轩辕 绒绣

{ ♔ } Honestly, he was feeling bad to leave her behind like this. However, his brother seemed to be pretty pissed so he can’t do much for the moment. Rongxiu seemed to be sad and it felt like it’s his fault. But shouldn’t she understand? Her father is the king, she can’t speak up to him. So neither can he to his older brother, they might not know but he the heir to the throne. One day he would rule this sea. Compared to that Kouha is just an unimportant prince. There’s nothing he could do since he has no power at all.  

Before he knew it they were back in the sea. The two legs he gained before changed back in his tail as soon as they got in the sea again. It had been a weird feeling to have legs all of a sudden but he was able to deal with it back then, only because he didn’t have to walk. His brother must have done this more often, his ability to walk was natural. He could have been a human. But if he would confront him with this he would only anger the other one. Therefore the fuchsia haired male decided not to.  

Quickly he returned to his own room. Everything was the same as he left. Of course it had only been one day, not even 24 hours since he was rescued by his brother in the morning. Even though the prince had barely eaten the day before he wasn’t feeling like he should eat something right now. He was lying comfortably on his bed right now, thinking about all what happened yesterday and today. Soon enough a few fishes he saved tried to cheer him up. Of course they all knew what happened and also that the first imperial prince probably wasn’t that happy.  

Once the seaweed in the opening started to move the fishes quickly fled. Anyone could guess who that might be. The first imperial prince of course. Unlike usually Kouha didn’t seem to be too happy to see him. He sat up straight and stared at him but that was all for now.  

‘’I’m not…’’ 

He wanted to claim that he wasn’t being sad. Not exactly sad about what happened. It was just… his brother had been rude to the princess. That wasn’t necessary. Maybe he was just feeling sad that Kouen didn’t believe his words. If he had he would have never slapped her hand away and made her cry right?

‘’H-heeeh?! No that’s stupid!’’ 

Even so he was blushing heavily. And for now his cheeks kept blushing red. How could he ever fall in love with a girl he doesn’t even know that well in the first place? No, it wasn’t about liking someone. Kouen had hurt her, it would be difficult for Kouha to actually tell. Because most likely he was going to sound rude. Nonetheless he would try, try to say it as nicely as possible. 

‘’I don’t like her! But she was the only person being nice to me… She wanted to help me… She gave me food because the others didn’t. To you she’s probably like all the other humans… But she was nice to me. She didn’t deserve what you… did to… her…’’

What was that for reaction? If Kouha didn’t like that girl, he shouldn’t be so flushed over it. He should just coldly say no, that it wasn’t like that. But now he’s just defending himself too much. He really didn’t like this, but he also didn’t like to see his little brother being unhappy. But if he would meet that human girl again then something even worse than this might happen. If he would fall in love with her, who knows what kind of future they would have and how father would react. Well, father is already old and quite sick, so he would die soon. But what will all the other fishes and mermaids and mermen think about this if they know that their third prince is dating some human girl. And what kind of children would they have in the future if they would even get married and such. Well, Kouha would be in his human form of course and his body would just be working like a normal human body would. But still, he wonders if Kouha could even do that kind of job, since humans does it differently than them. Why is he even thinking about such things. Anyway, he should at least try to cheer Kouha up, though this would be a difficult one.

“I’m sorry that I was rude towards her, Kouha. But it doesn’t change the fact that she’s the daughter of the kidnapper. But I might have been overreacting. Kouha, do you actually still like the humans and the surface?”

He will regret it, he will surely regret this. But he doesn’t know something else to cheer him up now. Though he would really regret this. But he can’t see his brother being so sad anymore. Even though he would surely regret it. He sighed and wanted to stop thinking about things, his mind is always racing with thoughts and he would even get a headache of it.

“If you really want to see that human girl again or learn about the humans. I could bring you to the surface and turn you into human...”

He actually also wanted to say that he would apologize to that human girl, but that’s a bit too much. He would even let Kouha go to the surface again, so he should be just happy with that. He’s surely going to regret this anyway. If Kouha would go to the surface, he would also go just to keep an eye on him. Something always could happen and Kouha is so inoncent about the human world that he just MUST be protected. Anyway, he would talk to Koumei tonight about it.

