The Merman's Lament - IvanTill

~04~

The day of Ivan's coming-of-age ceremony arrived a few days after they managed to make sure the statue and the rest of the collection were safe from Unsha's anger. Ivan was very excited about it since he would have much more freedom than he had with the excuse that he is already an adult merman. Unsha prepared a party for him where all the inhabitants of the ocean they lived in were invited, aside from Luka, of course. Hyuna and Hyunwoo were also included in the guest list, even though Unsha considered them a bad influence for his son, having made it thanks to Sua.

All the seafolk were first presented with a huge feast prepared by the palace cooks, which they gladly enjoyed while the musicians played. Then, after no food was left, they brought in the drinks, and Unsha got on stage, joined by Ivan, to give a speech. Everyone cheered for the prince as he stopped next to the king, showing just how much the kingdom loved him.

"Today is the coming of age of Prince Ivan, the prince's transition into adulthood and maturity," declared the old merman while everyone silently listened to him. "From now on, he will be able to choose more freely, and he may start searching for a partner to marry and start a family with. Let's wish him the best of luck and blessings for this new phase of his life."

Ivan bowed to his family and also to the crowd, all of them still clapping and cheering for him. Both Unsha and Sua looked at him proudly as they also joined in the crowd's cheers.

Once it died down, Unsha asked for everyone to be silent once again and gestured for Ivan to step forward.

"Now, the prince will delight us with a song to finish the ceremony."

Before the eyes of all the attendees, Ivan began to sing, letting his heart get carried away with the sound of the music that had begun playing in the background thanks to the kingdom's band. He thought of the boy the statue had been made for and poured his entire soul into the song as if he were dedicating it to him. Everyone listened to him, completely mesmerized, not a single creature able to look away from the source of that beautiful voice, and from a very distance, Luka himself was listening, as the voice of the merman was able to echo to his lair.

When he was done, cheers flooded the entire hall once again, and Ivan bowed in gratitude. Everyone showered him with praises about his voice, and Unsha himself also received them, his chest puffing out when hearing that about his son.

Then, Unsha invited everyone to join them in another hall to continue eating and drinking together, but since Ivan wasn't all that fond of parties, he thought of sneaking out. The twins approached him, their eyes giving away that they had something planned.

"Ivan, Ivan! Follow us! We are going to take you somewhere!" exclaimed Hyunwoo as he began trying to drag him away.

"Wait! What if someone sees us?"

Sua managed to catch up with them, finally having been able to find them after having looked through the sea of seafolk for what seemed like hours.

"Don't worry. The guards will be pretty distracted today, considering the huge party we have going on. As for Father, I will keep him distracted and feed them excuses. Still, since you have come of age, there's not that much he can do now since you are an adult merman."

Ivan smiled, showing off his snaggletooth, and bowed to thank his sister.

"Thank you, Sister."

"Be careful, though."

They swam a bit farther away from the palace, and then, the twins took Ivan's hands, one on each side of his.

"Are you ready?"

Ivan couldn't believe that they were going to explore the surface. He was very excited, but at the same time, he was very anxious.

What would it be like?