“So why I am even invited?” Ji Yong questioned Seunggi. Seunggi gave him a white envelope, “It’s the annual ball held every four years. The reason is to create peace between the kingdoms. This year will be held at Valcoast since the princess just had her coronation day months ago,” he explained to him. Ji Yong opened the envelope and read the details uninterestedly. The last ball he attended was his sister’s engagement party several years ago. After their death happened, he shut himself from the public.

He threw the card beside him and gave a long sigh. Currently, they were already on their way for the ball. They sailed the ship few hours ago when Seunggi told him the reason he came to him. His duty was to make sure Ji Yong attend the ball. Ji Yong clearly knew that Seunggi wouldn’t come here without a good reason. He wanted to avoid any places that had her memories; he was still stuck in time. Her death gave a huge impact in his life.

“The invitation was for you but why did you bring her?” Seunggi asked him, mentioning about Krystal joining the ball but Ji Yong didn’t answer. More likely he didn’t have an answer for his question. Why did he even bring her? “The people will stare, you do know that?” Seunggi asked again. Ji Yong just nodded, agreeing with the statement. He knew how famous her sister was before. She received a lot of proposal from princes, ministers and even dukes before she engaged.

“They will think you have gone-,” Ji Yong cut him before Seunggi could finish his sentence, “I am not mad!” he said loudly. “And she is not the replacement of my sister,” he added, giving a glare ay him. His answer made Seunggi silent and stopped with all of the questions. Ji Yong then stood up and head to the door. When he opened the door, he saw Krystal looking over the sea. She was smiling as the she stared at it.

“She is different,” he said quietly. “She is neither my sister nor your fiancée. Krystal is not Jimin and yes, she can never replace my sister in our hearts,” he added, saying it quietly so only Seunggi could heard him. Ji Yong turned around to face his friend, “I care for her and never once I thought that she could be my sister. I no longer live in the past, I’ve move on but not once I forget about her,” Ji Yong continued. Seunggi just looked down and nodded with every word he just said. He opened his mouth to say something but his voice was stuck. Ji Yong left the room since he had said everything he wanted to say. He wanted to give Seunggi his time alone, thinking.

When Seunggi heard the door closed, he let them go. The water which was grouping under his eyes flowed down to his cheeks. He shouted loudly in the room. Just like Ji Yong, he loved Jimin. He was really happy when he heard that she accepted her proposal. The first time he saw her was during his visit to her kingdom. They were still young, around the age of twelve. Jimin was a cheerful princess and everyone in the castle loved her. He fell for her at first sight.

After knowing her, he loved her more. They got engaged at the age sixteen and were planning to marry at the age twenty but when he heard about her sudden death three years later, he became heart broken. The marriage was already planned and there’s only a few months left for the wedding but without a bride the wedding won’t happen. His life was stuck during the time she was still alive although he knew about the death. His heart just can’t accept it. He refused all proposals from other countries; he only wanted her.

Ji Yong shut the door behind him tightly and walked towards Krystal. He leaned himself on the edges, “You love the sea?” he asked Krystal, staring at the blue sea. She smiled; yes, was her answer. Although she wanted to see the human world, the sea was already perfect; a perfection that couldn’t be seen by any other creatures beside the mermaids. But behind that perfection, there was still something missing and that something lies above the sea. That something was something which a mermaid is forbidden to know; it was beyond their reach.

“I hate it,” Ji Yong said coldly. Krystal was surprised to hear the words, ‘How can someone hate such beauty?’ she thought. The air around them became heavy and Ji Yong was silent until he revealed his reasons. “The sea took the people I loved most,” he explained with a crooked smile on his face. “It happened to sudden. One day, they were perfectly alive but the next day they were gone,” there was a smile plastered on his face but his eyes reflect his real feelings. He gave a heavy sigh, “I still don’t have any courage to visit their grave. I didn’t even attend their funeral,” his smile slowly disappeared. “I felt like their presence was still there in the castle,” he added sadly.

Krystal looked at him with sad eyes as his sadness was reflected by his eyes and she could saw them. Suddenly, Ji Yong started to burst out laughing, making Krystal confused by his action. “Sorry, I’m just kidding,” he said, couldn’t stop him from laughing but Krystal wasn’t. She knew that Ji Yong wasn’t lying; it’s the truth. Humans are such fragile creatures, mermaids can see right through them. Krystal punched on Ji Yong’s left shoulder which made the prince startled.

“I’m sorry for saying it as a joke,” Ji Yong said, thought that Krystal was angry at him because h