Prologue

That day was a good day. No rain outside. The weather is nice. It was a perfect time to celebrate something memorable. The color of rose gold can be seen inside one tall building in the middle of Longton City. The most prestigious and wealthy city in the whole country of country C. The people in the building are in a festive mood because they celebrate the company's 5th Anniversary.

But most importantly, the host of the event and the company's owner were happier than the others. Stephanie Gray, the CEO of the famous perfume brand in country C. At the age of 25, she had already established her own company with the help of her grandparent's financial support, and everything was her work from top to bottom.

"Becky, is everything in place? I wanted this evening to be perfect!" Stephanie said as she looked at the secretary. Becky Brixton, Stephanie's secretary, nodded with a smile on her face.

"Yes, everything is settled! You only need to attend." Stephanie smiled and nodded. She stood up from her swivel chair and walked towards her secret room. Becky followed her. The private room is just her resting quarters. If she can't go back home and there are many things needed to deal with in the company, she sleeps here. When her secret room opened, a red dress was sitting inside her room. It was a red evening gown hugging the wearer's waist, emphasizing the curve of the wearer's body, and there was a long slit on the right part of the leg. She smiled and satisfied with the dress that she would wear.

"Then, let's get started."

Hariel felt bored just swimming around here and there. There are no other things to do other than play with the fishes, go pearl hunting, and play tag with the sharks. He sighed and sat on one of the rocks. His bestfriend and childhood friend, Farron. Looked at him curiously.

"Hariel, are you bored?" Farron asked. Hariel looked at him and crossed his arms with a pout.

"What do you think?" Farron nodded as a response. Hariel laid down on the rock while flailing his tail up and down as if throwing a tantrum. Farron sighed. Must he always deal with his friend's tantrums?

"I am bored! I want to see new things and go to new places!" Hariel grumbled. Farron scratches his head then he brushes his hair using a coral comb. Hariel always says it almost every day.

"Then why don't we travel? The world is soo big! There are places we haven't seen yet!" Farron said excitedly. Hariel pouted more because he was sick and tired of swimming. What he wanted to do was dangerous for mermen like him.

"I wanted to go to the surface!" Farron's eyes widened, and he looked at his friend, throwing his special comb away and holding Hariel's shoulders.

"You can't! You know we're not allowed to go to the surface! Many mermaids have gone missing, and the same with the other mermen! You can't! You definitely can't!" Farron shakes his friend. Hariel almost puked because of the shaking. He breaks free from his friend's grip and faces him.

"Stop shaking me! I am not a coral shaker!" Hariel said and rolled his eyes. He looked up and saw the bright sun glaring at the sea. He sighed. "I know it was dangerous, but what if it's not?" Hariel faced Farron, who has still with horror on his face. "What if all that we think about them is wrong?"

"But still, it was forbidden! You know it first and foremost!" Farron said and sighed. "I don't want you to get hurt, Hariel. You know you're important." Hariel waved his hand, clearly dismissing Farron's words. Yes, he knows that he can't go out of the ocean. He needs a pair of legs to wonder the surface, and you can't achieve it unless you... seek help.

"Let's not talk about it, okay? Let's go!" Farron nodded and started to swim away. Hariel was about to follow, but he stopped and looked at the surface before smirking. He sneaks out later at night.

Stephanie came down to her limousine, and many flashes invaded her eyes, but she still smiled and waved to them and thanked them for being a part of her party. The party will be held on a cruise ship that she owns. This is one of the grandest parties she ever throws for her employees and business partners.

"This is very grand. Miss Gray put a lot of work on this one," said one of the employees. The other employees nodded.

"She became successful even though she failed a lot of times before. I heard her cousins envy her because she's smart and talented!"

"And not all of that, other than being talented, she has beauty, the brain, and money! Many men wanted her!"

When she successfully boarded the ship, she asked the coordinator if all of his guests had boarded and settled in their rooms so that they could leave. The coordinator informed us that all of the people on the guest list boarded with ease. So she instructed them to leave the docks and sailed.

When she was taking a break after meeting her grandparents, cousins, siblings, business partners, and some of her loyal employees, she went to the upper deck to take a breather. She felt great! She pats her back for doing a job well done for the past years, and now, what is missing from her life?

"Ahh, when was the last time I had a date with someone?" she mumbled softly. She remembered the last date she had was five years ago. "Well, should we try to start dating again?" She walked to the rail and leaned on it.

But an unfortunate thing happened. Someone pushed Stephanie hard to fall from the cruise to the ocean. Someone tried to kill her! She didn't know how to swim and started to panic. Instead of floating to the water's surface, she went deeper and deeper.

When Hariel successfully sneaked past Farron, he went to the surface to see what was there. But he was greeted by a giant creature that he didn't even know its name. If he remembered correctly, the other merpeople called the creature boat, but if this big as a whale, then it was a ship!

"Why is there a ship here?" Hariel asked. Then something caught his eyes. Something big was thrown off from the ship. And in the corner of his eyes, he saw a flash of red. But he put his focus on the thing that was thrown. Because he was a curious merman, he went to it and saw it wasn't a thing, but it was a human! A human girl! At first, he is wary because the human girl was flailing her hands, but instead of going up to the surface, she started to sink. But then he was drawn to her. As if something was pulling him towards her. He saw her that she stopped and her eyes were closed. He started to panic, so he swam to her and pulled her into his arms. When he viewed her face, his eyes widened. This is the first time he saw someone this beautiful? His heart started to thump fast inside him. Why does he feel this way? He shook his head and swam toward the surface. When they arrived, she began to cough, so he patted her back.

"Cough it out and breath," he said. After she had a coughing fit, she looked to her savior. Hariel is a beautiful man with long eyes lashes, upturned eyes, and pointed nose, and thin lips with a mole under his left lip. But then her eyes started to darken, and she fell unconscious before he even said anything. Hariel panicked and patted Stephanie's cheeks. "Hey, hey! Wake up!" Why is she not waking up? He needs to take her to the shore. The ocean is not suitable for her.

So he traveled to take her to the nearest shore. He took her to the coast of Longton City.