Mari, her entourage, and the Princess continued in silence for the next few hours. There were moments when Mari wanted to say something, to ask questions. But she didn't know how, in a literal sense; she had no idea how the [Merfolk] communicated, but she was clearly not part of it. The words were stuck in her throat either way.

And then they arrived to see a gigantic coral reef stretch out to all edges of the deep waters. Not exactly a coral reef, but the home of the [Merfolk], as Mari figured shortly after. It astonished her how she had never stumbled upon it, seeing how truly unmissable it appeared, but honestly, she felt she would be happier if she had never seen it in the first place. After all, "[Merfolk]" and "trouble" were quickly growing a connection in her mind. They entered the living area through what could only be described as an ancient coral gate, which seemed as though it would fall apart at the slightest touch. It made Mari think for a second about how viable the gate was as a... well, gate, but the guards stationed all the way around it seemed to make up for it.

Upon entering, Mari's group received a deep bow from the guards—or rather, the Princess did. Nonetheless, Mari had to admit that it felt good seeing them kneel, even if she quickly shook that thought away. The inside was more orderly than what she'd expected from a coral reef; there were clear passages that functioned as streets and apparently numerous districts for coral homes of all sizes and colors. Especially the enormous structure in the heart of the city—City, Mari felt that was the appropriate word for what she saw around her—drew her attention. She needed to crane her head to even see its tip. Though Mari usually enjoyed sightseeing in the deep ocean, this time, the nervousness almost made her vomit. She grabbed her own elbows and let her tentacles wriggle behind her without a care for the strange looks she received from the citizens who appeared out of the houses all around them. The men, women, elderly, and kids were all like sharks drawn to blood, only much less ferocious and more curious than anything, which was the one redeeming point as Mari thought. Though even if she wanted to lock eyes with them—which she didn’t—a soldier from her entourage would get in the way either way. Eventually, they made the circle tight enough that she couldn’t see through them at all.

Swimming against some light underwater currents, they finally reached the giant coral. Mari had to admit it was a magnificent piece of nature. Its architectural design was breathtaking. The Princess waved her hand, and the gate opened on its own with a low creak. So that's your home then? A palace for the monarch. Just get me out... The inside looked very different from what the squid girl had expected. It was very clean, and the corridors were of perfectly equal width and height. There were decorations like glowing stones adorning the ceiling, stretching out like vines throughout the whole place. There were also awkward paintings lining the walls.

They walked through an endless array of corridors that connected to single rooms left and right. They were decorated in a noble manner, each their own, bright color theme and furniture that accompanied it. The maze ended with a hall so large it echoed their strokes of fins and tentacles. They entered and the doors behind them were shut, and Mari was urged into the center of a giant circle drawn on the floor. Of course, she refused strongly. She had a distant memory of drawn circles—[Rituals], as she recalled—and it wasn’t a good one. After some nudging and trudging, she found herself in the center anyway. Then all gazes shifted to the Princess, and the nudging and trudging continued from the Mermaid’s side. After convincing her for so long that Mari almost managed to escape the circle for the fifth time, the Princess finally sighed and raised a hand. Mari’s whole body trembled as she saw the light that had almost killed her gather there again. Before she could jump away, it flew at her, much faster this time, and hit her dead center in the stomach. The raw energy of the spell flowed inside her, but instead of the expected pain, there was a pleasant heat. It was comparable to drinking warm ginger tea on a cold winter day, though Mari didn’t know what any of those words meant.

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A second later, she saw a message:

-- -- --

Congratulations! You have obtained a new [Skill]!

[Telepathy] added to [Skill List]!

Method of communication with nearby Holders of [Telepathy] enabled!

"Your... Holiness. If you are able to hear me, please answer." A voice—and Mari instinctively knew it was the Princess's voice—appeared directly in the girl's head. Her voice had a sweetness to it, like honey, yet it held a commanding depth that was difficult to resist. Mari could hear the reluctance in the title used to address her. "Holiness," the word came out almost mocking, but more so filled with an earnest hatred directed at her specifically. She didn’t understand why the Princess wanted her head so badly, but she was sure her newly found ability to communicate with her would either help clear up the hostility or spell disaster. Probably spell disaster. Most likely spell disaster.

"Oh, no..." Mari breathed out, stress already cramping her muscles and ability to think.

"How exhilarating to finally hear your voice, your Holiness." The Princess's words hit her, oozing with poison.

Mari took a big gulp. "Did- did I say that out loud?" she thought quietly. She didn’t know how to control her newly acquired [Skill] yet, which was bad. On the one hand, this would make the Princess finally understand that Mari hadn’t done anything to offend them, probably. On the other hand, keeping at least some of her cards hidden was an obvious basic in situations like these.

"Why, you did. It pleases me that you are using my gift so openly, your Holiness." The Princess flashed a toothy grin, fangs almost as sharp as the tone in her voice. They were like those of a shark, only prettier and in one row. Mari’s shoulders felt tight. In her current state of mind, even a pretty flower would have scared the girl to death, and comparing a pretty flower to this...

"Your... R-Royal Highness," Mari tried.

"Please, call me by my Name, like you used to. You surely remember the good old days, don't you, your Holiness," the Princess smiled.

Yeah, I'm fucked.

-- -- --

It had been a few days since then. Mari somehow managed to convince the guards and Princess to let her go without an in-depth interrogation. It seemed the [Merfolk] held the firm belief that Mari was the reincarnation of their God and just let her get away with that. Mari just laughed awkwardly when she heard that, and apparently, they took that as further proof that she was indeed their deity. She later figured out that it was the [Leviathan] whom they worshipped. Apparently, the monster, also known as the [Guardian of the Ocean], was on good terms with the [Merfolk], helping them push back the Demons in ancient times or something like that. Remembering the long row of numbers that Mari saw back when she met the giant, she could indeed wrap her head around why they called it their god.

In the meantime, she was treated well. More than well: She had tasty food, a private royal room she could stay in, and other services like fin massages and scale polishing—though she had no scales. Well, most important for Mari was to not get exposed and to say goodbye for good before they killed her. Because they definitely would once they found out she was a fraud. The [Merfolk] were a fanatic bunch when it came to their god. So far, everyone believed she was the incarnation of [Leviathan], but eventually, she would get exposed. The Princess—Nisha, as Mari "remembered" after some back and forth on the day of the [Telepathy] ritual—was definitely onto her. The squid girl was sure she was trying to convince the king at this very moment to slaughter Mari to pieces. And she still didn’t even know why the Princess hated her so much. Well, that wasn't entirely true, Mari did have some educated guesses, but it was one of her excuses to not think about it. There were more pressing matters at the moment.

Mari turned around on the way-too-soft bed in her room and let out a long, weak sigh. She didn’t know how to leave. Asking definitely seemed like a stupid idea, and she was way too weak to escape from the midst of the enemy. Mari felt her eyes burn from staring at the glowing stones on the ceiling without blinking. They were so warm... It made all the energy leave her body. Maybe, maybe she should just sleep for now, like she did yesterday. She closed the smooth sheets of the canopy that let through way too much light with two of her tentacles and closed her eyes. She then continued to cover her eyes with her arm and took a very unsteady breath.

I hate this...