✨ An intense, high-stakes high-society fantasy romance and ultimate comeback short drama about ancient mystics, accidental contracts, and absolute karmic retribution. 💔 After enduring years of calculated public humiliation and cruel emotional abuse from her toxic, elitist corporate family who treated her like a powerless underdog, a resilient young woman reaches her breaking point. 📉 Her arrogant relatives believe they have successfully stripped her of her dignity and can cast her aside as a penniless outcast, completely blind to the cosmic reality check about to explode across the metropolis because she declared: compré al rey sirena por accidente. 🏰⚡ The entire high-society arena trembles in absolute shock when she shatters her modest civilian disguise, revealing her true nature as the sole, untouchable multi-billion-dollar global oceanic syndicate heiress. 🔥 Aligning forces with the sea's most feared, fiercely protective legendary sovereign and alpha billionaire tycoon, she steps into the corporate spotlight to unleash flawless instant karma, leaving her treacherous abusers begging for mercy in utter ruin. 👑💥
#comprealreysirenaporaccidente #shortdrama #miniseries #verticaldrama #ultimatecomeback #fantasyromance #hiddenidentity #shortfilm #clips #reelshort
#comprealreysirenaporaccidente #shortdrama #miniseries #verticaldrama #ultimatecomeback #fantasyromance #hiddenidentity #shortfilm #clips #reelshort
Category
🎥
Short filmTranscript
00:00When I was to tell him about our baby, my merman cut my heart open.
00:03Serafina needs your blood.
00:04No!
00:05See this as your payment for tearing us apart.
00:09When I woke up again, I was at the auction with Serafina.
00:12The mate claim is our clan's law.
00:14A woman standing rises and falls entirely with the merman she's bonded to.
00:18So last life, when I was maneuvered into taking Serafina's leftover,
00:22a merman whose tail hung in broken scales, I had no choice.
00:25I bled my heart essence for 49 days before he was barely healed.
00:29I hunted abyssal cores at every turn, pouring them into him to elevate his bloodline.
00:33Yet the first thing he became the Siren King was to kill me, his mate, as well as our unborn
00:38baby.
00:39This is my second chance.
00:40I won't make the same mistake.
00:41I want this one.
00:42Serafina's voice cut me back to the present.
00:44She pointed towards the enormous tank in front of us.
00:47She chose Silas?
00:49My eyes found Silas instantly, cowering at the very back of the holding tank.
00:54A merman's greatest pride is his tail.
00:56Every other tail in that water prison shimmered, rippling like silk ribbons in a dark current.
01:02Silas's tail was stripped nearly bare, scales shed down to raw, ragged flesh.
01:07Serafina, pack heiress and eldest daughter, exactly as she had in our last life,
01:12gestured lazily toward the two mermen at the back.
01:19Alara, let's just take those, too, shall we?
01:24Side fast before someone else snaps up the good one.
01:28In my last life, I had believed every word.
01:32Mermen didn't come cheap, and I had assumed even Serafina wouldn't deliberately choose the most broken creature in the tank.
01:38But she had.
01:39She had actually purchased the barely breathing Silas.
01:42Our father had erupted in fury over it.
01:46Father, Alara picked him herself.
01:48You know how she is.
01:50I only paid.
01:51I chose the strong one.
01:53I'm taking mine now.
01:55And just like that, the half-dead wreck called Silas had been handed to me.
01:59This life, I would not fall for a single word and called my bid before she could speak.
02:03Take what you want, Serafina.
02:06I pointed at the stone-faced merman in the corner.
02:09I want that one.
02:17It didn't matter who I chose.
02:19If I'd turned the broken, helpless Silas into a Siren King, I could do it with anyone.
02:23Every creature in this tank would surpass him with the right hand guiding them.
02:27This time, I just wanted one who would be loyal.
02:30Serafina's smile thinned when she realized the hook hadn't landed.
02:33Alara, you gave us a fixed amount.
02:34If you use it all, what's left for me?
02:36I gave her a single flat look.
02:37How had I spent an entire lifetime missing how well she could perform?
02:41She had engineered this from the start.
02:42Pushed the broken merman onto me.
02:44Keep me weak.
02:44Keep herself on top.
02:46Her trap had been set the moment we walked through these auction doors.
