MRG Chapter 4: Then Just Stay

Translator: Kii

Editor: yuki_shuichi

After Mu Chen was placed in the water, the walls of the pool, which was forged by the flexible machinery, suddenly extended outward in all directions. The top of the tank rose from its original waist-high position to almost two meters high. The inside of the pool became spacious, allowing the little merman to freely stretch.

Mu Chen twisted his shimmering silver tail and made several turns in the water. His originally sharp ears changed into shell-like mica-textured ear fins. Tiny bubbles passed through his silk-like hair ends.

His light silver hair took on a flowing platinum color under the light, and below his delicate and long eyelashes were a pair of azure eyes.

Light stood in front of the pool, his gaze involuntarily following the bright color; the entire rippling water was reflected in the pupils of his eyes.

This was the first time he had ever observed a merman up close in the water.

The merman in the water had an exquisite beauty, so beautiful that no one would not want to treasure him and make him their own.

But at the same time, a voice in his heart was saying that the merman belonged to the vast ocean, and he shouldn’t be bound to this side of the world.

Kole brought up the virtual light screen in his lens and began using smart brain to analyze Mu Chen’s condition. In the corner of his eyes, he caught a glimpse of Light in a rare moment of being lost in thought. The corner of his lips was slightly raised, almost as if he was proud and a little smug.

As a biologist researching merfolks for almost two decades, he knew that there was no one who wouldn’t be attracted to merfolks.

Within Light’s line of sight, the little merman swam a few turns before stopping in front of him.

Immediately afterward, a small palm was imprinted on the transparent pool wall.

Light raised his gaze with a hint of surprise, and his eyes were met with a pair of gleaming eyes. The little merman blinked his long lashes and blew a string of bubbles out from his mouth.

“Yiii~”

The pool’s water ripple trembled, transmitting the sound to the outside and falling on people’s eardrums. The sound was ethereal and high, shaking their hearts as if it were creating ripples.

The needle of the instrument next to the pool shook noticeably.

Kole’s face revealed an excited expression. “This is a merman’s cry in the water; the ancient language of Atlantis.”

At the same time, he felt a bit upset because the merman was talking to that clueless guy.

But Light stood frozen in place, not knowing how to respond for a moment.

Did he need to place his hand on the glass?

What…did it mean?

Thus, when the guards at the side watched as the prince, who was always quick and decisive in killing on the battlefield, showed a blank and bewildered expression in response to the baby’s friendly gesture, they were shocked.

Kole couldn’t watch any longer and curled his lips. “Your Highness, the merman is talking to you.”

So stupid!!

Why did the merman like him?

“Yii~”

The little merman called out again, as if urging Light.

Light looked at the palm that was spread out toward him, seeming to understand the other party’s intention. Although he wasn’t too sure, he still stretched out his own hand and pressed his five fingers against the other party’s palm one by one.

His palm was much bigger than the merman’s. When both of their palms were touching, Mu Chen curled up the corner of his lips, and his eyelashes also curved. He excitedly curled up his fishtail, performing a magnificent backflip in the water.

A bit of water splashed out of the pool.

Light’s brows relaxed unconsciously.

“This is a merfolk’s way of expressing affection.” Upon seeing this, Grock came over and explained ‘ardently,’ “I can see that this little fish likes you.”

“In history, there are many cases where merfolks intermarry with humans and produce excellent bloodlines. In fact, nearly half of the Atlantis royal family chose to marry humans.” When he got to this part, Grock smiled and looked at Mu Chen. “He looks like a beautiful sub-male merman. He will definitely give birth to precious blue-blooded descendants for the royal family…”

Merfolks were divided into male, female, and sub-male—of which all but males have the ability to give birth.

A tapping of a pen interrupted Grock’s speech. “Eh, this may be a little narrow-minded, strictly speaking…” Kole’s voice sounded as if he were muttering to himself.

Grock’s expression turned a bit disapproving. “Dr. Kole, what are you trying to say?”

Kole was completely oblivious to this and concentrated on getting his point across. “What I’m trying to say is that it’s very narrow-minded to judge a gender solely based on simple physical features. You might be overlooking skeletal structure and other important characteristics…”

He tapped the frame with his fingertip, and a majestic merfolk skeleton image instantly appeared on the virtual light screen. “The deep-sea merfolks once ruled the Blue Planet. The huge force generated by their tail swings could destroy the steel plate of ships. According to historical records, the largest merfolk, “Sea God” Mu Xiusi, had a tail fin length of 2.68 meters. However, due to long-term intermarriage with humans, the azure blood of merfolks has been continuously weakened. By the last generation, the average tail fin length of adult sub-male was 1.3 meters, and that of males was 1.5 meters.”

