WTYTIAAN Chapter 218

Lola and her husband heard about the noble lord from the town, and when they returned, they told Cornelia to hide. After all, the noble lord was looking for a mermaid, and Cornelia was a real mermaid.

Lola and her husband believed that if the noble lord really saw a mermaid, he would try every means to get her, and Cornelia would be in danger.

They wanted to hide Cornelia at home, but they felt that the small fishing village was crowded, and with the influence of Cornelia’s mermaid bloodline, she was becoming more and more beautiful. Lola and her husband worried that the noble lord might accidentally hear Cornelia’s name from a villager, become curious, and then come to their house to take a look and become suspicious.

After all, Cornelia was too beautiful, and it was obvious at a glance that she wasn’t a child that could be raised in a small fishing village like theirs, exposed to wind and sun. Yet, they took Cornelia out to sea every day and didn’t see Cornelia become rougher at all. On the contrary, their own daughter, Bessie, became much prettier because Cornelia was often by her side.

She wasn’t the tomboy she used to be, but a spirited female swordswoman.

There are many legends about mermaids. The most widespread is that mermaids possess the most exquisite and beautiful skin in the world and the most moving singing voice. Cornelia, even as a mixed-blood mermaid, possessed both of these qualities.

If the noble lord saw her, he might suspect Cornelia’s identity.

A noble lord of that status was not someone that Lola and her husband, who had been fishing in the small fishing village their whole lives, could afford to provoke. They could only make Cornelia hide even further away.

“Baby, just hide in the sea. Don’t come up for the next few days—no, for the next month, understand?” Lola’s mother stroked Cornelia’s hair and instructed, “After a month, when the noble lord can’t find the mermaid, you can secretly swim ashore, and we’ll go to the shore to pick you up.”

Cornelia nodded obediently.

Lola’s mother thought again. The kind-hearted woman didn’t want to see other mermaids captured and harmed by the noble lord, so she said to Cornelia, “When you go back to the sea, remember to tell your people not to swim up during this time, and be careful not to be caught. Those noble lords are not good people. Since they’ve set their sights on your people, you still have to tell your people about this.”

“In any case, they are your people, and blood ties cannot be severed.”

Cornelia didn’t really want to go back, but she was an obedient and good child. When she heard Lola’s mother say this, she agreed, “I will go back and tell the elders, and tell the merfolk not to swim up during this time.”

Lola’s mother nodded with relief and finally kissed Cornelia’s cheek, “Good child.”

Cornelia’s cheeks were flushed, and she also tiptoed to leave a wet kiss on Lola’s mother’s cheek.

When Bessie saw this, she also came over with a giggle, “Mom is secretly kissing her sister again. Cornelia, I want a kiss too.”

Cornelia obediently kissed Bessie as well, and received a big hug from Bessie, “We’ll be waiting for you at the small stone cave in a month, don’t forget.”

Cornelia nodded solemnly, and finally gave Lola’s father a kiss as well, before leaping into the sea. As she fell into the water, her silver fishtail replaced her legs, drawing a beautiful arc in the air.

Bessie and Lola’s husband watched Cornelia dive into the sea, promising to reunite in a month.

Who knew that this farewell would be a farewell forever.

Cornelia returned to the undersea tribe after a long absence. It had been three months since the last time she came back, because she was always unwelcome every time she came back. In addition, most of the tribe members knew that she had run to mingle with humans, and they all felt that she could not give up the other half of her bloodline and was a ‘traitor’ of the merfolk, so they all distanced themselves from her.

Therefore, Cornelia increasingly disliked returning to this place, but this time it was unavoidable. In addition, Cornelia remembered Lola’s mother’s words, so she returned to the merfolk tribe.

As soon as she returned, she told the merfolk elders that there was a human noble on the shore who was going out to sea to find mermaids recently, and told the tribe members not to float to the surface of the sea during this time, so as not to be caught by that human noble.

The merfolk elders had already given up the idea of disciplining Cornelia. They didn’t expect Cornelia to come back to remind them of this kind of thing, and they were a little gratified.

The merfolk learned that there was a human noble looking for mermaids on the sea, and they were very panicked. They repeatedly told their children not to be greedy and float to the surface of the sea, so as not to be caught.

In recent years, humans have become more and more rampant in catching mermaids. If they are really caught, it is estimated that they will not be able to come back.

After all, not everyone is as lucky as the mermaid king, who met a maid who was willing to secretly let him go and gave birth to a mixed-blood mermaid for him.

Yes, the mermaid king was also caught by humans.

For some reason, the mermaid king’s strength was actually not very strong. It was only because the inheritance had been in their lineage that they could sit firmly on the throne. This was also thanks to the mermaid prince who chose their ancestor back then.

After the mermaid king was caught, he was transferred to many places, and he was once sent to an auction house. However, because he was a male mermaid, he was not as popular as female mermaids. In the end, he was bought back by a noble with special hobbies.

The mermaid king, as a mermaid, naturally had a handsome appearance. After being bought home by the noble, he received a lot of attention. The noble was also quite perverted, inviting a group of friends to admire—the beauty of the mermaid.

This appreciation was of course a distorted appreciation. How could a normal person spend a lot of money at an auction house to buy a mermaid just to come back and look at it?

In order to save himself, the mermaid king seduced a maid in the noble’s house, promising that after the maid took him away from here, he would marry the maid as his wife and give her the glory of the mermaid queen. The entire sea would become her territory—

Relying on this unreliable flattery, he actually managed to deceive the naive maid.

