression shift beside me.
Lyric listened. But his eyes stayed fixed on my bleeding tail fin, scraped raw against the rocks.
Unthinkingly, I slipped back into my old spoiled willfulness. I even reached out to take his hand.
"You promised you'd stay with me forever! Lyric — you can't go back on your word! I—"
But my hand closed on nothing. Lyric had drawn his hand away.
"It's cold out here. Come inside first, all right?"
---
第3章
The house was warm.
I sat on a shell chair cushioned with soft sealskin. Everything around me was arranged with careful order. The jagged coral edges of the walls had been carefully smoothed round; in the corner sat enough glowing jellyfish lamps and hot-spring stones to burn through the depths of winter.
I thought of my own coral dwelling — cold and hollow now.
After Corvin and Kaelen left, Lyric had still kept it up. He had. But his mind was always elsewhere. That crack in the roof, the one leaking cold currents — it never seemed to get sealed. The hot stones in the spring pool were always nearly frozen through before he thought to replace them.
On the coldest days, I no longer dared to complain as I once had. I only slipped quietly into Lyric's arms, terrified he too might leave.
Then, from the inner room, low voices drifted out:
"What, gone soft, have you?"
"Let me be clear — if you back out now, don't think about coming back here."
I stiffened, leaning closer to listen.
But then I heard Lyric's voice, cold as the current:
"No. I just don't want her running to the chieftain again, crying, making trouble for Elara. Don't worry. She's easy enough to placate."
My mind went blank.
Corvin gave a short, breathy laugh. The sound of a tail fin cutting through water faded.
Someone swam to me and knelt down before me. Lyric lowered his eyes and, with a soft square of shell-gauze, began wiping the blood from my scraped tail, bit by bit.
His voice was as gentle as I remembered:
"Coral. From now on, I am to be Elara's mate. You are the chieftain's daughter. The tribe is full of fine males — take your pick."
Something crossed his mind, and he laughed softly.
"Weren't you the one who used to say you'd drive all three of us out and go find yourself another mermaid?"
Those had been the angry words of a spoiled child, hadn't they? Why hadn't they mattered to him then, and mattered so terribly now?
I looked up at him through the blur of my tears, shaking my head over and over.
"No… I didn't mean it…"
Lyric's expression darkened faintly as he stared at the tears at the corners of my eyes. He reached out slowly and wiped them away, ruffling my hair as though to comfort me. Then, in silence, he stood and went to fetch a shell bowl and medicine.
Suddenly — a crash.
Something heavy struck me hard. I turned my head and saw Elara's little merchild floating there, face contorted with hate. He was hoisting a scalding hot-spring medicine kettle above his head.
"Bad mermaid! Bad mermaid who bullies Mama! Get out!"
I threw up my arm on instinct. But the motion sent the boiling medicine splashing back — a few drops striking the child's bare tail fin and the back of his little hand.
He froze for a heartbeat. Then let out a wail loud enough to shatter the sea.
The shell door slammed open from outside just then. An icy current rushed in.
And then a hand seized me by the throat.
Kaelen's deep-green shark eyes were fixed on me, and he was laughing — a laugh with no warmth in it.
"Bullying Elara wasn't enough. Now you've come here to bully the child too. Cordelia — you really do have a talent, don't you."
---