Rongxiu was still staring out of the window, just sitting at the window sill. But she’s now not crying anymore, just spacing out. Though both are actually bad, her eyes seems really dead now. It’s like there’s no spirit at all. Her father tried to talk to her, but she couldn’t hear him, no, she doesn’t want to hear anything at all. It’s like she went to her own world. The king gave up and just leave his daughter alone for a while, but this is really something to be worried about. He doesn’t know why she’s behaving like that, actually, he might know but he doesn’t want to admit it. Rongxiu on the other hand really doesn’t know what was going on with her. It’s not like not meeting the merboy again is the end of the world, but she’s still behaving like it’s the end of the world…

Her eyes became bigger when the red-haired man slapped her hand away. It really hurts, but what hurts even more is being rejected. It’s true what he said; everything is true even though she didn’t want to accept it. They live in two completely different worlds; he lives in the sea and she on the land. She looked down, her hair shadowing her eyes. She must accept this fate. Even though it was a short while, she met a merboy. She can’t be selfish and ask much more. She should be thankful and smile happily for their goodbye. But she doesn’t feel happy at all. It’s like by every word the man said broke piece by piece of her heart. She can’t even say something, it feels like her mouth totally dried up or someone stole her voice from her. And Kouha? He didn’t say anything either. Even though he said that she was a nice person, she was really happy to hear that from him. But now… He didn’t say anything. Was he accepting the fact that they won’t meet each other? What is she thinking... Of course he won’t meet with her again. Even though she is not a bad person, she’s still a human, she lives on the land where other humans are too. The humans who captured Kouha and who knows what her father was planning to do with him. But she still wants to say goodbye. However… it was too late. When she looked up again, they were already gone. More tears were rolling down her face.

“I… couldn’t even say goodbye… Farewell Kouha…”

She mumbled and stared at the sea for a while. Her father was watching everything and was wondering what was going on with his daughter. He knew she loved things like mermaids and such, but to react like that… It’s just like as if she’s… No, no, he mustn’t think about such absurd thoughts. He holds his hand on her left shoulder, while standing next to her on the right.

“Rongxiu, let’s go inside… Just forget about that merboy.”

She glanced at her father and shook his hand away. She knows that she can’t hate her father and she knows that she shouldn’t be mad at him. But she still shook his hand away and walked to her room, locking herself up. She shouldn’t be acting like some spoiled child, but she wants to be alone for a while. She was sitting at the windowsill, staring at the beautiful sea. She holds her right hand on the window and murmured Kouha’s name softly.

Kouen sighed, he wanted to scold him some more when they were finally back at the sea, but it seems like Kouha is too sad to even handle that. He wanted to talk to Kouha, but he would just give him some time for himself. After a while, he went to his room.

“Kouha, why are you being so sad? Those mere humans captured you. Or is it that you love the human world so much you don’t even mind that? Or…”

He actually didn’t dare to think about such a stupid thing. But Kouha seemed to think kindly about that weird human girl. She even wanted to see him again. Isn’t that just ridiculous? It’s because of humans like her that fishes would disappear quickly than normal and they even captured Kouha. But he would still ask it anyway, you never know the answer.

{ ♔ } The two didn’t speak much afterwards. Kouha got some of the seaweed and was eager to eat it. Considering that yesterday he only had breakfast. The humans hadn’t given him lunch and dinner so he was pretty hungry. However, he preferred to eat it under the water. That was already difficult enough since it was a small tub, but he managed to eat some of it at least. It might not taste great, for now it was certainly good enough.

 As he heard some footsteps again he seemed to be as shocked as Rongxiu herself. If it isn’t her than who could it be? Probably no one good. Kouha looked at what was left of his breakfast and suddenly felt like throwing up. If this was his meal before he would die he doesn’t want it. However, the princess seemed just to be as scared as he is. So she didn’t betray them… Finally the footsteps were revealed. It was that man from yesterday who caught him and behind him was his… brother! Instantly Kouha moved his hand towards the red-haired male, it was obviously he knows him. Though immediately pulled back once he started to get lectured. 

‘’Mohh… I know… But they were catching the fishes! So I didn’t do anything bad..’’

