The merman gently pulled the mermaid deeper into the ocean, and he smiled when he saw she followed his lead without question, forgetting about the human.
Ruru and her other friends also said a quick goodbye (according to the man's orders) leaving them alone.
As such, the two merfolks dived into the deep sea again, intimately holding each other.
"What are you doing here?" Caspian asked, his large hand holding her at the junction of her curvaceous waist and her fins.
"I got bored so Ruru and I played for a long time," she said with a smile, and then looked at him excitedly.
"Caspian! Caspian~" She said, habitually wrapping her arms around him. "Do you finally have the time to play with me??"
Caspian blinked, feeling guilty.
Since he had come of age, he was pulled to train his strength, aiming to protect his future mate. However, in exchange, his time with Naia had dipped to a fraction of what it was.
"Yes," he said, gently patting her hair as they swam. It was just that, as they went deeper, Naia couldn't help but turn her head a bit.
She couldn't help but look back to the surface, where the sun was at its brightest and the world seemed bigger and lighter.
However, the merman in front of her pulled her with his strong arms, and her attention was quickly pulled back to him.
"Where have you been?" She asked, turning her head back to the male.
"I was with the other warriors, strengthening myself," he said, stopping to face her. "But this is no excuse to ignore my future mate."
He looked at her with his deep emerald eyes, eyes filled with apology. "Can you forgive me?" He asked, leaning down and rubbing their foreheads and their fins together.
She chuckled, escaping from his hold. "Only if you catch me~"
And she swam off, far away from him in an instant. Caspian was a bit startled, before his dazed face broke to a smile, following after her.
The two darted through the waters with speed and grace, getting closer, and narrowly missing in an exhilarating race.
Her laughter vibrated across the ocean as she waved through rocks and corals, eyes sparkling in glee.
His emerald eyes followed the gorgeous figure as she moved. He watched as her hair flowed gracefully as she swam, his green orbs tracing the perfect curves enticing his eyes.
So beautiful, he thought.
Too beautiful, he regretfully thought immediately after.
The only reason he was her sole mate was that he used his status as a high noble. Otherwise, she'd definitely have a lot of mermen set to be her mate by now.
After a while, Caspian could no longer hold his need to embrace her, so he increased his pace and finally caught the mermaid into his arms.
"I caught you," he said, voice a little sultry, arms making sure their bodies were flushed.
She giggled, succumbing. She wrapped her arms around him, feeling the comfort of his existence. "Okay, I forgive you."
He smiled and did not let go. He simply led her as they swam intimately across the sea, as if lying down.
Their arms and tails wrapped around each other as they let the gentle currents take them forward. The two floated along the waters, as if suspended, and the world around them seemed to pause.
As they embraced, Caspian's mind was filled with thoughts of their time together. He could still remember when she was just born, and he—a little Merling at the time—was taken by his mother to visit her friend.
She was already so beautiful as a little baby. He basically imprinted then and there.
And tomorrow…
He paused their movements and they floated upright.
"Your coming-of-age ceremony is tomorrow," he said, "I prepared something for you."
He smiled and grabbed her hand, leading her to one of their favorite spots since they were little merlings.
It was a cave-like structure formed by various coral formations. It was not as vibrant as it was once, but it was still beautiful, especially with all the happy memories they associated with it.
They entered the enclosure and Caspian left her by the entrance to go deeper.
When he emerged some time later, he was holding something as large as his palm, and its beauty made Naia's eyes shine.
It was a beautiful black pearl. It was jet black—the rarest one of them all.
"I want to give this to you," he said with a smile, gently handing her the treasure.
"Wow! Thank you, Caspian!!" She exclaimed, wrapping her arms around his strong waist, letting him feel all her softness again.
Then, she parted with him, "You didn't hurt the oyster, right?" She mumbled. After all, the pearl was really big…
"No, we had a completely fair deal," he said, chuckling, his hand crawling to her waist and tail. "Do you like it?"
The beautiful mermaid nodded with a wide smile, never failing to fascinate the merman in front of her.
With a deep look, he leaned down. "Where's my reward?"
Naia blinked, but after so long together she naturally knew what he wanted. She naturally met his lips and Caspian parted her lips with his tongue, wanting to be as intimate as they could.
Tomorrow, she will be of age. They could finally mate; they could finally consummate their relationship.
But it didn't mean they couldn't do some intimate things beforehand.
He pulled her flush against himself, as if trying to rub all of her on him.
His hands were naughty, moving from her waist, slowly creeping down, and hovering over one of her erogenous zones.
They had never crossed a line before. But now, a day before their big day, he felt that he could push the membrane a little bit.
These were knowledge imparted to them as males, and he had always wanted to try it out with her.
Was it really pleasurable as they said? He was eager to check for himself.
He wanted to know, would touching them really make her feel good?
The mermaid tail had two especially erogenous zones, one in front and one at the back.
However, before his hands could touch either of them, they heard the loud ringing of the Grand Conch, calling all merfolk in the vicinity.
This was a requirement for every merfolk and Caspian, as a captain guard, was especially duty-bound to answer this call.
The two of them looked at each other and went to follow the call.
Neither merman nor mermaid would ever expect the changes that would happen soon after.