Eric Cat
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06 - The Princess in Love
🕑 Added 2025-04-13 08:17:33 +0000 UTCEver since the day Ariel rescued a human prince from a shipwreck, strange thoughts have crossed her mind.
She had always been very interested in the human world, but after she saw that man drowning and helped him back to shore, all she could think about was how romantic it would be to be together with him.
Especially while she was standing in front of a dressing table that she had rescued from a human shipwreck.
'He was so beautiful...' she daydreamed. 'But he was a human... Dad always forbade me from interacting with humans...'
Earlier, she had gone back to the beach, just to have a look, nothing much.
She wasn't going to do anything, just... peek.
And there he was, on the sand, with a sword in his hand, cutting through the air as if he were dancing with the waves, just like one of the swords she had found in the past and kept in her collection!
The water rose, swirled and sparkled against the sun, obeying his every gesture.
It was so beautiful, so natural, that Ariel felt a warmth in her chest.
She stayed hidden behind a rock, her tail trembling in the water, her eyes glued to him.
'How does he do that? ' she thought, enchanted.
He looked like part of the sea, but with those... his feet! With his feet firmly on the ground, strong, graceful.
Now Ariel was in her cave, sitting staring at her human dressing table.
She took a shell and slid it through her hair, untangling the red locks while humming a soft tune, one that came out of nowhere.
"He's so... perfect..." Ariel murmured, daydreaming. "But he's still a human... Daddy would never let him..." The thought of it squeezed her heart, but she couldn't stop smiling, her eyes shining brighter than the pearls scattered on the floor.
Suddenly, Ariel stopped humming for a second, her mind going back to the beach scene.
She had never seen someone control water like that... It wasn't like the newts who used raw magic.
The prince... Eric, she'd heard someone call him... made the water dance, as if it were an extension of him.
It was so... elegant. She squeezed the shell in her hand, her heart beating faster.
"But the way he seemed to be looking at me... The way he seemed to smile and wave at me..." she murmured, almost absently. "I wonder if he's seen mermaids before." The thought made her blush, and she shook her head, laughing to herself. "No, Ariel, stop it."
But the image of him wouldn't leave her head.
The shiny sword covered in water that he controlled, the way he moved, the way he spoke to his family...
Thinking about what he had said to his family, Ariel became worried.
"It seems their kingdom is having problems with monsters... is he in danger?" She wondered.
But thinking about how he controlled that sword, Ariel compared it to the soldiers in her father's castle, even those able to use magic, and she couldn't think of anyone other than her father with such power.
Taking an old fork from the dressing table, one of her human treasures, and twirling it between her fingers, she wondered. "Has he ever used one of these?" wondering if he had ever used it to comb his hair like Scuttle said humans did.
The cave was quiet, with only the sound of water dripping in some corner.
Ariel looked up at the ceiling, where pieces of coral shone like stars. "I just wanted to... talk to him..." she sighed, her voice fading.
But fear came with it. Her father would never forgive her if he knew she was so close to a human.
She threw the fork back on the dressing table and swam to the entrance of the cave.
The sea outside was dark, but the moon cast a silvery light on the water.
Ariel leaned against the rock, looking out at the distant waves. "Maybe tomorrow..." she whispered, her smile returning shyly. "Maybe he'll come back to the beach."
...
The next day, Ariel woke up earlier than usual, afraid that she would oversleep and not make it to the beach in time.
Unlike the normal Ariel who woke up in a bad mood, too lazy to get ready or do the boring chores her father demanded of her, this time Ariel was in a good mood.
She was the first among her sisters to comb her hair, the first to do the chores that her father set as her responsibilities.
All while humming a beautiful song.
Even Flounder, her little goldfish best friend, was curious as to why Ariel was acting like that.
Everyone in the palace was fascinated by Ariel's happiness.
King Triton was the most confused after Ariel put a delicate flower in his hair.
"What's happening to Ariel?" Triton asked in confusion.
"Isn't it obvious, Dad?" Andrina laughed as she looked at the flower on her father's head.
"Obvious?" Triton asked, even more confused.
"Ariel's in love, Dad." Attina, Triton's eldest daughter laughs at the situation.
Upon hearing this, King Triton became very excited.
Of all his seven daughters, so far none had truly fallen in love, so this was a new experience for him.
"How interesting... who will be the lucky merman who wins the heart of my beautiful little princess?" he wondered curiously.
Not only was Triton curious about this, but it was soon the most talked about subject in the palace.
Ariel's six sister princesses and even the servants and soldiers were talking about it, trying to find out if anyone knew the lucky merman who had won the heart of King Triton's favorite daughter.
Unfortunately, no one knew who this merman was, or rather, apparently someone knew who this lucky man might be, but the news that he wasn't a merman was one that Sebastian didn't have the heart to break to the king.