 It was not as if he feels bad about his action. He was only helping the small ones which were confused by the nets the humans use to catch fish. He would admit that it probably wasn’t the smartest thing to do. Yet if he didn’t try his utmost back then they would have all been gone by now. So it feels like he did something good at least.

‘’But she’s not a bad person..’’

For a short moment he looked at Rongxiu again, then back to his brother. Kouha wants him to know that she’s a good person. It was no secret that Kouen doesn’t like humans, it’s even common for the merfolk, simply because the humans do terrible things to them. Still he doesn’t believe that Rongxiu would do such things. She has been good for him. She tried to safe him from his faith here. It was not like any other human showed any sort of concern for him. She was the only one. And even though her ideas weren’t very good. She tried. At least she tried.

He didn’t do something bad he said? This really pissed him off. Of course he did something bad! But he mustn’t get too mad at him, or else Kouha might do something like this again. He’s at the rebellious age after all.

“Kouha, if you wanted to save those fishes, you should at least think before you take action. Also, when you were caught, you could also fight against those useless humans. Your tail is strong enough to at least let them stay away from you. And we could survive without water for some time. Or is it that you were too weak against those humans?”

He glanced at the king and was really disgusted by him. How could someone like him be the king? He looks so weak and he doesn’t seem like he could handle his people well. On the other hand, that girl seems very strange. And Kouha even said that she isn’t a bad person. He got some weird feeling about her. He would just ignore her for now; she’s not causing any trouble after all. He sighed a bit and lifted Kouha up, out of the water what the humans prepared for his little brother. He turned his little brother into a human and covered him with some cloth, after all, he doesn’t want people to stare at his little brother. He carried him out of the dungeon, without any trouble.

The king and his daughter were just following the red-haired man quietly. Rongxiu understood what was going. Somehow she felt very guilty for everything. It was her father who caused everything after all. She could feel a sort of pain piercing trough her chest. But somehow it’s not because of guilty. It’s for another reason why her chest hurt so much, but she doesn’t know why. She looked at the pink haired boy. Even though it was just a short time they spend together, she really cared for him. But they won’t see each other any more right? After all, the human world is not his world. Then she felt a tear rolling down her cheek. Was she crying? She doesn’t understand it, it’s not they had a happy time spending together. It’s not like she would be lonely… if he’s gone… right? Without her knowing she already grabbed Kouha’s hand. She even said something what sounded so stupid.

“Kouha… will we meet again?”

Kouen glared at the girl and slapped her hand away. How dare some mere human to touch his little brother and wanting to meet him again? How absurd, ridiculous, just stupid and selfish is this human being? A merboy can’t go back to the land unless he turns into a human. And he would be sure to never let Kouha go to the surface.

“Meet again? You are really a weird human girl. Of course you two won’t meet again. You and Kouha live in a total different world.”  

 { ♔ } Kouha gazed down. Just looking at the water beneath him and a direct bottom was visible. This felt so strange. He could barely even move around here. It was making this uncomfortable. Talking to the human being was slightly weird as well. Still.. Humans are humans not..? This girl completely confused him on such matters so he kept quiet a bit for now.

“We… can read…”

Just what the hell was she even thinking now? Everything she said sounded so weird… A bottle with a letter and throw it in the sea? Kouha wasn’t sure what he should expect. After all the humans are very strange creatures and live much differently than his own people. They cave their writings into stones and learn reading from those. However as their community is close people don’t need to send each other messages. They can easily visit each other. Only the King, his father would get mostly such special messages. Same counts for the rest of the royal family, so that includes Kouha. It was very important that he would be able to read.

Kouha looked away from her once more. Still not feeling completely comfortable with the human as it was new to him as well. Besides most of his people always feared the humans because they only heard bad stories.. It might not be true with this girl but he was still feeling weird. Just not used to it. He would rather be home and be with his brother.

Would they notice that he’s gone? Would they miss him? Those insecurities might be even the thing what keeps him going right now… Yet he hopes that his family is doing fine. Knowing little of what is going on outside this terrible prison.

The King looked right in the eyes of the very scary merman; he got chills when he did that. It’s as if the eyes of the merman were piercing through him. But he won’t look away, that would only show that he’s very weak. So he was standing up, still looking at the merman.

“I will like to bring you to your little brother, but it might not be possible in your… condition.”

