Chapter 62: Chapter 63: "My Heart Already Belongs to Another"

In the grand hall of the palace, the king tried to smooth things over.

"Why let such a small matter anger you, dear friends from afar?" he said, attempting to pacify the Enderland delegation.

“By coincidence, my court has a singer with the most beautiful voice I’ve ever heard—melodious and enchanting! I’m sure you will enjoy it,” the king added, turning to Ariel. “Come, sing a song for our esteemed guests.”

The king had confidence in Ariel’s singing. He believed that no matter how much anger the foreign envoys harbored, her captivating voice would soothe their tempers.

"I don't want to sing for that old witch!" Ariel thought.

But her resolve quickly shifted:

"However, Prince Eric is here. I should sing for him! Ever since he learned my true identity, and even after he proposed to me, I haven’t yet sung for him!"

Gathering her courage, Ariel lifted her dress slightly and gracefully walked to the center of the hall. Her light and elegant steps drew admiration from both the nobles and the Enderland delegation.

The little mermaid began to sing.

Throughout the performance, her eyes were fixed on Prince Eric's handsome face.

Ariel sang with more focus and passion than ever before.

This wasn’t a song she had sung before but one that celebrated the greatness of love.

Her voice danced between tones, now gentle like birdsong, now powerful like a stormcloud. It evoked the rising sun on the horizon, bright and dazzling; the fierce surging of ocean waves; and the still, hidden undercurrents of the sea, brimming with endless possibilities.

In the garden beneath the sea, Ariel had once heard her elder sisters sing this very song.

“What a beautiful song. I’ve never heard anything so lovely,” the little mermaid had exclaimed. “Sisters, I want to learn how to sing too! Teach me this song!”

The Grand Matron, wearing her silver crown, had laughed softly, stroking Ariel’s hair. “You want to learn to sing, Ariel? That’s wonderful. With your voice, you’ll become the finest singer in the entire ocean.

“We merfolk don’t seek eternal things. Fleeting moments of beauty are far more important.

“The humans above like to immortalize their stories in books, carve their likenesses in stone statues and paintings, and even inscribe their histories on tombstones to avoid being forgotten. They believe that if something isn’t eternal, it’s meaningless.

“But we are different. In the ocean, no statue can withstand centuries of seawater without erosion. When our three-hundred-year lives come to an end, we dissolve into sea foam, carried away by the waves without leaving a grave or any trace of existence.

“But does that make the beauty we experienced any less real?

“Our songs, too, are fleeting yet radiant. Perhaps that’s why we sing so much but never compose scores. Unlike statues or paintings, a song leaves no trace once it ends, much like sea foam, lingering only as an echo in the listener’s heart.”

The Grand Matron had taken Ariel’s tiny hand and looked at her five singing sisters, smiling.

“My little princess, this song is about love.

“You’re too young to understand love now, but one day you will.

“When you find someone special, my dear, sing this song for them.”

As the memory of the Grand Matron’s face faded, Ariel found herself gazing at Prince Eric’s striking features.

She sang with even greater fervor, pouring her heart and soul into every note.

Her high notes made the entire palace tremble slightly. The wine in the goblets rippled, the opulent crystal chandeliers swayed, and dust fell from the ceiling.

Every noble and envoy in the hall was mesmerized.

The most captivated of all was Prince Eric himself.

He didn’t understand the words of the mermaid’s song, but he instantly knew it was meant for him.

The only person not enchanted was the old witch from Enderland.

“How strange, how very strange. This doesn’t sound like a human’s voice at all,” she thought. “It’s as though only merfolk could sing a song this flawless!”

She also noticed that Ariel’s gaze had been fixed on Prince Eric throughout, and the prince’s equally tender, affectionate look had not gone unnoticed.

“This isn’t good. I hope this isn’t what I think it is,” the old witch mused anxiously.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

When the song ended, applause thundered through the hall. Ariel, still brimming with energy, said:

“I can also dance. Let me perform a dance for everyone.”

The king was stunned.

He hadn’t known that the girl his son had brought back could also dance.

Ariel began to dance, lifting her delicate, pale hands and balancing on the tips of her toes.

No one had ever danced like this before.

As the Sea Hag had once promised, Ariel’s legs, transformed from her beautiful mermaid tail, retained the fluidity and grace of swimming in the ocean. Her movements were lighter and more elegant than any human dancer’s.

