Chapter 87: The Ugly Monster

Chapter 87: The Ugly Monster

Outside the Seashell Castle, the prince clung to the mermaid with reluctance. He was afraid that once he let her go, he would never see her again.

"I'll come back for you as a human. Within five years, I promise I'll find you," the mermaid whispered against his shoulder, her head nestled in his embrace.

"Can't you stay? There are many humans, but only one of you," the prince held her tightly.

"I want to be human, with legs, so I can accompany you wherever you go."

"You said you'd live in the castle forever. Did the wizard say something to you?"

"It wasn't the wizard, it's you..."

"Me?"

"It's you. Your brows have been furrowed for too long. I wish the prince would always be the one who held my hand on the beach, full of confidence and joy."

"I'm sorry, I've given you this impression."

"Dearest Prince, I'll be back," the mermaid pushed away from him. The prince reached out to clasp her hand, just as he had on that sandy shore when he first held her wrist.

She turned and smiled, surrounded by the shimmering waves and a school of fish. Her beauty still captivated, but she was no longer the mermaid from a year ago. As the prince drew her into his embrace, she retreated, inch by inch, until his hand grasped only air.

"Mermaid..."

"Wait for me, you must."

The mermaid left the Shell Castle and returned to the vast, boundless ocean. After a long swim, she gazed at her scarlet, glass-like tail.

"You're leaving me, my tail. I'll miss you."

...

The potion was like the most potent and intoxicating wine. It erased profound pain, immersing her in a hallucinatory bliss. This illusory future held her in its thrall, with a golden glow illuminating a beautiful vision.

There, she had legs, dancing and running alongside the prince to the ends of the earth. The prince wore no more sorrow; he always embraced her with joy.

Tang Fei's scales peeled away from her tail, one by one, yet the searing pain mattered not to her. The brutal transformation of flesh and bone was the key to unlocking that glorious future.

These sufferings transformed into sweetness within her, making all sacrifices worthwhile.

Her skin had become rough and textured like tree bark, with patterns ingrained deep into her flesh. Her throat felt scraped by a blade, soon to resemble the croak of an elderly person.

Her beautiful and enigmatic black eyes were now concealed beneath the bark-like skin, leaving only a narrow slit for light to pass through.

Scars crisscrossed her legs, marks left from the removal of her scales.

She felt no pain, no fear; instead, she was filled with hope for the future.

When Tang Fei emerged from the massive seashell and reappeared in the ocean, the fish, clams, crabs, and starfish that once embraced her kept their distance.

They watched her from afar, with the timid swiftly swimming away, the curious lingering for a few more glimpses, and the mischievous forming a circle to sing a mocking song:

Ugly Monster of the Sea

In the sea, there's an ugly monster

Whose legs are scarred, so hideous and drear

Her eyes were veiled by creased excess skin.

Her skin resembled withered tree bark.

Her face had been ravaged like charcoal by flames.

No one knew her identity.

A hag, like an old crone.

An ugly creature, unloved by any.

...

Outside the Seashell Castle, the prince constructed a platform in the sea. Each day, he waited there for the mermaid's arrival.

After a month, having heard the tale, girls pretending to be mermaids were sent away by him in waves.

The prince could only gaze at his own sketch of the mermaid day and night, longing for her presence, yet she never came.

On this day, the prince detected an unusual rhythm in the ocean's roar. It resembled the sound made by the mermaid each time she emerged from the depths. Filled with anticipation, he rose from his vantage point where he waited.

Yet, instead of the familiar figure, a stranger surfaced – a woman with an unattractive countenance, scarred all over, yet proficient in the water.

His instinct seemed to hint at something, but suddenly, it fell silent, offering no response.

Could she be my mermaid?

As the woman approached the platform, the prince caught a whiff of a pungent, fishy odor, reminiscent of decaying sea life. The scent that clung to the mermaid was entirely absent from this woman.

She is not the mermaid, he realized.

"Excuse me... who are you?" the prince inquired.