After all, he’s a merman; the king can’t just put his dungeon under water. And if he would do that, then every prisoner would die and even though those are just criminals, he won’t kill them.

Kouen looked at himself and saw the point. If he would be entering some place on the land, then he must turn into a human. Or else he won’t survive. Well, he could just take some water with him and ride on the water, but he’s not the kind of person who would cause troubles for others. He turned himself into human and landed on the balcony.

“You could bring me to my little brother now.”

The king was very surprised to see the transformation and backed away. He wanted to scream, but hold it in. He didn’t want the guards to come in and cause a commotion. And it’s also scary the way that “man” glares at him now. He coughed a bit to clear his throat and looked at the merman.

“Follow me...”

Rongxiu was still thinking about a way to return Kouha to the sea. Kouha can read, that means the others can too right? Well, maybe a bottle is an option, but when she saw the reaction of Kouha, it might not be a good one. She was thinking again and just when she thought about something, she heard some footsteps coming closer to Kouha’s prison. If it’s her father, she must hide right away! If her father knows that her daughter, a princess, is with a prisoner, then things would really turn bad for her and Kouha. She looked around to hide herself, but whom is she kidding? It’s a prison, just an empty place beside that tub. And just when she actually wanted to hide behind the tub, she heard a voice behind her.

“Rongxiu? What are you doing here?!”

She turned around shocked that it really was her dad. She got quite pale and felt really panicked. She was waving a bit with her hands.

“I-I can explain this!”

Then she noticed the red haired man behind her father. Who could that be? It seems like he’s staring at Kouha. Does he know Kouha? Or is it that he’s a merboy and it caught his eye? No wait, just some man coming to the prison as a visitor isn’t just someone who’s curious about a merboy. Above that, her father was here with him. So that means he’s someone important? She was losing in her thoughts again that she didn’t notice that her father was already getting in the prison and the red haired man was walking towards Kouha.

“Kouha, how many times have I told you that you shouldn’t go above the sea? Look how things turned out. You shouldn’t be interested in humans; they are not worth it and very bad people. They even kidnapped you and who knows what they were actually planning to do with you if I didn’t come.”

In the prince his quarters she was searching for him as well. She was pretty sure the prince went to place. As the princess eventually noticed him at the balcony asleep it would be wise to leave. Or so the servant thought. Therefore she first bowed towards the princess before leaving. She was sure to not make too much sound. It might be better that the prince sleeps a bit more for a moment. She heard his servants complaining that he hadn’t slept a lot last night. Maybe if he would feel better he would be nicer to Rongxiu.

And so the prince slept a bit longer. Even though the weather was beautiful and it would be good to go outside it was still quiet. So a perfect time for him to sleep. In the meanwhile he sometimes took on a different position. Either on his sides or sort of rolled up like a ball. At least it was looking conforming.

Then after a while another servant entered his room. She was looking different from the one before. There was bandage on her head as if she was wounded. Yet she was working. It was the drink Kouha ordered before. She just quickly bowed to Rongxiu. Apparently not liking her that much of one reason of another. She just carefully and silently put the drink on the small table next to Kouha. Keeping silent as the prince was sleeping. Afterwards she quickly left. The drink was just something which parents would give to their little child. It was full of bubbles. Apparently something the prince likes and prefers over tea.

Eventually it was inevitable that he woke up though. It happened slowly. First he yawned a few times and stretched his body afterwards. The prince was very calm until he saw Rongxiu. That look in her eyes was just disturbing for him. This caught him off guard at first and he just stared at her for about a second before freaking out.

She looked quite surprised at the other servant who came in the room. She didn't look like a normal servant. She's...special. Oh right, there were three 'weird' or 'special' attendants of Kouha. She must be one of them. She smiled kindly at her, though she doesn't know if she would see her clearly. 

She got the feeling that that attendant doesn't really like her... Maybe it's just her woman intuition, but she's not really sure. Though she heard some rumors about them. They really loves Kouha, so they might have a grudge against her since she's going to marry him?

She stared at Kouha for a very long time. Suddenly he woke up slowly. Her heart beats so hard that it might get out of her chest. She got ver anxious. What if he would hate her now? Hates her more than before... Then she got totally no chance at all to be friendly with him. What should she say when he wakes up? Her mind is in a total mess, she doesn't know what she should do or say anymore. 

