When the clock struck 12, nearly all the people on the ship were either drunk to the point of passing out or fighting to stay awake despite the effects of the liquor.

  Anastasia and the others were no different. Anastasia was trying to stay awake as Herald continued to chatter, while Ivan, who had been dancing just a few moments ago, had already gone quiet due to the liquor. Ignis, who hadn't touched his beer from the start, remained sober.

  Only Denovan and Callista stayed sober despite drinking the same portions as Herald. Callista licked her lips as she peeked inside her glass to see how much beer was left.

  She sat there calmly, her legs crossed as if the liquor didn’t affect her one bit. "You have a higher tolerance than I thought," she commented, noticing that he remained sober.

  Denovan smiled. "I only drank a little."

  Callista raised a brow and laughed. "You drank almost the same as I did—maybe even more."

  Denovan shook his head and didn't comment further. "I could say the same about you," he retorted.

  Callista chuckled. "Maybe I'm naturally gifted. And the beer tastes good—I don’t understand why you didn’t even take a sip or two." She looked at Ignis, who rolled his eyes.

  Denovan laughed. "He can't handle his alcohol."

  Callista's eyes widened. "Really?" She looked at Ignis, who grimaced, hating that the attention had suddenly turned to him.

  "Yeah, he passes out without even finishing one glass—"

  Denovan wasn’t able to finish before Ignis abruptly stood up. "I'm going to sleep," he muttered, clicking his tongue.

  Both Denovan and Callista laughed as Ignis retreated to his quarters.

  "He doesn’t like people pointing it out," Denovan said, making Callista chuckle.

  She finally finished her glass, placing it down on the table. "You really know a lot about them, huh?"

  Denovan shrugged. "I guess that comes with being Lady Ana's guard. The others were always around her, so it felt like I grew up with them." His gaze softened as he looked at Anastasia, who was struggling to stay awake despite her head nodding toward sleep.

  "I only ask that you go a little easier on Lady Ana. Her intentions are good—she listens well enough to understand without you being harsh."

  Callista studied him carefully, her eyes assessing him. "Hm?" She tilted her head, a smirk creeping onto her lips. "Everyone else is nice to her—why should I be the same?" she asked.

  Denovan looked at her in surprise before laughing. "Lady Ana isn’t naive. She only seems that way because she always wants to help others."

  Callista glanced at Anastasia, whose cheeks were flushed from the alcohol. "Sometimes, the kindest people are the cruelest, you know that?"

  Denovan looked at her as Callista raised her hand without taking her eyes off Anastasia. "When you break people like that, it always ends in unexpected ways." She clenched her hand as if crushing Anastasia in her palm.

  Then, slowly, she turned to Denovan with a smirk. "And that’s when it becomes difficult to bring them back."

  The two stared at each other, the tension between them thickening with each passing second.

  Caspian suddenly appeared, breaking their eye contact. "Oh, thank goodness you two are still sober!" His face brightened upon seeing them talking.

  Callista finally smiled. "Yeah. What’s wrong?"

  He seemed to hesitate. "Well, the thing is..." Caspian glanced back at the table. "Anastasia is already drunk, and Ivan's been staring at nothing for the past hour..."

  They followed his line of sight to see Anastasia still fighting for her life while Ivan sat motionless, staring at the glass in front of him.

  Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  Callista: "..."

  Denovan: "..."

  Denovan was the first to stand. "Thanks for telling us, Caspian. I think your father's drunk too. If you don’t mind, can you help me take him away from My Lady?"

  Caspian immediately nodded. "No problem!"

  Callista watched as they took over. Caspian finally pulled Herald away from Anastasia, though Herald kept babbling about some quest they had. Anastasia, unaware that her conversation partner was gone, continued nodding along—until Denovan gently patted her. He helped pull her up, along with Ivan, who sat beside her, and carried them both inside.

  "Are you not heading back to your room with the others?" Marin asked, smiling as she stood beside her.

  "Yeah, I actually feel tired now," Callista replied, standing from her seat.

  Caspian returned, panting heavily.

  "Good job." Marin chuckled, patting his arm as Caspian let out a helpless laugh.

  Callista watched them with a smile. "Is there anything I can help with before I go inside?" she asked, glancing around. "You need to clean all this up, don’t you?" she added, referring to the mess.

  "No, it's okay!" Marin immediately shook her head. "You're a guest—we shouldn't let you clean up a mess made by our own crew. Besides, Caspian and I didn’t drink, so we’re capable of handling it."

  Callista still hesitated. "You sure?"

  "Yeah, even if you left all this mess overnight, you’d wake up to find it cleaned. Being drunk to the point of passing out and waking up with a hangover won’t stop them from doing their duties," Caspian reassured her, pointing at the passed-out crew members.

  Callista looked at them for a few more seconds before smiling. "Alright." She nodded. "Thanks for this. I’ll head inside now."

  As she walked toward the door, she glanced back.

  She could see them laughing with each other as they started aiding the unconscious crew. A smirk crossed her lips before she disappeared inside.

  ---

  The Next Morning

  When the sun finally rose, Callista and Ivan were fighting over the last toasted bread.

  "That's mine, Ivan!"

  "You already ate three!"

  "And you ate five!"

  The others naturally ignored their bickering.

