The king leaned back in his throne of silver seafoam, releasing the grip on his trident and letting it fall to the ground. "...Perhaps I have been… too stubborn. Perhaps I have been too scared of the truth to face it…"

He turned to his two children, no longer with a face of authority and power, but of humility, of love. "But what a harsh truth it is…"

Princess Naia's eyes narrowed. "What truth, Father?" Her voice carried an edge Nova hadn't heard before.

"...Naia, Nero... I am no longer worthy of being your king."

"No, you—" Prince Nereon started to protest, then stopped himself. His expression hardened. "Actually, you're right. You're not."

The king flinched as if struck. "I have failed you both. I should have swallowed my pride when the plague began spreading through our people. Your mother died because I was too proud to ask for help from the surface world."

"Finally," Princess Naia spat, trembling with fury. "Finally you admit it. Do you have any idea what it was like watching her waste away, knowing there was a cure above the waves?"

Prince Nereon's hands clenched into fists. "We begged you, Father. We pleaded with you to let them help us. But your precious pride was more important than Mother's life."

"I thought... I believed I could find another way—" the king began weakly.

"You believed in your own arrogance!" Princess Naia's voice cracked with pain. "While Mother grew weaker every day, you sat in this chamber convincing yourself that asking for help would somehow threaten our safety."

"She died calling your name," Prince Nereon said, clenching his fist. "In her final moments, she wasn't angry at the disease. She wasn't even angry at you—she asked us to forgive you!"

The king's massive frame seemed to collapse in on itself. "No... no, I don't deserve her forgiveness—"

"You're damn right you don't!" Princess Naia swam closer, pointing her staff at him like an accusation. "She died confused and abandoned, wondering why the man she loved wouldn't do everything possible to save her."

"You could have saved her," Prince Nereon said simply. "The surface dwellers had medicines we'd never seen. Healing magic we couldn't comprehend. But you were too proud to admit we needed help."

The king removed his crown with shaking hands, letting it fall to the coral floor. "I was wrong. I was so terribly wrong."

"Yes, you were," Princess Naia said coldly. "And then, after your pride killed our mother, you abandoned us, too. As if losing one parent wasn't enough."

The king seemed to age years with every word from his children. "I couldn't bear to look at you," he whispered. "Every time I saw your faces, I saw her. I saw my failure."

"So you made us suffer for your guilt," Prince Nereon said coldly. "We lost our mother to your pride, and then we lost our father to your shame."

The silence stretched between them, heavy with years of unspoken resentment.

"What can I do?" the king finally asked. "How can I possibly make amends for such failures?"

"You can start by never letting pride rule you again," Princess Naia said after a long moment. "You can start by admitting that sometimes, asking for help is the strongest thing a king can do."

"And you can stop hiding from us," Prince Nereon added, though his voice was slightly gentler now. "We needed our father after Mother died. We still need him now."

A small crack appeared in the chamber's ceiling, letting in a thin beam of sunlight.

"I don't know if I can forgive you," Princess Naia said quietly. "Not yet. But... maybe we can try to move forward."

"If you're willing to truly change," Prince Nereon said. "Not just words, Father. Actions."

The king looked up at the light filtering down from above. Each beam seemed to illuminate decades of regret etched into his weathered features. "I will try. I swear to you both, I will try to be the father—and the king—you deserved all along."

His voice carried the weight of genuine conviction, yet something nagged at Nova's mind. The words felt right, the emotion seemed real, but he couldn't shake the feeling that invisible strings were pulling at this moment.

'This all feels like a rehearsed play. Though the actors might not know about it…'

The crack in the ceiling continued to widen above them, as if responding to the healing taking place below. The artificial blue glow of the dungeon crystals seemed to retreat before this natural light, unable to compete with the warmth streaming down from the real world above.

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A familiar blue message appeared above the now-empty throne, glowing against the backdrop of the mermaid family, slowly mending.

[Congratulations! You've completed Floor 9!]

[The reward will be evenly split between both party members.]

[Do you wish to continue to the next floor?]

Nova felt the familiar surge of accomplishment mixed with anticipation that came with completing a floor, but it was immediately overshadowed by a more pressing concern. Every fiber of his being screamed to continue, to rush toward Millie without delay.

But he knew how that would end.

'No, absolutely not… We need to prepare first, no matter how much I'd like to run down there right away.'

Each second they delayed was another second Millie remained in danger, another moment she spent alone and afraid in whatever nightmare awaited on the tenth floor. But charging ahead without preparation would likely mean all of their deaths.