For a second they stared at each other eyes. Then she got totally surprised when Kouha raised his voice and yelled at her. Like he said, she looked away. She looked a bit down, feeling slightly guilty. 

"I...A servant brought me here... I know it was rude of me... But I wanted to talk with you for a bit and then I saw you sleeping... I'm really sorry..."

Not much later the prince had closed his eyes. He seems to have fallen asleep in the beautiful weather already. Well he hadn’t slept well this night. He had been awake for most of the time. It was bothersome but he couldn’t help it. However with this kind of peacefulness and him being tired it wasn’t difficult to fall sleep.

However inside the palace the servants had also heard of the news of course. Prince Kouha would marry a princess from the Shaanxi Empire, the small empire now next to Kou. The servants were curious of course, so they seemed to be rather active today. It didn’t take long before one of them noticed the poor princess all alone in the gardens. Carefully she headed towards the princess. Bowing politely as she got in the view of the princess. Now she only had to pick her words carefully.

"Will I always be unloved by him?" 

Even if she asks those questions, there is no one who would answer her. She wipes her tear away. She can't cry. This was only the beginning. She mustn't give up, nor must she be so pitiful. She was surprised when a servant came to her and asked her something. Lost? Does it looks like she's lost? Well, maybe she is. She doesn't know what to do, she's lost in her own mind. But of course that servant didn't mean it that way. She smiled faintly at the servant. 

"No, no, I'm not lost. I'm fine." 

Oh, she really hopes that the servant wouldn't notice that she cried. Maybe her eyes are even red. That would be really bad. She doesn't want that Kouha would be the bad guy. It's her own fault for not being... well, maybe the ideal type for him?

The servant looks quite worried at her. She seems quite sad. Maybe something happened between her and Kouha? She's not really sure, but she wants to help those to. After all, they would end up married with each other. They must get along or even better, love each other very much. 

"Your highness. It might be too much to ask for you, but could you come along with me to prince Kouha's room?" 

Rongxiu was quite taken aback with that question. She wasn't sure if that would be a good idea. But refusing might also be impolitic... It won't hurt if she would go with the servant to his room, right? She actually wants to see him again. But... She's really worried that he might come to hate her even more. In the end, she still went to his room with the servant. The servant opened the door for her and she looked around in his room. It was very pretty and it's really big. But Kouha wasn't in his room. 

She spotted Kouha at the balcony. The servant also spotted him and slowly went to the balcony with Rongxiu. She hopes that he won't disturb him with whatever he's doing. She slowly walked in the balcony, while the servant was behind her. 

"Ah...How cute..." 

”Yea.. Like plants..”

Much unlike humans. They all eat meat, fish and even Kouha’s sort of kind they had heard. Such a thing sounds horrible to the sea creatures. That is why this was all strange to Kouha. Even this human her feelings got him confused. And it doesn’t even feel like she’s lying besides all of that.

”You shouldn’t… Because you’ll make yourself unhappy..”

It’s not like he wants this girl to sacrifice herself for him. She shouldn’t be unhappy for the rest of her life simply because of someone she doesn’t even know in the first place. No matter how much Kouha wants to go home. Maybe his brother would do an attempt in rescuing him as his father wouldn’t in the first place. What else could he say to this foolish human being?

"Kouha...I really want to help you. I will think of other ways as fast as possible... Maybe I could do something so your family knows that you're here. Is there a way for that? Like throwing a bottle with a letter in the sea. Doing it so that the message is seen without opening the bottle. Something like that. Oh...but can mermen and mermaids actually read...?" 

There are no paper and pencils under water, right? So do they even write or read? How do they actually do that then? She wonders about all those things, but... Maybe she shouldn't really ask it right now. Just one question about it might already be enough... 

"Where did Kouha go?! It's already been a day since he's missing!"

The oldest son of the king of the sea was searching for his little brother, but didn't find him at all. Since it's Kouha, there is a possibility that he went up again... He doesn't want to think about the worst scenario, but he got to check it to make sure if he's not on the land. If Kouha would be caught, there might be one person who might know of it. The king of Shaanxi Empire. He got a very big palace on the cliff, so even Kouen could actually go up to the palace without specially transforming himself to a human. So he swam to the palace. Making the water go up, till he could see the king's room.

