While the Kingdom of the Demi-Humans was forging new alliances and trying to regain the friends they had once abandoned because of weakness, and while everyone was occupied with uncertainty over what should be done about the Dark Elves...
Another power within the continent of Mira was moving silently in the depths of the ocean.
Deep beneath the sea, amid the dark blue waters, stood a kingdom of breathtaking beauty.
A kingdom built from gigantic seashells, glowing coral, and rare marine stones that reflected enchanting colors beneath the water.
Massive shells illuminated by natural light were scattered everywhere, while an enormous and strangely shaped magical barrier surrounded the kingdom, moving like a living current that protected the entire city from any external danger.
The inhabitants of that kingdom closely resembled humans, but their bodies possessed shining fish-like scales across various parts, and they were capable of breathing underwater with complete ease.
That kingdom was the homeland of the Merfolk Kingdom.
At the heart of the kingdom rose a magnificent palace built from white sea crystal and rare pearls, making it appear like something pulled directly from legend.
Inside that palace, the King of the Merfolk sat upon his throne, surrounded by his advisors and commanders as they discussed their upcoming secret plans.
One of his advisors was an elderly man dressed in a long robe decorated with ancient oceanic symbols. Wisdom was clearly reflected upon his face and within his eyes.
The old man smiled broadly and said to the king calmly:
"We have succeeded, my lord."
Then he continued confidently:
"We have already taken control of the terrifying sea creatures within that region. The time has finally come to accomplish what we failed to do for many long years."
The king looked at the old man silently, then tightened his grip slightly around his long blue spear and replied cautiously:
"This is extremely dangerous, Elder. If we do this, we will face tremendous criticism, and we may create hostility with every people of Mira if they discover we are responsible."
But the old man did not seem worried at all.
Instead, his smile grew even more confident as he said:
"Do not worry, Your Majesty, because we will never appear in the picture."
He stepped closer and continued in a low voice:
"The creatures we secretly controlled throughout all these years will carry out our plan. As for us, we will remain completely hidden from sight."
Then he added, his eyes gleaming:
"And at last, we will reclaim what was stolen from us... the treasures plundered by the peoples of Mira throughout history."
The king remained silent for several moments, considering the elder's words carefully. Then he raised his gaze toward the others within the hall and asked:
"And what about the rest of you? Do you truly believe the time has finally come?"
The officials and commanders nodded firmly, and one of them declared with obvious excitement:
"Yes, Your Majesty. It took us many years to gain control over those sea monsters."
Another added:
"It is finally time to use them."
A third spoke with restrained anger:
"The peoples of Mira stole much from us throughout the ages... especially that thing. We must reclaim what rightfully belongs to us."
The king exhaled slowly, realizing that everyone had already made their decision.
After a few moments of thought, he finally said:
"Then... my daughter will handle this mission."
He continued seriously:
"She will depart with a special unit to recover the treasures."
Everyone immediately nodded in agreement.
They all knew how deeply the king loved his daughter, and therefore understood that he would never entrust her with such a mission unless he had complete confidence in her strength and abilities.
And the truth was that the princess truly was terrifyingly powerful.
She was the second strongest person in the kingdom, surpassed only by her father himself.
The king turned toward one of the guards standing near the entrance of the hall and ordered:
"Go and bring my daughter here. I wish to speak with her."
The guard bowed quickly before hurrying out of the chamber.
A short while later, the doors of the meeting hall burst open, and the princess entered with fast and irritated steps.
The moment she entered, she shouted toward her father with obvious annoyance:
"What is it, Father? Why did you summon me from the training grounds to this boring meeting hall of yours?"
Then she crossed her arms and added:
"I hope this is truly important... otherwise I will not forgive you."
But she suddenly stopped when she noticed the number of ministers and commanders gathered within the chamber.
Her eyes widened slightly. Then she slowly turned toward the guard who had brought her and glared at him as though she wanted to strangle him on the spot.
"You idiot... why didn't you tell me my father was in an official meeting?"
