Love That Bites, Pain That Stays

To prevent the merfolk from being slaughtered, I decided to go ashore and seduce my childhood friend Cyrus, who had become the Alpha King.

He still loved me deeply, and we spent three passionate days and nights together in bed.

Waking up from a haze of pleasure, I hadn't even had the chance to rejoice before a corrosive elixir was dunked over my head.

Listening to my pained wails, Cyrus smirked. "So even an immortal mermaid can feel pain, too?

"Well, this is just a taste of what's to come if you don't tell me where my parents are!"

Yes, he was convinced that the merfolk were behind his parents' disappearance.

From then on, I was forced to watch him flirt with his mistress, Emily; had to extract my mermaid pearl to help heal her body; was forced to dance barefoot to entertain Emily so that she could sleep…

Cyrus hated every fiber of my being, yet always held me tenderly in his arms whenever I was on the brink of death, carefully feeding me medicine.

Sometimes, he was cruel. "Do you think I'll go easy on you just because I love you? Quick, continue torturing her!"

Sometimes, he was gentle. "Can't you be good and tell me where my parents are?"

Silently, I endured his twisted love without a word.

Soon, however, these days would come to an end, and I wouldn't have to keep that secret any longer.

After all, a mermaid who did not return to the sea after three years on land… Would turn into seafoam.

And now, there were only three days until my time was up.

Late at night, the doors to the basement were kicked open harshly. In came a tall werewolf, yanking me up from the floor by my hair and slapping my face until I woke up.

Ignoring my pained groans, he grabbed my legs and dragged me out of the basement, cursing as he did.

"How dare you sleep so comfortably when Emily's hurt?"

My body was dragged roughly upon the coarse gravel road, leaving behind a trail of blood.

Eventually, I was dragged to Cyrus' feet. He furrowed his brows when he saw my bloodied state, as if he was about to say something, but seemed to decide against it.

"Emily's hurt. Heal her with your mermaid's pearl."

I looked up, my gaze falling on Emily, who was resting on the bed, her lower belly slightly protruded.

Smack!

The next second, Cyrus sent a slap at my face. "Where do you think you're looking at? How dare you lay your eyes on Emily? I'm here, so don't you even think of hurting anyone again!"

I immediately lowered my head, the slap stinging bitterly on my face. "I'm sorry."

Slowly, I crawled towards the bed and observed the wounds on Emily's hand.

Clearly, she'd been teasing a starving mermaid with food and got bitten as a result.

After more than two years of torture, I was already familiar with how to heal Emily and treat her wounds.

I began undressing with practiced movements, when I heard Cyrus bark out behind me, "Get out, all of you!"

Everyone else in the room immediately retreated, leaving just the three of us inside.

I didn't really understand why he did so, but I'd long since given up on trying to understand his intentions.

I continued, piercing my chest with my sharp nails and extracting the mermaid pearl from within, trembling from the intense pain that came as a result.

Cyrus' deep voice broke through the silence, "Marina, don't you can make me go easy on you by acting pitiful."

In his eyes, the reason why I used my mermaid pearl to heal Emily instead of using my blood was because I was trying to act pitiful.

But, in actuality, my blood had already run out of its healing properties because I'd become too weak.

Besides, I never intentionally acted to garner any pity from him—that was Emily's forte, not mine.

Illuminated by my mermaid pearl's glow, Emily quickly woke up, and Cyrus immediately wrapped her in a warm hug. "Are you alright? Does it still hurt?"

Emily glanced at my bloodied chest, a vicious gleam flashing through her eyes. "It doesn't hurt anymore, but… The scent of blood is making me nauseous, so can you get her out of here, pretty please?"

Cyrus turned around, glaring at me viciously. "Are you deaf? Get lost!"

I crawled out using my arms, and I heard Cyrus' gentle voice coming from behind me.

"Emily, don't ever go close to those ugly, evil mermaids ever again. They'll only hurt you."

My heart, already numb with pain, was stabbed with another knife, the pain going to places I never imagined.

Suddenly, a bucket of ice-cold water splashed onto me. It was a maid, looking down at me with disdain.

"You disgusting monster! Aren't you supposed to be immortal? Why are you bleeding all over the floor instead of healing your wounds quickly?"

A dirty rag was thrown onto my face, and I was already too weak to even dodge.

"Wipe the floor clean, or I'll tell the Alpha King to punish you!"

I started wiping the floor, but it was a never-ending task—I couldn't stop bleeding, so the floor never became clean.

I spent an entire night wiping the floor, listening to the sounds of passion coming from inside the room, and I cried.

As Cyrus' disgusted expression appeared in my mind, I thought…

Very soon, I would finally be free.

Even mermaids, with their legendary immortality, would still die. I was finally reaching the last three days of my life.