I took the liberty to westernize the characterâs names seeing that all the previous stories have westernized names.
âAfter drinking this potion, if you fail to obtain the princeâs love, you will turn into foam.â
When the mermaid princess Stacey received the potion from the witch in the sea, the witch said this to her; however, even if this was so, Stacey didnât have any second thoughts and drank the whole potion.
At the cost of her beautiful singing voice, she obtained a pair of human legs because she thought she was in love with the prince. Regardless of what, she wanted to go to his side and profess her love to him.
Stacey, who had obtained feet and was washed up ashore, was fortunate enough to be found by the prince. She was brought back to the palace where she was taken care of meticulously. She assumed that she had already obtained the princeâs love, but when Princess Peyton showed up, Stacey realized that she was merely a substitute for Princess Peyton.
The prince had only been nice to her because her countenance was similar to Peyton but Stacey was well aware that she was far inferior to that human princess. Princess Peyton had blonde hair like sunshine and azure eyes like sea water. Even if Stacey was a mermaid princess, she couldnât help but exclaim in admiration that a land princess could possess the soul of the ocean.
Princess Peyton was peerlessly beautiful. Her beauty hid the moon and shamed the flowers <sup>1</sup> Hid the moon and shamed the flowers: exceeds even that of the natural world a slight smile from her could cause everyone to forget to breathe. Peytonâs figure was tall and her bearing was elegant. When she walked, it was as if a breeze was blowing. When she stood still, she painted a pretty picture.
The most important thing was that the prince had thought that Princess Peyton was the person who saved him. He fell in love with her at first sight and invited her to come this time, hoping that she would consent to their engagement.
And so, at the ball welcoming Princess Peyton, Stacey left the hall silently, enduring the pain in her legs and heart. She arrived at the side of the fountain in the garden, and stared at the reflection of the moon in the water, laughing at her own foolishness.
She thought to herself, her heart mustâve shattered into pieces today. Why hasnât she turned into foam? Was it because it wasnât time yet? Since she hadnât died yet, should she continue to strive for the princeâs affection? But once she thought of Princess Peyton, Staceyâs eyes immediately dimmed again.
If even she couldnât resist Peytonâs beauty, how could the prince do so?
Stacey wept bitterly. Despite shedding tears, she couldnât let out a sound. Her tears dripped silently into the moonlightâs reflection, creating ripples on the surface of the water. She sobbed cautiously as though she was holding back her sorrows, afraid of others discovering
Who wouldâve expected that, at this time, a gentle female voice rang out from the side, asking,âWhy are you crying?â
Stacey lifted her head to look, but found that Princess Peyton was standing beside her, looking at herself. The moonlight sprinkled onto Peytonâs blonde hair, covering her with the glow of a halo and making her appear breathtakingly beautiful.
Stacey opened her mouth, only to remember that she couldnât make a sound and couldnât help but shrink back nervously. But having forgotten that she was currently situated near the fountain, her actions caused her to lose her center of gravity, and her whole person fell into the fountain.
Peyton had wanted to catch her, but was a step too late, only hearing the sound of the splash. Stacey, who had fallen into the water, caused water to splatter out, drenching Peyton who was standing at the edge of the fountain as a result.
Stacey immediately stood up to apologize, but her pair of feet were still not used to walking and supporting her body, so she almost slipped back down into the fountain. Fortunately, Peyton did not only hold her hand, she had also clasped her other hand around her waist and helped her climb out of the fountain.
Stacey, who was unable to speak, looked at their two sorry figures in embarrassment. She felt ashamed and anxious that she didnât know what to do. However, Peyton took her hand and said to her with a small smile, âWill you take me to your room to change out of these clothes?â
Stacey nodded immediately. Enduring the pain in her foot, she led Peyton towards her room as she limped, and didnât realize the ambiguous twinkle in Peytonâs beautiful eyes.
Due to her identity, Stacey did not live inside the castle, but in a cabin deep within the garden.
Although she had a lot of clothes, the petite Stacey had a completely different physique from the tall Peyton. When Peyton had just pulled off her dress, Stacey had been rummaging through her clothes and had just found a slightly bigger piece of clothing. She quickly pushed the curtain aside, wanting to hand the clothes over to Peyton.
Stacey didnât expect to be startled when she pulled the curtain. Peyton stood inside the changing room without a piece of clothing covering her and she looked at her with a smile.
