96 - Mortal Embarrassment

  Nexha dragged himself out of the water, feeling his muscles protest after his desperate escape. The pressure from the mermaid’s tail had left his own tail numb, and swimming that fast had been pure torture.

  Despite the pain, he sighed in relief—he had made it out alive and in one piece.

  He barely had time to catch his breath before hearing a familiar voice.

  — Running away from a moray eel again, Nexha?

  Nexha lifted his head and met Lilay’s curious smirk.

  — No, Lilay… Worse. An old mermaid tried to kidnap me.

  The silence lasted only a second before being shattered by a collective reaction.

  — WHAT?!

  The unified shout echoed across the platform, so loud that even little Jasper, who had been happily chewing on a piece of fish offered by Nalu, choked and spat out his food.

  All eyes turned to Nexha in disbelief, but it was Krahs who reacted first.

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  — So that’s why that sperm whale suddenly dived! Zhaelor, why the hell doesn’t that giant idiot warn everyone?! He just dove out of nowhere without saying something that dangerous was nearby?!

  Without hesitation, Krahs grabbed the King Slayer. The trident reacted to his fury, glowing menacingly, as if it could feel its owner’s rage.

  — Nalu, watch the kids! I’ll stay underwater to make sure nothing dangerous comes up to the platform.

  And with that, Krahs jumped into the sea, disappearing quickly into the vast blue. Nexha sighed again, relieved that he was safe.

  He closed his eyes for a moment, only to snap them open in shock when he realized that Nalu had picked him up.

  — Huh?!

  — It must have been so scary, little Nexha… — Nalu murmured, cradling him with exaggerated affection.

  Before he could protest, she started patting his back as if he were a baby that needed to burp.

  — I-I’m fine! I don’t need this!

  — Liar. — Lilay crossed his arms, clearly amused by the scene.

  Nexha’s face turned bright red as he desperately tried to ignore the fact that he was way too close to two floating masses he definitely did not want to be near.

  — Lilay, shut up!

  — Oh, he’s obviously relieved! — Lilay continued, completely ignoring his brother’s outrage. — Nalu, he loves milk. He’ll calm down real fast.

  — Oh! Unfortunately, I don’t have much right now, but I can—

  — NO! Put me down! I’m way too grown to drink milk! Save that for Jasper and your babies!

  Nexha struggled in every possible way to escape, but Nalu seemed determined to convince him that he needed to be comforted. Luckily, she didn’t have any milk at that moment—because if she did, Nexha would never forgive himself.

  Even though he had only stopped being a baby physically a few days ago, the sheer embarrassment would have killed him on the spot.