The Main Character is the Villain

“Do you like your clothes, Cellu?”

“They're stifling.”

Cellu, wearing the school uniform I had given her, moved her body this way and that. A mermaid in an Academy school uniform gave off a far more maniacal feeling than I had expected. A knight passing behind me flinched in surprise upon seeing Cellu's attire, then looked at me, shook his head, and fled. Cellu pointed at the back of the fleeing knight's head and spoke.

“That person is running away.”

“Let him be. He's not the type to say anything to my face. Anyway, what do you think of the design? I specifically had it made with waterproof material. It's fine to swim in.”

Surprisingly, waterproof material existed in this world's setting. I had only asked just in case, but the nun had listed waterproof material as if it were a matter of course. With only her lower body submerged, the clothes weren't wet yet. Cellu undid the blazer's buttons again and spoke.

“Mermaids don't wear clothes.”

“But before you're a mermaid, you're my woman. I don't like you showing your naked body to others.”

“That sounds like something a womanizer would say. You must have said the same to Sieri and Eve, right?”

This was a situation where I had to firmly warn even Elsi not to wear revealing clothes just anywhere. As long as they lived in this mansion, they were all my women, so they couldn't show their skin texture to others. Cellu swished her tail in the swimming pool and asked me.

“How is Eve?”

“She's doing well. You talk to her every day, so why ask me? You two are the most harmonious mother and daughter in our mansion.”

“Heh. But, if she talks to me a lot, Eve can't talk with other people.”

Lately, Cellu had been drawing a line with Eve. Eve didn't seem to notice it much yet, but I, watching from the side, could feel it clearly. I said.

“You're drawing a line.”

“Eung.”

Cellu nodded her head. She admitted it so readily that I was on the verge of mistaking it for something natural. As I nodded back, then stared with wide eyes, Cellu giggled. She splashed water on my priest's robe.

“I just had this laundered today.”

I said as much, dodging slightly. Cellu stopped splashing and glanced up at me. She asked.

“Eve is human, right?”

It was the start of that boring debate again. How many times had it been? In the end, the mansion people loved Eve, so what was Cellu so anxious about?

“There you go again. Eve is human. No one living in my mansion thinks Eve isn't human. Cellu.”

“That's not enough.”

I said.

“What's not enough? Let me say it again, I can't make Eve's situation any better than it is now, and it's difficult for other people to accept her. Eve is, strictly speaking...”

“A criminal who killed people, and that sin is usually hard to be pardoned for. Right? That doesn't matter. I've thought about it, too. The reason I can't feel that Eve is human. The reason you, and all the mansion people here, respect Eve, but I still feel it's not enough.”

“What is it?”

“It's because Eve doesn't think of herself as human. And the reason for that is me.”

“So you end with the conclusion of self-denial. Cellu. Thinking everything in the world is your fault won't make you feel better. It will only make you suffer more.”

“Heh. I'm not doing this to feel better. It's something I have to do, even if it's painful.”

Cellu took off the school uniform and folded it neatly. Returning to her original appearance, she held the uniform out to me. I asked.

“Are you saying you won't accept it?”

“No. I'll treasure it. Put it in a box for me.”

“Clothes are meaningless if you don't wear them.”

“Mermaids don't wear things like clothes.”

Cellu spoke resolutely, even while smiling. I knew she wouldn't give up her stubbornness. Cellu was trying to clearly distinguish between herself and Eve. She was a mermaid, and Eve was human. It was clear she wanted to inform Eve of that fact by drawing the line herself.

“The word 'challenge' is beautiful no matter where you attach it. So what is your goal?”

“Goal?”

“There must be a goal that you desire, Cellu. Like wanting Eve's feet to truly become human feet, or wanting a child to be born between me and Eve. Something like that.”

“I want Eve to be able to live happily even without me.”

Cellu's words sounded just like final words. I felt uneasy and shook my head as I spoke.

“That sounds like something a person about to leave would say. Cellu. Your place is here, in this mansion. You can live happily here.”

“This place is enjoyable, but it's not a place for a mermaid to live. I like you, and I also know you've endured a lot to keep me here. But still, I am a mermaid. The Queen of the Sea who parts the Great Sea.”

“If Eve hears you want to leave, she'll be sad.”

“But you're here. I'm not planning to leave for good. If we can see each other again, we can see each other anytime. I'm yours, after all.”

“But the sea is dangerous. There are hunters everywhere trying to catch mermaids, and people these days are hell-bent on killing them. Since the Western Coast was ruined, public opinion about mermaids has rapidly worsened.”