He knew how much the king despised humans and ever since he found out that Ariel had saved a human and how happy she was to talk about that human with Flounder, it wasn't hard for him to deduce who was the target of the younger princess's passion.
Unfortunately for Sebastian, the way he was acting was far from discreet, and King Triton noticed.
At a moment when Sebastian was practically having an existential crisis between being the king's most loyal servant and fingering Ariel, or being a faithful friend to Ariel and keeping the secret she had entrusted to him, a seahorse in Royal clothes came up to him.
"Sebastian, I've finally found you!" The little soldier said a little breathlessly. "I've been looking for you everywhere, the King has given me the mission to warn you that he needs to have a very serious talk with you."
"A very serious talk with me?" Sebastian felt the pressure drop and weakness take over.
'Damn it, the King has discovered that Ariel is in love with a human and wants me to be faithful to him and finger her... what do I do? ' Sebastian asked himself worriedly.
In the throne room, Sebastian entered like a sorry dog that had destroyed the sofa and knew that its owner was angry.
The atmosphere was heavy, with the currents of water dancing around the coral columns.
Sebastian entered slowly, his claws trembling slightly, his gaze fixed on the polished floor.
King Triton was sitting on his throne, his white beard waving like seaweed, his trident gleaming in his hand. He looked serious, but there was a curious glint in his eyes, something Sebastian didn't know whether it was good or bad.
"Sebastian..." began Triton, his deep voice echoing around the room. "You've been acting strange since breakfast. Hiding something, perhaps?" He tilted his head, and the seahorse next to him wrote everything down on a piece of shell, as if it were an official hearing.
Sebastian swallowed, feeling the weight of Ariel's secret. "I, um... no, Your Majesty!" he said, trying to sound firm.
"I'm just... worried about some crabs that are messing up the coral, you know?" He gave a nervous smile, but sweat was already trickling down his forehead.
Triton raised an eyebrow, unconvinced.
"Crabs, eh?" He tapped the trident lightly on the floor, and a gentle wave passed through the room.
"Sebastian, you're my advisor. And, more importantly, you keep an eye on Ariel. So tell me: what is it that makes my daughter so... radiant?" He smiled, as if imagining a young merman wooing his youngest.
Sebastian almost fainted.
He knew exactly who was making Ariel hum like that. He thought of Ariel, of the way her eyes sparkled when she talked about this Eric guy with Flounder. "I... I don't know anything, Your Majesty!" he stammered, his tweezers clacking together. "Ariel's just... happy, I guess!"
Triton leaned forward, his trident glowing brighter.
"Happy, huh?" He laughed, but his tone was suspicious.
"My daughter has never combed her hair so early, nor put flowers on my head before. That's love, Sebastian. And I want to know who the lucky one is." He paused, looking steadily at the crab. "You know something, don't you?"
Sebastian felt his heart race. "No, no, Your Majesty!" He shook his claws, desperate. "Ariel hasn't told me anything! She just... likes swimming around, collecting human things, all that young lady stuff!" He tried to change the subject, but the word "human" slipped out, and he wanted to bury himself in the sand.
"Humans?" Triton frowned, his voice getting harsher. "What human things, Sebastian?" He rose from his throne, his trident pointed at the ground, and the water around him seemed to stop, as if the sea was holding its breath.
Sebastian opened his mouth, but nothing came out. He thought of Ariel, of her joy, of the way she sang about the prince. He didn't want to betray his friend, but Triton's gaze was like a chain pulling at the truth. "I... um... she found some forks, you know? Ship stuff!" she said, her voice breaking. "No big deal, Your Majesty, I swear!"
Triton remained quiet, his eyes narrowed. "Forks," he repeated slowly. "And you think forks are making my daughter fall in love?" He took a step forward, and Sebastian stepped back, hitting a coral. "Sebastian, if there's anything I need to know about Ariel, you'd better say it now."
The crab swallowed, caught between loyalty to the king and affection for the princess.
He thought of Ariel, swimming happily to shore, dreaming of a human she could never have. "Your Majesty..." he began, his voice trembling. "It's just that... Ariel's dreaming big, you know? Girl stuff!" He tried to laugh, but it came out more like a groan.
Triton crossed his arms, his trident still glowing. "Dreaming big, are you?" He looked at the seahorse, which had stopped writing, confused. I'll trust you for now, Sebastian. But keep an eye on her. If my daughter's in love, I want to know with whom... and not if it's trouble." He returned to his throne, but the look in his eyes said that the conversation wasn't over.
Sebastian nodded, almost falling over with relief. "Yes, Your Majesty! Of course, Your Majesty!" He stumbled out of the room, his heart still in his throat. As he swam down the corridor, he thought of Ariel, of the human. "Ariel, girl, you're going to scare me to death..." he muttered, looking out at the dark water.
While Sebastian worried about whether Ariel was making a mistake, Ariel was currently on the beach, behind the same rock as the day before, waiting for the prince who had made her so excited this morning.
