94 - Playing with a Snake

  The grip around his body seemed to tighten little by little. The weight of the mermaid’s cold tail kept him trapped, and her rough scales made everything even more uncomfortable. Her black eyes continued to pierce his mind, reflecting the stars like an endless abyss. Nexha felt his breath grow heavy, his head spinning, his own doubts growing like thorns inside him.

  — Just accept it, Nexha — the mermaid murmured, her voice alluring.

  — Fate is already decided for all of us, so why fight against it? The King has always had a plan for his beautiful star... — She smiled again, revealing her thin, sharp teeth. Her excitement shone through every feature of her face.

  The King.

  That word echoed in Nexha’s mind, and something inside him twisted in rejection.

  Then, he felt a crack deep within, something breaking and leaking out, as if a cold hatred slithered up his spine. The vision of the man from his nightmares flashed before his consciousness. No... he didn’t want to remember. Or rather, he hated remembering.

  The mermaid continued, her voice now almost a hypnotic chant:

  — The King always protects what is his, and if you return to who you were meant to be, you will never be alone again. — With cold fingers, she cupped his face, tilting it upward with forced gentleness. — Your body belongs to something greater, Nexha... Just let go of your doubts and follow me.

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  Crack.

  Something inside him gave way, but not in the way the mermaid wanted.

  The spell on him began to shatter, burning away beneath his rising fury. His chest heaved with rapid breaths, and his mind grew sharper with each second. How could he have fallen for such a blatant lie?

  But… what if it was true?

  What if he was only delaying the inevitable?

  The loneliness... the fear... everything he had tried to bury now felt so real, so suffocating.

  Crack.

  Another fracture in his mind. An internal scream echoed—but this time, it wasn’t his own. It was the system.

  For a brief moment, it was as if Luna, the entity governing his system, had shouted in his mind, furious that he had fallen so easily for a deceitful mermaid’s spell.

  He blinked. The haze clouding his thoughts was rapidly dissipating.

  — If you accept your true form, you will never be alone again. — The mermaid’s voice was a silky whisper, almost an enchanted promise. — Just leave this body behind... and become a woman, like me.

  Nexha’s gaze narrowed.

  Lies.

  Everything about her was poison, each word an invisible chain trying to bind him. But he could see the cracks in her hypnotic melody. She thought she had him in her hands.

  Her mistake was underestimating him.

  He could still feel the tail coiled around him, her calculated and controlled movements trapping him like a snake preparing to devour a defenseless prey. But now, Nexha was no longer defenseless.

  He wasn’t as good an actor as Lilay, but he could still deceive someone too confident in their own manipulation.

  If he wanted to escape, he had to pretend.

  And so, with his eyes gleaming in defiance, he decided to play along with her game... just long enough to turn the tables.