I Don't Want To Fall In Love With The Heroine [Quick Wear] - Chapter 28

The regeneration of a mermaid’s tail is the equivalent of a phoenix rising from the ashes.

The psychic power that previously held no lethal potential transforms into a top-tier weapon the moment the tail reappears. However, this power, no matter how immense, remains utterly ineffective against one specific type of person.

—The mermaid’s true love.

This was the very reason why, in the original plot, no matter how much the female lead hated the man, she could never truly harm him; her heart still harbored a lingering love for him.

The Sea Mentor had never told Yu Shaoling this.

The realization that she had long since fallen for this human hit the Mermaid Princess with the force of a tidal wave. In that moment, she shed agonizing tears of blood. She believed she had killed her own lover with her own hands.

If I had only realized my heart sooner, would there still have been time?

No one could answer her. Her overwhelming regret and self-loathing caused the blood within her eyes to condense into piercing, vivid tears that traced paths down her pale cheeks. These blood-mixed pink pearls hit the floor with a rhythmic, heart-wrenching clack.

For a mermaid to shed tears of blood is an act of self-punishment beyond human imagination. The fine threads of blood that form the tears act like razor-sharp silk, grating against the eyeball and the flesh simultaneously. They are the physical manifestation of a pain that no human could endure.

It was the most cruel punishment the Princess had ever faced since birth. She trembled so violently that her nerves seemed to fray, yet she remained silent, suppressing even a whimper. The physical agony was nothing compared to the shattering of her heart.

A buzzing ring filled her ears, and amidst the white noise, a cold, hollow voice repeated itself without mercy:

“You killed her!”

“You killed her!”

“You killed the person you loved most!”

“You must pay with your life!”

The hypnotic chant, wave after wave, hooked into the girl’s own desperate thoughts. She slowly opened her eyes. Through the blurred haze of red, she saw the misty figure of a woman.

Yu Shaoling’s eyes widened in disbelief. Then, a thought struck her, and her lips curved into a faint smile. “Have you come to take me with you?”

******

Bai Qian hadn’t heard the girl’s mutterings. She was currently a bit dazed.

When that terrifying pressure of psychic energy had lunged toward her, she truly thought she was dead. But it had all been an illusion. The moment that suffocating gale reached her, it transformed into a gentle breeze, wrapping around her with a refreshing, heart-soothing coolness.

She hadn’t been harmed in the slightest.

As she regained her composure, Bai Qian remembered the mermaid lore of this world—the regenerated power cannot harm a loved one. Realizing this, a flare of indignation rose in her chest.

This damned fish… is this how she treats the person she loves? Calling me “little captive” daily wasn’t enough, now she’s trying to kill me?

Before she could dwell on it, the sounds from the room drew her attention. She recognized them all too well. Realizing what was happening, Bai Qian whipped her head around.

A white light, many times brighter than before, forced her to shut her eyes instinctively. When she opened them again, there was no trace of Yu Shaoling left in the room.

Bai Qian froze, but before she could react, a sharp, piteous wail erupted from the bathroom: “WHY!”

The mermaid, having used all her power in an attempt to commit suicide to join her lover in death, had failed. She had never hated her own power so much. With bloodshot eyes and a mind bordering on madness, she summoned her energy again and struck her own heart.

The white light flashed again. A second later, the girl reappeared out of thin air in the exact spot where she had first laid eyes on her beloved. It was a cycle that tortured her more than any other method of death could.

The lifeless girl raised her hand once more.

Bai Qian, rushing toward the sound, arrived just in time to see the mermaid attempting suicide for the third time. The sound of the door opening didn’t even register with Yu Shaoling. She laughed deliriously, tears of blood continuing to flow.

“Supreme God of the Sea, I beg you… let me go to her.”

The white light flashed again. The God of the Sea did not hear the repentance of its subject. Desperate and unable to destroy herself, the Princess muttered to herself, “I killed her! I killed her! Take me away! Take me with her! Sea God—”

The rest of her words died in her throat as she saw the woman standing before her. She reached out tentatively, her hand stopping mid-air, terrified of disturbing what she assumed was a ghost. Through her tears of blood, she asked in a trembling voice: “Are… are you… are you still alive?”

All the resentment Bai Qian had been harboring over the past weeks vanished the moment she saw those blood-stained tears. It was replaced by an aching pity.

“I’m fine. Stop crying.”

Yu Shaoling lunged forward and pulled her into a crushing embrace. She whispered apology after apology into the woman’s ear, using a humble tone she had never used before, begging for the forgiveness of her lost-and-found treasure.

“I didn’t mean it, I’m sorry, I truly didn’t want to hurt you. I… I didn’t expect you to say those things, my hand just slipped. I’m sorry, I’m so sorry. I’ll never do it again.”