Peytonâs figure was excellent. With a towering snow-white tender chest, a slender waist without an ounce of excess fat, a perfectly contoured hip and slender beautiful legs, she stood there looking like a withered statue of the Goddess of Beauty, evoking a sense of inferiority in Stacey.
She avoided Peytonâs eyes and placed the clothing down, hurriedly trying to leave. But she didnât expect that Peyton would reach out a hand and pull her into her arms, asking her softly, âWhy didnât you change out of your wet clothes? What are you going to do if you catch a cold?â
As she spoke, Peyton had already pulled the layers of ribbon behind Staceyâs dress loose, allowing her dress to slip down to the ground, leaving behind only her corset and lingerie.
Stacey wanted to push her hand away in a panic, but Peyton was very familiar with the way of putting on and taking off womenâs clothes. Not only did she move fast, her strength was also not negligible. Stacey was quickly stripped off of her clothing and was forced to squeeze inside the narrow dressing room with her with a blushing face.
At this point, Stacey was at the verge of tears. Peyton looked at her mien and smiled. Pinching her face, she asked: âWe are both women. What do you have to be ashamed of? Donât you have a personal maid to attend to you?â
Stacey shook her head quickly. At the same time, she thought, as a princess of a powerful country, Peyton must have been served by many maids since she was young. Perhaps, she was even cleaned by others during her bath, it was no wonder she remained calm even when she was exposing her naked body. In contrast, Stacey found the experience very strange and unfamiliar.
However, Peyton did not stop here. Kneading Staceyâs petite br*asts, she said, âHmmâŚThey doesnât seem to be very bigâŚâ
Stacey really wanted to slap her mischievous hand away in shame, but Peyton asked in a leisurely tone, âDid you really forget me? Back then, I thought you were a shy little boy. After all, you had very short hair and you didnât wear any clothes on top. I didnât expect you to actually be a girl.â
Stacey froze abruptly. Recalling many years ago, when she was playing alone on the surface of the sea, she found a small boat with a pretty little girl lying inside. The girl had blond hair and blue eyes much like herself.
At that time, both of them had still been children. With such a young age and a difference in language, Stacey looked at her impatiently, wanting to ask her to play with her, but she didnât expect the girl to expose a disgusted look. Dispirited, Stacey could only sink back to the bottom of the sea and secretly watch as the little boat rocked on top of the water.
But it didnât take long for the boat to encounter a rainstorm and the girl, thrown out of the boat. Worried about the girlâs condition, Stacey hurriedly swam over, but discovered that the girlâs lower body was of a fish tail like herself.
It was just that, the girl might have been struck by the thunder, for she was completely unconscious, so she secretly took the girl back to the palace at the bottom of the ocean. Every day, she would leave leftovers of her food, just to share it with her, but not too long later, the incident came to light. The girl was taken away by the elders of the clan, who said that though the girlâs origin was a mermaid, she still belonged to surface land, so she had to be sent back. Because of this, Stacey cried for a long time.
Later on, she would often swim to the surface, looking at the human ships that passed, hoping to see the girl, but as time passed, she had forgotten this purpose, and merely watched the humans and ships out of habit, until one day, she had finally rescued the prince, and had come onto land.
Thinking of this, Stacey immediately nodded seriously, saying that she remembered this incident, but Peyton showed a suspicious expression: âIf I didnât mention it, would you have completely forgotten it?â
Staceyâs face immediately heated up. Peyton was right, she really did forget her. At that time, she had clearly cared for her, but she didnât know why she had forgotten about this incident. Perhaps it was because losing her was too painful, and so, she didnât want to experience it again, so this time, undaunted by perils, she came onto land to find the prince.
In short, after realizing that Peyton was the girl from back then, Stacey immediately hugged her in excitement, completely forgetting that she was her own rival, and even forgetting that they were both completely naked. She also did not realize that Peyton was staring at her legs with a gloomy expression.
TOC for Advanced Chapters â EFT (Patreon link has been removed to abide by strict guidelines. Those who want to read ahead can ask through kofi for the amount of 2 coffees and the folder will be shared)
Translation Status of Advanced Chapters: Completed
<s>Translatorâs Note: Iâm taking a break for the whole of Feb so this novel will be put on hiatus. Updates will be back on March. Thanks for understanding.</s>