Morning sun rays fell from the open ceiling onto the translucent screen of the huge canopy bed. The inhabitant groaned, hiding his face. But even so, he was not able to continue his slumber. Sighing, Guilin slowly opened his eyes, welcoming the morning sunlight with a slight frown.
Noting him, his servant rushed to his side and knelt down to remove the curtains. "Did you sleep well, young master? The room got so cold at night."
"Hmm… it was one of the best sleeps I've had in a while," he mumbled with a soft smile on his face. Weirdly, being so close to the mers calmed his taunt nerves.
Guilin got out of bed with a bright grin. His eager eyes sought out the two shadows in the water as he walked close. "Did you guys do as I ordered?"
"Yes, young master. Hot water was added every ten minutes. The water temperature is slightly warm and very pleasant for the mers."
Even though the servant said that, Guilin placed his hand in the water, slightly splashing around. "Did they wake up at night?"
"They slept through the night, young master."
"Hmm." Guilin wiped his hand with a smile. "Bring my documents. I'll get as much work done as possible when I'm in this positive state."
Without delay, the servant brought a huge pile of scrolls and documents that he needed to review.
Their family had lost the trade route through the mer territories, but that was not the only trade route they had. His family had a total of a thousand ships that traverse the oceans of the world. Some even traveling to and fro for about three years. Most of the shipments return back.
But some were lost to the raging oceans.
To his surprise, he received documents that all his ships had reached their destinations and made their trades.
He was pleasantly surprised.
This had never happened before.
Never.
His eyes immediately fell on the mers with a slight shock in them. "Say, are mers considered lucky?"
"The records do not mention anything like that, sir."
"But none of the people who had written that record had possessed a mer, right?"
The servant nodded.
Guilin grinned. Having these mers with him did not seem to be a loss after all. He happily ordered a batch of fresh fish for them and went to feed them himself.
"Here, fishies. I've got you guys a treat." The huge trouts in the wicker basket swam frantically as he waved them over the water surface.
Kui woke up from all the ruckus, frowning up at the silly guy.
"He is trying to cheat us with fish again," the little mer mumbled, wiping his eyes with his tiny fist.
Kui helped his tame his wild hair and helped wipe his face. "Hmm, he is a silly guy. I'll go catch some fish for you."
He swam around the pool and found some of the fish released yesterday hiding in the crevices of the rocks. They were much easier to catch than the free-swimming ones. He quickly caught three, gutted them, descaled them with his nails, and brought them back to the young mer. "Here, Aok. Do you want me to cut it into smaller pieces?"
"No, this is enough." Aok ate the fish with a slight smile on his face.
Guilin watched the two mers interact with a slight frown on his face. "I really shouldn't have released that many fish yesterday." He pulled back the fish basket and sat on the edge of the pool with a thoughtful expression.
He really wanted to see that halfling's, no, Kui's face.
He pulled out the folded paper from his pocket and opened it. "Kui," he called out softly.
Kui, who was eating his fish, choked.
The little mer gazed up at him. "How does he know your name?"
"I... I don't know... he must have heard us talking," he mumbled guiltily and chewed down on the fish.
"Do not interact with him. I mean it," he said with a cute glare.
Kui grinned widely, pinching his chubby cheeks. "Okay, okay, I'll listen to anything you say."
Aok pushed his intrusive hand away and lowered his head to eat his fish. Unknown to him, the tops of his ears had turned a slight shade of pink.
Above the surface, Guilin sadly sat there for a long time, waiting for the hybrid to pop his head out. But to his dismay, the beautiful creature did not even come close to the surface.
Sighing, he sat on his workbench, looking at the pool dejectedly.
"Young master… We found this in the carriage we found the mers. It was with that hybrid."
"Kui, his name is Kui. You should address him as such." He sternly corrected him.
"Yes, sir." The servant bowed deeply and offered a small leather bag.
Guilin opened it up only to see a broken brush. "Are you sure this was with Kui?"
"I'm positive, young master."
"Good." Grinning, he ran to the poolside. "Kui~ look what I've got~ I have your brush~~" he waved it over the water.
Kui, who was wiping his mouth clean, froze up. His sharp eyes caught the broken brush that was held in his delicate palm.
Swiftly, he swam up to the surface, reaching out for it.
But the treacherous guy pulled away his hand at the last minute, making him freeze up with his arms up in the air.
"Ahh, now you're out. Good morning, Kui." He reached out and gently caressed his cheeks.
Kui instantly gazed at his hands that were behind his back. "Give it back to me."
"This? I think I'll hold onto it for a while." He whispered, giving him an intense look at his unclothed torso.
Glaring, Kui swam away. 'I'll just have to snatch it back when he is sleeping.'