Chapter 183: Turbid Waters

The marine city of Azure was divided into three clearly marked zones.

The Western Zone, or "Turbid Waters," was where the tritons and mermaids who opposed the current order—or simply didn’t want to be part of the "urban" areas—lived. To the east lay the "Reef" Zone, where the majority of Azure’s population resided. Finally, there was the "Royal Maritime" Zone, home to the high society of their race. There stood the palace of the King of the Sea, along with the mansions of the wealthy and nobles, all of whom Thalassa knew very well.

For a race isolated from the outside world, one would expect them to be closer to one another, but the social differences were evident.

The inhabitants of Turbid Waters constantly demanded that they reach out to the surface lands, exchange knowledge, and improve their quality of life through it. However, the royalty was far more reluctant; they had spent years reducing contact with the outside world, and it had worked for them—the corrupted beasts had not been seen in millennia.

But, of course, that was before what happened in Hidria.

Along the underwater avenues, groups of mermaids and tritons held signs made of seaweed leaves.

On them were furious slogans such as:

"NO TO THE NOBLES! NO TO ISOLATION! CLEAR WATERS FOR TURBID WATERS!" or "THE SEA STAGNATES IF IT DOESN’T FLOW WITH THE LAND!"

They stood together, pressed against the wall that separated the Western Zone from the East. They knew that if they crossed to the other side without permission, the King of the Sea’s army would stop them or execute them on the spot. Yet despite their fear, they did not back down from their demands.

Thalassa heard the commotion from inside the carriage. The inhabitants of Turbid Waters couldn’t help but notice the vehicle’s approach either. The shouts grew louder, and some began throwing pearls and seashells they had gathered from the surroundings.

"NO TO THE NOBLES!" — the cry grew even stronger with every object that struck the carriage’s barrier.

Thalassa looked on in disbelief and turned her gaze straight to Ereon, seeking an explanation.

He simply shrugged, looking depressed.

"It’s been like this ever since the news from Hidria got out. We tried to keep it from them, but many had family or acquaintances who lived in or were visiting Hidria at the time of the attack. We couldn’t just let them leave Azure, only to abandon them to their fate and let them face the harsh truth."

Thalassa’s brows furrowed, and she began biting her lip. "Didn’t Princess Lumia come out and say anything?"

Ereon’s expression fell even further. "The princess is busy with other matters. Even the King of the Sea doesn’t know what to say. The people of the Western Zone don’t understand that isolating ourselves is for the best; it always has been. Going out now would only leave us exposed."

"So you forbade them from leaving? There have always been frictions with them, but doing this only makes everything more complicated. I don’t understand what Oreon was thinking..."

Hearing her refer to the King of the Sea directly by name made Ereon realize just how much Thalassa disapproved of the decision, but he didn’t know what to say to justify it.

Cassian, meanwhile, hadn’t said a single word. Xana had sat down beside him at some point, and he seemed far more interested in playing with the wolf girl’s long tail and her fluffy ears than in paying attention to the political conflict.

The sounds of the protests gradually faded as the carriage moved away, finally arriving at the gates of Azure’s palace and stopping outside. The triton guards raised their tridents warily, but quickly lowered them when they saw the general step out of the vehicle.

"Ereon?" they said, doubtful.

"Open the gates quickly. I have something urgent to discuss with the king."

The tritons set aside their doubts at those words. Though they were confused by the vehicle he had arrived in, the word "urgent" calmed most of their resistance.

"Wait!"

One of the tritons pointed at the large object in front of them. Ereon understood what they meant and approached the vehicle again, signaling Thalassa and the others to get out.

Xana was the first to exit, excited to see everything with her own eyes. She covered her body with aura, prepared to withstand the environmental change. Thalassa followed, while Cassian—whose entertainment had slipped from his hands—stepped out shortly after.

The guards looked at the three newcomers in confusion. Then their gaze returned to Ereon, and finally settled on the mermaid with blue hair. "Tutor?"

The palace gates opened without the tritons receiving a direct answer. At that moment, the vehicle disappeared somewhere, thanks to Cassian, and the difference between the outside and the interior of the place they had reached became immediately apparent. Azure’s palace was one of the few places in the city that had no water inside. Maintaining this state was extremely difficult for the sea race, so it was reserved only for special enclosures—but such places were not nonexistent.

"Xana doesn’t get wet!"

Cassian raised an eyebrow at the double meaning that could have and simply shook his head in amusement, entering the palace as calmly as if the entire place belonged to him.

Ereon and Thalassa followed afterward. The former didn’t look at all happy about the disrespectful attitude of the first two. The blue-haired mermaid, however, only watched them with helplessness, sighing and frowning as she anticipated what her return home might entail.

Her mind kept jumping between the fact that Nereon had returned and that the Turbid Waters were more rebellious than ever, to the fact that Lumia was busy... ’What are they keeping her occupied with? I hope they haven’t intimidated her while I was gone,’ she thought, her forehead wrinkled with worry.

...

Meanwhile, in the world of Vraeth, a woman of delicate oriental beauty—with long brown hair, a porcelain face, and firm brown eyes—was running her hands over a piece of paper.

But her serious expression didn’t last long. The woman crushed the paper forcefully and threw it somewhere in the room, just as the feet of a man who had just entered collided directly with what she had thrown. He put on a mocking smile, picked up the crumpled paper, and unfolded it to read.

As his eyes scanned the writing, the emotion in his gaze became clear.

"Ximen Yan, I didn’t expect to see you so frustrated over something like this. Your brother dying—isn’t that just to be expected, considering he was always trash by our standards?"

The woman frowned. "You say that, but I remind you that if your father hadn’t begged my family back then, no matter how many treasures you carried, you would have died."

The man raised his hands in surrender and shook his head. "Don’t get defensive. I bring good news."

Ximen Yan didn’t reply. She crossed her arms and waited for him to speak.

Dongfang Ye smiled with twisted pleasure. This arrogant woman, that crazy woman from the past, and those two flawless women he had met recently... He would make sure they all surrendered to him eventually.