The Ugly Duckling Of The Tiger Tribe-Chapter 300: A living water purifier

(Yayyyy! Congrats to us for reaching Chapter 300 with no problems along the way. It’s such a happy moment that I wish I could throw in a bonus Chapter, but welp, let’s just leave it like that, since not many are fans of bonus Chapters. Plus, it’s not even a holiday right now so no need. I hope you get to the end of this novel with me. Thank you so much for being here)

I dropped my hand from my face and let out a long, defeated sigh.

I was trying to be the voice of reason, the grand strategist, the shield against political scandal—and instead, I’d just accidentally given a sea prince a front-row seat to the ’Arinya Fan Club’ recruitment office.

"Are you tired? Do you want me to help you?" He asked but that was far from what I needed right now.

"This isn’t working out," I muttered under my breath, though I wasn’t sure if I was talking to Thalor, my husbands, or my own big mouth.

As we started walking toward the center of the West Way, the vibe was... well, ’clunky’ is the only word for it.

Damar was up ahead, his back a stiff wall of silver-scaled resentment as he cradled Lyra. Noah was humming a low, thoughtful tune that sounded suspiciously like he was already composing the ’Why Your Queen is Dating a Fish’ speech. And Fenric was lugging a sack of coconuts like they were the heads of his enemies.

I looked at Thalor. He was navigating the uneven terrain with a strange, floating sort of grace, his hand still dutifully clutching the umbrella leaf.

Though I can’t say for sure that he was used to his legs. He looked like Damar the second day after he got his legs.

"Those legs," I began and he turned to me. "Have you always been able to get them? I heard you sea folks don’t like to come on land."

"We do not," Thalor said. "The air is fresh, yes, but it is too dry and we cannot stay for long."

"Then, what about now? The sun’s really high. Don’t you need to go back to the water?" I asked, seeing this as a perfect excuse to drive him back into the sea but he shook his head.

"I took a remedy." He said, smiling at me again. "We mer-folks do not own legs, but in order to come on land and find what we are looking for, we sometimes trade our tails for walking legs."

"Ah," I exclaimed, stopping abruptly. "That’s not dangerous, is it?"

"No, it is not." He said and I could see a sense of gladness as he looked at me. As if he was glad I was worried on his behalf.

Truth be told, I was just worried he had traded his tail for a pair of legs with a sea witch or something. Sounds familiar? Definitely.

But since he is talking fine and doesn’t seem to be missing anything important, I guess he did not have to pay a price like the one we all know did.

I began walking again.

"I needed to find my Savior, so I gained legs. I believe staying by your side and making you happy is the wish of the sea god, and that is why I survived the bitter dust."

There he goes again.

I sighed, stopping in my tracks and turning to him.

"Thalor. About the ’staying by my side’ and the ’making me happy’ thing... I have a very full house. Like, physically. The emotional and physical labor is at an all-time high." From the back, Fenric and Noah nodded in agreement. "I appreciate the sentiment, I really do, but you don’t owe me your romantic soul."

Literally.

Thalor stopped, the sunlight catching the violet depths of his eyes. He didn’t look like he had given up just from listening to my words. He didn’t even look challenged.

He looked like a man who had spent his entire life watching the tide—patient, inevitable, and completely unbothered by a few rocks in the way.

He was a man who would get what he wanted, no matter how long he had to wait.

"There is no rushing the tides." He said and I had a feeling this was going in a direction I wouldn’t like. "The Land-Mother speaks of ’owing’," he said softly. "But the heart does not keep a ledger, Arinya. I do not stay because I must. I stay because when I sang my death-song, it was you who found me."

Technically, my baby did so not me, but I can’t say that now that everyone’s keeping an ear out on our conversation.

"The sea does not forget the moon that pulls its tides."

I opened my mouth to argue, but honestly? How do you argue with a line like that? It was like trying to punch a cloud. A stormy one.

"He’s good with his words," Fenric grumbled from behind, dropping the coconuts with a heavy thud. "Too good, and I don’t like it. He talks like a poet and looks like a statue. It’s unnatural."

"It’s aggravating," Noah corrected, though he had a small, amused quirk to his lips. "But Arinya, if he’s staying, even temporarily, he needs a purpose. We can’t have a ’Prince of the Sea’ just lounging around and doing nothing but attracting the attention of other beasts."

"You’re right," I said.

We weren’t trying to make good use of him, we just needed to get him busy so that the Elders wouldn’t find what to nitpick with.

And not just that, if he actually finds what he’s good at, he might forget this whole repayment stuff.

"I can be of use," Thalor immediately said, stepping forward. He reached into the air—or rather, it looked like he was pulling something out of the humidity itself.

A small, shimmering vial of water appeared in his hand, glowing with a faint, bioluminescent blue.

My eyes widened right away. What did I just see?

The others looked even more stunned.

This... The mer folks did have magic.

"The waters of the West Way are still recovering," Thalor said, looking into the vial. "I can sing the impurities away, and I can ensure the soft ones and your wolves never thirst for a clean spring again."

I blinked once, twice, and then pushed my head back. I’m not hallucinating it, right? I didn’t mishear it just now, right?

"Wait, did you say you can purify the water? Like, the whole system?" He nodded. "How? I mean, is that even possible?"

"It is." He said. "As the prince of the sea, it is my birthright," he added and I scratched my head, holding the basket of cubs with one hand.

This guy was practically a permanent, magical water purification system? Ah, that wasn’t just a gift; that was a political masterstroke.

If Thalor did that, the people wouldn’t care if he walked around in a leaf—they’d build him a shrine.

"Wait, if you can purify, why did you not purify the sea?" I asked and all eyes fell on him, waiting to listen to the reason things grew so dire despite there being a magical purifier living in their midst.

Thalor looked down, disappointed.

"At the early stages, I did so. I purified the sea, but it is vast, and I am one folk. I continued, but at one point, I ran out of power. It is the sea that strengthens me, so with the sea poisoned, I could not replenish my power."

Ah, that makes sense.

It must’ve been too much for just one fish to handle.

"But now that the sea is purified, there is no limit to my purification abilities. So trust me. I will be of good use." He looked at me with twinkling eyes, waiting for me to acknowledge him and I darted my eyes away, thinking.

If I looked too long into those purple eyes of his, I would lose my ability to think clearly and he swayed.

But I don’t think there’s a disadvantage to having him here if he has such an OP skill.

"Well, fine," I said, pointing a finger at the glowing vial. "New rule. You want to stay? You work. From now on, take it that you’re the Royal Hydration Officer."

"The... What?" He looked at me confused but I wasn’t going to explain.

"The first thing you’re going to ’purify’ is a pair of skirts to cover up properly." 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

"Skirt," Thalor repeated, testing the word. "Is this a land-ritual?"

"It’s a ’do n’t-get-me-divorced’ ritual," I sighed. "Come on. Let’s go back to our tent. My feet are killing me."

Thalor saw that I did not drive him back and instead, was inviting him over. This made him glad and he smiled.

I glanced over my shoulder at him.

Seriously, that smile is just so pretty.

As we approached our tent, a familiar silhouette waiting in the front made me pop my head up. It was Talia, surrounded by three other females who all had that same ’I’d like to speak to the manager’ energy.

I felt my spine stiffen. Why were those nuisances at my doorstep?

"Heads up, boys," I whispered and they all lifted their heads to pay attention. "The welcoming committee is back. And they’ve brought reinforcements."

I looked at Talia and the other mothers, a collective of disapproving faces. This wasn’t going to be a quiet negotiation.

’Gosh, is it too hard to just have a nice day out and then return to sleep in peace?’