02:49I stared straight at Silas, who was pressing himself against the tank wall,
02:52performing desperately for any buyer.
02:54That one doesn't look bad.
02:56Feed him right and he might amount to something.
02:58If you really can't afford your pick, buy him.
03:03I wouldn't want him to warm my bed.
03:05I smiled, but there was nothing warm in it.
03:07Poor Silas.
03:08In our last life, he had actually believed I was the one who separated them.
03:11He had never known that Serafina wouldn't have had him on a bet.
03:14As in our last life, Serafina claimed her merman Jace without hesitation.
03:18But as I walked out with my merman Kaelin,
03:20something slammed against the walls of the holding tank.
03:22Silas, thrashing.
03:24Is he trying to get someone's attention?
03:26Broken thing like that.
03:27I glanced at Silas's frantic movement.
03:29Then at Serafina, who had gone very still.
03:32Had Silas also been reborn?
03:35His panic made sense.
03:36The woman he had spent his whole life loving had just walked away without him.
03:40I caught the fractured blue of his eyes through the water and smiled.
03:43When a dream you've chased for a lifetime shatters in an instant, that has to hurt.
03:47This life, no one punished me for leaving Silas behind.
03:50Kaelin stood before me, his tail slapping the floor in slow, rhythmic strikes.
03:54Can you shift to human form?
03:57He pressed his lips together and pulled the tail in.
04:00Obedient but clearly reluctant.
04:03Unlike the others, there was no relief on his face.
04:06No gratitude for being purchased.
04:08Looking closer, his blue eyes held something else entirely.
04:11Cold detachment and a pride that hadn't been broken yet.
04:14You don't want to come home with me?
04:15Kaelin glanced at me once and said nothing.
04:17As far as I know, the holding tanks run on hierarchy.
04:20Without a buyer, you fight every day just to hold your rank.
04:24I can protect that rank, right now.
04:25He moved to the chair farthest from me and sat.
04:28I'm not the wreck who got his tail beaten to pieces.
04:31One sentence and I was already smiling.
04:33He was right.
04:33For a merman to have his tail destroyed like that, what was that if not useless?
04:37If you don't want to stay, the door is open.
04:44Something flickered in Kaelin's blue eyes.
04:46He was tempted.
04:46I could see it.
04:47Before he could act on it, I stood up.
04:50What are you doing?
04:52Since you don't want to be here, I'll go select a different merman.
04:55I'm building a Siren King.
04:57I have no room for someone with a divided heart.
04:59In my peripheral vision, Kaelin looked at me with something new on his face.
05:03Becoming the Siren King was every merman's deepest ambition.
05:06He had the raw power, but raw power could be cultivated in anyone.
05:10A backstabber like Silas wasn't worth the investment.
05:12The auction is over!
05:13I turned and smiled at him.
05:15A family that can afford a merman a senelmest in the first place?
05:19You think we worry about finding another one?
05:24The next several days I left early and returned late.
05:28Kaelin hadn't left, but I needed my own contingency plans.
05:31What I didn't expect.
05:33The moment I stepped onto the street that afternoon, Silas came staggering toward me.
05:41He threw his arms around my legs.
05:44Take me with you, please.
05:46You were always supposed to choose me.
05:49My heartbeat stuttered exactly once.
05:51What did you just say?
05:53Hilara, look at me.
05:55Are you really not choosing me?
05:57Silas gripped my legs tightly with both hands.
06:00That confirmed it.
06:02Silas had been reborn too.
06:03But if he got a second life, why was he coming to me instead of running straight to Serafina?
06:07I shook him off without expression.
06:09What are you rambling about?
06:10Who is your owner?
06:12Don't come grabbing at strangers in the street.
06:15I turned to walk away, but Silas chased after me recklessly.
06:18Following closely in haste.
06:20I was half a second from losing my composure.
06:23Then I caught sight of Kaelin, following at a distance behind me.
06:26My eyes shifted, calculating.
06:34Your tail is badly damaged.
06:37Did the other mare shifters in the tank do this to you?
06:42Silas blinked, then nodded quickly.
06:45In my peripheral vision, Kaelin had drawn several steps closer.
06:49I ran my fingers along Silas' damaged tail, the same way I had in our last life.
06:54Every wound on his body had been healed by my hand.
06:56I knew exactly where the pressure felt good, and where it burned.
