~Chapter 68~
“Damien!!”
I shouted his name with all my strength and ran toward the riverbank.
But it was as if my voice couldn’t reach him.
“Stop! Don’t go in!!”
Damien kept walking deeper into the water.
His eyes were unfocused and empty.
“Damien!!”
Something was wrong.
No matter how much I ran, I couldn’t reach where Damien was.
Even though he was clearly walking deeper into the river.
“Damien, please stop!!”
Cold water reached my ankles.
The deeper I went, the deeper the river got—yet I never got any closer to him.
“Haa… haah…”
My wet vision shook.
[ Ah… ]
Somewhere, I heard a strange, enchanting singing voice.
Damien opened his eyes.
A familiar scene—his bedroom.
Rubbing his dry eyes, he turned his body and saw sunlight peeking through the curtains.
“Did you sleep well, Damien?”
Beside him, Rubyana was hugging a pillow and smiling warmly at him.
“You must’ve been tired last night. You slept until broad daylight.”
Damien quickly looked away—
She wasn’t wearing anything under the thick blanket.
“I’ll go wash up. You go ahead.”
He didn’t look at her even once.
‘This is insane.’
He got dressed, shirt to pants, before stepping out.
Rubyana skipped over and grabbed his hand.
“Let’s go eat. We said we’d spend the afternoon together.”
They had breakfast like usual. Rubyana kept smiling happily.
After eating—
“Come on, let’s go on our date!”
They walked through the city like newlyweds, arm in arm.
They teased each other, laughed, and visited bookstores, art shops, restaurants, cafés, stalls, accessory shops, boutiques, fountains, theaters, and finally the plaza.
At night, they watched fireworks burst brilliantly.
Holding hands, leaning against each other.
“It was so fun, right? Everything’s fun when I’m with you, Damien.”
Damien could only smile.
When they got home, he bathed, finished work, and went to bed.
The bedroom door slid open.
“Damien.”
Rubyana, in a thin slip, approached the bed.
She moved like a snake, coming closer.
“Come here.”
Her voice was seductive, unlike her bright smile earlier.
When Damien didn’t move, she climbed on top of him.
“You’re shy today.”
She cupped his cheek—
The bedroom scenery melted away like water.
The floor filled with river water, mist rose, and wind blew.
[ Damien… ]
Water reached his waist.
Rubyana’s hair was soaked.
[ Come to me… ]
Her lips were blue from being in the water.
The slip shimmered into mermaid scales.
Just before those wet blue lips touched his—
“Already taken.”
Damien blocked her lips with his hand.
Behind her, water splashed—
The real Rubyana appeared, holding a shovel.
Before the curse could speak, Rubyana swung—
Clang!
The mermaid curse’s head snapped sideways.
[ You—!! ]
It lunged at her, but she swung again.
“Stay still, you homewrecker.”
Clang!
The spell broke, revealing the water was only ankle-deep.
Clang! Clang!
By the time Damien stood and adjusted his clothes, Rubyana was still expressionlessly beating the curse.
‘So she loses her expression when angry.’
“Ruby, that’s enough.”
The mermaid curse lay still, scales falling off.
Rubyana stabbed the shovel into the ground.
“Siren.”
A creature from legends that lured people with song, killing them in water—its scales, fins, and sharp fangs were clear proof.
“But Damien…”
Rubyana’s eyes sharpened. She lifted the shovel again.
“You weren’t really bewitched, right?”
They’d planned for Damien to pretend to be bewitched so they could catch the curse.
But seeing him walk into the river made her think it was real—
Until she saw his cold, amethyst eyes smiling during the final attack.
“Right.”
“So you weren’t bewitched, but you let her get that close anyway?”
Damien smirked.
“I wanted to see you jealous at least once.”
“You… insane…”
For the first time in married life, I almost swore—not out of anger, but disbelief.
Shaking my head, I looked at the mermaid curse—its belly was swollen.
“That’s fear.”
It hadn’t fully absorbed the fear yet, but enough to swell its stomach.
“If it had absorbed it all…”
The destructive power would have been much greater.
“We should make it spit it out before it’s absorbed.”
But then—the Siren’s eyes snapped open.
Yellow pupils gleamed.
“Ruby!!”
It bared its fangs and opened its mouth wide—
Damien rushed to cover my head with his body—
[ Aaaaaaaahhhhhhh!! ]
The Siren’s final scream tore at my ears.
“No, Damien!!”
Blood streamed from his ears, dark and red.
