(POV Aeltiàfisar)

  We embrace.

  In our minds, one image only — Queen Silèna.

  A heartbeat later, the world shifts… and we stand on the shores of the Great Lake Draìochta.

  The water barely ripples before Adalberto’s head breaks the surface.

  We exchange a look. No words. Just understanding.

  “Shall we?” Fheall asks.

  We begin.

  Baelkers, Fheall, and I each take a stone.

  With careful hands, we carve a single syllable into the surface:

  SI

  Lè

  NA

  The name of the Queen of the Whirling Tides.

  At the water’s edge, we lift our arms toward the sky, holding the stones high — close, almost touching.

  Adalberto lowers his glowing horn between our hands, steady and radiant, like the pistil of a luminous flower.

  It’s time.

  “May the currents of the sea reveal your presence.

  May the waters guide you to our essence.”

  We chant it again and again — first a whisper, then stronger, louder.

  Our bodies sway.

  Up and down.

  Up and down.

  Up and down.

  The stones begin to glow.

  Fheall meets our eyes and gives the slightest nod.

  Together, we lower our arms and release the stones toward the tip of the horn.

  A beam of light catches them midair — wraps around them — and carries them gently into the lake.

  The moment they touch the surface, her name blooms across the water in letters of living light.

  Now… we wait.

  The lake explodes into a spiraling vortex, bursting with rising bubbles and surging currents.

  She’s coming.

  Silèna.

  There.

  Just as I remember her.

  Ivory-pale skin. Delicate features. Turquoise eyes that seem to hold entire horizons. Hair like molten sunlight cascading down her back.

  She looks less like a queen… and more like something dreamt into existence.

  The simple golden seaweed bodice she wears makes her skin glow as though lit from within.

  “Who seeks me?” she asks, her voice smooth as silk drawn through water.

  “Your Majesty…” Fheall greets her, bowing low. Baelkers, my brother, and I follow suit. Even Adalberto dips his head, his tail striking the water in solemn respect.

  “The Knights of the Golden Light… and my old friend.”

  She smiles.

  Genuinely pleased.

  After all, once upon a time — when she was little more than a siren girl — she shared unforgettable days with us.

  Complicated at times.

  But magical.

  (POV Queen Silèna)

  My dear friends… all of them here, together.

  How lovely.

  And yet…

  If they’ve gathered like this, it’s not for pleasantries.

  I watch them calmly, waiting for the blow to fall.

  “A grave matter has occurred,” Aeltiàfisar says. “A very grave one, Silèna. Before informing the Colorate, we felt it right to speak with you first. Please summon King Niùt as well. This concerns one of your daughters. Queen Selìna.”

  A sharp ringing pierces my ears.

  My child…

  What has happened to my child?

  (POV Queen Selìna)

  Happiness.

  At last.

  After years of grief, torment, endless tears — my little Alisea is back in my arms.

  “She’s beautiful, isn’t she, Nèilos?” I ask my husband, watching our daughter in Anam’s embrace on the palace balcony.

  “Yes… very…” he murmurs.

  This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

  But he doesn’t sound convinced.

  “What is it, my love?”

  He looks at me strangely. His skin glistens. He’s sweating.

  And that look in his eyes…

  What now? Must he always ruin my beautiful moments?

  “It’s just… well…” He hesitates. “That siren… she isn’t exactly… ours.”

  Fool.

  What nonsense is he saying?

  I don’t want to hear it. But he keeps going.

  “She isn’t truly our daughter. She isn’t our Alisea. Don’t you see? She isn’t even a real siren! Alisea is dead. Why can’t you accept it?”

  No.

  Alisea is not dead.

  She’s right there.

  Right in front of us.

  He will not take her away from me again.

  Or I will kill him with my own hands.

  “What are you saying? She is Alisea! Our daughter is not dead! She’s right there — can’t you see her? She is our little siren. Our Alisea!”

  I scream.

  My lips tremble. My tail lashes upward, rigid with fury.

  The water around me begins to churn.

  Nèilos falls silent.

  Let him try.

  Just let him try.

  (POV King Nèilos)

  My love…

  How do I help her?

  How do I make her see that she’s clinging to a dream?

  No one can give us our little siren back.

  No one.

  But I love her too much to shatter her illusion. Even in the face of something this undeniable.

  Confrontation will only wound her further.

  Gentleness. I’ll try gentleness.

  “If you believe it, my love… if this makes you happy, then so be it. Alisea has returned.” I soften my voice. “Come. Let’s retreat to our chambers. Let the young ones stay together a while. We’ll give them some privacy.”

  I step closer and brush my fingers along her cheek.

  Her eyes soften again — that quiet, tender look I fell in love with.

  I wrap an arm around her waist, and together we withdraw to our chamber.

  (POV Alisea Aileen)

  Anam and I love each other so deeply.

  Between us, there are no shadows. No unspoken things. No secrets.

  And yet…

  Maybe I should tell him.

  “Something’s troubling you, isn’t it?” he asks suddenly.

  He’s been watching me for a while. I noticed.

  My sweet Anam. He misses nothing.

  Yes. There is something that unsettles me.

  Something absurd.

  How do I even begin to explain it?

  “It’s just… for the past few nights…”

  He stiffens instantly.

  His hands settle on my shoulders, his eyes searching mine.

  “What? Are you unwell? By the King’s trident — are you expecting?”

  What?

  Oh, Anam…

  He always makes me laugh.

  I pull him into a tight embrace.

  “Not yet. But one day.”

  He smiles softly, though concern still lingers in his eyes.

  “Then what is it?” he asks gently.

  “I don’t fully understand it myself. It’s just that… every night… a voice wakes me. She says she’s a fairy named Fayrin. And she keeps calling me Aileen.”

