After Teasing the Crazy Mermaid, He Actually Deceived Me into Marriage - Chapter 11

The stone cave was dimly lit, with the lingering glow of the sunset spilling inside like scattered gold. Creeping ivy clung wildly to the stone walls, its tangled vines drooping onto the swing ropes at the cave entrance, swaying gently in the breeze.

In the center of the cavern stood a long table, draped in a stark white tablecloth, an incongruous sight. Silver platters were laden with an array of exquisite foods.

Si Tang opposite each other, Si Tang and Fan Yi created an indescribably strange atmosphere.

Si Tang’s fingers unconsciously traced the knife and fork in her hands as she ate stiffly under Fan Yi’s watchful gaze.

This was Fan Yi’s first encounter with food from the new era, and he observed it with mild curiosity, though he had no intention of tasting it. He had no interest in food cooked with fire.

Watching this human eat seemed to be his current source of amusement.

She sat ramrod straight, her white woven linen dress making her appear exceptionally docile. Under her skilled hands, the food was transformed into works of art. Fan Yi had never imagined that a human eating could be so pleasing to the eye perhaps this was what humans called elegance and refinement. (This god, being only 300 years old with memories of just one world, had seen far too little.)

Under such scrutiny, no matter how delicious the food, Si Tang felt as if she were sitting on pins and needles.

Before long, she set down her utensils and said politely, “I’m full.”

Fan Yi watched as she wiped the corners of her mouth with a napkin, then lowered her head slightly, as if awaiting his next command.

Her resigned compliance was almost unbelievable.

“Are you satisfied?” Fan Yi asked, clearly in good spirits.

Si Tang nodded.

Fan Yi tilted his chin up slightly. “Then, do you think I’m impressive?”

Si Tang nodded again in agreement.

Fan Yi’s mood brightened even more.

He left in high spirits, while Si Tang watched him depart with a bewildered expression.

Not only did Fan Yi have no idea what she was thinking, but Si Tang was equally clueless about what went through this fish’s mind every day.

From then on, Si Tang began to enjoy occasional lavish meals.

All the food had been scavenged from ships, and Si Tang could already imagine the ghost stories that would soon circulate across the Atlantic.

This fish was truly capable. After being fed like this for several days in a row, Si Tang obediently played the roles of the “submissive one” and “admirer” in his eyes.

But Fan Yi grew increasingly dissatisfied.

He hadn’t heard even a whisper of Si Tang’s inner thoughts. Though the game had only just begun, Fan Yi was not a patient being.

This human had backbone, Fan Yi knew. So, he gathered a large basket of rare treasures from sunken ships at the bottom of the sea.

“All this wealth can be yours, if you’re willing,” he said to Si Tang, his voice low and enticing.

Si Tang stared at the cave now filled with baskets of precious gems and couldn’t help but gasp softly. Yet she knew all too well that this was just another trap set by the wicked fish before her.

“What would I need to do?”

“Become my follower.”

“If I become your follower, will you let me leave?” Si Tang asked cautiously.

“No,” Fan Yi flatly refused.

“Why not? I could return to land with you, and you could eat me anytime,” Si Tang began to play the pity card. “But before you eat me, I want to go home.”

“You must remain in these waters,” Fan Yi insisted.

He still intended to eat her, how could he allow her to escape his control?

Fan Yi couldn’t leave this part of the Atlantic Ocean he had been exiled and imprisoned in this world, not here for leisure. But he had no intention of explaining this to the human.

Si Tang simply thought he was keeping her trapped on this sea for his own amusement.

“Staying here, these treasures are useless to me,” Si Tang murmured softly.

Fan Yi seemed to ponder for a moment before nodding. “Fair enough.”

With a slight lift of his hand, the room full of jewels vanished without a trace.

He withdrew his hand, tilting his head slightly as he gazed at her. “Then what do you want? Besides going home. As long as you become my follower, I can fulfill any wish you have.”

Yet, to Si Tang, such temptations felt hollow and meaningless.

“I, I just want to go home,” Si Tang couldn’t help but whisper, her lowered eyelashes veiling her slightly reddened eyes.

Seeing this, Fan Yi’s expression turned cold. “Ungrateful.”

He left in anger that day. To punish her disobedience, he left no food behind, as if to make her understand the predicament she would face without him.

Si Tang went hungry for a day.

She fell asleep in her hunger, and the next morning, as the faint light of dawn spilled in, she rose as usual to wash up.

Afterward, she languidly leaned against the swing, squinting at the morning sunlight outside the cave.

The sunlight pierced through the white barrier of light and fell upon her fingertips. From dawn till dusk, Fan Yi did not appear that day.

It was clear, he wanted her to endure the hunger until she could bear it no longer, until she begged for mercy and submitted to him.

Si Tang stepped down from the swing and leaned against the stone wall once more, closing her eyes in contemplation.

When night fell, she returned to the inner chamber of the stone cave only to find her blanket and clothes had disappeared as well.

It was easy to guess whose doing it was.

Was he trying to starve her to death and freeze her as well?

With her blanket taken by FanYi, Si Tang leaned against the stone wall, shivering slightly as the extreme temperature drop of the night set in.

The more she thought about it, the more sorrowful she felt, a bitter smile tracing her lips.

Perhaps she had brought this upon herself. It seemed that even the slightest hint of defiance would make him unpredictable.

However, the hot spring at the center of the chamber was still steaming. Si Tang breathed a sigh of relief and, without removing her clothes, stepped into the water to warm herself.

Maybe that fish had forgotten about it.

She thought silently.

Enduring her hunger, Si Tang rested her head on the edge of the hot spring and closed her eyes.

She didn’t know how much time had passed.

When Si Tang woke with a start, her arm was numb, and her face was damp with the steam rising from the hot spring. Her youthful, innocent face, pure as a gardenia, was shrouded in the mist. As she slowly opened her eyes, she saw FanYi seated not far away.

He had been sitting there for who knows how long, his posture weary and lazy, seated on an antique chair made of animal hide, who knows where he got it and toying with a Swiss army knife, likely another find from a pirate ship on the sea.

He watched her awakening with leisurely composure.

In the swirling mist, Si Tang let out a soft breath, her voice gentle and submissive, adopting the demeanor of the weak.

“Lord Fan Yi, I was wrong.”

He seemed intrigued, straightening up slightly. “Oh? What were you wrong about?”

“I shouldn’t have defied you.”

Hearing this, Fan Yi curled his lips into a faint smile and drew closer.