Chapter 25: The Marks She Refused to Heal (Magic Castle Bonus)

Chapter 25. The Marks She Refused to Heal (Magic Castle Bonus)

The pool had always been Ariel’s favorite place in the mansion.

Technically, Rey had built it for all five of his wives.

Practically?

Everyone knew it belonged to Ariel.

The pool occupied an entire enclosed garden on the western side of the mansion, surrounded by pale stone, flowering vines, and enchanted crystals that kept the water at whatever temperature its occupant preferred. A narrow artificial stream connected it to a deeper section where Ariel could actually swim instead of merely sitting around pretending human-sized bathing pools were sufficient for a mermaid princess.

Rey had designed it himself.

For her.

And somehow, despite that...

He had never once joined her here.

Ariel floated near the center, her long tail drifting lazily beneath the clear water.

Sunlight poured through the glass ceiling.

Her scales shimmered whenever she moved.

And she was humming.

Softly.

An old Nerelle melody.

She only sang it when she was happy.

Ariel didn’t even realize she’d been repeating the same verse for nearly ten minutes.

Her attention was elsewhere.

Again, she lifted her wrists.

Looked at it.

Blushed.

Faint reddish marks remained where the chains had rested against her skin.

Nothing serious.

She could heal them instantly.

A little water mana.

One thought.

Gone.

Ariel lowered her wrists beneath the water.

Waited.

Then lifted it again.

Still there.

Her face warmed.

No. Absolutely not.

She wasn’t healing them.

That was ridiculous.

Childish.

Embarrassing.

And she didn’t care.

Because they were proof.

Proof that last night had actually happened.

That Rey hadn’t called her into his chamber because the curse demanded violence.

That the chains hadn’t been punishment.

That his hands had been gentle when gentleness mattered.

That when everything ended, he’d freed her and held her like he was afraid she might disappear.

Ariel covered her burning face with both hands.

She was a princess.

A grown woman.

She had survived wars.

She had fought corrupted sea beasts larger than ships.

And apparently one night with her own husband had reduced her into someone who couldn’t look at her wrists without turning red.

Wonderful.

She sank deeper until the water reached her nose.

Her humming resumed anyway.

Then footsteps approached.

Ariel stopped.

Two familiar mana signatures entered the pool garden.

Seris wasn’t unusual.

The Phoenixkin princess occasionally came here simply because she enjoyed teasing Ariel by complaining that the water was too cold.

The second presence, however...

Ariel surfaced. "Lily?"

The fairy princess entered behind Seris.

That was unusual.

Lily normally spent mornings in the gardens.

And she was carrying something.

A small medicinal container.

Ariel’s happiness immediately collided with suspicion.

Why did Lily have healing balm?

Seris approached first. Her crimson hair was tied loosely behind her shoulders, expression unusually serious. "Are you okay?"

Ariel’s tail stopped moving. "I’m fine."

Lily’s expression flattened. "Don’t lie to us."

Ariel’s eyes widened.

"We all heard you last night."

Silence.

Ariel slowly sank another inch into the water.

Seris folded her arms. "Your screams."

Ariel’s face became incandescent.

No, no, no.

They heard?

How much?

The mansion walls were enchanted!

Why did nobody tell her they apparently possessed the acoustic integrity of decorative paper?!

Ariel looked away.

She suddenly became extremely interested in a flower growing beside the pool. Beautiful flower. Wonderful flower. She would study that flower forever.

Seris and Lily exchanged glances.

Unfortunately, they interpreted her embarrassment very differently.

Because there was something genuinely alarming about what they’d heard.

Even when Rey’s curse had been at its worst...

Ariel rarely screamed.

She endured.

She always endured.

That had frightened them enough already.

But last night?

They had heard her.

Repeatedly.

Intensely.

Neither woman had apparently considered that there might be an entirely different explanation for that intensity.

Lily crouched beside the pool. "Ariel."

"I’m fine. Really."

Seris’s eyes narrowed.

Then she noticed Ariel’s hand disappearing beneath the water.

Too late.

Seris moved quickly.

She caught Ariel’s wrist.

Ariel squeaked. "Seris!"

The Phoenix princess stared at the reddish marks. Her expression changed instantly. "Chains?"

Ariel yanked her hand back. Her face was now approximately the color of boiled shellfish. "It’s nothing!"

Seris and Lily stared at her.

Ariel wished the pool would develop enough mercy to swallow her completely.

Seris’s voice softened. "Did he hurt you that badly?"

"No!"

"You don’t even have enough strength to heal yourself?"

"That’s not—"

Lily lifted the balm. "The servants changed Rey’s sheets this morning."

Ariel froze.

Oh, gods.

Lily continued carefully. "They found blood."

Ariel closed her eyes. She was going to move back into the ocean. Immediately. Perhaps there was an isolated island somewhere.

No servants, sisters or conversations.

Just fish.

Fish didn’t ask humiliating questions.

Lily’s worry deepened. "Was it yours?"

Ariel hesitated.

Unfortunately, hesitation was possibly the worst answer she could have given.

Seris’s jaw tightened.

Mermaid regeneration was exceptional.

Everyone knew it.

For Ariel to bleed enough to leave visible evidence meant either she’d been injured faster than her body could recover...

Or she’d been too exhausted to heal properly.

Given her already weakened mana mantle, both possibilities were terrible.

Ariel sighed. "Yes. But not in that way."

Neither woman seemed reassured.

"Ariel."

Seris crouched now too.

