“N-no! Stay- stay away from me!”

Faced with the fury of Riana and her piercing glare, the accused siren crawled backwards and tried to put as much distance between her and her attacker.

“You’re not going anywhere!” Riana shouted, but quickly noticed her prey get up and run southward, towards the cathedral in the distance.

Riana felt her rage boil inside her like an active volcano ready to explode at any second. She gritted her teeth and bent her legs slightly, readying herself to leap forward behind the one who caused her niece so much pain.

SOB, SOB

“...” Lawkey felt the shivering behind his leg and contemplated the situation. Then, he made a decision.

“Get back here! You-?!”

Just before Riana could jump in pursuit, Lawkey put a hand on her shoulder to stop her.

“What are you doing?!” She asked in puzzlement, the surprise evident in her wide eyes.

With his eyes, Lawkey gestured down to his leg before muttering, “You’re scaring her.”

“!!”

Riana looked down to see her shivering niece, but just as she made eye contact with her, Sana immediately hid behind Lawkey again.

The furious siren immediately bit her lip and forced herself to calm down.

It wouldn’t do me any good to act on my own and beat her to a pulp now… And more importantly, I have to avoid arousing Sana’s power any further… If what happened on the ship happens again, there are no guarantees that she would survive, or anyone in this clan for that matter… Riana tried reasoning herself into a more logical state, taking control of her emotions.

“Even so… She still has to pay for what she did…” Riana muttered to herself, looking away.

“Stop it while you can, Riana.”

“?!”

The two adults turned to face the new voice that showed up out of nowhere. Riana’s eyes widened, then quickly narrowed into slits.

“I’m really glad you’re both safe despite the fact that you didn’t wait for us and just pursued them on your own, but let’s just leave it at that.” The voice spoke again as the owner came into view to reveal a new siren that walked with a sense of authority.

She had long straight hair that reached down to her waist and took on a light navy blue hue. She wore a hair accessory that started with pink starfishes on the sides of her head, complimenting the same colored ear fins and orange eyes.

Beside a necklace of shellfish and a modest pinkish cloth around her waist acting as a skirt, her ample chest was supported by what seemed like a combination of oysters and clam remains.

This was Lamia Undine, the current leader of the Undine Clan at just twenty seven years old.

“Lamia! What do you mean, leave it? Are you okay with this?!”

“There is nothing we can do, Riana.” Lamia lowered her gaze slightly, then continued, “The executive of the Golden Garden Guild is here, and has full control over Arya.”

Lawkey instinctively turned his gaze toward the cathedral in the distance, realizing what Lamia’s words meant.

The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.

“Ever since Arya’s son went missing a couple of months ago, she does whatever that executive tells her to, without questions.” Lamia explained further, trying to shed better light on the current situation in hopes of avoiding inner strife within the clan, “She does it all for the slightest hope of seeing him again.”

Despite hearing the reasons Arya had, Sana tightened her grip on Lawkey’s pants.

No matter what reason she had, selling or giving Sana away like that isn’t something that can be forgiven… Lawkey silently clenched his fist, memories of his past rushing into his head. Despite it all, he retained his neutral expression, not letting his face give him away. I can understand if Sana can’t accept the fact that the other siren is getting off this easily after what she did…

Beside him, Riana was having similar thoughts, but she wasn’t about to stay silent. If she didn’t stand up for her niece, no one from the clan would. Even though they should be treating her with the utmost care…

“You can’t expect us to simply let this go, Lamia! Sana almost slipped out of our hands because of Arya's selfishness!”

“You know what will happen if we cross the guild, don’t you? Of course you do.” Lamia said, then turned her eyes to look towards the center of the square while holding a first close to her chest, “If we go against them, or punish Arya for acting on their orders… It’s not worth it…”

“...” While Lamia trailed off, Riana bit her lip in frustration.

“You are both safe, and that’s what matters in the end. I just hope you didn’t cause us too much trouble…”

Um, lady, you have no idea… Let’s just say that ship will never see the moonlight again… Lawkey commented inwardly, but part of him was still concerned about the two that escaped from Riana. That Captain and his Rookie… They weren’t among the bodies we threw into the sea, they were probably the ones that escaped before I made it on deck…

“It’s not right, Lamia… we can’t keep living like this…” Riana furrowed her brows.

