An annoying thought stilled Briar from resuming his chewing on the delectable meat cooked by the sorcerer across him during lunch on a fine day. It wasn’t a mere thought he could easily dismiss—not when it had popped into his head all day since he and Castriel started kissing or touching one another intimately to a point the young master began questioning his true feelings for the museum curator. Head occupied with his inner voice poking with his emotions to see the worried glance coming from the museum curator.

Briar knew he wasn’t in love with Castriel from the start, his heart always pointing towards the nephilim miles away stubbornly despite the obvious circumstances of such love ever getting reciprocated being near to none. Love waning was not inevitable, of course. Briar knew he didn’t love Castriel the way he loved Icarus, he was sure of this since then… Yet, why was he bothered with thoughts in contrast to what he believed in? Was he truly falling for Castriel? Or is his heart so desperate to find someone else to heal its own wounds? Answers yet to be found, these inquiries continued to bug him throughout the day and in his sleep. Often dreaming of cobalt and platinum all muddled up along with a voice as soft as silk. He feared that perhaps spending more time with the sorcerer may have him develop an attachment. Briar still had a suspicion to confirm: whether Castriel knew about his true form.

But one thing is for sure, he didn’t want to hurt Castriel, especially in matters of the heart.

There was nothing wrong with the sorcerer. He treated Briar with respect and never did anything he wasn’t comfortable with—always asking for his consent whenever he wanted to kiss him or caress his skin. Castriel was a proper gentleman even if he said he wasn’t. He was far from a brute, let alone the scums he dealt with before. The sorcerer was indeed someone he could count on in the long run and wouldn’t hesitate to open up his heart to the man. However, if Castriel does betray his trust, the young man wouldn’t hesitate to do what he has done in order to keep his secret for nineteen years even if he does fall for him. It was either his life or another person’s greed. He hopes the museum curator wouldn’t. Briar couldn’t stand the thought of hurting someone whom he recognizes as a friend now.

There is also the matter of whether he knows about me being a merman or not. Briar then glanced at Castriel, who was already staring at him. Offering a warm smile at the young master, the sorcerer gestured to the bowl of mushroom soup. His heart couldn’t help but flutter at the action, returning a grin and reaching for the soup. We’ve been together for almost three weeks now, yet he didn’t give off a malicious aura once. Contrary, he’s the best suitor I’ve ever come across and one I won’t hesitate to give a chance. Still, it seems like he’s too perfect in what he does… I just hope I’m being paranoid.

“Something in your mind, Briar?”

“It occurred to me that we’ve been here for almost three weeks now, but I still don’t know how old you are.” Briar chuckled, stirring the hot soup. “You’ve known so much about me, from my age to this illness I have. It’s not fair that I don’t know the age of the person I’m seeing.” Catching the sigh Castriel made, Briar gasped and immediately clasped his hands together to ask for forgiveness. “It’s all right! You don’t have to answer. I guess it’s rude to say that, especially when you’ve been taking care of me and making me tonics to prevent me from coughing up blood! I’m such an idiot…”

The sorcerer laughed at the display, which morphed from confusion to a full-on pout directed at him. “I apologize, I didn’t mean to tease you. I’m just a bit disappointed in myself for missing out on a crucial fact. I guess it slipped my head…” Clearing his throat, he then answered. “Twenty-three. That’s my age.” At the impressed reaction from the young master, Castriel raised a brow. “What? Is it too old for you? Perhaps I should’ve told you sooner—”

“No, no! I’m surprised since you are younger than I expected, really.” Briar interjected with a sheepish smile, hands dismissing the blond’s worry. “I don’t want to stereotype, but people of your occupation tend to be the same age as that elderly man working for you. Well, at least that’s what I know and see from the parties I’ve attended.” Scratching his chin with his index finger, Briar hummed in awe. “I’m indeed surprised, though. You’ve accomplished a lot in such a short period of time.”

