Upon hearing that the banquet preparations were complete, we followed the attendant's guidance to the banquet hall.
We held hands tightly so that no doubts could even be raised.
I gestured toward Noelier, who was standing beside me. He then obediently leaned his upper body forward.
I whispered once again in a low voice what I had been explaining all along.
"What did I say we should address each other?"
Noelier answered my question without hesitation.
"Ma'am."
"Great."
I nodded in satisfaction.
The servant guarding the door recognized us and opened it for us.
The door opened with a loud noise.
I could feel many mermaids looking at us with sparkling eyes. Just as Mentira had said, the banquet hall was splendid enough to make it impossible to take one's eyes off it.
"Oh, welcome!"
Mentira quickly approached us.
"I have been waiting. I prepared this in a hurry, but I hope you like it."
I greeted him casually and scrutinized the leader's face. He looked strangely pleased. His gaze was persistent, as if determined not to miss a single one of my actions.
It was then, while I was feeling anxious, that Mentira spoke.
"I heard that you were harmed by the Sirens the other day."
“Yes, I did.”
"Oh, dear. You must have had a hard time."
He lowered his eyebrows as if he felt really sorry.
At that moment, I felt the hand I was holding tighten. I glanced to the side and saw Noelier frowning.
"Trouble?"
"..."
"This isn't something that can be resolved with just a few words."
Mentira's laughter stopped abruptly, even though not much had been said.
"...Oh dear, I made a mistake. I am sorry, Madam."
Mentira, who had struggled to relax his stiff expression, apologized to me.
"So, I have something prepared."
Mentira quickly changed the subject. He whispered something to the mermaid next to him.
Soon, men with their faces covered in black sacks were dragged forward, following the attendants. With their hands tied, they were struggling with their feet.
'No way.'
I realized what he was going to do.
Mentira nodded after reading my gaze.
"You're right."
He immediately removed the sack. The mermaids in the banquet hall gasped in surprise.
"It's a Siren!"
"Oh my goodness, it's red hair!'
The two sirens we had met at the mansion were looking at us with fearful faces.
Mentira stretched his hand high into the air.
With a faint light, the Triaina, also known as the trident, which I had only seen in books, appeared.
Mentira said in a voice overflowing with joy.
"As a representative of the East, I will personally punish these people on their behalf."
He aimed Triaina at the Sirens.
Magic restraints like Noelier's were fastened around their necks.
Unable to use their strength, they had no choice but to tremble in helplessness and fear.
"..."
Aria just glared at the leader as if she had realized something.
"How are you, Chief?"
Mentira asked with a benevolent smile.
"I would like to repay the rudeness you suffered with punishment."
Then, voices of agreement burst forth from here and there.
"Please kill them, Leader!"
"You must sever the cursed blood!"
"Please elevate the status of the East!"
Amidst the pouring cheers, Noelier quietly cast a glance at me. He was asking for my opinion.
Feeling that gaze, I slowly opened my mouth.
“Chief.”
Mentira finally looked at me at my call.
"I am the one who has been harmed, so why are you asking only for the leader's opinion without even asking for mine?"
Mentira's face turned pale with embarrassment. It seemed like an unexpected question.
"Well, since this is a conflict between the North and the East, shouldn't we ask for the Leader's opinion first? Haha, that is just how governance works."
Mentira seemed to be trying to get through this situation somehow.
He signaled to Noelier as if asking him to take his side, but Noelier merely looked down at the mermaid with an expressionless face.
"What is going on right now?"
"You indeed suffered damages, but... that's a bit..."
"What are you talking about? The Southern Leader is a dragon. We must not offend a dragon. We have already committed an act of disrespect once."
"That makes sense. I'm worried that this might just upset the Southern Leader."
The comments the mermaids around me were adding were getting longer and longer. I vaguely nodded.
"I see. I understand exactly what you mean."
Of course, I didn't mean to say that I really understood.
Mentira's face was becoming increasingly distorted. The whispering voices of the mermaids also grew louder.
"...I have been rude again..."
Mentira, pressured by the situation, reluctantly apologized.
'Of course, he didn't say a word of apology.'
It seemed like his last shred of pride.
"By the way, your partner is amazing, too."
"To think you could say that to the leader."
"With that dragon by your side, isn't it only natural? I think the world would seem insignificant to me too."
Now the mermaids' topic of conversation has changed to me.
It seemed like he was speaking in a low voice, but I could hear everything without missing a single word.
"Eve, there are too many uncomfortable things being said."
Noelier frowned and whispered in my ear.
"Do I have to endure this too?"
There was a hint of resentment in the voice as he said that. It meant he didn't want to hold it in.
Rachel and Zion also clung to me with wary expressions.
With children on both sides and my husband behind me, I ended up being protected on all sides.
'But I can't show any weakness here.'
Before coming to the banquet hall, I grabbed Noelier and said this.
'I asked you to just watch, even if I do something else crazy at the banquet hall.'
Noelier, who had been frowning at my meaningless words, sighed and reluctantly nodded.
"It doesn't matter as long as it isn't related to Eve's danger."
I did not answer that separately. It was because I could not bring myself to say that I understood.
Once again, I did not answer Noelier's question asking if I should endure it. Realizing the meaning of my silence, he added no further words.
"...Then what do you want to do? Surely you don't mean you don't want punishment?"
Mentira quietly asked for my opinion. The rumors swirling in the banquet hall must have reached his ears clearly, too.
'He's finally noticing my mood.'
It finally became clear.
Even the mermaids in the banquet hall, and even their Chief right in front of me.
'They don't know I'm a wolf.'
A wolf has confidently claimed the position of a dragon's companion. A mermaid who could see the truth should have been right to question it.
'I was right after all.'
I lifted my chin up for show. It was to look as arrogant as possible.
"Naturally, I want the Sirens punished. It was a grave mistake to brainwash them and obscure the truth."
"I thought so."
Mentira nodded and aimed the tip of the Triaina at the Sirens. The sharp tip looked as if it would pierce their necks at any moment.
"Ah. Of course, I will handle the punishment."
However, Mentira's actions could not continue at the words I added.
He blinked slowly, looking flustered.
"... Yes?"
"As the victim, I want to punish them myself. With what you are holding, Leader, I will personally."
I kindly gestured to the Triaina he was holding and said
“How can this be?”
"Isn't that a bit too much? Even if she is a dragon's mate, making such a demand is unacceptable."
The whispering voices grew louder.
Triaina is an object that only the leader can lift. It was only natural that the other mermaids reacted that way.
"...All right."
However, Mentira nodded. Many thoughts must have gone through his mind before he reached such a decision.
Mentira handed me Triaina. Triaina, tinged with blue throughout, came into my hands.
"Madam, you will punish the Sirens yourself."
At Mentira's words, I took a step forward.
"..."
The Sirens were looking up at me with eyes full of fear.
In the meantime, the chief picked up the glass placed next to him, pretending to be relaxed.
The raised glass sparkled, absorbing the chandelier light.
I quickly organized my thoughts.
Content different from the original. The words saying that the truth must not be told, and...
"You arrogant redhead."
Even Rachel's monologue that I saw in the book.
"..."
Having finished thinking, I lifted Triaina high. The eyes of the sirens looking at me were filled with fear.
It was when Mentira was about to drink from the glass in an elegant pose.
I aimed the tip of Triaina at Mentira.
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