“Please forgive me, okay? I was wrong. I’m sorry. I truly didn’t mean to hurt you. I’m sorry, I’m so sorry, I’m sorry…”

She rambled on, repeating the same few phrases over and over. Her panicked, helpless state was almost enough to make one laugh.

“I’m sorry… I only understand now that from the very beginning, the one who became a captive… was me.”

Having murmured those final words, the extreme shift in emotion proved too much, and Yu Shaoling lost consciousness.

*****

Bai Qian settled the girl on the sofa. She stood quietly, staring down at the mermaid who she both loved and hated. Finally, she let out a deep, long sigh.

If this girl loses her memory one more time, I’m quitting!

Bai Qian left the house alone to find An Yan and ask how to treat a mermaid who has shed blood-tears. An Yan gave her a sprig of six-leaf blue grass and explained how to use it. But just as she was about to wave Bai Qian away, she paused, her brow furrowing.

“You have a scent on you that I hate.”

Bai Qian stiffened. “I shower every day.”

The woman shook her head seriously. “It’s not a human stench. it’s the filthy smell of the deep ocean.”

“What do you mean?”

An Yan squinted and scanned her meticulously, her gaze eventually stopping at Bai Qian’s collarbone. She reached out and tapped it. A strand of intangible black mist struggled to crawl out of her body, trying to dive back in the moment it touched the light. An Yan caught it with lightning speed, gripping the end and yanking it out completely.

The woman crushed it with disgust. “Tsk. That disgusting sorcery again.”

Before Bai Qian could ask, she explained: “This stuff messes with the mind. I almost fell for it once and nearly hurt the person most important to me. This strand is very thin; it must have been split off from someone else. If I had to guess, the one who actually fell for the trap was your little fish.”

Bai Qian remembered something. “Can this sorcery cause intermittent amnesia?”

An Yan shrugged. “Who knows? Aside from a total personality shift, I didn’t suffer any other effects. Why? Did your fish lose her memory? More than once?”

Bai Qian didn’t pursue the topic. If this magic could warp a person’s nature, then amnesia was likely a side effect.

“Can you come back with me?”

Knowing what she was thinking, An Yan shook her head. “No need. This grass I gave you has the power to eliminate it.”

******

Back home, Bai Qian ground the leaves into juice. She knelt beside the sleeping girl and used her fingertip to dab the sky-blue liquid onto Yu Shaoling’s bloodless lips.

The juice, which should have just run down her chin, was miraculously absorbed. A second later, hundreds of identical black wisps crawled out of Yu Shaoling’s skin. They dissipated the moment they touched the light, vanishing within moments.

Bai Qian finally breathed a sigh of relief. As she finished feeding her the rest of the liquid, her legs began to feel numb. She moved to get up and return to the kitchen.

Suddenly, a hand reached out and snagged the hem of her shirt. Bai Qian looked down; Yu Shaoling hadn’t opened her eyes. The movement was a purely subconscious reaction. Bai Qian carefully pried the hand away, but the moment she set it down, it found her again, this time grabbing her hand.

Bai Qian tried to pull away, but it was no use. The girl’s grip was incredibly strong. No matter how much force she used, the girl wouldn’t let go. Eventually, she gave up and sat on the carpet, hand-in-hand with the sleeping mermaid.

Watching the girl’s closed eyes, Bai Qian began to feel tired. She tried one more time to pull her hand back, but it wouldn’t budge. Resigning herself, she rested her head against the girl’s waist and fell asleep as well.

*****

Yu Shaoling woke up first. When she opened her eyes, she saw Bai Qian sleeping beside her. The memories from before she lost consciousness filled the gap, and she quickly recalled everything that had happened.

After a moment of silence, the girl brought Bai Qian’s hand to her lips and planted a devout, soulful kiss on her ring finger.

This was a ritual unique to the mermaid race. Compared to the human exchange of rings, its meaning was far more profound. A human could remarry and put a new ring on that finger, but a mermaid’s Kiss of the Nameless can only be given to one person in a lifetime. To give this kiss meant to surrender one’s life entirely to the other.

The Princess pressed her beloved’s hand against her left chest. “Now… you can kill me as easily as you wish.”

*****

Bai Qian, unaware that an ancient and mysterious ritual had been completed without her knowledge, woke up to find herself lying in bed. Everything around her was both familiar and strange. Her drowsiness vanished instantly.

Was my memory wrong? Didn’t Yu Shaoling just destroy this room with her power?

“You’re awake?” A voice came from behind.

Bai Qian turned and saw Yu Shaoling leaning against the headboard, reading a book as if nothing had happened.

“Did you… fix all this?”

Yu Shaoling turned a page, her attitude no different from usual. “Did you forget? My power can do things like this, too.”

It wasn’t that Bai Qian had forgotten; it was that she had never seen it. Yu Shaoling had only ever used her power for destruction—well, except for that one time she erased the marks on Bai Qian’s skin.

“I went through your wallet earlier.”