“If I’m not mistaken, this merman’s tail is already one meter long. He’s only fourteen years old right now, and merfolks can still grow until they’re almost thirty, so it’s not impossible to have a tail fin of more than two meters after he has fully grown. Of course, it’s not to say that he’s definitely not sub-male…”

Grock was afraid that he would continue to foil his plans, so he added a bit more displeasure in his tone as he said, “Dr. Kole has said so much, but is there actually a way to confirm the merman’s gender?”

Kole suddenly turned silent. “We can open his reproductive cavity, but considering that he is still young…”

Grock directly interrupted him, then looked at Light with a smile on his face. “Your Highness, if you don’t mind, we can check right now.”

“Buzzt!”

The pointer on the instrument violently shook again.

Through the wall, Mu Chen shook his head vigorously at Light; a string of dense bubbles came out of his mouth, and his eyes were full of unwillingness.

He didn’t want to be studied in front of so many people.

Light furrowed his brows. “No need.”

“I said that any examinations that have nothing to do with his health aren’t needed.”

Grock’s sales pitch tone was as repulsive as Jorah’s forced marriage for the sake of the so-called royal symbol and blue blood.

Light regained his usual stern expression and looked at Kole. “Continue with your original examination.”

“Yes, Your Highness.” Kole tapped on the frame’s edge, and a mechanical holder immediately emerged from the bottom of the tank, scooping a fish swimming in the small pool next to it.

“We’ll first put a fish inside to test his reaction when facing other sea creatures.”

The hook tossed the fish into the pool with a plop, and it foolishly blew out bubbles, but it suddenly felt like a shadow cast over it.

A piercing cold breeze swept over it, and due to the creature’s natural alertness to danger, it flapped its tail in hopes of escaping this body of water.

But the shadow quickly enveloped it, completely cutting off its escape route.

The fish raised its head in fright, seeing a reflection of itself in a pair of deep blue eyes. The other party’s long and thick eyelashes were almost curved into a crescent shape.

In the next moment, the merman opened his mouth, showing his white teeth and the two sharp teeth facing the fish.

The fish began to shudder, blowing a dense string of bubbles. “?%@&%!”

The clawed webbed hands slowly gathered the fish in his palms, and the fish could feel the merman’s vocal cord vibrating, emitting low-frequency and penetrating sound waves.

“Want to eat…”

“It looks delicious.”

“Should I start from the head or from the tail?”

The fish was like a helpless caged bird, powerlessly turning in Mu Chen’s palms.

I really want to eat it…

Mu Chen watched the creature in his palms trembling incessantly, his Adam’s apple rolling up and down.

However, his peripheral vision landed on the few people outside the pool…

He couldn’t.

He wasn’t sure if he could stay in the palace, so he had to continue maintaining his cute and lovable image.

Mu Chen did his best to restrain his urge to eat, chase, and “play” with the other party in the water.

Kole gave his assessment, “This is a very docile baby merman. He has pretty much lost his hunting instinct.”

The fish that has already been frightened to the point of near delirium, “???”

Mu Chen, who was trying his best to suppress himself from swallowing the fish in one bite, rushed over to the people outside and smiled, perfectly portraying a lovable and harmless demeanor.

Light’s gaze landed on the merman’s sharp canine…

Pretty cute.

He thought.

During the chase, Mu Chen would occasionally bump his cheek against the fish. Every time it happened, he would blink his gleaming eyes toward him, as if waiting to be praised. He was like an energetic puppy playing a frisbee game, making people want to rub his head.

But he was too obedient, so he might be easily bullied outside.

……

After a series of observations, Kole concluded—Mu Chen looked very healthy and was a meek merman. He was ready to put away the equipment and end the test.

After Mu Chen came out of the pool and dried himself, his tail returned to a pair of human legs. Seeing that Kole was talking to Light about the habits and precautions of merfolks, he pulled Kuina aside and tried to slip away quietly.

“Eh, eh…” Kole suddenly appeared in front of him and made a ‘no’ gesture. “There’s still one last examination to do.”

