With the merfolk's help, the ship moved incredibly fast. Below them, tails swished through the water in an endless stream. Light spread across the distant horizon, heralding the start of another day. As they sailed into the dawn, outlines slowly emerged in the distance. Just then, the Mermaid Princess's voice sounded in their minds:
"The royal palace isn't far. According to our intelligence, the neighboring kingdom's princess will arrive at the port tomorrow under guard, and William will come here to welcome her. So we'll seize the opportunity to intercept William and let me meet her."
The Mermaid Princess then told them a little about Prince William. The prince was the kingdom's only child, which meant that William was certain to become the next king. Of the kingdoms in the surrounding region, his was one of the strongest, while the neighboring kingdom was small. The wedding would never have taken place if that princess hadn't once saved the prince. Even princes and princesses were divided by rank.
"Someone will meet us shortly. After that, everything will depend on you." The Mermaid Princess's voice sounded in their minds again. It held no emotion, so none of them noticed the faintly guilty look on her face as she mentioned their contact.
The ship stopped at a secluded stretch of coast. A man was already waiting on shore. His clothes and bearing suggested he held a fairly high position. He watched the Mermaid Princess, now transformed into a human, with a cold expression and said nothing. After giving Lu Li and the others a chilly glance, he tossed them some clothes and told them to change, then stood still without another word.
Lu Li could sense something familiar about the man and the Mermaid Princess in her human form. It wasn't their appearance, but a certain feeling—as if he, too, were a human who had once been a merfolk.
The Mermaid Princess spoke to her maid through telepathy. The mermaid who had been glaring at Lu Li and the others then slipped into the water and left. The Mermaid Princess went aside to change as well. Her clothes were far too ornate and would attract attention.
Once they had changed, the man led them to a nearby spot where two carriages were waiting. Both drivers kept their heads bowed, wearing expressions that said they saw and heard nothing. The Mermaid Princess rode with the man, while Lu Li and the other players took the second carriage. No one said much along the way. When they arrived in the port city and climbed down, the man who had come to meet them looked even more troubled.
The man settled them in a secluded little courtyard, then left at once. The Mermaid Princess explained that their contact was an ally of the merfolk's organization on land.
Merfolk were powerful in the water, but on land, the difference in environment rendered most of their strength useless. They were also attractive, and their bodies made excellent materials for witchcraft. Whether sold to witches or human nobles, they could fetch a huge sum. As a result, some humans were always willing to risk capturing them. In the eyes of human nobles, merfolk had long been branded as rare slaves. That stigma was the greatest obstacle between the Mermaid Princess and Prince William; a prince marrying a slave was unthinkable.
Aware of the merfolk's precarious position on land, their people had bought the loyalty of some humans long ago and formed an organization to handle their affairs there. Most members had some connection to merfolk, and many were even of mixed human and merfolk descent. The reproductive divide between humans and merfolk wasn't as great as people imagined. Their mixed-blood children usually looked human and could live on land, and some even had considerable magical talent.
The man they'd met earlier was also of mixed human and merfolk descent, which explained the strange feeling he gave Lu Li. Under normal circumstances, it wouldn't have been difficult to ask him for help arranging an audience with the prince. But the Mermaid Princess was acting on her own and had even changed her species. He had already done more than enough by not alerting the merfolk royal family and helping them anyway. There was no chance he would assist them further. If she wanted to meet the prince, she could only rely on the players now.
The Mermaid Princess had already gone to her room to rest. She wanted to look her best when she appeared before Prince William. Lu Li and the others sat chatting in the courtyard. They would have to wait until the dead of night to make their move. For now, to avoid drawing attention, they could only stay cooped up there.
"Whether our plan succeeds or not, that man's going to end up in trouble..." Lu Li glanced toward the room where the Mermaid Princess was resting. "What a cruel woman. Or maybe love really is that terrifying—it makes people blind and foolish?"
"What does that have to do with us? We're just here to do research and, by the way, complete the mission." Hu Wenxu used the Coral Blade he'd just acquired to cut off a piece of his own flesh and feed it to the Meat Ganoderma. His face lit up with excitement. "But that Witch's species transformation is really interesting. How did a mermaid with a fish tail turn into a human?"
"Smuggling someone of unknown identity into the port city will get him punished, even if he has a good standing. He'll also face pressure from the merfolk. He concealed the fact that the Mermaid Princess had become human, then helped her into a human city..." Lu Li ignored Hu Wenxu and sighed. "And judging by that man's grim expression, I'm sure he did something so irrational because he was in love. Love really is terrifying."
"The Mermaid Princess gave up the people and way of life she was born into, then paid a huge price to become human. At the same time, she dragged down the man who loved her. And that man, for the sake of a woman who'd dragged him down, foolishly jumped into the hole himself and threw away his bright future." Lu Li sighed over the power of love.
"It's just a tacky love triangle. Maybe it'll turn into a four-way or even a five-way affair later. How come you're more of a gossip than I am?" Gao Xiaowen said with a sneer. "Instead of wasting time on this, you should think about how we're going to complete the mission. I doubt the prince is unguarded."
"I'm just looking for a little fun. Doing nothing but completing missions is far too dull." Lu Li shrugged. Recalling the Mermaid Princess's traits and behavior, he found himself entertaining a few interesting theories.
Besides, something about this mission didn't sit right with Lu Li. Its stated objective was for the Mermaid Princess and the prince to hold a wedding, and all their information had come from the Mermaid Princess. They knew nothing at all about the prince. The Mermaid Princess seemed so swept up in love, and she'd said that everything would be fine once she met the prince. Lu Li had a feeling there might be a problem with that...
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