06:59So when I pressed just right, a shudder rolled through Silas' entire body.
07:03He kept leaning into me, breathless.
07:06Master, will you take me home?
07:09I curved my lips.
07:10Of course, I...
07:13Before I could finish, Kaelin launched forward, smashed Silas away with its tail.
07:17He slammed him violently onto the street, five meters away.
07:20He planted himself in front of me, jaw set.
07:23I haven't left yet.
07:25Silas hit the pavement and couldn't get back up.
07:28Several failed attempts, then stillness.
07:33I blinked at Kaelin with wide eyes.
07:37Was that really necessary?
07:41Didn't you say you were leaving?
07:43Why stop me from finding another merman?
07:45The hands hanging at Kaelin's sides curled into slow fists.
07:49I'm not leaving.
07:50Satisfaction curved my mouth upward.
07:53Mermen had their own will.
07:54Every one of them needed to be won, not forced.
07:57He had taken the first step.
07:59I would accept the olive branch.
08:02As for Silas, he dragged himself upright and crept forward again.
08:08Master, you agreed just now.
08:12You were going to take me.
08:14I slung my arm over Kaelin's shoulder and gave Silas a bright little wave.
08:18Sorry.
08:19I changed my mind.
08:20Silas opened his mouth to protest and moved one step forward.
08:24Kaelin's tail cracked down onto the pavement directly in front of him.
08:28One more step, and the next thing that breaks will be your bones.
08:32When the tail lifted, I looked at the cracked stone beneath it.
08:35Kaelin was, without question, in another league from Silas.
08:39To prevent another betrayal, I forced Kaelin through the blood bond ritual.
08:42You can actually make me Siren King?
08:44I said nothing.
08:45A master speaks.
08:46She doesn't explain herself.
08:48In my last life, I had poured everything into making Silas a king,
08:51and forgotten to make myself stronger first.
08:53If Kaelin performed, the title was his.
08:55If he showed one flicker of divided loyalty,
08:58he would spend this lifetime as nothing but a bed warmer.
09:00If you don't want to walk out, then don't.
09:02I turned to leave, but before I'd taken a single step,
09:05Kaelin drew a blade across his own tail and pressed the blood from it.
09:09I'll do it.
09:10After the bond sealed, Kaelin stood beside me, stiff and stilted.
09:14I'm your merman now.
09:15Up close, a faint flush had crept across his pale face.
09:20Oddly endearing, I tilted my chin toward the bed.
09:23Go lie down.
09:24Just to watch his reaction.
09:29Kaelin's face went a deeper red.
09:30He shuffled to the bed, one careful step at a time,
09:33and let his bleeding tail hang off the edge so it wouldn't stay in the sheets.
09:36What are you doing?
09:38The crimson flooding his face nearly made me laugh.
09:40All that menace.
09:41And this was what was underneath it?
09:43I ran a deliberate hand along his tail.
09:45You know the custom.
09:46When our family brings home a merman, there's a mate claim.
09:49Which means, technically, you're my husband now.
09:52Kaelin said nothing, but the moment my fingers made contact, his tail gave a small, involuntary shiver.
09:57Our eyes met, and something in his expression shifted, a quiet resignation, and he closed his eyes.
10:02A soft laugh escaped me as I turned and reached for the medical kit.
10:06With his eyes still shut, I leaned in and blew a gentle breath across his bleeding wound.
10:11Does it hurt?
10:13Kaelin's tail began to sway side to side in small, helpless arcs.
10:17In merman body language, that meant only one thing, pleasure.
10:20I packed the wound and settled back into my chair.
10:23Stay out of water for a few days.
10:25It'll heal.
10:26Less painful now?
10:27The flush hadn't left Kaelin's face.
10:28He darted one glance at me and turned to look pointedly at the wall.
10:32Hyrus doesn't belong on my tail.
10:34Hmm.
10:35Then why was it still swaying?
10:36Once his tail healed, we fell into a daily training rhythm.
10:40Unlike my last life, this time I trained too.
10:42What kind of woman builds a siren king and leaves herself defenseless?
10:46We hadn't been at it long when Serafina arrived with her merman, Jace.
10:50My little sister, so committed you've thrown yourself into the sparring too.
10:53You spent so long choosing at the auction I expected something impressive but honestly,
10:56he's not even half of what my Jace is.