The little merman pricked up his ears.

Kole took out a brand new syringe from his white coat. “We still need to draw a tube of blood.”

He had Mu Chen sit on a chair and rolled up his cuff.

Facing the little merman’s face, which was so beautiful that one could not bear to see him show any sadness, Kole’s movement unconsciously became much lighter. He even said to him in comfort,

“It might hurt a little.”

Does drawing blood hurt?

Mu Chen didn’t understand.

Perhaps a few people knew that his father, the last king of Atlantis, was a tyrant who would whip him with leather when he went mad.

Due to the astonishing healing power of his azure blood, those scars would never leave marks on his skin.

Thus, the next day was a new day, and he was once again the prince who carried all hopes and a bright future.

Those days in Atlantis were the times that Mu Chen least wanted to recall.

Compared to his father’s brutality, injections and drawing blood seemed much more like leisure entertainment to Mu Chen.

When Kole was applying alcohol to disinfect the skin around his blood vessels, Mu Chen drooped his eyelashes slightly, and his gaze landed on the needle shining with cold light and the instrument around it. He suddenly came up with an idea.

Shouldn’t he take advantage of this opportunity, then?

And so, the moment the needle pierced his flesh, Mu Chen quickly turned his head away; his long eyelashes trembled severely, his eye suddenly reddened, and tears pooled in his eyes.

Almost as if to prevent the tears from falling, the little merman tried his best to raise his head, but the tears still wet his lower lashes. The crystal tears rolled along his eyes and finally slid down his cheek.

Light took notice of Mu Chen’s abnormality, so he quickly walked to his side. Mu Chen immediately gripped Light’s sleeves tightly and buried his face in the crook of his arm.

Feeling the warm sensation under his palm, Light looked down, only to find that the other person’s back was trembling with fear. He looked like a frightened animal, desperately seeking comfort.

Light’s knuckles stiffened for a moment, then immediately placed his hand on his back gently and patted his back soothingly. “Does it hurt?”

“Wuu…” Mu Chen shook his head.

Seeing that he didn’t dare raise his head, Mu Chen asked again, “Are you scared of needles?”

The little merman let out a sob, then lightly nodded. “En…”

“It’s done.” Kole didn’t expect that the little merman would have such a huge reaction. After drawing a tube of blood, cold sweat dripped down from his forehead from nervousness.

“Your Highness… Mu Chen’s face was still buried in Light’s arms. He tried his best to stop sobbing and asked carefully, “After leaving the palace, will I have to go to a cold place and get my blood drawn every day?”

“The lab isn’t cold.” Kole rubbed the sweat on his forehead and tried to comfort the little merman with humorous words, “There are occasional explosions there, hahaha…”

But it backfired.

Mu Chen buried his head deeper in the prince’s arms.

As Light looked at his sleeve being gripped tightly and the little merman’s dependent appearance, a feeling of pity grew in his heart.

He patted Mu Chen’s back again and again.

At this moment, Light realized that ever since he returned to the palace, he had been thinking about how to annul the engagement. He had told Mu Chen not to worry…

But it seemed he had never asked for the little merman’s opinion.

He thinks that he’ll be sent to the laboratory, which is why he’s been so uneasy?

The atmosphere was silent for a while.

“You won’t go to that kind of place…” Light stretched out a hand and ran it on top of Mu Chen’s head. “If you want to continue staying in the place, it’s possible…”

“You like it here?”

Mu Chen stopped his sobbing, and at an angle where no one could see, he secretly revealed a slight smile.

When he lifted his head from Light’s arms, he returned to that of a helpless baby with a face full of tear stains, as if he had been frightened.

“Like.” Mu Chen earnestly nodded.

As he said this, the little merman turned around to look at Kole, then buried his head in Light’s arms again. He said in an overly sweet tone, “Mu Chen doesn’t like this uncle; Mu Chen likes Your Highness.”

Looking into those sapphire-like eyes, Light felt as if something soft had entered his heart, causing his heartbeat to quicken.

He ran his finger through the little merman’s smooth silver hair, and the latter rubbed his cheek against his fingertips affectionately.

Light seriously looked at Mu Chen. “They just stay.”

Kole, who witnessed the entire conversation between the two, “???”

It was as if an arrow had shot right through his heart.

Also, how did he become an uncle?

He was the youngest researcher in the lab!

……