Later that day, as Juvia swam home from the garden, she began to notice something unusual.
Merfolk were staring at her. Whispers followed in her wake—low at first, then louder, more open, more unrestrained than before. This time, they didn't bother to hide it.

"Just when we thought she couldn't be any more of a freak," one mermaid muttered.

"I always knew she was odd," a merman added, "but I never thought she was actually insane."

"Poor Gajeel... imagine having such a spiteful and insensitive sister."

"This shame will follow him for years."

"Perhaps his other sisters or his future children will help erase it."

Juvia slowed. Her hands curled slightly at her sides.

"What are they talking about?" she thought, unease rising in her chest. "I know they've never thought much of me... but this is cruel, even for them."

"I just can't believe a sea princess would save a human from drowning," an older mermaid whispered nearby.

Juvia's breath caught.

"What?!" she gasped aloud before she could stop herself. "Oh no... no, he didn't—"

Without another word, she turned and hurried away, pushing through the water with urgency. Panic gripped her as she made her way back to the palace. She had to find Panther Lily. She found him just outside the throne room. And the moment she saw his face—tense, pale, and filled with guilt—her stomach dropped.

"Tell me you didn't," Juvia said quickly, her voice trembling. "Please tell me you didn't tell anyone about Gray."

Lily couldn't meet her eyes.

"I'm sorry," he admitted.

Juvia froze.

"Oh my God, Lily... how could you?!"

"I didn't mean to!" he insisted. "It was an accident!"

"How many people did you accidentally tell?!"

"Only one!" he said quickly.

Juvia stared at him, horrified.

"...Then how does everyone in the kingdom know?" she demanded. "Unless—no... oh no. Lily... you didn't tell my brother, did you?"

"It was an accident!" Lily repeated. "I swear!"

Juvia let out a sharp, frustrated breath.

"Great! So that's it! If you told him, then of course everyone knows. He probably shouted it across the entire kingdom!"

She paced a short distance, running a hand through her hair in distress.

"Oh, I knew I couldn't trust you!"

Her chest tightened as the reality settled in.
Now Gajeel knew. Everything was about to come crashing down. What would he say? What would he do? She knew him well enough to understand that he wouldn't be calm. He wouldn't listen. He wouldn't try to understand her side. He would react—loudly, and with his temper.

"Can this get any worse?" she muttered under her breath.

Lily winced. "...Yes."

Juvia turned back to him slowly.

"What do you mean?"

Lily swallowed. "Your brother... wishes to speak with you."

The color drained from her face.

"...Right now?" she asked weakly.

"He wants you to come immediately. Without delay."

Juvia felt as though the water itself had grown heavier around her.

"...Okay," she said after a long pause. "Tell him I'm coming."

Lily nodded and slipped back into the throne room to deliver the message.

Inside, the Sea King sat upon his throne, his expression tense with restrained anger. At his side, the queen remained close, speaking softly to him—trying, as always, to temper his temper and guide him toward calm reason.

"Now, Gajeel, please keep your temper under control," Levy said firmly. "Do not say or do anything in anger. You know how that usually ends for you. You need to stay calm."

"Calm? Calm?!" Gajeel snapped. "You expect me to remain calm after what I've just heard?!"

Levy's expression hardened slightly. "First of all, don't raise your voice at me like that."

Gajeel blinked, caught off guard.

"...I'm your wife, remember?"

"I—sorry," he muttered, lowering his voice. "I just can't believe this. I can't believe it. She's done some questionable things before, but this—"

"Gajeel," Levy interrupted gently but firmly, "remember your blood pressure. The royal physician would not approve of this level of stress."

For a moment, silence settled over the throne room. Then the doors opened. Juvia entered. Gajeel's eyes locked onto her immediately—still burning with anger, though restrained by something deeper beneath it. Concern. Frustration. Fear. Levy's gaze softened as she looked at Juvia.

"Levy, Lily," Gajeel said, his tone controlled but firm, "I would like to speak with my sister in private."

"Yes, sire," Panther Lily replied, bowing slightly before retreating.

Levy hesitated. She didn't like this. Gajeel was clearly not in a state for a calm conversation.
But she said nothing. He was the king. With a quiet sigh, she followed Lily out. Juvia remained.
The weight of the room seemed to shift the moment they were alone. Gajeel stood before her like a looming shadow. His presence was heavy, his expression tight with barely contained emotion. Juvia could feel it—he was close to the edge, held back only by his love for her.

"Juvia," he began.

"You wanted to see me?" she asked softly.

"I've never hidden how I feel about your fascination with the surface world," he said. "You know it upsets me."

"Yes... I know."

"And yet," he continued, "despite that, I allowed you to visit that world on your seventeenth birthday. With one condition."

Juvia's hands tightened slightly at her sides.

"That while you were up there, you would not interact with humans. Do you remember me telling you that?"

"...Yes."

"I assumed you would follow my instructions," he said, his voice tightening. "I believed my sister would respect my word."

Juvia lowered her gaze.

"...But I was wrong."

Her body began to tremble faintly. Gajeel's eyes sharpened.

"Is it true?" he asked. "Did you save a human from drowning?"

Juvia couldn't meet his eyes.

"...Yes. I did."

The words hung in the air. Gajeel's expression darkened instantly.

"Juvia, I told you to stay away from humans!" he shouted, unable to hold back anymore. "You were not to go near them! Those barbarians—do you realize what could have happened to you?!"

