Reine was often told: "thou shalt never judge before putting thyself into others' fins." She adhered to this principle quite strongly, with one significant exception: the Seeress.

Reine's aversion to the Seeress—or more specifically, her visions—were well known in the court. Many theorized that Reine was simply being jealous of Gwen's power. However, a small—but significant—number of merfolks understood that cynicism of hers was directed not to Gwen's power per se, but the overdependence of many to the visions she produced.

Reine had told no one of her newfound power partly because of that reason, too. She could foresee—even without that power—that if they learned about what she had now, they would confine her in the palace the way they had restrained her sister. Perhaps Gwen could accept it, but Reine knew well enough that she couldn't.

As such, Reine tried to slip away to the second quest as unnoticeably as she could afford to be. She had asked Neil and Viv to meet her outside of the palace just before sunrise before, so that they could embark on the journey without much interruption. However, when she was about to reach the rendezvous point, she saw a certain blue mermaid standing in front of her. Reine was stunned at her spot, prompting Gwen to swim closer to her younger twin.

"You really think I wouldn't know?" she asked, her voice even colder than the water around them. "You should've known better, Reine…"

Gwen raised her hand to Reine's face. Gwen's lower arms were covered in elegant long sleeves that seemed to follow the sea current around them. Not many mermaids would cover their bodies the way Gwen did, but that only increased the worship around this mysterious personage even further. Reine momentarily felt the soft fabric brushing against her face before she felt her sister's skin, and suddenly her vision changed.

Reine began to get used to the sensation. However, instead of one crisp vision, this time she saw multitudes of them, all featuring Gwen. They interjected one another as they liked it—there was no linear story that connected these fragments together. Even after the visions receded, Reine had no idea what had just happened.

She could see Gwen smiling faintly behind her veil. "Your power is useless if the object hasn't reached a decision, or keeping the options open," she said. "As for you, my sister, let me tell you something…"

Gwen's eyes locked themselves on Reine's scarlet counterparts. "…you will give that human something so important to you in this quest so that he will survive."

"Wha—"

"Reine?"

Neil's voice interrupted the discussion. He stared at the two mermaids perplexedly, switching his eyes between Gwen and Reine. Gwen, in a rare moment of magnanimity, offered her hand towards Neil.

Neil knew what it meant. Allen had told him the meaning of that gesture. However, Neil refused to take it. "I will protect your sister," he promised instead.

"Ah," Gwen interposed quietly. "What a naïve being you are."

"Sorry?"

Gwen refused to make further comment, deciding to retire back to her chamber. Meanwhile, Reine swam closer to Neil.

"I can take care of myself."

"So you heard?" Reine asked, confused.

"I didn't mean to."

"No," Reine murmured. "That's not the whole point…"

Reine mentally calculated the previous distance between them before stealing a glance at the human.

How many days has he been around?

The small party swam side by side, and Reine's eyes never left Neil. While Viv seemed to be pleased with what she thought as the much-anticipated romance between the two, Neil didn't seem to be even remotely aware of it. However, instead of the longing, dreamy look, Reine was obviously thinking of something hard as her brows furrowed to the point of almost touching each other and her lips contorted to the side and slightly pursed.

The mermaid was so caught up in her thoughts that she wasn't watching where she was swimming. "Reine, watch out!"

"Eh?!"

Reine turned to the side and found a grand structure of a wrecked ship. It had been there for as long as Reine remembered, and she was about to just swim away from it as usual when she noticed that Neil was still transfixed at his spot, looking at the grand shipwreck. There were many missing parts: the sail was torn beyond reconstruction, the mast invaded by dark moss, as was the deck floor. However, even that wild vegetation was unable to completely erode the feel of grandness in that ship. Neil felt that it was not so foreign to him, and slowly it did come back into his mind.

"Impossible…" he murmured.

"Why?"

Neil still gazed at the wreckage in awe. He took a deep breath and ran through another scan across the structure, just in case.

No, it must be… he thought. "Can we… go inside?"

Reine shrugged. "I don't see why not."

The door was blocked by an overgrown moss and the pressure of the deep sea made it hard for them to force the door open, even for Reine and Neil combined strength.

"Let's try to see for another way,"

"Yeah…"

They swam around the ship, trying to find another entrance point. Finally, they found a hole leading to the inner part of the ship, and they swam in. Viv almost couldn't make it, but after Neil and Reine pulled her in, she managed to get in as well with a popping sound as she passed through.

Neil traced the ship carefully and slowly his memories resurfaced. He could easily recall this very section of the ship in its forgotten glory. With that, a certain person came into his mind.

They stopped in front of a large painting that was hung on the wall of the ship. The frame had been overgrown by moss, but somehow the painting itself remained mostly intact that Reine could clearly see the model of the painting.

He was a stunning young man decorated in royal and military honours, as evident from the golden epaulettes and the sash across his body with all his medals. He held the sword firmly in his right hand; the hilt seemed to be gold in colour as well.

Reine took a closer look at the painting, tracing the lines on the face with her eyes. She glanced momentarily at Neil, who stood transfixed at where he was, looking at the same painting with a kind of longing look in his eyes.

The mermaid didn't know whether it was the right question to say, but her honesty gave her the courage to break the silence. "Is he… your father?"

"No," Neil replied. "He is His Highness the Prince Eric Junior, my past master…"

"Ah…" Reine immediately regretted asking such question. For a moment back then, she had forgotten that Neil wasn't a member of a royal family whatsoever.

"But," he interposed with an unusual heaviness and raw sadness in his voice. "Every time I dream of having a father… I do wish he would be just like His Highness."

Reine turned around to look at the painting again. The most striking element of this painting would not be his attire, but rather, his hair. He had the most luxurious red hair, not quite bright but deep, and it was attractively untamed. That combination, together with his attire, gave him the charm of being a dashing young gentleman.

The colour of his hair reminded Reine of the tales that the man in the prison told her. He spoke mainly about her favourite ballad, giving her an alternative interpretation of the long ballad. There was a part that she was particularly interested, though; a part that she had never learned before:

"Have you ever heard the story of King Triton's seventh daughter?"

"Seventh? There were only six of them, right?"

"No, there is the seventh daughter," the man corrected her. "She is the one who inherited her mother's beautiful voice as well as rich red hair. Her name would be… Ariel."

"Ariel…?" Reine hesitated. "Why we were never being told of her?"

"You see, she is… quite free-spirited," the man replied. "After a crazy adventure, she ended up in a place that is both near and unreachable."

The old merman then recounted to her the story of this Ariel came to fall in love with a human prince and asked a witch to turn herself into a human, unknowingly bringing calamity to the kingdom. After the disaster was dealt with, she returned to be a mermaid and went away from the prince who came to love her as well. The power of their love moved King Triton, who then decided to turn his own daughter to be a human to let her marry the human prince.

At that time, Reine thought that story was meant to be either a corny love story or a cautionary tale. However, looking at the painting in front of her, Reine began to wonder whether whatever that the old merman told her could be literally true.

Seems like Ariel had been left out in the merkind's history for whatever reason...

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