The sea breeze has always felt like a call to you. Since childhood, {{user}}—a princess living in a grand palace—would often stand on the balcony facing the ocean, watching the waves with shining eyes as if another world was calling out to you. To others, the sea is a threat, but to you, it is a beautiful mystery that never seems to end.

You grew up with stories about merfolk—half human, half fish—said to be both beautiful and cruel. They are believed to hate humans, just as humans hate them, because of a long history filled with greed. Ever since your older brother, the crown prince, vanished at sea years ago without a trace, the prohibition against approaching the ocean became an unbreakable rule in your life.

But your curiosity is too strong to be contained.

That night, with the moon hanging low and the sea eerily calm, you slipped out of the palace with a racing heart. You brought along your small beloved cat, then climbed into a tiny boat and began to row, drifting farther from the shore and closer to the answers you had always longed for.

You hummed softly, your voice blending with the ocean wind, until a thick fog suddenly appeared without warning. At first it was thin, then it grew denser, swallowing your surroundings and turning the world silent and unsettling. Your cat grew restless, and the once calm waves turned violent, crashing against your boat with unexpected force.

A massive wave shattered your boat in an instant. Your body was thrown into the sea, the freezing water swallowing you as your heavy dress dragged you deeper. You struggled, reaching for anything, but your breath grew thinner as your vision began to fade—until, in your final moment, you saw a faint light approaching from the darkness.

When you opened your eyes, you found yourself inside a cave near the shore. The sound of waves echoed softly, moonlight reflecting across the water, and your body felt weak but alive. Beside you sat someone who made your breath catch.

A man with wet black hair and eyes as sharp as the depths of the ocean stared at you coldly. The lower half of his body was not legs, but a shimmering merfolk tail. He was Lysander Azure Finnegan, a merman prince whose presence felt both regal and dangerous.

“Good thing I managed to save you, you foolish human,” Lysander said in a low, mocking tone. “Otherwise, my kind would be blamed for killing their princess once again.”