Chapter 50: The rmaid Princess’s Gift
The giant fish carrying Rhine and Aurora spit out the potion bottle.
The young magician introduced his creation:
"My potion doesn’t crudely cut through a rmaid’s tail like a sharp knife to split it into legs. Instead, it’s like warm sunlight lting the tail gently, reshaping it into legs.
"This process is painless and harmless.
"The newly ford legs will be as perfect as those of a natural human, without the constant pain of walking on knives.
"You’ll be able to display your beautiful dance moves freely, enchanting the prince with your grace that surpasses any dancer’s."
Rhine added with a smile,
"The potion’s gentle nature cos from a special ingredient: golden sunflowers, which only grow on sunny adows. Land nobles love wearing them as brooches, but you’d never find such flowers in the sea."
By combining the two sets of potion knowledge he now possessed, refining the original recipe with divination, and leveraging the imnse magical power he had accumulated over a decade of fulfilling wishes, Rhine’s potion far surpassed the Sea Hag’s original concoction.
"Thank you. Thank you so much, my friend," Ariel said, her voice brimming with gratitude.
Now, she wouldn’t have to lose her beautiful voice and beco a mute incapable of expressing her love.
When Ariel had been ready to accept the Sea Hag’s terms—prepared for her tongue to be severed—she had lanted her fate.
Even if she gained the prince’s love and an immortal soul, she would never be able to say the words herself.
She would forever be a silent figure, gazing at the prince’s flawless face, unable to express her joy, sorrow, or affection.
Her longing to join human society, a dream she’d held since childhood, would be marred by her inability to communicate, to run freely, to sing joyfully, or to chat and laugh with human friends.
"But," Rhine reminded her, "the curse of the world still remains. That isn’t sothing a revised recipe can fix.
"When a rmaid is given human form without an immortal soul to match, they incur the curse of the world.
"If the one you love—the prince—marries soone else, then at the first light of dawn, your heart will shatter, and you’ll dissolve into foam upon the sea.
"The only way to break this curse is to obtain an immortal soul. As long as you secure the prince’s love, the curse will be dispelled."
The little rmaid nodded resolutely.
With a voice as heavenly as the song of angels and a beauty enhanced by her graceful dancing, how could any human heart resist her?
"I will never forget your kindness, my good and generous friends!" Ariel said, trembling as she accepted the potion bottle.
"But I can’t just accept your help for free. As the Sea Hag said, how can I take such a great gift without offering sothing in return?
"I am the princess of the rmaids, the most beloved granddaughter of my grandmother. Please tell what you need, and I’ll do my utmost to fulfill it!" ＲἈƝꝋβĘŠ
The mont Ariel took the potion bottle, Rhine felt a powerful surge of wish energy gathering, like a loyal pet eagerly awaiting its master.
He knew that once Ariel drank the potion and her wish to "gain human legs" was fulfilled, this energy would truly beco his.
"Your wish coming true is the greatest reward for ," Rhine said with a gentle smile. "I don’t need anything specific right now, but how about a small token? Could you give one of your scales as a keepsake—before your beautiful tail disappears?
"With a rmaid’s scale, I’ll be able to learn how to temporarily transform myself and my companions into rmaids, and I can use divination to always know where you are."
Ariel imdiately complied, offering one of her shimring scales as a token of gratitude.
Ariel plucked a small, shimring scale from her beautiful tail and presented it to Rhine as a gift.
—This marked the first ti in the history of the Sea Kingdom that a rmaid had gifted sothing to a human.
"My magician friend, I will forever rember your kindness and the favor I owe you today!" Ariel declared earnestly, her voice trembling with emotion.
"In the future, if you ever need anything, I will repay this kindness with equivalent help."
...
At the story's close, the rmaid princess guided her two human friends on the giant fish, leaving the grotesque coral forest behind.
The Sea Hag watched them disappear into the depths of the sea.
"A human magician, huh? Quite impressive indeed," she murmured.
Surprisingly, her heart was not weighed down by the loss of a transaction or the failure of a deal. Instead, a wellspring of joy bubbled up within her.
"Could a magician from the land truly help fulfill the wish I ntioned earlier?"
The Sea Hag hadn’t forgotten—the human magician had promised to pay a second price to exchange for information about her coven of witches.
"Help gain recognition and acceptance in the Sea Kingdom. Let the rmaids and other sea creatures in these waters no longer fear or despise !"
"That was the second price I requested."
—If not for this dream, to beco soone as admired and welcod as Ariel, why would she have ever sought the "beautiful voice of the rmaid princess" as her price in the first place?
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