Part 1The Merman's Forbidden Heat

I married into the Clarke family as the bride of their guardian deity, a merman. The only problem? He had issues in the bedroom.

After he kicked me out of bed for the hundredth time, I’d had enough. In a fit of anger, I asked the clan elder to dissolve our contract.

Just then, a series of comments popped into my vision, like a live-stream chat.

【He just doesn’t want their first time to be during his heat, right…?】

【Did she seriously not notice he hides in the pool the moment she enters the room?】

【But if a merman holds back his heat for too long, he’ll die! If she won’t do it, the female lead is about to make her grand entrance!】

I froze for a second, then my hand drifted towards his magnificent, shimmering tail…

“What are you doing?”

Adrian Clarke sucked in a sharp breath. His iridescent, slender fish tail tightened reflexively in the water, but his voice was as cold and detached as ever.

A pang of guilt hit me. I quickly hid the annulment contract behind my back. “I just came to see if you were sick…”

The pop-up comments scrolled frantically.

【Oh, he’s sick alright! He needs you to get in the pool with him to get better!】

【I can’t believe these two are so dense. With a setup this steamy, this is all we get to see?!】

【It’s because she’s always thought he hated her. If she hadn’t been caught planning to go out drinking tonight, he’d be so wrapped around her finger there’d be no room for the female lead.】

“Can you leave?” Adrian sank deeper into the water, only his faintly defined collarbones visible above the surface.

“Oh.”

He really did despise me. I’d grown numb to hearing those words.

But the pop-up comments seemed to read my mind.

【He doesn’t despise you! If you keep staring, he’s going to drag you into that water!】

【A human would drown if they went in the water before mating with a merman. He’d never let that happen to her…】

【Still, a merman’s tail is his most sensitive part. His wife just touched it. He’s probably dying of pleasure right now!】

The cool, smooth sensation still lingered on my fingertips. I looked at the comments, my face flushing scarlet all the way to my ears, and fled the room.

That evening, Adrian finally emerged from his chambers, wrapped in a bathrobe. His tail had transformed back into human legs.

“There’s a clan ritual tonight. We’ll go together.”

As the clan’s guardian, his presence was mandatory every year. Me? I was a different story. Every year, I was forced to stand in a corner as punishment until dawn.

“I don’t want to go. Find someone else.”

Adrian’s eyes fell. I expected him to revert to his usual self—a cold silence, a mumbled “do as you please,” and a swift exit.

But after a long moment, he did something unusual. He stepped closer, his eyes shimmering with a watery vulnerability.

“Please… just this once.”

A new comment flashed across my vision.

【The most skilled hunters always appear as the prey!】

【Such a shame. His seductive gaze is wasted on a fool. Not only will she reject him, but she’ll tear up the contract right in front of his face…】

【The author is so cruel to him! Good thing he sees her messing around later. After he loses control and the female lead saves him, this side character’s role is pretty much over.】

【Oh, she’ll be back. At the end, when she’s cast out by the family and used as a living sacrifice…】

A chill ran down my spine. My mouth moved faster than my brain. “Fine… but only because you begged me.”

I thought he’d be angry, but a flicker of joy ignited in his eyes.

Could the pop-up comments be true? Did Adrian actually like me?

He felt my intense gaze and awkwardly turned his head away. I found this fascinating. My hand, as if with a mind of its own, drifted to the small of his back.

“So… can I see your tail again?”

Adrian froze completely. The pop-up comments, which had been scrolling wildly, fell silent for a half-second.

【Did I hear that right?! Not only did she agree to go to the ritual, but she wants to see his tail?!】

【Ahem… you can’t blame her. She skipped every clan lesson about this. She has no idea that’s a merman’s mating proposal…】

Adrian, still in the pool, was breathing heavily, as if he were about to drown. But he was a merman, an ancient deity from the depths of the sea…

“You! You have no shame!”

I was stunned. Adrian was not at all what I had imagined.