Ethan had also realized that the rfolk weren’t a species limited to those strange squeaking sounds.
In fact, the voices of the pure-blooded rfolk were remarkably lodic—soft, flowing tones that seed to ripple through the water like music.
He noticed sothing else as well. All the soldiers in the rfolk army were female, while the guards stationed around the palace were male. It was clearly a society where n tended to the ho and won commanded the world beyond it.
The four rfolk they had first encountered, and the countless others who had surrounded them upon entering the city, were a different case entirely. Those ones communicated only with those squeaking noises.
The Third Princess had served as their interpreter, explaining that those rfolk were of mixed blood—the Battle-Thralls, the result of generations of intermarriage between the rfolk and other sea tribes.
Ethan listened and nodded, beginning to understand.
So, he thought, these are the dull offspring of crossbreeding between species.
Even so, he couldn’t help but admit that rfolk genes were incredibly dominant. Any female rfolk, no matter what creature she mated with, would always give birth to a child that looked unmistakably rfolk.
Humans were the sole exception, the Third Princess had added.
By that logic, Ethan mused, the human gene must be the most powerful of all.
"Squeak-squeak... Report! The twelve-tribe coalition is now twenty miles from the city!"
As the rfolk army gathered, a scout rushed in with the news.
Ethan’s senses were heavily suppressed underwater. Inside the City of the Whale Fall, he could still perceive things clearly enough, but out in open waters, his awareness was sharply limited. He hadn’t even detected the enemy twenty miles away.
Still, earlier scouts had warned them that the twelve sea tribes were advancing toward the city. They were demanding that the rfolk hand over the few humans who had recently arrived—the sa ones the Dragon of Consumption had devoured the vanguard of—or else they would flatten the City of the Whale Fall.
Ethan understood imdiately that this was still about him.
When he asked, the Third Princess explained that the real cause lay with the rfolk he had disciplined earlier. The mothers of those twelve youths were won from a collateral branch of the royal family who had married the leaders of the twelve sea tribes.
Because they carried traces of the royal bloodline, they had been granted positions of honor—Elite Royal Guards—after proving their strength upon entering the city.
There were thirty-two Elite Royal Guards in total, and those twelve were among them. But because their fathers were the sea tribe leaders, they had grown arrogant within the city walls. They behaved properly only before the true royal family, and bullied nearly every other rfolk beneath them.
"Such spoiled brats. I should have crushed them when I had the chance," Ethan said flatly, his tone calm, as if he were discussing the swatting of an insect.
The Third Princess’s eyes flickered. She could feel the cold, genuine intent behind his words.
It wasn’t a bluff. His heartbeat hadn’t even changed. He spoke with such chilling normalcy that a faint tremor passed through her.
At that mont, she knew—the twelve sea tribes were dood.
Given the decree carved into the Sacred Bone by the rfolk Sovereign, if Ethan were to order the extermination of those tribes now, her father would send the troops without hesitation.
The thought of such a war darkened her expression. The sea tribes were powerful, and an all-out conflict would bring devastating losses to the rfolk. The idea of her people dying like that filled her with real sorrow.
"By the way," Ethan said, turning his gaze back to her, "you ntioned that you let Lyla and Astrid go, which is how they were captured. Why did you let them go in the first place?"
The Third Princess hesitated before answering. "My brother told that even if it was the will of the rfolk Sovereign, it was still wrong to bring people here by force. I thought about it, and he was right. When I saw those two won, even though they were free to move about and not truly imprisoned..."
She didn’t finish her sentence, but Ethan understood perfectly.
Every day, those two won would gaze upward, toward the shimring surface of the sea.
"I never spoke to them," the Third Princess continued softly, "but I could tell. They were longing for sothing. I can’t say I understand a woman’s heart, but... seeing them like that made feel uneasy. So, one day, I took a chance. Behind Father’s back, I asked the Old Sea Turtle to take them away in secret."
Her voice faltered. "But... the Old Sea Turtle never returned. When I went to look for him, I found only his shell. He’d been killed by the galodon Clan."
She said it with complete openness, tilting her head slightly, her expression as innocent as ever.
"Your brother told you all this?" Ethan asked, frowning.
"Yes. My brother is wonderful. He cares for our people as though they were his own children, and he’s always been kind to my second sister and . I don’t know why, but Father seems to dislike him very much..." The confusion in her eyes seed genuine.
Ethan watched her carefully, his instincts sharpening. The golden-haired rfolk Prince she spoke of... sounded like a manipulative scher.
He had a feeling that whatever had happened to Lyla was tied directly to that prince. The Third Princess had likely been nothing more than a pawn.
If that was the case, Ethan thought dryly, he wouldn’t mind helping the rfolk King reroll for a better heir.
A deep voice suddenly rolled through the waters, shaking the city itself.
"Move out!"
The command echoed from every coral wall and shell-covered archway of the City of the Whale Fall. The rfolk King’s body might have been small, but his voice carried the weight of an entire ocean.
In an instant, Ethan saw the city transform. The army was fully assembled—an entire host of rfolk warriors clad in armor, each holding a trident that glimred faintly in the deep-blue light. The artisans and laborers who had filled the streets monts ago were gone, replaced by soldiers ready for war.
Even the wide plazas felt strangely hollow now, emptied of life except for the tide of armored figures. Massive sea turtles and other colossal creatures floated among them, carrying strange, shell-shaped siege weapons—giant conches engraved with glowing runes.
Ethan blinked, trying not to smirk. He could only hope those conches weren’t ant to serenade the enemy to death.
"Sacred Emissary, shall we proceed together?"
The rfolk King drifted toward him, bypassing the front lines with a calm, almost playful air.
Ethan froze. Sacred Emissary?
His face darkened imdiately. "Your Majesty, please just call by my na. Don’t call that." He grimaced. ’It sounds awful.’
The Third Princess tried—and failed—to suppress a laugh, covering her mouth as her eyes sparkled.
Ethan shot her a look that said I know you heard that in my head.
"Haha!" The King’s laughter rippled through the water. "Then how about a more human title? I shall call you my Great Nephew. How does that sound?"
For a mont, the entire court fell silent. The Third Princess blinked in shock.
Ethan’s expression twisted slightly. This old man... is he seriously trying to claim seniority?
Technically, given the King’s ancient age, it wasn’t unreasonable. But the sly glint in his eye made Ethan certain the old fish was doing it on purpose.
Seeing Ethan’s silence, the King simply laughed again.
He extended a tiny, clawed hand—barely larger than a bird’s foot—and caught hold of Ethan’s sleeve.
"Co then, Great Nephew! Let’s go watch the battle. Ah, and this is my third daughter, Star! You two should spend more ti together."
Before Ethan could react, the King grabbed Star with his other hand.
In the next instant, an imnse power surged from the old man’s palm, a force completely at odds with his small, fragile-looking body.
Ethan barely had ti to resist before he was pulled forward through the water, dragged helplessly along by a creature the size of a coconut.
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