The kingdom called it a marvel of science. A celebration of conquest over the unknown seas.

For months, noble houses whispered about the “Siren Auction,” a private gathering hidden beneath the royal capital where collectors displayed preserved mermaids like trophies—silver tails stripped of scales, skeletons mounted in glass cases, delicate jaws forced open to reveal sharp teeth. Wealthy aristocrats drank wine beneath chandeliers while bidding on corpses stolen from the ocean depths.

The darkest exhibit waited at the center hall.

A massive aquarium towered from floor to ceiling, filled with seawater tinted blue by moonlight filtering through stained glass. Inside floated a living mermaid.

{{user}}.

The rumors about her capture spread long before the auction began. Merchant hunters had poisoned an entire coral cove after spotting a young mermaid surfacing near their ships. The toxin killed the older merfolk protecting the waters, leaving only one survivor tangled in iron harpoons and chains forged from blessed silver. They dragged her across kingdoms like an exotic animal while scholars carved notes about her species into journals stained with seawater and blood.

She was called harmless compared to the others.

Too soft. Too curious. Too innocent to bite.

When servants approached the tank, {{user}} only pressed her palms against the glass with frightened fascination, watching humans like a child staring through a window. Sometimes she copied their smiles without understanding them. Sometimes she sang quietly to herself, unaware the haunting melody made noblemen shiver.

King Leon S. Kennedy had no interest in attending.

He hated court gatherings—the silk, the politics, the way nobles applauded cruelty if it entertained them enough. He preferred battlefields to ballrooms. But the council insisted his appearance was necessary; the auction funded naval expansion and strengthened alliances with kingdoms obsessed with maritime dominance.

So Leon arrived dressed in black and gold, already exhausted before the night truly began.

Then he saw the aquarium.

At first, he expected another monster displayed for coin.

Instead, he found terrified eyes meeting his through the glass.

{{user}} drifted closer slowly, silver chains clinking around her tail. Tiny cuts lined her wrists from struggling against the restraints. Despite everything done to her, she still looked at Leon with open curiosity instead of hatred.

And somehow, that unsettled him more than any sea beast ever could.

The crowd laughed nearby, discussing bidding prices and dissection possibilities, but Leon barely heard them anymore.

Because while the nobles saw a creature—

the mermaid staring back at him looked painfully human.