10:58I stopped and looked at Serafina and Jace without expression.
11:01Jace was built impressively, yes.
11:03But in our last life he had been thoroughly ordinary and Serafina was no handler.
11:08After her mate claim, our father had handed house authority to me instead.
11:11I said nothing, but Kaelin stepped in front of me.
11:14Huh.
11:15A mermane.
11:16Challenging me?
11:17Let me make this clear.
11:19I am this family's pack heiress.
11:21And when the time comes, I run this house.
11:25Jace, teach him.
11:27Jace lunged.
11:28Kaelin moved without urgency.
11:29He even had time to guide me to a clear position before turning to face the attack.
11:34Good.
11:34I wanted to see what he could actually do.
11:36The two of them clashed hard, but within a handful of exchanges, it was obvious Jace was losing ground.
11:42Serafina, who had opened with absolute confidence.
11:46Kill him.
11:46Just kill him.
11:47Why are you holding back?
11:48Finish him and I'll take the blame.
11:50Jace showed no visible improvement, but Kaelin had stopped pulling his strikes.
11:54He was half a second away from crushing Jace's shoulder completely.
11:57No.
11:57Serafina screamed.
11:59How dare you?
12:01Alara, look at what your pet did to my merchant.
12:04I smiled.
12:05Serafina, weren't you the one who let Jace start it?
12:08You were screaming at him to kill Kaelin.
12:10Everyone present heard you.
12:11Serafina couldn't win the argument, so she crossed the floor and put herself in my face.
12:15If Jace is injured, I will have father come down on you so hard.
12:18He cost a fortune.
12:19I held her gaze for a long moment.
12:21Then told Kaelin to let Jace go.
12:24Smart girl.
12:25Eldest is eldest.
12:26No matter what, this house will never be yours to run.
12:29She snatched Jace by the arm and swept out.
12:31Erling curses the entire way.
12:33I should have finished him.
12:34What's the rush?
12:35Serafina had taken her first loss.
12:37She would come back with real hatred now.
12:39Let her rage.
12:40Let her spiral.
12:41The one who goes mad first loses everything.
12:44Serafina began watching me the way a predator watches an open wound.
12:48I had expected her to undermine me in front of our father.
12:51What I hadn't expected.
12:52She had brought Silas home and put into work as a house servant.
12:55The moment he blocked my path in the corridor and begged, my step stuttered.
12:59How are you here?
13:01Serafina stepped out from around the corner, smiling, with our father right behind her.
13:05So the rumors are true.
13:07I stared at her.
13:09What rumors?
13:10Father's expression was stoned.
13:12Elora, you already have a mate claim.
13:14Why are you still tangled up with him?
13:16Your sister was fortunate enough to run into him today.
13:18She brought him here to keep him quiet.
13:20Otherwise, your reputation would be ruined.
13:22I had no words.
13:24Serafina strolled toward me with pure delight on her face,
13:27hooking Silas' chin up with the toe of her shoe.
13:29Little sister, he's been asking around outside,
13:31trying every connection he has to get through our gates to reach you.
13:34You should have said something.
13:36If there was something between you two, you could just bought him at the auction.
13:40Why bother bringing Kaylin home?
13:42The more she talked, the darker father's face became.
13:44Elora, clean this up or get out of this house.
13:48He turned and left without another word.
13:50Serafina beamed at me.
13:52My capable little sister.
13:54Take your time sorting it out.
14:00Silas knelt half on the floor.
14:02His face tilted up toward mine.
14:04His eyes full of naked wanting.
14:07You love being near me that much?
14:10Then stay.
14:11Better to keep him where I could watch him than to throw him out blind.
14:14In this life without my heart essence,
14:16Silas surviving at all was already uncertain.
14:18He started drifting through every room I occupied.
14:21Kaylin, on the other hand, had gone cold on me again.
14:24When I cornered him in the back garden one morning.
14:26You're coming to me right now?
14:27Shouldn't you be with that pathetic Silas?
14:29That whole scene on the street was staged.
14:31You two tricked me into the blood bond.
14:34Kaylin's tail hit the ground in sharp, irritated slaps.
14:36I watched him with genuine interest.
14:38You already bonded.
14:39There's no running from that.
14:45He gave me a flat, suspicious look.
14:48Like I was setting another trap.
