Chapter 7
The two mer–babies were dumped at my feet, wide–eyed and pitiful.
I knew better than anyone that there was nothing pitiful about them.
Red–finned merfolk were weak in both body and mind. Soft, slow, and gullible, they were easy prey in a cruel
world.
Everyone’s first instinct around them was the same–they were harmless and defenseless.
However, they were not ordinary red–fins.
They were the spawn of Sheldon–cruel and heartless–and they were born bad.
In my previous life, I had carried black–finned children. Proud, arrogant, and dismissive of authority, they helped Sheldon torment me, treating me like I was nothing.
The red–finned children, twisted by rejection and hatred of their own mother, would only turn out more vicious, more dangerous.
Reginald’s face flushed with fury.
He had never seen such shameless behavior in his life.
Holding me tightly, he mumbled in frustration, “Thank goodness I met you instead. Otherwise, I would’ve been driven mad by her.”
I stroked his hair gently, but my mind wandered back to my previous life.
Caroline’s true nature was always impossible to hide.
When she was sent to marry Reginald, she bossed everyone around in his household like she was the queen.
Even his patience wore thin. He began avoiding her, keeping his distance.
Later, she found out that I had birthed black–finned children. The Mer–King had showered me with pearls and treasures, and there was even talk of making me the Crown Princess.
She went mad with jealousy.
She called Reginald’s home shabby and disgraceful. Desperate, she got herself pregnant by any means necessary.
But when her children were born red–finned, she snapped. Every ounce of her frustration, her shame–she took it out on Reginald.
Before she killed me in the previous life, she had stabbed Reginald to death first.
That was why I chose Reginald in this life.
I did not choose him for his face, even though he was stunningly handsome. It was because when he looked at me, it was with true warmth.
I was never one for sentimentality, but at that moment, I could not help but say, “Marrying you was the greatest fortune of my life.”
We were the perfect match.
I had no intention of raising Caroline’s children.
1/2
Chapter 7
+25 BONUS
So, with the two mer–babies in our arms, we went to see the Mer–King and reported everything.
He flew into a fit of rage and immediately summoned Caroline and Sheldon.
They arrived in haste, clothes disheveled, clearly dragged from bed.
Caroline’s arms, still uncovered from earlier, were riddled with bruises and cuts.
The marks were vicious, a terrible sight to behold.
Her eyes were red and puffy. Tear stains still clung to her cheeks as she clutched her large, round belly like it might shield her.
Sheldon was not faring much better.
His back was covered in fresh scratch marks. His scales had not even fully closed.
His face, still twisted from unmet desire, was dark with suppressed violence.
The Mer–King’s fury only deepened.
The tale of Prince Sheldon’s daily escapades with his wife had already spread across the merfolk. However, to show up looking like that in broad daylight was a disgrace.
The Mer–King roared, “Your clothes are in disarray, and your posture is indecent. Princess Caroline, did the Human Emperor raise you without shame? Is this what passes for manners among your people?
“By discarding your own children–because you think them unworthy–and dump them on your sister, do you mean to disgrace the entire royal family?”
Sheldon’s face turned ashen.
With a snarl, he slapped Caroline across the face.
“You filthy wretch! You’ve dragged my name straight through the muck!”
Caroline let out a sharp cry, clutching her cheek. She looked ready to explode, but when her gaze met Sheldon’s eyes, something inside her shrank.
She did not dare to act up. Instead, she turned her venom toward me.
Just like she had in the past, she pulled out her favorite weapon–manipulation.
Caroline trembled as she said, “Your Majesty, you’ve misunderstood me… Celine may have become a Pregnancy Maiden, but her wretched body hasn’t shown the slightest sign of life. She may never give birth to a mer–child in this lifetime.
“I only meant to help her! Besides, my own womb carries black–finned mer–babies. If these red–finned mongrels stayed around, wouldn’t that bring shame to my children?”
However, the Mer–King had seen through her long ago and no longer believed a single word she said.