“I hardly call it short,” Castriel responded, leaning back on his chair to stare at the ceiling. “It was a tough road to walk down on—but one I would gladly repeat to bring honor to those who gave me a chance. My achievements are merely the results of hard labor. With a cloud shrouding your past and identity, initially, people wouldn’t trust you until you prove to them you’re harmless. My parents, the ones who adopted me, were kind enough to have me pursue my dreams… Perhaps if they never took me out of the orphanage, I wouldn’t be here cooking you meals. Without their support, I wouldn’t be the Castriel Persimore you know today.”

“That is true.” Briar averted his gaze at the small smile sent at him, embarrassed at how much of a naïve person he was. Castriel was a person who didn’t receive everything the moment he was born. Abandoned and left to die by his real parents. He didn’t grow up in a home but at an orphanage. He wasn’t taken care of by his parents, unlike Briar who was told his mother cared for him until her last breath. Maybe if his father wasn’t a merman, he would have lived with him and his aunt to this day. “I apologize if I sounded aloof…”

The sorcerer grinned. “No need to apologize, Briar.” Resuming their lunch, the dining room was silent once more as both chewed on their food. The young master was too shy to look up from his plate to ask another question. Castriel must have noticed his bashfulness to chuckle lightly at the evading eyes. “You don’t have to feel that way…You didn’t say anything that offended me.”

“Still…” Briar whispered, not meeting the cobalt irises trained on his every move. Under such an intense stare, he felt like an object being examined. “I feel bad that I assumed and made light of your hardships.”

“Well then, why don’t you answer my question to call it even then?” At Castriel’s proposal, the young master halted his sulking to turn to the sorcerer whose eyes were twinkling in curiosity. “I know you should be the one asking me questions right now, but since you feel bad, why don’t you answer this so you’ll feel better? How about that?”

Briar didn’t know what to say at first, unable to see past the innocent expression on the sorcerer’s face to tell he was being baited. A hook under the surface, dangling its treat for a fish gullible enough to think it was safe to eat. “Okay, I guess that will be fine.” Then, added with a pinch of his brows. “As long as it isn’t too difficult or strange.”

Castriel nodded with a smile that seemed more of a smug smirk than one of joy. “Good.” Standing up from his seat, he then approached the window near the kitchen. Back turned to Briar, he crossed his arms to stare at the waves splashing, breaking as they collided with sand and retreating from the shore. “Tell me, Briar. Do you think something is out there? In the ocean…”

“The ocean?” Briar echoed, unsure where this conversation was heading. What was with Castriel’s sudden interest in the great body of water beyond them? Wasn’t this question meant to answer some of his inquiries about Briar? Why wasn’t he asking something essential? Is this a trick question? And why the ocean of all things? Fighting back the urge to furrow his eyebrows and ask him bluntly, the young master put on a fake façade of thinking deeply. Ignoring the telltale voice shouting at him in the back of his head. “If you’re asking that I believe the ocean has inhabitants of its own… then yes. It’s barely been explored due to how massive and deep it is. Fishes and whatnot may live below the depths. According to some books, a bigger fish is roaming the waters—bigger than the ships docked in the harbor themselves!”

Castriel’s smile widens. “Indeed. But do you think other than fishes live down there?” Pointing at the ocean in front of him, stretching as far as the eye can see, he demanded a more convincing answer. “It’s an enormous body of water, far and wide—it can be seen by anyone from above or next to it. But what lurks below remains hidden from our view due to how deep it goes, perhaps even reaching the depths no creature could swim. Unless such a creature does exist.”

As the screaming and flashing of red painted across his eyes, Briar remained rooted in his seat. Feet stuck on the floor and body as cold as ice. Hand itching to take the butter knife situated near him to threaten the blond man for answers as to why he took a sudden interest in the ocean and its life. There was no denying it now and paying no heed to the voice yelling for him to subdue Castriel was growing difficult. Swallowing his fears, Briar continued to feign innocence and confusion about what the sorcerer was referring to.

“Like what, Castriel?”