  "It’s such a wonderful day," Anastasia commented as she breathed in the fresh air, completely unfazed by the two who were on the verge of strangling each other.

  "I'm amazed you can say that in the middle of their argument," Denovan chuckled, glancing at Callista kicking Ivan in the stomach, causing him to fall off his chair as she happily ate the bread in victory.

  "W-Wha... You cheater!"

  "Who are you calling a cheater?!"

  "Would you two stop fighting already?" Anastasia groaned, rubbing her temples before turning to Ignis. "I'm amazed at how you're able to stay calm through all this."

  Ignis casually sipped his tea.

  "Good morning, guys..."

  They all turned toward the familiar voice, ready to greet him—but were stunned speechless.

  Even Callista and Ivan, who had been mid-argument, stopped and gaped at Caspian.

  "Woah, dude, you look..." Ivan trailed off, trying to find the right words as Caspian faintly smiled at him.

  "You look... like a mess," he finally said.

  "I'm sorry, but did you even sleep last night?" Callista hesitated, motioning to her own face.

  "Yeah, you look... uh..." Anastasia added.

  "Do I really look that bad?" Caspian asked, cupping his own face.

  "You look like shit," Ignis bluntly commented.

  Anastasia elbowed him and forced a smile at Caspian, who gawked at Ignis.

  "He means you don’t look well. Are you sick?" Denovan clarified, studying Caspian’s face.

  Dark bags were visible under his eyes, his lips were pale, and his hair was disheveled as if he’d been sleep-deprived for days.

  "I'm fine," Caspian forced a smile.

  "No, you're not. You didn’t look like this yesterday," Anastasia pointed out.

  "Well, everyone was woken up early this morning, so I only got thirty minutes of sleep," he explained.

  "Why? What happened?" Ivan asked, now curious.

  "One of our crew members was attacked on deck."

  That surprised them.

  "Attacked? By what? Weren’t we just having fun last night?" Anastasia asked in shock.

  "Yes, just thirty minutes after we all fell asleep, one of the crew members left his room and was attacked. We're still searching for the person responsible."

  All of them exchanged cautious glances.

  "Could it be a Xayah?" Denovan asked.

  Caspian shook his head. "It's impossible for them to reach us here, sailing in the middle of the sea. We didn’t sense any traces of dark magic either. We're already taking precautions," he stated, making Callista sigh.

  She handed a glass of water to Caspian after transferring a small amount of mana into it.

  "Oh, thank you," he said, accepting the glass and gulping down the water. Like a button being pressed, his complexion improved, and he was finally able to breathe properly again.

  "You didn’t have to do that..." he said shyly when he realized what Callista had done.

  "I had to," she replied, resting her chin on her palm. "Say, have you heard of the Tale of Lorelei?"

  They were confused by her sudden question.

  "No, we haven’t," Anastasia said, shaking her head.

  "Wait, I thought you didn’t know any tales to tell," Ivan said, squinting his eyes at her.

  Callista took a deep breath before beginning her story.

  "The story starts with two lovers, a fisherman and an embroiderer, who lived by the seashore. They spent their days together, with the woman singing enchanting melodies that captivated anyone who heard them. That woman was Lorelei."

  The group fell silent, waiting for her next words.

  "One day, the man suddenly fell ill and became bedridden. Lorelei would leave the house in search of medicine or anything that could help him. Days passed in this way until, one night, she didn’t return.

  "Although weak and barely able to stand, the man forced himself to search for his missing wife. He was worried, of course, but what he saw when he finally found her was even more shocking.

  "Lorelei was different—at least in appearance. Her once brown eyes had turned golden, and her long legs had been replaced by a shimmering fishtail beneath the moonlight. And yet, in his eyes, she was still beautiful."

  Anastasia gasped. "A mermaid?" she asked, but Callista ignored her.

  "Lorelei wept when she saw her husband.

  "'Close your eyes. I don't want you to see my hideous appearance,' she cried. In her hands were rare pearls, which could be used as medicine.

  "But the man only smiled. 'I would accept anything, even now. I love you, Lorelei, and I won’t let you go.'

  "He reached out, trying to pull her into his embrace, but just then, a powerful wave dragged his weak body away."

  Callista looked at them one by one.

  "Now, do you think he survived?" she asked.

  "Of course, he did. Lorelei was there—she could be considered the child of the sea," Anastasia answered confidently.

  "I agree," Denovan said, and Ivan nodded.

  "He survived, right?" Caspian asked hesitantly.

  Callista chuckled. "No, he didn’t."

  They were stunned.

  "What? Why not!?" Anastasia exclaimed.

  "Because Lorelei was a siren," Ignis said.

  "A siren?" Anastasia repeated.

  Ignis nodded. "They look identical to mermaids, but sirens use their voices to enchant people and feed on their mana."

  "That’s right! As expected of my Ignis!" Callista cheered.

  "Rather than saving the husband she had spent years with, she attacked him as he drowned. And that was how the name Lorelei became a tale—a legend of the siren of the sea."

  A villainous smile appeared on Callista’s lips.

  "They feed on the strong emotions of their loved ones... only to kill them. Ironic, isn’t it?" she chuckled, her gaze resting on one specific person.

  Before anyone could react, a loud thud echoed through the room. They turned to see Marin standing there, eyes wide, the bucket of water slipping from her grasp as it crashed to the floor.