The Merman's Lament - IvanTill

~03~

From that day onward, Ivan barely did anything other than being in his garden, staring at the statue, and daydreaming. He still attended his lessons and remained the good student he had always been, but once they were done for the day, he was quick to leave and swim to his garden to continue gazing at the object of his obsession. His entire world had now started revolving around that single piece of marble that represented that human stranger whose name he didn't know.

When Unsha found out, he was extremely concerned. The mere thought of his son straying away from the path of being the perfect son and prince he had in mind, and on top of that, still having such an obsession with the human world, being something that heavily disturbed him.

"Ivan, your obsession with the human world is becoming too much. You are starting to neglect your duties and all to gaze at the statue of a barbaric creature!"

"I'm not neglecting my duties, Father. I'm doing everything you order."

Unsha rubbed his forehead in annoyance, not having expected his son to dare to reply to him.

"It is still distracting you too much! Get rid of it! You shouldn't even think of their world or those creatures in the first place! They are sadistic, cruel beings!"

Ivan tightened his grip on his fist, trying to hold back his anger and frustration. He didn't want to get rid of the statue or his collection.

"What if I refuse, Father?"

Unsha's eyes widened, once again hit by an unexpected defiance from his son. He was on the verge of rage, longing to grab his son and make him obey him even if it was through the worst of methods.

"You dare to go against your father and the king?!" he yelled, making Ivan almost flinch. "I'm warning you, Ivan! Next time I have to say something about it, it won't be in a nice way, you hear?!"

Ivan just said nothing, deciding not to fuel the anger of his father any longer and keeping all his frustration to himself. However, he would still defy him and keep indulging in his obsession with the human world and the statue, only that he would now be even more careful.

He left the hall, planning to leave the palace again, but he ended up meeting Sua in the hallways. He expected to be told off again, but the mermaid remained calm, only that there was a hint of concern in her expression this time as well.

"Don't worry, Brother. You know I won't tell Father anything about it. You can rest assured."

Ivan approached his sister and pulled her into a hug, wanting to express how glad he was that she was willing to keep their father in the dark.

"Thank you so much, Sister."

Sua caressed the back of his head gently, combing his hair like she would do whenever she comforted her brother after being yelled at by Unsha.

"I'm sorry about that. Father is still being so unreasonable with you. He won't listen to me either."

Ivan looked down, recalling all the times he had been insulted and yelled at by Unsha whenever he wasn't being his idea of a perfect prince. He wished he could leave the palace so he wouldn't have to put up with that anymore and have all the freedom to explore shipwrecks and expand his knowledge on the human world without anyone wanting to stop him.

"I wish he could understand that I'm not perfect and that my love for the human world is inoffensive and it doesn't affect at all my duties, not to mention that the human world is not all the way he thinks it is. There's no way it is all the way he says it is."

"I know, but unfortunately, there's no way Father will ever change his mind. Nothing you will ever do to try to convince him that things are otherwise will ever have any effect on him. You already know that."

Indeed, he already knew that. There was nothing he could do. Unsha was extremely close-minded. The only thing he could do was hope he would never get to infuriate him again to the point he would do something like he had warned him about.

Sua pulled him into a hug after she finished combing his hair with her fingers for a few minutes, seeing that he was still feeling uneasy.

"I will keep covering for you whenever you are out with Hyuna and Hyunwoo. I suggest that you move all your collection to your secret hideout, especially that statue you are so fond of. It won't be safe here, and if you hide it there, Father might even start believing you got rid of it and that you are forgetting about the human world."

Ivan agreed. Unsha was going to destroy everything any moment if he didn't hide everything somewhere safer. He wasn't sure he would eventually think he got over his obsession when he noticed it had all disappeared, but at least he would give him a break.

"Thank you for everything you do for me and your suggestion, Sister," he said before holding her the tightest he could.

"Anything for you, Brother. If you need help moving everything out, I will gladly give you a hand."

That very same night, the twins, Ivan and Sua moved everything to the secret hideout, taking advantage of the fact that the palace guards were more worried about the preparations for the upcoming coming of age celebration of Ivan.