"Do I?" Kaya replied, barely out of breath.
He studied her a second longer, then asked, half-joking, half-serious, "Was your mother a mermaid or something?"
Kaya gave a soft laugh, and shook her head.
"No. She might've been a witch."
The little lord blinked, unsure if she was joking.
But Kaya didn't clarify. She just kept swimming, her expression unreadable.
.
.
.
They finally stopped in front of a cave—an odd sight in the middle of the deep ocean. The moment Kaya and the others were led inside, something unbelievable happened. The merfolk's shimmering tails shifted, reshaping into human legs right before her eyes. Kaya froze, wide-eyed.
She had heard the rumors. Whispered tales of strange caves hidden in the depths of the ocean—caves that weren't completely submerged. Caves that acted more like pockets of a different world. But this... this was the first time she had seen one with her own eyes.
It felt unreal.