Bai Qian: ?

“I won’t touch your things without permission again. This was a one-time thing. I hope you can forgive me.”

The Princess, who had always looked down on her as a captive, was suddenly speaking with such warmth and humility. Even though Bai Qian knew it was because the black mist was gone, she couldn’t adapt to it immediately.

Yu Shaoling, unaware of the magic that had affected her, had clearly decided to spend the rest of her days repenting for that “accident.” She set the book down, straightened her legs, and snapped her fingers.

Bai Qian felt herself being lifted by something soft—like a cloud made of seawater. It carried her until she landed right in front of Yu Shaoling. The girl reached out and lightly tapped the center of her collarbone.

Bai Qian looked down. Her once-bare neck was now adorned with a delicate pearl necklace featuring a miniature sea conch. Bai Qian knew exactly what that conch meant to a mermaid.

She looked up in shock, meeting the girl’s amber eyes. Those eyes seemed to have a magical pull, filled with complex emotions.

“Bai Qian. I saw the name on your ID. You’re called Bai Qian, right?”

Yu Shaoling smiled with a tenderness she had never shown before. “Yu Shaoling. That’s my name. Let’s get to know each other properly… my dear partner.”

Bai Qian: ???

“Wait, what ‘partner’?”

“You like me, and my heart belongs to you. Is that not enough to make you my partner?” Yu Shaoling bit her lip. “Or perhaps… you’re waiting until I take you back to the ocean and we hold the ritual before everyone? Fine. If that’s what you wish, we’ll do it. But I can’t go back yet. Once I have my tail, I’ll take you home and we will bond as partners then.”

Mentioning the tail made Yu Shaoling frown. “I know you like me, but don’t use that drug on me again. If you’re really that unhappy being ‘under’ me, then in the future… I’ll find the right moments to let you take charge. Will that satisfy you?”

Bai Qian didn’t even have a chance to get a word in before the girl rattled everything off like a machine gun. When she finally went quiet, Bai Qian finally found an opening. She had a thousand things to refute, but only a simple explanation came out.

“I just forgot to tell you beforehand… I really was doing that to help your tail grow back.”

Yu Shaoling sighed helplessly. “I know you did it because you love me too much. You don’t have to keep lying. We both saw it—my legs didn’t change at all.”

Bai Qian gritted her teeth. “That’s because it takes three times! Last night was only the first. Of course there were no results!”

The girl was surprised. “Three times? How do you know that?”

“Don’t worry about how I know. Those are the rules. We have two more to go. Why don’t we… just do another one right now?”

Perhaps influenced by the girl’s habit of bringing it up out of the blue, Bai Qian could now discuss it with a straight face. Yu Shaoling didn’t agree immediately; she was clearly hesitating.

Bai Qian grew annoyed. “Fine! Do it or don’t! It’s not my tail that’s missing anyway!”

She moved to stand up from Yu Shaoling’s lap with a dark face, but the girl caught her waist and pulled her back down, forcing her against her chest once more. Having accepted the fact that the woman was her true love, the Princess was finally willing to be honest with her heart.

“You taste very sweet,” Yu Shaoling whispered. “I’ll let you lead… but, can I taste you once more first?”

Bai Qian: “…”

I was wrong. When it comes to ‘speeding on the highway,’ I could live for hundreds of years and still never catch up to this perverted fish who doesn’t know the meaning of a blush!

*****

Bai Qian hadn’t really seen the girl’s tail in the original plot because shortly after it appeared, it was soaked in blood. Now, she could finally appreciate it properly and at a close distance. She was so stunned she couldn’t speak.

Yu Shaoling was still sleeping. Bai Qian’s touch on the tail was light, afraid of waking her. The scales were a pale pink, each one shimmering with a beautiful silver light like individual gemstones. They weren’t just exquisite; unlike normal fish scales, they didn’t need to be in water to look vibrant. Even in the air, they sparkled brilliantly.

No wonder the scumbag wanted to carve them off one by one. Such a wonderful thing from the deep sea would spark greed in anyone.

Yu Shaoling didn’t wake up for a long time. Bai Qian kept checking her pulse to make sure she was still alive. As the lights went out late at night, Bai Qian thought that if she wasn’t awake by tomorrow afternoon, she’d go find An Yan and see if something was wrong.

*****

The next morning, Bai Qian was woken up by Yu Shaoling, who was buried in her chest, her entire face wet with tears. The girl held her tight, her whimpers full of longing.

“Waaa… Bai Qian, I’m sorry. It’s my fault… I forgot you, and I did those things to you. Waaa… please don’t ignore me. I’m sorry… I’ll never forget you again.”

Bai Qian froze. Is this the ‘Crybaby’ Yu Shaoling?

She asked tentatively, “You… you remember?”

The girl nodded against her chest. “I remember everything. Including the night you pulled me out of the sea… all the memories are back.”

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