The Merman's Lament - IvanTill

~13~

When the sun was beginning to set, they boarded the ship and set sail. Ivan and Till were both locked in separate chambers, away from each other, as the ship sailed, so that they wouldn't be able to interact with each other or attempt to flee.

The trip took them some hours, reaching the kingdom by night. They were greeted at the harbor by the royal guards, who escorted them to the castle.

They took a quick look around, taking in the pink-roofed houses with light purple walls, standing out a lot compared to other kingdoms' homes. The flag flying all over was pink and yellow and had a clematis flower on it.

Once they reached the castle, the queen was already waiting for them in the throne room. They all bowed down to them, receiving another bow from them.

"Welcome to Clematisia, King Urak and Prince Till."

"Thank you, Queen Shine."

"My daughter will be here right away. Phan, please, can you please get her?"

The servant bowed and immediately did as she was told. It didn't take her that long for her to return, coming back with a girl with long, pink hair dressed in an elegant white dress. As soon as Till and Ivan saw her entering the room, they were shocked, recognizing her right away: It was Princess Mizi, the girl from the beach.

"Mizi! It's you!" exclaimed Till in shock once she saw her.

Mizi was also taken aback seeing that it was Till the one she was meant to marry.

"Till!"

Right away, Ivan once again felt his entire world fall apart upon seeing the way Till was beginning to look at Mizi. He thought she had been the one who had rescued him after all, and on top of that, he was meant to marry her too... His heart felt like it had shattered into a million pieces. He was more than sure that it was going to be it for him, the words from the sea wizard echoing all over his mind. He was going to suffer a tragic fate now that he knew his beloved was going to marry another in the end, as he knew Till was surely going to forget all about running away with him now that Mizi was the one he was meant to marry.

Seeing that the two of them already knew each other and seemed to be more than happy with the decision, their parents decided to officially announce the marriage.

"Then let's not waste any more time. The wedding will be tomorrow when the sun sets!" announced Shine.

Mizi and Till held hands and looked at each other smiling softly, as if the world was only the two of them. Ivan, meanwhile, couldn't help but look at them while beginning to drown in an ocean of misery.

Once the announcement had been made, the couple moved into their room together, and after a while of spending some time together, Till went to get Ivan to let him know how happy he was.

"Ivan, I'm sorry for doing this, but you know I actually have no choice but to marry Mizi, and on top of that, she was the one who saved me and she was the one I wanted to be with first before you came into my life, so I'm truly sorry about it. I hope you understand."

Ivan nodded, acting as if he did understand, but deep down, he felt heartbroken; he felt like crying, yet not a single tear would fall, making him feel even more miserable. He couldn't believe Till would do such a thing to him when he had said he loved him...

How come he had changed so quickly his opinion upon meeting that girl who wasn't even the one who had saved him? If only he dared to tell him the truth that he was the one who had indeed saved him instead of Mizi... But would Till even believe him at that point? It didn't matter anymore. He was in such pain that he didn't care anymore if he would suffer a tragic fate. Maybe it was for the best. 

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When the sun set, the wedding ceremony began. Ivan was forced to be there and on top of that, he had to bring the rings to the couple. He had no escape from watching the last bit of his entire world collapse right in front of him while he was unable to do anything about it and feel the remnants of his heart that hadn't broken yet shatter.

Once it was over, a huge dinner was prepared, and then, a ball was organized. Ivan, even though he already knew he shouldn't, didn't care anymore, and decided to just dance until his feet were bleeding nonstop and he was in so much pain he could barely even stand, but he could barely even feel it, as the ache in his heart was even more painful than any physical pain he could ever feel right then.

The newlyweds, meanwhile, were waltzing together, as if nothing, once again, as if the world were just the two of them. Till had stopped caring about him once Mizi had come into the picture, so he was not going to pay attention to him at all as he was bleeding and in such terrible agony both physically and emotionally.

After the ball, the honeymoon began, and their ship sailed, Ivan once again forced to tag along. Everyone went to sleep, and the entire crew was also passed out from having drunk too much, leaving only Ivan awake, being the only one unable to sleep due to everything that had happened.

Suddenly, he thought he had heard someone calling, and then, he saw Sua, Hyuna and Hyunwoo calling for him from the sea. However, they all looked different, and Ivan was horrified when he came closer to their position and took a closer look.

Hyuna was missing one of her arms, Hyunwoo was missing his eyes and Sua was missing her hair.

"Ivan, Luka came to us and told us everything, and to save you, we decided to make a deal with him!" explained Sua.

Hyuna pulled out a dagger and threw it towards Ivan, which he caught.

"He gave us this dagger in exchange, which you must use to kill the prince before the sun rises. Once you do, you will be able to turn into a merman and your life will be spared."

Ivan was in shock and looked at it in hesitation.

"Please, Ivan, do it for us!"

"Return to us, Ivan!"

With that said, they submerged again, leaving Ivan to commit the act under the darkness of the night.