Her voice had changed. "Next time, let me take your place."

Ariel stared at her. "What?"

"I’m Phoenixkin. My regeneration is stronger against physical injury. If Rey needs someone to—"

"No!"

Both women blinked.

Ariel slapped both palms against the water.

A small wave splashed Seris. "Guys! Listen to me!"

Ariel’s courage lasted approximately two seconds. Then she realized what she was going to have to explain.

Her entire face burned again.

She looked at Lily.

Then Seris.

Then the ceiling.

Perhaps divine intervention would occur.

Nothing.

"Rey didn’t hurt me last night."

Seris glanced meaningfully at her wrist.

Ariel immediately hid it behind her back. "Not like that!"

Lily blinked. "Then explain."

Ariel’s mouth opened. Closed. Her tail curled beneath the water.

She wanted to die.

Not permanently.

Maybe five minutes.

Long enough for this conversation to end.

"We..." Her voice disappeared.

Lily waited.

Ariel inhaled. Then forced the words out before courage abandoned her completely. "We consummated our marriage last night. That blood... it was from my first time."

Seris stopped breathing.

Lily’s medicinal balm slowly lowered. "W-What?"

Ariel immediately regretted possessing the ability to speak.

"He was..." Her fingers disappeared beneath the water as her tail curled around itself. "A bit fierce last night. So... I was a bit noisy."

Lily’s eyes dropped toward Ariel’s wrist. "Then what about the marks?"

Ariel followed her gaze.

Big mistake.

Her brain, traitorous little thing that it was, immediately replayed everything she’d been trying very hard not to replay while those two were standing directly in front of her.

The chains.

Rey’s gaze.

That frightening calmness he’d worn while making absolutely certain she understood she could stop him whenever she wanted.

And then the moment she’d chosen not to.

Ariel swallowed.

She remembered how helpless she’d felt beneath that stare, not frightened helplessness, not the terrible surrender the curse had once demanded from her, but something chosen. Something that made her heart pound because Rey had been completely in control and she’d trusted him with it.

Worse, he’d learned.

He had watched every reaction with that infuriatingly focused expression, noticed every weakness she accidentally revealed, and then remembered all of them.

Once he discovered something made her lose composure, he’d returned to it with the merciless precision of a magus testing a successful formula.

Ariel’s face grew hotter.

Then another memory surfaced.

His size.

She had genuinely looked at him and thought there was absolutely no way it could go inside her.

Yet somehow...

Ariel’s face went scarlet.

Something warm trickled beneath her nose.

Lily’s eyes widened. "Ariel! You’re having a nosebleed!"

"What?!" Ariel slapped a hand beneath her nose.

Red.

She immediately tilted her head upward in panic.

Seris stared.

Then slowly walked over to the pool.

Now she was interested.

She sat on the edge, slipped both legs into the water, and leaned forward.

Lily joined her almost immediately.

The medicinal balm had apparently been completely forgotten.

Seris narrowed her eyes. "That is not normal."

Ariel, still pinching her nose, muttered without thinking. "His size isn’t normal either."

Silence.

Lily blinked. "Size of what?"

Ariel froze.

Her soul left her body.

She slowly lowered her gaze.

Two princesses stared back at her.

She could lie.

She should lie.

Instead...

"His manhood."

Lily and Seris turned pink.

Ariel became redder somehow.

For several glorious seconds, three powerful princesses who had survived wars, monsters, political assassinations, and the Dark Lord’s armies sat around a swimming pool completely defeated by one sentence.

Lily’s mouth opened.

Closed.

Opened again.

Seris rubbed her face. "Okay." She inhaled. "I need a real explanation before this conversation kills all three of us. What happened to Rey’s curse?"

That sobered Ariel immediately. Her hand lowered. "He said he can control it now."

Seris’s expression sharpened. "Control it?"

Ariel nodded.

"He said it isn’t going to control him anymore. He’ll become himself again from now on." Her smile softened. "Maybe there’ll still be some effects. He’s still Rey, after all. But..."

Her fingers touched the marks around her wrist.

This time there was no embarrassment in her expression.

Only warmth.

"He was himself last night."

Lily and Seris exchanged a look.

Hope was dangerous.

Especially when they’d watched Rey deteriorate for so long.

So Ariel added quietly, "We can’t tell anyone yet."

Seris nodded immediately. "Obviously."

"Too many people want him dead," Lily murmured.

Ariel nodded. Then her smile returned. "Also... he’s taking me on a date today."

Two heads snapped toward her.

"A date?" Lily repeated.

Seris stared at her. "Rey?"

"Yes."

"Rey Valen?"

Ariel splashed her. "Yes!"

Lily’s eyes practically sparkled. "Where?"

"I don’t know yet." Ariel hesitated. "Do you two want to come?"

Seris immediately shook her head. "No."

Ariel blinked.

"He wants you," Seris said, nudging Ariel’s tail with her foot. "So you go with him."

Ariel’s expression softened.

Then Seris added casually, "We’ll just follow you from a distance. In case he has another episode."

Ariel’s smile faltered. "I hope he doesn’t."

The words came out quieter than she intended.

Because hope was terrifying after everything they’d endured.

Lily’s teasing expression softened immediately. "Don’t worry." She leaned forward, gently squeezing Ariel’s shoulder. "We’ll never give up on him."

Seris nodded "Never."

Ariel looked between them.

Five wives.

Five women who had watched Rey fall apart piece by piece and stubbornly stayed anyway.

Her eyes stung. "Neither will I."