  “Aileen? Who is that?”

  “That’s the problem. I have no idea.” I shake my head. “But she insists. Over and over. She tells me I must return to myself. It’s clearly telepathy. But I am not this Aileen. I wouldn’t even know where to find her.”

  “Maybe the fairy is mistaken.”

  Maybe.

  Perhaps.

  But…

  “No. That’s unlikely.” I exhale slowly. “I don’t know much about the magic of the upper realms, but telepathic bonds rarely miss their mark. And she keeps saying I’m the Princess of Clouderland.” I let out a breathless, incredulous laugh. “Can you imagine? Clouderland is a realm above the sea. How could I — a siren — be its princess?”

  My voice lowers.

  “There’s more… and it frightens me.”

  He tenses.

  “Every time she says that name — Aileen — my body begins to glow. Brighter than usual. Even my streak…” I swallow. “And I feel… confused. As if something inside me is shifting.”

  I search his face.

  “Do you think I’m ill?”

  Anam’s expression tightens. He’s trying not to panic.

  Perhaps I shouldn’t have told him. He worries too easily.

  But this time… I’m frightened too.

  “No,” he says carefully. “I don’t think so. But we should speak with your parents. Immediately.”

  “Yes.” My voice trembles. “Hold me. I’m scared.”

  And he does.

  Desperately.

  He pulls me against his chest as if he’s afraid I might dissolve into the water and slip through his fingers.

  Then he takes my hand.

  “Before we go,” he says softly, “come with me. There’s somewhere I want to show you.”

  Somewhere new?

  Where?

  Curiosity sparks through me despite everything.

  Trusting him, I follow.

  …

  We swim for a while before an isolated cavern appears ahead.

  I stop, breathless.

  I’ve never seen this place before.

  Above the cave rises a jagged rock crowned with delicate sea-flowers, and beside it a narrow waterfall spills down in a shimmering veil — almost as though the ocean itself were divided.

  “This illusion,” Anam murmurs, “your father crafted it with magic. For your mother. They say this is her sanctuary… the place that holds her heart. I’ve dreamed of bringing you here since the first time I saw it.”

  He smiles softly.

  “Come. Lie down with me.”

  He guides me onto the flower-covered stone and joins me there.

  His arms wrap around me.

  The scent of salt and blossoms drifts around us like nectar.

  We tremble. Slowly, gently, our hands explore.

  The fear fades. The questions fade.

  Sweet Anam…

  In my heart. In my mind. In my body.

  There is only you.

  (POV Dorcha)

  “Fall, oblivion,” I whisper toward the corridor outside my cell.

  Every guard collapses.

  Fools.

  They stopped chaining me, convinced I was too broken, too weak to try anything.

  Grave mistake.

  Now that my strength has returned, you won’t catch me again.

  I just need a way out.

  Of course.

  Urchoicha’s voice echoes in my mind:

  Want to defeat your enemies? Become invisible. Make them believe you are one of them.

  One of them…

  I glance down at my legs.

  “A tail, arise — glittering tide.”

  The water spirals around me.

  My legs fuse together, scales racing across my skin, fins unfurling where flesh once was.

  Madness.

  And yet, within moments, I am a triton.

  Good.

  Step one.

  I picture the cell door unlocked and brush my fingers across the metal. The lock clicks open soundlessly.

  I need a weapon.

  What if—

  I imagine the blade the elves gifted me.

  It materializes instantly in my grasp.

  Now I just need to find Aileen.

  Aileen…

  She’ll be with that wretched triton.

  My insides twist. Blood pounds at my temples like it wants to burst through bone.

  Blinded by jealousy, I hurl myself into the water and surge toward the royal palace.

  …

  As I swim, the sea whipping against my face, doubt claws at me.

  What if she’s truly forgotten?

  What if she’s happy?

  What if she’s waiting for him — not me?

  The sirens are powerful. Too powerful.

  She’ll be in love with him.

  So deeply in love she won’t even spare me a glance.

  The thought alone feels like drowning.

  But I cannot stop.

  I will not.

  I’m coming, Aileen.

  AUTHOR’S CORNER

  Thank you for reading Episode 39 of Sigillum Maximum – The Webnovel.

  Something shifts here. A crack opens.

  And now… I want to hear you.

  Silèna — the mother who listens

  The Knights gather.

  They carve a name into stone.

  They entrust it to the water.

  What do you think the Queen of the Lake Sirens will do when she learns what her daughter is truly entangled in beneath the abyss of the sea?

  Selìna — denying the pain

  “Alisea is not dead.”

  It’s a line spoken in anger… but even more in fear. In grief.

  Did you feel empathy for her? Or unease?

  When pain becomes unbearable, can it reshape reality into something easier to survive?

  Aileen — the voice in the night

  Fayrin reaches out to her. Calls her Aileen.

  Her body responds. Her mind resists.

  Did that moment give you hope… or anxiety?

  If your identity began to glow against your will… would you trust that light?

  Or fear it?

  Dorcha — escape and transformation

  Dorcha doesn’t wait anymore.

  He puts the guards to sleep. He makes himself invisible. He becomes what he hates. Do you think he’ll succeed this time?

  Or will he be captured again — stripped of everything once more?

  When he transformed into a triton…

  did you feel satisfaction? Or something darker?

  I’m coming, Aileen.

  That line is a promise. Or perhaps… a threat.

  Do you think Dorcha is right to be afraid?

  What will Aileen do when she sees him now — a triton in what she believes is her true element?

  I can’t wait to read your thoughts.

  May light find its way into even the smallest hidden corners of your life.

  With love,

  — Eleanor Lian