The maid was the daughter of the old butler beside the noble. The noble trusted her very much, and even the room where the mermaid was locked could be freely entered and exited for cleaning.

Taking advantage of the noble’s trust, she found a time when the guards were lax and took the mermaid king away.

Of course, although the maid was inexperienced, she was not stupid. She didn’t think that taking the mermaid king out would definitely make her the mermaid queen, but she made this decision because she was pregnant with the mermaid king’s child.

Perhaps the naive maid thought that as long as she had the mermaid king’s child, she would definitely become the mermaid queen.

It was a pity that on the way back to the sea with the mermaid king, she died of infection shortly after the child was born because of the poor conditions during childbirth.

Only the newborn Cornelia was brought back to the merfolk tribe by the mermaid king.

I don’t know whether to say the mermaid king was heartless.

He could have thrown her away and pretended that nothing had happened, but he still brought Cornelia back to the sea. But even though he had brought Cornelia back, he didn’t care about her for many years, allowing Cornelia to be bullied by other merfolk.

In short, few of the mermaids who were caught could return to the sea. The mermaid king’s experience sounded an alarm to all the mermaids.

No mermaid wants to be caught or have their children caught.

Only the young mermaid cubs who are well protected don’t care about this.

Above the sea, just as Lola’s mother worried, the noble lord really came to their house because of some rumors, wanting to meet the little daughter Cornelia who was said to be very beautiful.

“Great Lord, our, our little daughter, she, just happened to go back to her grandmother’s house these few days. The old woman misses her, so we asked someone to send her over.”

Lola and her husband knelt on the ground, sweating profusely.

The attendant beside the noble lord shouted, “Nonsense, your little daughter is adopted. How could your old mother miss an adopted granddaughter? You have a lot of guts, trying to hide your little daughter and go against the country’s… against the lord’s wishes?”

Lola and her husband were so frightened by this scolding that they lost their senses. They didn’t know what to say, only begging for mercy, insisting that their little daughter was really sent to her grandmother’s house.

—In fact, Lola and her husband lost their parents early, so where would they get a grandmother?

The attendant wanted to scold again, and even wanted to step forward and kick Lola’s mother’s shoulder, but he was stopped by another girl kneeling beside her, who took a few steps forward on her knees to block him.

Bessie stood in front of her mother, and calmly opened her mouth, “My sister was indeed sent back to her grandmother’s house… Although our family adopted my sister, my sister and her family are not completely disconnected, and she occasionally goes home to live for a few days. You can ask the people in our village about this.”

“My sister hasn’t been home for more than three months. This time, her family really missed her so much, so they took her back. It’s just a coincidence that you came here.”

No matter how nervous Bessie was, she tried her best to pretend to be calm and explain.

Immediately, she felt the gaze of the noble lord, who had been silent all along, fall on her face. That kind of sticky, disgusting, and uncomfortable gaze lingered on her face.

Bessie felt disgusted in her heart, but she knew that if she didn’t stand up, her mother and father would probably be punished.

Bessie gritted her teeth secretly in her heart, cursing those village women who liked to gossip. If they hadn’t said nonsense, this annoying noble wouldn’t have known that their family had a beautiful Cornelia, and wouldn’t have come to their house, putting her parents in danger.

In the past two years, Bessie seemed to have been influenced by Cornelia. It is said that people become more and more alike after being together for a long time. Bessie, who used to have dark skin and looked like a tomboy, has now transformed into a fairly beautiful girl.

Her appearance is indeed good in the small fishing village, but looking at the entire empire, she is just ordinary beautiful, nothing special. It’s just that she has been fishing at sea all year round and has done a lot of physical work, so she has a natural sense of vigor, which makes Bessie seem a bit different.

The attendant wanted to scold this woman who suddenly stepped forward again, but he was stopped by his master. The noble lord waved his hand, his eyes narrowed into a slit with a smile, “If that’s the case, then forget it. But I heard that you are the most skilled woman in the small fishing village?”

Bessie pursed her lips. Just as she was about to open her mouth, her father behind her had already taken the lead to answer for her, “Bessie is just a child. What’s good about her swimming skills is just bragging among the children. To say who has good swimming skills, it must be us adults.”

Lola’s father pulled his daughter behind him, blocking her in front of his wife and daughter, “For example, I am the most skilled fisherman in the small fishing village. Does the noble lord want to experience the feeling of fishing at sea?”

The noble lord frowned. The attendant beside him immediately understood and stepped forward, kicking Lola’s father in the chest, sending him sliding back a meter away, “Did I let you interrupt? The lord is asking your daughter.”

Lola’s father was kicked in the chest, and immediately covered his chest and coughed heavily.

These coughs were like a mountain pressing down on Bessie and her mother, making them unable to straighten their backs.

Bessie’s heart sank, knowing that if she didn’t express her position, things would probably get worse.

Bessie raised her head and met the noble lord’s sticky gaze, “Yes, I am the most skilled swimmer in the small fishing village. Does the great lord have any orders?”

The great lord was satisfied with this “great lord” address, and hooked the corner of his mouth, “Next, I want to go out to sea to find mermaids. You will follow me, protect me. Can you do it?”

Bessie bit her lip, feeling the strength of her mother grabbing the corner of her clothes behind her, knowing that her mother didn’t want her to go, but she had to go.

If she didn’t go, her whole family would be blamed for it.

Only by going would there be a glimmer of hope.

“Okay, I will…”

“Protect you, great lord.” Bessie said in a dry voice.