He turned to Princess Naia, unsure of how to end things. He had promised he would kill the two siblings after beating the floor, but only if they still wanted it.

"It's time for us to leave, Naia. Will you be alright here?"

Princess Naia's response came with a smile that was both radiant and heartbreaking. She moved through the water with renewed grace, swimming closer to them both before offering a formal bow that somehow managed to convey both gratitude and regal dignity.

"I cannot thank you two enough for all your help. I know you were technically forced to, but this means so much to all of us. You've given us back something we thought was lost forever."

Nova felt the sincerity in her words, and he knew them to be true—his trait would tell him if it wasn't. "I take it your wish to die has subsided, then?"

"Oh…" Princess Naia's hand moved unconsciously to her chest, as if checking to make sure her heart was still beating. "Yes, I think I'd like to stick around for a while longer. That is, if the floor will still be here when you leave."

The uncertainty in her voice cut deep. Even in this moment of reunion and hope, she couldn't escape the fundamental question of her own existence. Would the dungeon simply reset when they departed, erasing these last few days as if they had never happened? Or would it erase the floor completely now that it had served its purpose?

"Well, let's hope it does. It has lasted a long time without any divers coming here, after all. But if I find any way to get you out of here, I will do what I can. Despite having each other, this place will eventually become torture once again."

"I appreciate that, Nova…" Princess Naia's voice grew softer. She turned to Anny, who had been watching the exchange with careful attention. "And Anny, thank you for caring for a simple fragment like me. I've had such a great time traveling with you two…"

Anny shook her head with a saddened expression. Then, without hesitation, she swam over and wrapped her arms around Princess Naia in a fierce embrace.

The hug was everything that words couldn't express in this underwater realm. Gratitude for the princess's help, sorrow for her imprisonment, admiration for her strength, and the simple human need to offer comfort to someone who had suffered alone for far too long.

Princess Naia's eyes widened in surprise at first, then fluttered closed as she melted into the embrace. Her silver tiara shifted slightly as she turned her head to rest against Anny's shoulder.

"The two of you should also be honest with each other," she said, pulling back just enough to look between Nova and Anny while remaining in the circle of her arms. "I have seen the sparks many times during our days together."

The observation shouldn't have been surprising—Princess Naia was perceptive, and they hadn't exactly been keeping their distance from each other during the journey here.

"Ah, that's… Well, we're not trying to hide it," Nova responded, feeling somewhat embarrassed that she had brought it up. "But it will take time."

The words felt inadequate even as he spoke them. How could he explain the complexity of their relationship without sharing too much?

Princess Naia studied him with those intelligent azure eyes, seeming to peer directly into his soul. "Don't let her wait too long."

He could only nod. He would try.

"Don't forget how you felt during that last fight," Princess Naia continued. "Remember what went through your mind as you felt forced to unleash your power."

Nova thought back, surprised to find he could still remember what went through his mind back then with perfect clarity.

Scenes of waking up in the mornings with her wrapped around his chest. Scenes of breakfast around a warm table, of silent moments in the forge where they would simply be in each other's space, completely at peace.

Then scenes of the void. Of how she had pulled him back from the overwhelming hatred, embracing him from behind. Of how they had finally met, six lifetimes after they first connected. The night they had talked until they no longer could, overjoyed to finally have found someone else like themselves.

And finally, of the kiss. The terrified but longing kiss, lasting only for a brief moment.

"...I remember," Nova said quietly. "I won't forget."

"Good," Princess Naia replied with satisfaction, as if she'd just accomplished something important. "Then I'll let you leave. We have much to catch up on, and I know you're in a hurry."

Anny finally released her embrace, but not before pressing her forehead briefly against Naia's in a gesture of deep affection. When she pulled away, she kept her face carefully turned from Nova, though he caught a glimpse of color in her cheeks. After a final touch of Naia's shoulder, she began swimming upward toward the widening crack of sunlight above.

Nova turned back to Princess Naia one last time, raising his hand in a wave. She smiled at him—that radiant expression that had become so much more frequent over their time together—and returned the gesture with regal grace.

Then he too began his ascent, following Anny toward the surface, and whatever challenges awaited them. Behind him, he could hear the gentle murmur of voices as the royal family continued their reconciliation.

'All things considered, this floor went by faster than I expected. The only problem is that our time limit has tightened considerably… A quick rest, some smithing, then absorbing the souls we gain this time…

And finally unlock the fragment of my cultivation life.'

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