The guard immediately lowered his head in fear, while the princess sighed in annoyance.
In the end, however, she did not care very much.
The Merfolk people were extremely close-knit, and she had known most of the ministers present since childhood. Likewise, they had long grown accustomed to her spontaneous and occasionally troublesome behavior.
As a result, nobody was offended by her entrance. Instead, they simply turned toward the king, waiting for him to explain the important reason behind summoning his daughter.
After a brief discussion between the king and his daughter, the princess quickly understood what they were planning.
Her eyes widened with tremendous excitement, and she nodded energetically as she exclaimed:
"Yes! Yes! Let's do it! We will reclaim the Ocean Crystal from those thieves!"
The King of the Merfolk sighed quietly when he heard the burning enthusiasm in his daughter's voice.
She resembled her late mother very closely.
The only things she inherited from him were strength and royal blood. Her personality, impulsiveness, and warrior spirit had all come entirely from her mother.
At times, the king wished she possessed even a fraction of his caution and calm way of thinking.
He had not shown weakness and submission to the rest of the world for no reason.
He and his people had deliberately appeared weak and withdrawn for many years, all so they could secretly gather strength and prepare themselves for the proper moment to strike.
That had been part of his plan from the very beginning.
Recently, however, the king had realized that the time to act had finally arrived.
He himself felt excitement rising within him, but he refused to allow those emotions to control him, because he understood well that enthusiasm and recklessness could destroy even the greatest plans.
For that reason, he sat with his ministers and daughter, discussing every detail of the operation carefully.
Their plan aimed to recover their sacred treasure...
The Ocean Crystal.
That legendary crystal had been stolen from them long ago by the dragons, who then shattered it into pieces and distributed fragments among the various races of Mira so that those peoples could gain better movement and control within seas and oceans.
But the crystal's true power became terrifying when it was whole and wielded by the Merfolk.
It allowed them to control the very power of the ocean itself, and because of that, it was considered one of their greatest weapons—perhaps the greatest of all.
For that reason, the Merfolk people had felt humiliated and enraged when the dragons took it from them and scattered its pieces among the other races.
Since that day, the King of the Merfolk had never stopped thinking about a way to reclaim that sacred treasure.
That was why, many years ago, he began his secret plan to dominate the terrifying sea creatures lurking within the deepest oceans, intending to use them someday to recover the crystal.
During the meeting, the king discussed every detail with great precision.
They created a complex and carefully designed strategy to steal the crystal fragments from the other races without revealing their identities.
Most of the other peoples placed fragments of the crystal upon ships traveling between the continent of Mira and the Fallen Islands, because the fragments helped calm the seas and protect vessels from dangerous storms and currents.
Even while divided, the crystal still possessed astonishing power over the ocean.
That was why ships carrying one of its pieces rarely sank.
In fact, maritime travel had become safer and easier because of it.
And it was precisely there that the Merfolk plan emerged.
The princess would lead a secret special unit, accompanied by the sea monsters they had controlled, to attack ships carrying fragments of the crystal.
They would sink the vessels and steal the pieces while making everything appear to be nothing more than natural attacks from sea beasts...
Or perhaps a sudden uprising among the creatures of the ocean itself.
Either way, the Merfolk Kingdom would remain completely beyond suspicion while gradually reclaiming its sacred treasure piece by piece.
(Author's Note):
Hello everyone! Thank you for your continuous support of this novel; your comments and interactions mean the world to me.
Stepping away from our story here for a moment, I wanted to share another project I've been working on with great passion. I have started publishing a webtoon (comic) on the Webtoon platform titled "Me and the Wolf."
It is a [Comedy / Fantasy] story about a miserable young man and a cunning wolf who is constantly getting him into trouble! If you enjoy my writing style and the way I build scenarios, I promise you're going to love this comic.
I would be so grateful if you could go check it out, subscribe to the series, and let me know what you think in the comments there!
🔍 Search on the Webtoon app for: [Me and the Wolf]