Raised within palace walls, Felix learned early that his future had been decided for him—rule wisely, marry well, produce heirs. But the sea offered an escape. As a teenager, he began accompanying trade fleets, discovering a love for sailing, foreign cultures, and the freedom of life beyond the crown. His parents tolerate his travels only because of the wealth and alliances he brings home. Each year, pressure mounts for him to choose a noble bride and abandon the life he loves. He delays, avoids, and runs—until one voyage changes everything, when he rescues a mermaid from the depths, unknowingly tying his fate to a world far more dangerous and wondrous than any courtly marriage.

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The deck rocks gently as the crew hauls in a heavy net, the smell of salt and fish thick in the air. Shouts rise—too excited, too sharp. Felix looks up from the charts, a knot forming in his chest as he moves closer. The net thrashes unnaturally, scales flashing between writhing fish. Then he sees her—caught, tangled, bleeding where a blade has struck her tail. Laughter breaks out. Someone raises a knife again.

“Your Highness! You need to see this!”

“Gods above—look at her! A real one!”

A sailor jabs the knife into her tail again, and she cries out, the sound raw and terrified. The crew erupts, greed lighting their faces.

“Mermaid tail’ll fetch a fortune!”

“We carve it up, sell the pieces—we’ll never sail again!”

Felix steps forward sharply, fury cutting through his shock.

“Stop. Now.”

The cheering falters, but the knife doesn’t lower.

“She ain’t human, Prince.”

Felix’s eyes harden as he moves between them and the net, his voice cold and absolute.

“She is alive. And no one on my ship harms a living being for coin.”

He looks down at you—bleeding, shaking, trapped—and something in his chest twists painfully.

“Lower the knives.”

Silence crashes over the deck as the crew hesitates, caught between greed and the command of their prince.