The mermaid's joyful smile froze on her face as the prince failed to recognize her.

"Prince, I am the mermaid."

"You are the one-hundred and fifth pretender," he replied.

The prince truly couldn't recognize her. His confident intuition, his claim that he could remember her scent, and his assurance that he could identify her no matter what she looked like — all of it was wrong, unreliable. He failed to do so.

The mermaid's eyes shimmered with sorrow, disappointment, and tears of pain, all concealed behind layers of excess skin.

"Why can't I be the one?" The mermaid refused to give up just yet.

"Miss, I would never mistake her. You are not she," the prince declared with certainty, leaving the mermaid's efforts in vain.

I've returned, as promised, to your side, Prince.

Yet you fail to recognize me.

With five years elapsed, I might forget you entirely.

Tang Fei gazed at the prince's face with a hint of greed. The profound ache that had been gnawing at her seemed to erupt all at once, searing her nerves from within.

She had forsaken everything precious for legs, only to push the prince further away.

A vision of a perfect future shattered instantaneously.

Perhaps she had been too greedy, hoping for an existence without blemishes or sorrows. If everything remained at the starting point, she might still have found joy beside the prince, even with a touch of imperfection.

"Prince, would you let me accompany you for five years, wait with you for the mermaid?"

If after five years, you still cannot recognize me, then please find new happiness.

"Five years?" The prince seized on this pivotal detail, but delving deeper only clouded his thoughts.

Day by day, night by night, through the passing of springs and autumns.

A year flew by swiftly.

The prince grew restless with merely waiting on the platform. He took to small boats, patrolling the surrounding waters, listening intently for any familiar melody, hoping that the mermaid was simply playing hide-and-seek, waiting to save him when he pretended to drown.

But when he truly did fall into the sea and began to drown, it was the ugly woman with the rough voice who rescued him.

His initial disappointment was surprisingly muted, replaced instead by a vague sense of familiarity.

"She has yet to return," the prince rejoined the dais, somewhat disheartened but finding solace in the sight of the ugly maiden.

Accustomed to the presence of the plain woman, the prince gradually began to share with her his feelings for the mermaid.

She is a mermaid, graced with a stunning scarlet tail fin.

The prince pointed at the crimson sunset, as red as it could be.

The plain woman lowered her gaze to her legs, upon which the scars were also vividly red. Yet, they were not beautiful; on the contrary, they were horrifying against the backdrop of her limbs.

Her voice was the sweetest melody, enchanting seagulls, schools of fish, dolphins, even the seaweed and starfish into a dance.

The prince gazed at the soaring seagulls, his mind flooded with memories of the past.

The ugly woman gently stroked her throat. Her rough voice would send the peacefully swimming fish fleeing in terror every time she spoke.

Her skin was as delicate as water, and her breath carried the distinctive fragrance of the ocean, distinct from...

The prince fell silent, cutting himself off mid-sentence.

The maid glanced at the roughened, mottled skin on her hands and the reek of decaying fish and shrimp that clung to her body. She knew the prince was referring to an odor different from that of others who had spent long periods in the sea, like herself.

"The mermaid you envision might never come," the ugly woman asked the prince.

"She won't break her promise. If she doesn't arrive, it's because she's not ready yet. I'll keep waiting until I can no longer do so," the prince replied, no longer in a hurry. He had grown accustomed to his daily vigilance and could patiently wait for the one who held his heart.

The ugly woman felt both touched and saddened.

I haven't broken my promise, Prince, for I am already by your side.

But you have, for you cannot recognize me.

"Prince, if ever I depart, I hope you will seek your happiness anew."

"My happiness lies only with her."

Tears welled up in the ugly woman's eyes. She realized she had made a wrong choice. Her prince could not fulfill his promise, and she should not have sought perfection where it was unattainable.

...

On the fourth year and three hundred sixty-fourth day, with only one day left until the fated fifth year, the wizard and the knight reappeared outside Seashell Castle.

They had arrived to prepare for the prince's wedding to the princess, who had been missing for nearly five years.