“Like a mermaid, for example.” Fishing for something in the pocket of his cream-colored breeches, Castriel then held up a golden scale that was undoubtedly Briar’s. It made the young master swallow visibly. “I found the same scale in the shores… It is, without a doubt, from a mermaid—unless I am proven wrong.”

He knows.

The young master should have seen this day coming—having been prepared to take down the sorcerer. Briar knew he had to take percussions whenever he was all alone. Other than the curse inflicted on his kind, he had to deal with mortals and monsters alike who were greedy for immortality. The knowledge of him being a merman was a double-edged sword to those who knew. They were either a friend or a thorn in his side, depending on how they used the information of his true form. It was their choice either to keep it a secret or spill it to those who were willing to have blood on their hands. Thanks to his plans and preparedness, no one who dared to expose his true self stands to this day. But what set those people apart from Castriel Persimore was they never came close to him as the sorcerer did. None of the individuals Briar disposed of were his friends and he feared the day he would have to kill someone he considered an ally would come.

Thoughts reverting to the ongoing questions plaguing his mind, Briar was forced to come up with the proper response to it in a split second as quickly as he ended the lives of his enemies. He had to make a decision.

Did he love Castriel as he loved Icarus? Is Castriel merely a friend or a lover? If I let Castriel live with my secret, will he betray me like all the others? Could he even love me?

Could I kill Castriel Persimore?

“Let’s have a bet then.”

The young master blinked at the statement; mind unable to comprehend what was said until he was eye to eye with those cobalt irises that were definitely smiling. Did his ears deceive him? Wasn’t Castriel Persimore supposed to make demands now after revealing he knew Briar’s secret all along? Why a sudden bet? What was happening?

Finding his voice, Briar simply repeated the blond man’s words in utter bewilderment. “A bet? You want to… make a bet?” Thrown off at what the sorcerer proposed, he felt his body relax into his chair and placed a hand over his head, chuckling lightly. “What for?”

Walking back to his seat, Castriel then placed the mermaid scale on the table. His hands were placed on the surface as he grinned. “If I bring back the proof of its existence, marry me, Briar.” The bold yet reckless proposition almost made the young man laugh. He was clearly at a disadvantage for the last merperson on earth was sitting across his, heart racing.

I-is he toying with me? If he knows I’m a merman, shouldn’t he be demanding something in return for my secret to remain hidden? Why is he making such an outrageous bet? Wait, hold on… Perhaps he doesn’t know I am one, yet?

“H-have you gone mad, Castriel?” Rising from his seat, Briar crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes at the sorcerer who appeared calm despite the impossible task he placed upon himself. “You’re supposed to be the smart one here, yet you’re saying you will capture a mermaid? Have you forgotten they have gone extinct? All right, maybe that scale does belong to a mermaid, but it’s pretty much a fossil! None of those creatures survived due to humanity’s greed for eternity so how are you going to capture one, let alone see it?”

The sorcerer hummed in agreement, stepping back to rub his chin in thought. “You are correct, but this scale seems new. That means there is hope that one of them or perhaps a colony survived. You never know the odds, Briar. They might still be out there.” Pocketing the scale, he gathered the empty plates and went to the kitchen. “Don’t worry, Briar. I’m sure I’ll be able to find proof.”

Trailing behind the usually level-headed man, Briar grabbed a hold of his arm and made him face his distraught expression. Praying for him to regain his rationality, the young master pleaded. “Don’t! Castriel, it’s a lost cause! I might even die before you can find a mermaid that still swims those waters. And are you going to tell me you’ll keep looking? You’ll find much more success in finding a needle in a haystack than to dive into those deep waters.” Challenging him with pinched eyebrows and hands on hips, Briar added lowly. “This is a bet, Castriel. What are you going to do if you lose?”

Castriel, with a confident disposition, exhaled and carefreely pressed a chaste kiss on Briar’s forehead. “If I don’t find proof within a week… and it turns out to be another fish’s scale—even if it kills me—I’ll never appear in front of you ever again.”

The seventeenth of November. Seven months left before Briar turns twenty…