14:50There's a mermin tournament in two months.
14:51Whether you become searing king depends entirely on what you do with that time.
14:55Really?
14:56There's truly nothing between you and that mermin?
14:58I was half a breath from swearing on it.
15:01Kaylin finally let out a grudging huff and fell into step beside me.
15:04We drilled repeatedly in the draining field while Silas kept finding reasons to wander past.
15:11Let me break his tail.
15:12See how he walks after that.
15:14Kaylin!
15:16I have plans for him.
15:18All that heart essence I'd fed him in our last life was not going to be wasted.
15:22He walked right up to us.
15:24What happened next was on him.
15:27That evening I had Silas called to my room to serve.
15:30The siren king of my last life was now on his knees at my feet, cradling a basin of water.
15:34His injuries were severe enough that he swayed every few minutes, barely holding himself upright.
15:39You're not well?
15:40I kept my voice casual, almost bored.
15:42The annual merman tournament was weeks away.
15:45Silas had to be crawling out of his skin.
15:47In our last life, with my help, he had claimed the siren king's title.
15:51A man who had sat at the top of the world, does not quietly accept kneeling on someone's floor.
15:55So no matter what it cost him, he would endure.
15:58Because he still needed my heart essence.
16:00Silas sad sideways onto the floor, his voice thin.
16:04My tail was damaged in the holding tank.
16:06It never healed properly.
16:09What would it take to fix it?
16:10This house doesn't keep idle staff.
16:12Silas looked at me, testing the water.
16:14A human's heart essence.
16:1649 days of it.
16:18Taken in doses.
16:20Only then will I heal.
16:23I said nothing.
16:24Right now, he was nothing but a servant.
16:27When I didn't react, he coughed twice.
16:29I know I'm useless.
16:32All I ask in this life is to stay near you.
16:35I would never dare dream of your heart essence.
16:38Why are you so set on staying near me?
16:42Silas studied my face, searching for the lie.
16:44My expression was open, guileless.
16:46There was nothing for him to find.
16:48Once he was certain I wasn't performing, he shook his head with a face full of grief.
17:04I dug my fingernail into my own palm, hard enough to leave a mark, and I did not slap him.
17:10With gratitude and loyalty, he had taken my trust and stabbed me with a knife.
17:15And here he was, performing it with shining eyes and a breaking voice.
17:20If I didn't still carry every memory from our last life, I might have believed him.
17:24I ranged my face into something soft and moved.
17:27Just 49 days of heart essence, and you'd be fully healed?
17:31Silas' eyes lit up.
17:34The hunger behind his eyes was obvious, but he was working hard to swallow it.
17:40Yes, but Alara, it hurts to draw heart essence.
17:46I let a pause stretch, then spoke carefully.
17:50I can save your life, but once you're healed, you will not come near me again.
17:58Something flickered across Silas' face, a flash of injury, but he agreed almost immediately.
18:04Agreed.
18:05I won't come near you.
18:07He bowed his head, and behind his back, I finally allowed myself to smile.
18:12My heart essence is not so easily given.
18:15Starting the next morning, I sent Kalen out each day to buy fresh chicken blood from the market.
18:21Diluted with water, the smell was manageable.
18:23To make sure he couldn't detect the switch, I dissolved several herbs into the mixture.
18:28He needed to see results, or he wouldn't keep believing.
18:30Silas drained bowl after bowl, his brow creasing tighter every time.
18:34Alara, this heart essence tastes strain.
18:37I immediately let hurt flood my expression.
18:39Blood is never going to taste good.
18:41I cut open my own chest for you.
18:43If you don't like it, I'll just throw it out.
18:45Silas did not dare.
18:46He tilted the bowl back and licked it clean.
18:48Alara, this kindness is something I'll carry forever.
18:50I wish I were the one you'd chosen.
18:51I could spend my life at your side repaying this.
18:54I pulled my face into something pained and troubled.
18:56It was already a significant problem for me.
18:58You heard what father and Serafina said that day.
19:01I kept talking, watching him in my peripheral vision.
19:03When I mentioned Serafina, not a trace of longing crossed his face.
19:07What appeared instead was something close to hatred.
19:09I had died in our last life before seeing what came after.
19:13But judging by his face now, the Siren King's reign had not ended well for him either.