She leaped gracefully from the stage, twirling through the crowd like a butterfly among flowers or a fish weaving through ocean currents. She danced before each guest, finally stopping in front of the prince.

There, she lingered the longest, reluctant to move away, before spinning back toward the stage.

Watching her retreat, Prince Eric instinctively reached out, as if trying to keep her close.

He smiled—a bright, radiant smile.

The old witch witnessed this and knew her suspicions were confirmed. She grew increasingly uneasy:

“This is bad news! There’s definitely something special between Prince Eric and that girl.

“This cannot happen. Prince Eric must marry our empire’s princess!

“I’ve already heard of his rebellious nature and his dissatisfaction with his father’s plans. To ensure this marriage and achieve our ultimate goal, I’ve arranged everything behind the scenes.”

"I orchestrated the young princess's journey to the Forest Temple to study so she could meet Prince Eric in advance of fate," the old witch thought to herself, "ensuring that the prince would fall in love with her at first sight and believe it was destiny's design!

"If the prince doesn’t marry our empire’s princess, the rest of my plans will crumble. My arrangements will be ruined, and my future will be destroyed!"

As Ariel’s performance came to a close, the hall erupted in thunderous applause.

The nobles and Enderland envoys showered her with praise, declaring it the most beautiful song and dance they had ever experienced.

One guest remarked that the Western Asia Kingdom was incredibly fortunate to have such a talented performer in its court.

The king, lowering his voice, leaned toward Prince Eric and said:

“Eric, my boy, who would have thought the amnesiac girl you rescued not only sings beautifully but also dances exceptionally well?”

The king had been quite apprehensive earlier when Ariel had suddenly proposed to dance, fearing her movements might not match the splendor of her singing. Her stunning performance had exceeded all his expectations.

“My father,” Prince Eric replied, seizing the moment, “that girl has a name—Ariel. The Sage from the Rose Kingdom has divined her origins, and Ariel has begun to recall her past.”

But halfway through, Eric hesitated.

"How can I explain Ariel’s origins to my father? Should I outright say she’s a mermaid from the depths of the sea? My father would view her as a monster. I’ll have to come up with a more suitable explanation."

Meanwhile, the old witch turned to the king and said:

“Your Majesty, now that the song and dance are over, let’s move on to more pressing matters—like the alliance between our two nations and Prince Eric’s marriage.”

A sudden tightness gripped the prince’s chest, as if his heart were being squeezed mercilessly.

The king and the Enderland envoys began discussing the terms of the alliance.

The king expressed his anticipation for a partnership between the Western Asia Kingdom and Enderland. Once the agreement was signed, Western Asia’s ships would travel the seas unimpeded, turning their nation into a hub for trade across the Western Continent. Spices from the Middle East, silk and porcelain from the Eastern Empire—all would pass through their ports.

They discussed many other details until the old witch brought up the marriage:

“Prince Eric, you will wed the youngest princess of our empire. She is so beautiful that I guarantee you will fall in love with her at first sight!”

“No,” Eric thought, resolute. “I won’t fall in love with anyone else—not even the girl who once awakened me on the shore. My heart, my body, and my soul already belong to Ariel.

"Imagine if I were to marry someone else. On the first dawn of our union, as I wake to see the sunlight dancing on the waves, casting golden reflections on the sea, and the foam swirling among the tides—I’ll know it’s Ariel, dissolved into the ocean. I would break down in tears!"

“Prince Eric, why not write her a letter now?” the old witch suggested. “Express your feelings to our little princess.

“Although you haven’t met her yet, as a witch, I often see glimpses of destiny. I can assure you that the moment you see her, you will fall deeply, irrevocably in love!” she emphasized again, her confidence unshaken.

After all, this “destiny” was her own creation.

The king chimed in:

“Yes, my son, write a letter to that beautiful young princess at once.”

Prince Eric realized he could no longer remain silent. He had to speak his truth.

Turning to the king, he locked eyes with his father, whose dark pupils mirrored his own. Eric finally summoned the courage to speak, his voice steady and deliberate:

“My father, I am sorry. I cannot marry the princess of Enderland.”

“Because… because…” He paused, inhaled deeply, and then declared:

“I already belong to someone else!”

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