"Nothing happened," she replied quietly. "I came back safely."

"And what if you hadn't?!" he shot back. "What were you thinking?!"

"I had to save him," Juvia said, lifting her head slightly now. "He would have died otherwise."

"One less human to worry about."

"Gajeel—that's cruel!"

"Humans are cruel!" he snapped. "Humans killed our parents! That same kind of people you're defending—one of them could have taken your life just as easily!"

"How can you say that? You don't even know him!"

"Neither do you!" Gajeel countered. "Have you forgotten what their kind has done to us?! The pain... the loss... the war?!"

"I haven't forgotten!" Juvia said, her voice rising. "But he didn't kill our parents! He didn't do anything to us! He's innocent!"

"Don't be naive," Gajeel growled. "There is no innocence in humans!"

"Mother and Father believed there was!"

"And look where that got them!" he fired back.

The words landed hard. Juvia flinched—but she didn't back down.

"I don't believe that," she said, her voice steadier now. "I know humans can be dangerous, but they're not all evil. Our parents tried to make peace with them. They wouldn't have done that if every human was as terrible as you claim."

She took a breath.

"I'm certain... there is good in humanity. And the prince I met—he was—"

"Prince?" Gajeel repeated sharply.

Juvia hesitated.

"...Yes."

"The human you saved... was a prince?"

"Yes."

"As in the prince of Verdenshav?"

"...I'm not entirely sure, but I think so."

At that moment Gajeel's anger surged to a new, dangerous level. What Juvia didn't know—what she couldn't have known—was that the ship responsible for their parents' deaths had belonged to the Royal Navy of Verdenshav. That truth had hardened his hatred toward humans and especially toward anything tied to Verdenshav's royal family. And now Juvia had saved one of them.

"Should have let him drown!"

"No!"

"He deserved to die—him, his family, his entire court!"

"Gajeel, I've never heard you say anything so horrible!" she cried out, her voice trembling with shock. "He had nothing to do with what happened to Mother and Father! He was probably no older than I was when they died. He was a child! He's done nothing to earn your hatred!"

"Not yet."

"He has a good heart! He wouldn't hurt us—I know he wouldn't!"

"How could you possibly know that?" he shot back. "You were only with him for a short time. The only way you could've learned what was in his heart that quickly would be if—"

"We kissed?" she finished softly.

Her brother fell silent. The words struck him, and for a moment, dread washed over him. He silently prayed that what he feared was nothing more than paranoia.

"Juvia... don't tell me that you actually—"

"He kissed me," she confirmed. "When he came to, he was delirious. He gave me my first kiss, and through it, I could see into his heart and form a bond with him. I saw that he's a good person... but he feels like an outcast. He believes no one truly likes him because he's different. He feels... he feels like me. And I... I love him."

She lifted her gaze to meet his—and recoiled at the horror now overtaking his expression.

"Have you lost your senses completely?!" the merman exclaimed. "He's a human! You're a mermaid!"

"I don't care about that."

"Do you have any idea what he would do if he ever truly saw you?! Do you understand how I would feel if I found my sister slaughtered the same way our parents were?!" His voice rose with fear and anger. "I forbid you to have any feelings for that creature!"

"You can't control my heart or how I feel!"

"I can forbid you from ever returning to the surface!"

"No, you can't! I'm not a child anymore!"

"Then act like an adult for once in your life instead of a threat to our family!"

She fell silent. A threat? Is that truly how her brother saw her? As something dangerous... something so unlike them that she could put them all in harm's way?

"I'm a threat?"

"No." His response came quickly, his expression shifting as he realized what he had said. "No—not you. Your behavior. Your carelessness, your recklessness... your fascination with humans. It could expose us all and put our lives at risk. Have you ever stopped to consider the danger you might be bringing upon our family?"

"No..." she admitted quietly. "No, I never did."

"Then maybe it's time you start thinking about that—before you bring death to our family!"

Juvia could no longer bear to listen. Before he finished speaking, she had already turned away, swimming out of the throne room and leaving the palace behind. She made her way to her garden, hoping it would soothe her, calm her thoughts, and ease the weight in her heart. She needed a moment alone. But when she arrived, her sorrow deepened.

Her garden had been destroyed. Flowers were uprooted and crushed. Shells lay shattered and scattered across the ground. The carefully crafted designs she had nurtured were gone. Even the painting Lucy had given her had been ruined. In the distance, she heard laughter—merfolk who had taken pleasure in the destruction.

"Maybe now the freak will finally act normal."

A heavy grief welled up inside her. This was the cruelest thing anyone had ever done to her. Gossip and insults she could endure—she had spent years learning how to ignore them. But this... this place had been hers. The one sanctuary where she could truly be herself, free from judgment. Its destruction was unbearable. Tears began to fall.

"I don't belong here..." she sobbed, gently lifting the petals of a broken red flower. "I never have. There's no one here who could ever accept me—for who I am, for what I love, for how I live..."

She felt utterly alone. To her, it seemed her family feared her, and her own kind saw her as a mockery. Perhaps everyone would be better off if she simply left and never returned. But where could she go? What place could possibly accept a mermaid who loved a human—and the world he came from?

Unknown to her, an answer was already on its way. Watching from a distance, the eel Nebaru had been following her under the orders of his mistress. The time had come to set the sea witch's plan into motion.