Seeing she still hadn't woken up, his long, slender fingers poked her face, a mix of anxiety and curiosity. A hint of confusion and panic flickered in his impossibly beautiful, azure eyes.
He suddenly remembered—land-dwellers couldn't survive in the water!
At this thought, the Little Merfolk felt a pang of chagrin and shame. He quickly wrapped an arm around the person's waist, holding her securely in his embrace.
Once he was sure she wouldn't slip, he shot upward with a powerful leap. The rushing water swirled into a vortex, and the turbulent force propelled the blue figure straight out of the water!
As the sun set, its warm orange light made the brilliant, azure fishtail glitter. With a hint of playful childishness, the long tail slapped habitually against the riverside rocks.
The clear water's surface shimmered, rippling with the Merfolk's every move. The splashing droplets caught the sunlight, creating a beautiful, dreamlike sight.
Xi was not yet able to fully take human form, so he had to stay in the water. With no other choice, he placed the small person from his arms onto the bank at the water's edge.
Shark Pearls naturally possessed a powerful Healing Ability. He had placed it inside her, confident she would wake up soon.
「He waited until the moon began to rise, a cool night wind sweeping past.」
The water's surface grew calm. Occasional waves lapped against his fishtail, sending ripples blooming like flowers around him.
The soft, bright moonlight kissed his exquisitely clear cheeks. Beneath long, slightly curled lashes, his sapphire-like eyes were beautiful and captivating. They fluttered gently, as delicate as the beat of a butterfly's wings.
He propped up his delicate chin, tilting his head to gaze in confusion at the unconscious person before him. His long, azure hair spilled lazily across his pale neck.
His elegant brows furrowed slightly. His deep, captivating gaze glittered like a long-lost jewel.
'How could this scrawny male have gotten injured and drowned?!'
'If he hadn't been resting in these waters, this scrawny male would have been a goner by now…'
An Jin's current body was severely underdeveloped. It was a miracle she was even alive, let alone having enough spare nutrients to grow those two lumps of useless flesh a female ought to have.
So, based on appearances, An Jin looked exactly like a malnourished twelve or thirteen-year-old male. Xi wasn't particularly sensitive to the scents of land-dwellers, so it was no wonder he'd gotten it wrong.
As he stared unblinkingly at the young male before him, the person's eyelashes finally fluttered.
She was awake.
After coughing up most of the water that had filled her lungs, An Jin was finally conscious.
The first thing she saw upon opening her eyes was the half-human, half-fish creature before her.
Having inherited the original owner's memories, she knew the person before her was one of the Merfolk.
'Oh, looks like a Merfolk saved me. Good people are blessed with long lives, so of course someone as good as me wasn't meant to die.'
'Huh? Wait a minute.'
'A Mer... Merfolk??'
'How could it be a Merfolk?!'
'If I remember correctly, Merfolk are creatures that live in the deep sea, thousands of meters below the surface. How could one show up in a small river on this vast, flat plain?!'
'It's inconceivable.'
An Jin glanced uneasily at the Merfolk beside her.
The Merfolk were naturally beautiful—widely considered the most stunning race in the Beast World.
The Merfolk before her had clearly inherited that excellent bloodline. His features and his aura were both exquisitely perfect, completely flawless.
His long, blue hair floated on the water, veiled in an alluring mist.
His long fishtail was submerged in the water, while his bare upper body was slender and elegant. His lean waist was a perfect, harmonious blend of both power and grace.
An Jin thanked him, but her gaze lingered on him, stuck there before she could consciously pull it away.
"..." The smile playing on Xi's lips instantly turned cold.
Ever since he was young, he'd hated it when people looked at him with that kind of obsessed, admiring gaze—especially from males. It made him feel like a perfect piece of art being shamelessly sized up and defiled by lustful eyes...
Xi's expression frosted over, and he quietly retreated a few feet back into the water. An Jin's blatant staring stirred a sense of revulsion within him.
"Male, I've already saved you. You don't need to thank me. Just give me back the Shark Pearl and go."
"Shark Pearl?" An Jin froze, subconsciously touching her chest. 'No wonder my chest has felt so tight. It's the Shark Pearl.'
To the Merfolk, a Shark Pearl was like a second heart. It possessed immense power and was an incredibly rare treasure that many coveted.
An Jin understood that the Merfolk had used his Shark Pearl to save her—a debt she could hardly repay. But there was something strange about the way he spoke.
An Jin picked up on the oddity. "What did you just call me?"
"?!" Seeing An Jin just standing there in a daze instead of acting, Xi grew both frightened and angry. He thought this land-dwelling male was trying to get out of it. "Male!" he said, his anger flaring. "I told you to give me back my Shark Pearl! I used it to save you! You... You can't just shamelessly keep it for yourself!"
"...Male?"
An Jin's lip twitched. Utterly certain of her own anatomy, she said flatly, "I'm not a male. I'm a female."
"...?!"
Xi froze, unable to process what he'd just heard.
He looked as if he'd been struck by lightning, and it took him a long moment to recover.
His eyes swept over her in disbelief. He even deliberately leaned closer to sniff her. Finally, once he was absolutely certain of her identity, his face instantly flushed bright red—
"Y-You... why didn't you say so sooner~"
His attitude did a complete 180. He instantly turned into a bashful newlywed, shyly fiddling with his fingers and keeping his head so low he didn't dare to look at her.
He was blushing an unnatural shade of red from his ears to his cheeks. Whether from nervousness or excitement, he became completely tongue-tied.
In a voice that was incredibly awkward yet tinged with sweetness, he whispered, "Y-You... you're terrible~ Why didn't you tell me sooner... If I had known..."
He was so flustered he became incoherent. The tips of his ears and his cheeks turned so red they looked like they might bleed, and the end of his fishtail quickly flushed a faint shade of pink.
As he spoke, he seemed to become so overwhelmed he couldn't control himself. He turned as red as a cooked fish, all but steaming.
Before he could finish, he became so agitated that he leaped back into the water, and then... the fish was gone?!
An Jin was left completely stunned.
'What kind of plot development is this? I still don't get it.'
'Hey! You, fish! Come back!!!'
'Don't you want your Shark Pearl back?!'