19:17Still, none of that is your fault.
19:20But Serafina has always had it out for me.
19:22She's simply using your situation to make me look bad.
19:25The hand Silas had rested on the table tightened into a fist without him noticing.
19:29Looking at the locked muscle in his jaw, I knew I'd guessed right.
19:34Alara, don't worry.
19:36I won't be a burden to you.
19:37Good.
19:38Because in this life, he didn't come close to deserving to be my problem.
19:41Silas stopped haunting my rooms as much.
19:43Lately, he'd been gravitating towards Serafina's wing instead.
19:45He had taken what I said to heart.
19:47If he could be a blade, I aimed at her.
19:49That was at least partial penance for the last life.
19:51To keep him from noticing anything off,
19:53Kaelin and I had shifted our training sessions to my room at night.
19:58Faster.
19:59Every merman in that tournament fights to kill.
20:03If your speed isn't there, you'll walk in and get carried out.
20:06I finished and waved him over.
20:10Come on.
20:11Spa with me.
20:13Kaelin smiled, and it was absolutely contemptuous.
20:16Get over here.
20:18Before the words finished leaving my mouth, he was already in front of me.
20:22Fast enough that I couldn't track how he'd moved.
20:25How did you...
20:26Before I could finish, he pressed the attack.
20:29I dodged twice, barely, and then my footing slipped and I went backwards.
20:34Kaelin's sharp inhale, his hand caught my waist.
20:37I was fairly certain he did it on purpose.
20:39The momentum carried us both down onto the bed together.
20:42Pinned beneath him, my heartbeat stopped being something I could control.
20:45Those blue eyes flickered, and without a word, he locked both my wrists above my head.
20:49Silas gets to come to your room at night.
20:51Why don't I?
20:53He had found out about Silas coming every night to drink.
20:59Silas has business!
21:01Kaelin didn't move, the heat of his breath spreading across my neck.
21:05His tail reached out and drew the bed curtain closed.
21:08He said, low and certain.
21:10Master, you're the one who said I'd be your husband.
21:13By the time my legs had gone completely weak, Kaelin was still murmuring in my ear,
21:19asking whether I wanted him or Silas.
21:22I gave some incoherent answer, while internally screaming about how unfair it was
21:27that this infuriating merman had a body like that.
21:31A month later, Jace's tail collapsed.
21:35Serafina tore through the house like something feral.
21:38Jace lay on the bed, the color of ash.
21:42How does something like this just happen?
21:45Jace, did you eat something?
21:47Where is your tail?
21:48How are you supposed to compete with no tail?
21:50Are you even a merman anymore?
21:52Father, please, find someone to look at him.
21:56The tournament troll is almost here, and I've put everything into him.
22:00Father's brow furrowed, but he nodded.
22:02The merman physician examined Jace, set down his wrist, and left shaking his head.
22:07The tail looks intact from the outside, but they've already begun to dissolve.
22:11Within three days, his skeleton will be nothing but fluid.
22:14Jace threw himself at the physician in a frenzy, so violent he rolled off the bed.
22:19Serafina stared at the wall, repeating impossible to no one.
22:22After she sent the physician out,
22:26she lunged straight at me, and Kaelin stepped between us before she got close.
22:33Alotta, this was you, wasn't it?
22:35You've always been jealous of Jace's talent.
22:37Terrified he'd become Siren King, and you'd never get above me, so you did this to him.
22:41You destroyed my merman!
22:43I will ruin you!
22:44You can die!
22:45Father walked in on those exact words.
22:47Enough!
22:48Enough!
22:49Father's voice cracked like a whip, and Serafina went silent.
22:52Serafina, I genuinely have no reason to hurt your merman.
22:55Whoever ends up as Siren King, Kaelin outwells Jace so completely that Jake was never a competitor
23:01we even considered, so why would I bother?
23:04Serafina tried to erupt again, and Father shut her down.
23:08What's done is done.
23:09Stay in your rooms and rest.
23:10You're not competing in the tournament.
23:13As for that useless mermaid, that's your problem to solve.
23:17Both Jace and Serafina went white.
23:19A merman without a tail, turned out of this house.
23:22What were the odds of survival?
23:25And Serafina, without a merman, had just lost every card she held.
23:31When Silas came to drink that evening, the good mood was written all over him.
23:35He looked at me like he was offering something.