The king was just sitting in his room, with the window open of his balcony. He was working on his papers and thinking about the marriage of his daughter. He wants her to be happy, but it's important for the country if she would marry him... Well, he also got that merboy in his mind. What should he actually do with him? He sighed and just went to the balcony, maybe that would help. Having the fresh air and the beautiful sea as view. Just when he was looking at the sea, some man with red hair appeared in front of him. He was so shocked that he fell on the ground.  

Kouen looked at the human who seems very scared of him. It's like he saw a merman for the first time. Maybe Kouha isn't here after all... But he must be sure about that. What if he's actually really here?

"You, human, did you or your people caught my little brother, a merboy? If so, return him to me." 

First he was shocked and scared of that merman, since he also looks so scary. But now he also talks! And the same language as him! How absurd, isn't this just a dream? Is he living in some fairy tale or something? However, even though he's scary, he doesn't want to give in.

"A-and why should I do that?"

Kouen sighed about the stupid question of the human king. As if all humans are dumb. They really doesn't understand that kidnapping isn't a good thing? Even if it's a merman or a human? 

"It seems like you don't understand what I'm saying. If you don't return him back, then I will destroy this country. I got the power to do so. I understand you want to protect your people. I also want to protect my little brother. Be understandable and return him to me."

”We eat what the sea gives us…”

He was probably very unclear with his answer but he doesn’t care that much about it. Why should humans know it anyway? As if they would eat what’s at the bottom of the sea. There was no way he would trust her so easily without any real idea about her. All he knew was her name. Of course it doesn’t say that much to him. They don’t know such people in the sea.

”Ehh… Why marry someone?”

No he doesn’t completely understand it. She would marry someone to get him out of here? Humans are just greedy right? And what would this someone think? It simply sounds rather dangerous to him. Love was also completely out of the question as it seemed. She doesn’t seem very happy when talking about this someone. Humans… do know love right? They’re not only just greedy right? Or so he thought many times before when he saw two humans kissing at some rocks close to the sea. So they should know what love means and what it’s about right?

"Can you eat this?" 

Why marry someone? Well... if you would marry someone of high status and pretty important, they you will also get his power. Even though she doesn't like to marry like this, she got no other choice. She wants to help Kouha no matter what. And that guy seems to be in love with her, so there won't be any problem with asking help, not?

"Why? Well...it's for you. I will receive his power. He's very important to our country, so my father can't refuse him if he would ask a favour. So, since I want you to be free and return to the sea again, I will marry him..." 

Even though this means that she has to be with someone she doesn't love for the rest of her life. If it's for Kouha... she would do it... But that's quite weird, isn't it? Why doing something like this for a mere merboy? Maybe she's...in love with him? Not sure about that, since she doesn't really know him. But she already like him more than the one she would marry... 

"Love...? I don't love him... I rather marry someone I love... I even prefer to you if I could instead of him... But, I got no choice, right? This is the only option to help you." 

She smiled quite sad when she said that. It's not that she would regret helping Kouha, nor is the prince such a bad person. But... She really wanted to marry someone she loves... And the thought of not seeing Kouha after that ever again, also saddened her. 

That was when he woke up. Eyes immediately widely open because of the nightmare which scared him so much. Of course… He was indeed not at the sea. But inside the castle of the humans. Surrounded by humans… In a tub of strange water. Barely able to move sufficiently. It’s the place where he would die soon and wouldn’t come out every again. Or so he was believing now… However it seems like someone was saying his name… If he was right that could only be one person. The girl he had met yesterday. As he slowly rises he gazes upon the female human.

” … ”

"Good morning Kouha. I'm sorry that I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Rongxiu Xuanyuan. I got some breakfast with me, but I guess you eat something different in the sea... What do you eat?"

She wants to know, she really wants to know. It would be a real honor to get those information from a real merboy. Then the information is 100 percent correct. She always wanted to know the truth about them.

She placed the breakfast away and tries to holds Kouha's hand. But she held back, maybe he will back off... She's a human after all, he must be afraid of humans. Also he might have heard bad stories about humans, they are fishing fish after all.

"Kouha, I know how I will get you out of here. I will marry someone, he will help me. It might take a month, but it can also take some days."