‘To escape…’
Thump thump.
I reluctantly ignored the quiet ringing in my ears and nodded my head nervously.
“No.”
“Why? You’re of the magician bloodline. You can do anything!”
I was momentarily speechless. I had been boasting about being of the magician bloodline in front of the kids, but in reality, my magical abilities were only as good as roasting sweet potatoes over a fire.
Escaping from my powerful magician father was almost impossible.
“Bendy, I’ll help you.”
Whether she said it or not, Moni, with her sparkling eyes, spoke softly.
“Come to our backyard tonight. You know, the old unused cabin?”
“….”
“Please.”
It was a windy night.
Crack. I stood still in front of the old cabin door, parting the bushes.
My feet lifted off the ground and touched it again repeatedly. Opening the old door felt as difficult as making a difficult choice.
“So, Bendy, let’s escape.”
This step I was taking now, was it not a step that would turn my life upside down?
As I hesitated, I fiddled with the doorknob and looked up at the sky adorned with morning stars.
A continent where humans and merfolk coexisted.
There was one clear boundary here.
The boundary between herbivorous merfolk and carnivorous merfolk.
To the extent that it could be said that herbivorous merfolk and carnivorous merfolk had separate territories, the two species were thoroughly separated.
Even though merfolk were closer to humans than animals. Even though there were laws prohibiting cannibalism among merfolk.
No guarantee that carnivorous merfolk would not harm herbivorous merfolk.
In some continents, it was said that rabbits ruled over leopards with their forepaws, but…
“Nonsense.”
It was a fanciful argument without any basis.
Therefore, conversations with lion merfolk were pointless and about as useful as throwing stones into a sea.
“Can I do it…?”
I lowered my gaze and stared at the anklet on my left ankle.
The thin jewel anklet sparkled in the darkness.
It was a tracking device that my father had filled with complaints and said it was a gift. It was also the reason I hadn’t been able to escape until now. It was truly a measure befitting my father.
“….”
Like a shackle, the anklet. I had no confidence to break this shackle imbued with my father’s magic with my own magic.
Because I had been weak in practical magic from a young age. Even if I studied day and night theory, I didn’t show much improvement.
Since it was my father who knew him best, I had let him leave whether I roamed outside or not.
At times like this, I felt what was the use of being from the Reppy family, who inherited the bloodline of a magician.
“I’m scared.”
I had suffered so much pain trying to forcefully break this shackle.
Startled, I stepped back instinctively from the cabin. It was because the clouds passing through the dark sky looked like a lion’s head.
“I’ve never seen such a hideous cloud before.”
Shivering, I slowly brought my hand to the shackle.
Clack. As I sent my magic through, a faint flame began to flicker.
“Ugh.”
I continued to send my magic as my lips trembled.
Woosh- The hurricane-like wind made my hair fly around in disarray.
With that, my father’s voice, which had become so familiar to the point of being sickening, echoed in my ears.
“Tsk, how annoying.”
Crackle, crackle.
Every time a flame sprouted from the shackle, an excruciating pain rushed in.
“Be grateful that I’m allowing you to live a noble life.”
But I don’t have anything to choose for myself even though he allows me to live a noble life.
I didn’t want to live as a means for my father’s manipulation anymore.
“Huh…”
I tasted a bitter blood in my mouth.
In a moment of near collapse, the shackles shattered into tiny pieces and disappeared.
“I did it…?”
There was no way this was possible.
In a surprised state, I hesitated for a moment, then a sign emanated from the cabin door.
“Bendy, why are you acting like that? Aren’t you coming in?”
The owner of the sign was Moni. I quickly hid my ankle, which was full of life, and went around her.
“Yeah, I was just about to come in.”
“I thought you weren’t coming. Come in quickly, hurry.”
✧˚·̩̩̥͙˚̩̥̩̥·̩̩̥͙✧·̩̩̥͙˚̩̥̩̥˚·̩̩̥͙✧ 𝑔𝓇𝒶𝓋𝒾𝓉𝓎𝓃𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁𝓈 ✧˚·̩̩̥͙˚̩̥̩̥·̩̩̥͙✧·̩̩̥͙˚̩̥̩̥˚·̩̩̥͙✧