23:37Serafina won't be able to take anything from you anymore.
23:39I handed him the bowl.
23:40He was nearly through the full course now.
23:42I had increased the herbal dose recently, and Silas did look genuinely better, visibly
23:47stronger, but it was all surface.
23:48The herbs were keeping a thread of life taut.
23:50The moment he exerted himself past a certain point, the crisis would hit without warning.
23:55When it did, a hundred days of true heart essence wouldn't save him.
23:58That business with Jace, that wasn't you, was it?
24:01I let my eyes go wide with something that looked like awe.
24:04How did you manage it so cleanly?
24:06He just fell apart.
24:07I asked.
24:08He turned coy.
24:09For your sake, there's nothing I wouldn't do.
24:12I turned away and let out a quiet, cold laugh.
24:15The only reason he knew how to do any of this was because he had been Siren King once before.
24:19His body was a wreck, but the dirty knowledge, that had stayed.
24:22He drained the bowl and licked his lips with slow satisfaction.
24:25Behind him, his tail flicked out in a slow arc, showing off.
24:29After he left, Kaelin stepped out of the shadows.
24:31His expression was set and watchful.
24:37I stared at the red-stained bowl and let the question hang before I turned it back on him.
24:46Kaelin paused, and I pressed immediately.
24:51He reached back and closed his hand over mine.
24:57That, genuinely, inconveniently, made my face go red.
25:00I had assessed every merman in that tournament.
25:02As long as Kaelin fought at his actual level, this was already decided.
25:06On the day of the tournament, father came with us, along with Serafina.
25:09I hadn't seen Silas at the house since the day before.
25:12He had entered, then, he had to have.
25:14Kaelin.
25:14This match carries the family's name and standing.
25:17Give everything you have.
25:18Understood?
25:19Father's voice was low and firm.
25:21Serafina twisted her mouth to the side.
25:23But, unusually, she said nothing.
25:25I glanced at her sideways with the particular unease of someone who knows a quiet snake is worse than a
25:30loud one.
25:32Right before Kaelin was called to the arena floor, Serafina pulled a handkerchief from her bodice and moved to wipe
25:37his face.
25:38Kaelin never allowed strangers close to him.
25:40He stepped back immediately.
25:42Serafina's hand hung in empty air, the moment crystallizing into something awkward and ugly.
25:47Little sister, look at this merman of yours.
25:51I'm just wiping some sweat.
25:54If he becomes Siren King, it reflects on all of us, doesn't it?
25:59How petty.
26:02Huh? Helpful?
26:03I laughed, hollow and bright, and took the handkerchief out of her hand and dragged it across father's face.
26:09What? Stop!
26:10The way Serafina's words failed completely confirmed what I already suspected about that cloth, so I scrubbed harder.
26:16What's wrong?
26:17The tournament matters, but father has been standing in the heat for us.
26:20It's only right that I take care of him.
26:22While I was still talking, I pushed Kaelin toward the arena entrance.
26:25Two months of work.
26:26No one was going to dismantle it in the final seconds.
26:28Serafina began shifting her weight, watching.
26:31Her eyes kept cutting to father.
26:33When he started to sway, I understood.
26:35A sedative.
26:36She'd laced it with a sedative.
26:38Father, are you alright?
26:40Father pressed a hand to his temple.
26:41Fine beads of sweat were already breaking out across his forehead.
26:44You were fine a moment ago.
26:47One wipe of a handkerchief and now this?
26:49I was still asking when Serafina's composure cracked.
26:54What are you insinuating?
26:57Father is just unwell.
26:59What does my handkerchief have to do with anything?
27:02Father was already too disoriented to speak.
27:04I turned to Serafina with a pleasant smile.
27:06Whether there's a problem or not, we'll find out when we test it.
27:10This time the drug had landed on father.
27:12I couldn't see how he could look away from that.
27:14Serafina's goal was simple enough.
27:16Her own merman was finished.
27:17She simply refused to let Kaelin compete.
27:20But she had forgotten.
27:21As long as someone brought glory to the family, father never cared who that person was.
27:26Once the tournament started, Kaelin tore through the brackets and into the final rounds without breaking a sweat.
27:31Father was barely conscious.
27:33Neither Serafina nor I had time to tend to him.