“...” the leader of the Undine Clan narrowed her eyes, then closed them with a deep breath.

Lawkey waited silently, keeping a hand over Sana’s shivering head. He felt that she shouldn’t stay in this situation any longer. After everything she was put through, the little girl needed sleep and rest, not to be in the middle of another tense situation like this.

After a moment of silence, Lamia raised her head and looked at Riana with a new set of determined eyes, “I inherited the responsibility of protecting this clan, even if by consequence. My priority will always be to protect the entire clan, or what is left of it these days.”

“My sister would have never stood for this!” Riana snapped, the veins in her forehead convulsing.

“No!!”

“?!”

Hearing that, everyone turned to look at Sana, who took a few steps back, away from Lawkey.

“I… Mommy…hick,” The little girl tried to wipe her eyes clean so she could speak, but no matter how much she tried, the tears kept flowing down uncontrollably, “My mommy… would…”

Realizing she can’t voice her thoughts, Sana gave up and took off running towards the center of the square again.

“Sana!” Riana called out, then began to follow her.

“...” Lawkey watched in silence, he felt that he was close to connecting some dots now.

Expecting what is to come, Lamia winced and narrowed her eyes from behind. Even though she had become the leader of the clan, she knew how dire the situation was in comparison to previous generations. Even so, she always believed that the true leader of the Undine Clan would have been able to lead it towards a better future.

If only she had succeeded, if only the Guild Masters of the Golden Garden Guild hadn't stepped in themselves…

“Yes, the former leader of our clan was fierce and resolute. She always fought back to free us and save our race…” Lamia muttered, with only herself and Lawkey beside her to hear her words.

“...” Lawkey stayed silent and let her talk, but his focus had been on the little girl running toward the monument of the lady of the lake and sea. He guessed she was likely going to pray, or vent her anger at the one figure this clan looked up to.

She’s still too young… It’s okay for her to find something to blame for now… If it can help her keep moving forward, I’m sure she can develop to become someone wiser. Someone who realizes that there is no escaping one’s shadow… and that we have to embrace our darkness in the end… Heh, look at this, Old man, you really rubbed off on me. I’m barely eighteen years old, and I’m sounding like you already… Maybe it was a good thing I left in the end…

“?!”

As Lawkey was going through his thoughts, he suddenly noticed Sana make a turn and run towards the side instead. Before even reaching her destination, she leaped forward and landed at the feet of the golden statue, the one depicting the stoic and proud siren Lawkey had seen earlier.

“What?” He took a step forward, not understanding why she would do that. He was sure she was going to the Nimue monument.

Unless…

Lawkey then suddenly turned back to Lamia, as if demanding an answer from her.

Lamia returned his gaze, then closed her eyes in acceptance. “That’s right. It’s exactly as you think.”

“Wahhhh!”

Lawkey could hear Sana’s wailing as she clung to the golden statue, not letting go even under Riana’s fierce grip.

“That golden statue is our previous leader, Rania Undine, herself. She stood up and fought back to free our clan from the Golden Garden Guild. Just when we thought she would finally be able to save us, the Guild Masters stepped in.”

Lawkey’s left eye twitched at the mention of the Guild Masters. During his time in the Kage Clan, he had more or less heard of the incident that happened during his mentor Munisai's prime. He knew exactly who was to blame, and who was now leading the Golden Garden Guild that supported Kojiro in his revolution attempt almost six years ago…

Seeing Lawkey not interfering or asking questions, Lamia continued.

“Yes, three years ago, the ones known as the Coin Masters turned our dependable and strong leader, Rania, into a golden statue, and left her where we would all see it as a reminder of what would happen if we rebelled again.”

Lawkey’s eyes widened in utter shock as he heard Sana’s call from behind.

“Mommy!!”

His brows quickly twisted into a frown at the sight of her clinging to her mother who was turned into a golden statue.

She would no longer get warmth from it, no reaction, nothing at all.

She could only cry helplessly while calling out to her unmoving mother every day.

Inside Lawkey, who had lost multiple mother figures in the past, something snapped.

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image [https://i.imgur.com/KQmIY8F.png]