Cellu looked at the swimming pool wall. One wall of the pool, connected directly to the boundary wall, was damp year-round, leaving a dark water mark. There was a dedicated servant who cleaned this swimming pool's wall surface to prevent moss or mold from growing. The clean wall surface was a sign that Cellu was under my care.

“When I was young, at the base of Mermaid Island, there was a large reef that blocked the water's path.”

Cellu opened her mouth. Her gaze was fixed on the wall. I watched her profile and focused on her story. Strands of red hair clung to Cellu's pale face. Cellu twirled her hair with her finger and spoke.

“That reef looked just like a turtle stretching its head out to look around. While eating turtles, we even directly compared the reef to a turtle. Among ourselves, we called it the Turtle Stone. It was a very hard and thick stone, and it served the role of parting the ocean current that flowed through the sea. When we got tired from swimming in the current, we would cling to that stone to rest, or use a crevice in the rock to turn our backs to the current.”

Cellu lightly rubbed a floor tile with her finger. A squeak came from the well-polished tile. Cellu pouted her lips and spoke.

“One day, my friend and I were playing while holding onto the Turtle Stone, when its neck part just cracked and broke off. My friend, who was clinging to the stone, was dragged away with it by the ocean current and only barely made it back after letting go of the head part. The only thing tormenting the Turtle Stone under the sea was the water current, but that current alone made it so the Turtle Stone could no longer function as a stone.”

“That was dangerous.”

Cellu grinned at my words.

“Heh. Yes. That's right. It was dangerous. I think my life right now is just like that Turtle Stone. I was swept away by a torrent of hatred and killed people, and now I'm swept away by love and have settled down here. But is this okay? Living with you is so nice, but on the other hand, it scares me. I wonder if I'm forgetting my true nature as a mermaid and just ending up looking only at you. Like that reef that could no longer be called the Turtle Stone, I wonder if I'll be left as an in-between existence, neither mermaid nor human. And if a person like that is by her side, won't Eve try to think of herself as a mermaid? Won't I become Eve's ocean current again, and won't Eve's identity as a human also be broken because of me?”

Cellu's gaze was looking straight at me. Her face always held a hint of playfulness. It was the same now. She wore a mischievous smile, her hands holding both water and the single-minded desire to splash it.

I scratched my head. This was a difficult question I couldn't solve. Cellu's question was about the future, and I was someone who had plenty to handle with the reality right in front of me. It wasn't that her question was annoying, but I couldn't answer it right away.

I picked up the school uniform that Cellu had taken off. Cellu was looking up at me. I placed my hand on Cellu's head. The texture of Cellu's hair was always wet. She brought her head closer to me, snuggling up like a cat. I said.

“Don't go.”

Cellu asked a question. It wasn't a question of why she shouldn't go. She didn't respond to my request, as if her eventual departure was as natural as spring turning to summer.

“How much do you like me?”

“I like you the most in the world.”

“I hate clichéd lines like that.”

“You're my favorite among mermaids.”

“That also sounds like a womanizer.”

I put the school uniform down again. I pressed Cellu's face firmly with both hands. Startled by me suddenly treating her face like a toy, Cellu struggled.

“Heuk, heueuk...!”

I played with her cheeks, squishing them like a water balloon, before letting go. Cellu made a pouting expression and rubbed her own cheeks. She stretched her arms out on the edge of the swimming pool and draped her body over it. Then, she poked my foot and spoke.

“That's mean. I'm hurt.”

“That's because you don't tell me properly what you want to hear. Cellu. What do you want to hear? I'm someone who doesn't know how to handle a woman's heart, so if you don't tell me properly, I'll be lost. Do you want to see me agonizing in front of you?”

“Heh. You really sound like a womanizer.”

“Strictly speaking, I am a womanizer. And you, Cellu, are having an affair with your daughter's husband.”

“Mermaids don't have the concept of a husband.”

“Distinguishing between mermaids and humans is convenient at times like this, I see.”

“Heh.”

“Don't just laugh it off.”

Even as I said that, I unconsciously let out a chuckle. Cellu shot out of the water and hugged me tightly. I sat down on the floor and gave her a full-force embrace. My clothes got soaked from the water on her body, but that wasn't an important problem. I asked.

“Cellu. What is it that you want to hear so badly?”

“Hmm... what I want to hear is...”

The wind blew. At the unseasonable cold wind, Cellu burrowed deeper into my body. Clinging tightly to me like a stray cat shivering from the cold, she whispered.

“I like you, second only to Eve.”

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