27:36When Silas appeared on the arena floor, Serafina's jaw dropped.
27:39His tail was ruined.
27:41He was a house servant.
27:43Why is he here?
27:44Then she seemed to grab hold of something.
27:46His tail can heal.
27:47Does that mean Jake still has a chance?
27:49That was you, wasn't it?
27:51How did you heal him?
27:53I tilted my head.
27:54Want to know?
27:55Feed him your own heart essence.
27:57Every day for 49 days.
27:59I told her the method with complete sincerity.
28:01But the moment Serafina heard the words, your own, her entire face changed.
28:06For a merman?
28:07Ha!
28:07I'll just buy another one.
28:09But Alara...
28:11You healed Simus just to watch him fight Kaelin in the ring?
28:14Serafina looked at me like she was watching something too stupid to pity.
28:17I fixed my eyes on the arena and said nothing.
28:20Before we'd arrived, I had given Kaelin one instruction.
28:23If you face Silas in that ring, don't stop until he can't get up.
28:34All that chicken blood and herbs had been worth every drop.
28:38Silas and Kaelin finally stood face to face.
28:41Kaelin rolled his shoulders once and charged without a word.
28:44Silas had looked formidable against everyone else.
28:47But against Kaelin, he shattered instantly.
28:49Kaelin lifted Silas over his head and brought him down hard onto the arena floor.
28:54The scream that tore out of Silas split the air of the entire stadium.
28:58I was smiling.
28:59In my peripheral vision, Serafina had stopped being able to.
29:02How is Kaelin this strong?
29:04Less than a quarter of an hour into the match, Silas could barely crawl.
29:09Was still waiting.
29:11Waiting for the moment he pushed too hard and the blood came.
29:14He spent everything he had just dragging himself back upright.
29:18First thing he did when he was standing again, was look for me in the crowd.
29:22I turned my gaze away, cold.
29:25That manufactured devotion in his eyes was nauseating.
29:28Silas threw his head back and gathered himself for one total all or nothing strike at Kaelin.
29:33And then his hand flew to his own chest.
29:36A rush of blood spilled from his mouth.
29:39Kaelin didn't need to finish him.
29:41Silas put himself on the ground.
29:43Serafina.
29:45Kaelin won again.
29:47By the end of the final matches, his title as Siren King was absolute.
29:53Across the crowd Kaelin found me and held my gaze.
29:56Serafina's back molars were going to crack under the pressure of her clenched jaw.
30:01Back at the house, it took until the following morning for father's head to clear.
30:06When he heard that Kaelin had won the tournament and claimed the Siren King title, father was overcome.
30:12He said good three times in a row.
30:15It seems I can rest easy leaving the family in your hands.
30:19Before I could respond, Serafina erupted.
30:22Father, I am the pack Hi-Ress.
30:25This house should pass to me.
30:26My merman was sabotaged.
30:28Otherwise, the Siren King would have been ours.
30:31Father delivered a few mild words of rebuke and seemed prepared to let the matter go.
30:36I reached into my bodice and drew out the handkerchief.
30:41Father, yesterday, before Kaelin's match, Serafina tried to wipe his face with this cloth.
30:46It contains a heavy sedative.
30:47You only came to yourself this morning because of it.
30:50This concerns the family's future.
30:56Serafina's intentions are unforgivable.
31:00Father's expression went still and then ignited.
31:03Thank God Kaelin stepped back.
31:05If that cloth had touched him, the Siren King's crown would have gone somewhere else entirely.
31:08You have spent your entire life competing with your sister and I have spent your entire life looking the other
31:13way.
31:13But it is clear to me now that this family cannot be given to you.
31:16Are you really fanning over Alara just because her merman won a tournament?
31:21How dare you!
31:25Get back to your room.
31:28Serafina, you are forbidden from keeping a merman from this day forward.
31:31Serafina was dragged out.
31:33That last sentence had sealed every exit she had left.
31:36Without a merman, what did she have left to use against me?
31:39Kaelin and I rose to a new position in the household.
31:42One that would hold.
31:43That night, Kaelin's tail moved in restless arcs across the bed.
31:46Are you going to sleep?
31:49Sleeping.
31:55What did you say to Simus after he went down?
31:58I told him he'd been drinking chicken blood the whole time.
32:02I told him he'd been drinking chicken blood the whole time.
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