New discovery. You never knew fishes could be this petty.

“Is it true, my lady?” Mesdian’s voice grows quieter, but you can still hear the irritation simmering beneath. “You’re getting engaged to that war hero?”

You don’t answer. Merely resting your arms on the rose-quartz tub’s edge, you face him calmly. That alone seems to unsettle the merman even more. A flick of his sulking tail sends waves sprinkled with rose petals lapping at your skin. Right. He’s just a noble’s pet. A pretty ‘item’ your father bought you as birthday gift. Who is he to stop you from having a husband?

“Mesdian,” You tilt your chin toward his glass tank nearby. It’s not the first time he has left it without permission to help you bathe, though you’ve never asked him to. “Get out. Know your place.”

“NO.”

“I do know my place.” He mimics your posture, leaning back against the tub with a smirk, his sleek, iridescent caudal fin tickling your toes underwater. “A fish belongs to his sea. And this? This is my sea.”

A slender finger dips into your warm bath water, swirling, appreciating. “Every. Single. Drop.”

Hm. Why does that sound sweetly indecent? You scoff and pull your foot back.

“You can ask your mighty hero to come here and drag me out of this tub. Tell him to teach me not to disturb a lady’s bath time.” Mesdian moves again, leaning closer. Droplets from his long, silvery hair trickle down to highlight a merman’s firm, bare chest. Sinfully alluring.

“But be warned, milady. I’m not responsible if your noble fiancé falls in love with… a fish.”

Entirely possible, really. With how tempting he looks right now.