Siren Lullaby

"I don't know exactly. What I remember is that six days ago, on the shores of [Jeju Island], I was swept away by a sudden wave and fell into the sea. When I woke up, I was already on an uninhabited island."

"[Jeju Island].....?"

He raised his eyebrow at the unfamiliar word and frowned slightly. However, Iran did not give any more details.

She didn't know if it's God Mare's request or not, but she couldn't trust him enough to say that yet. So she turned the topic to something else.

"More than that, I would like to go to the beach tomorrow morning. I want to know what happened to Delphi, the dolphin that followed the ship."

"......I got it. I'll guide you."

Iran's eyes widened at his gentle permission. She thought that she would have to ask him a few more times at least. As though knowing her inner feelings, he said like making excuses.

"In the Orca Empire, dolphins are sacred animals called representatives of God Mare. Besides, we have angered the representative of god and you're the only one who can calm it down."

He asked again as if he suddenly realized something whilst talking.

"Come to think of it, I still haven't asked for your name."

"Ah…..."

Come to think of it, it was the first time for her to have a proper conversation since she came to understand him. Iran was thinking about what to say, but soon decided to put aside the name Siren for a while. Saying that name now was probably too much of a risk.

'Sorry, Siren. That doesn't mean I don't admit that I'm a siren.'

Iran, who silently handed an apology, carefully revealed her name.

"Seo….. Iran. My name is Seo Iran."

My family name is Seo and my name is Iran. Just in case, she added an explanation. Then he repeated her name in his mouth again and again, perhaps due to the unfamiliar pronunciation.

".....Seo Iran. What a unique name."

Come to think of it, when she was invited to perform in Canberra and Australia, her fellow singers used to call her 'Lana' rather than Iran.

'Well, the reason was stronger than the difficulty to pronounce; it was because the name of a specific country came to mind.'

"Rubros."

".....Yes?"

Iran, who was lost in thought, reacted belatedly.

"Rubros Khan Mares Orca. That's my name."

"Rubros Khan….. What?"

Why is his name so long?

Iran frowned without realizing it.

She was particularly weak at memorizing Western names.

Although originally lacking against proper nouns, the highest peak among them was definitely his name. For that reason, even when studying vocal music, she often used to ruffle her hair just to memorize the names of foreign vocalists.

Rubros, who was looking at her frown, said again with a short sigh.

".....just call me Rubros."

"I will."

She doesn't know if she'll ever say it.

Rather, she honestly didn't want to see his face anymore.

As the tension eased, her body seemed to get more tired. Now she really wanted to rest. So she deliberately said it in a cold tone, even though she knew it was rude.

"If you're done with your business, will you please leave now? I want to rest."

".....Right."

Even though she thought it was quite rude, he rose from his seat. However, the expression on his face was somewhat complicated, seemingly having something else to say. As he walked towards the door, he hesitated for a moment, then turned around and spoke in a low voice.

"No matter how much I misunderstood the situation, it is my fault for threatening and treating you harshly. I sincerely apologize. I'm sorry."

Perhaps he wasn't just saying it to say sorry, but he bowed his head politely towards Iran. Then he left the room even before Iran responded.

After blinking for a while at the sudden situation, she finally came to her senses.

'What….. Did you come because of that? To apologize to me?'

Even after coming to the room, he was only asking questions about this and that, so she thought that he was still suspicious of her but she didn't expect to hear an apology.

Come to think of it, when he picked her up, locked in the stone chamber, he hugged her, who was heavy and had difficulty moving, and carried her to the room.

Her head was confused. To make matters worse, her exhausted body was preventing her from thinking properly.

'Let's think about it after taking a nap.'

But just as she was about to close her eyes as she laid herself on the bed, the words he said suddenly ran through her mind.

'......I got it. I'll guide you.'

He clearly said 'I'll guide you', not 'I'll tell you'. That was oddly mind-blowing.

'Don't tell me he's going to guide me personally.....'

She shuddered without realizing it at the sudden thought that popped into her head.

'Heyy, no way. He will probably make someone else do it.'

Iran tried to comfort herself and soon closed her eyes again.

* * * *

Her ominous hunch was right.

Waiting for her to change clothes after breakfast was Rubros in a blue uniform she had seen before.

Iran asked, trying to calm her lips that looked like they were about fall.

"Are you going to guide me…. personally…...?"

"Is there a reason why I can't?"

He replied with a nonchalant face, as if there was nothing wrong. Iran was speechless for a moment at the sight of him being so confident.

'Why is there such a shameless person? Of course! If it were you, would you want to be with the person who strangled you?'

However, her silent cry only lingered in her mouth, and could not be expressed outwardly. He was literally a dangerous man who could kill her at any time.

Because she had already experienced several death situations, her survival instinct stood sharper than ever. Iran sighed instead of answering. Then he said again like an excuse.

"I'm not saying I'm going to monitor you. If you want to move around the capital freely, it will be more convenient to move around with me."

'No! It's uncomfortable! It's not okay at all—!'

She denied his words once more with all her might, then clenched her teeth and muttered.

"……it doesn't matter. Only if you don't strangle me again."

Of course, she didn't forget to be timid and sarcastic.

'You're not going to get mad because I said this, are you?'

However, his expression when she peeked at him was unexpectedly distorted by anguish, not anger. Iran's eyes widened in surprise.

He spoke in a low voice mixed with agony, as if he was enduring the feeling of suffering.

"......I will never harm you again. I swear in the name of God Mare."

'Huh, suddenly? Why are you saying that with that expression?'

Obviously, it was that man, not her, who made the mistake first. But at this moment, she felt as if she had become the perpetrator.

'....Why should I feel guilty like this?'

Unable to shake off her discomfort, Iran headed out of the castle with him.

* * * *

"Waa…..."

At the sight in front of her, Iran was continuing to exclaim with her mouth open, forgetting that it was uncomfortable a while ago. No wonder, the view of the island from the window of the carriage was much more advanced than she expected.

A canal made of stacked white bricks spiraled around the entire island and stretched out to the shore. There were also large and small water tanks throughout the canal that seemed to be used to store water.

In addition, to prevent flooding due to sudden heavy rain, there were several additional small water canals on a straight line leading from the hill to the shore. The canal was divided into layers and blocked by a thick sluice gate.

'How long does it take to make the entire island like this?'

She doesn't know who made this design, but she thought it would be at least someone with extensive knowledge of weather phenomena and science. However, as Iran was frantically examining the landscape outside, Rubros, who was riding a horse, suddenly came into view. He was driving silently, wary of the surroundings, not the carriage.

'Still, he didn't follow me into the carriage, so in a way, I'm lucky.'

Just the thought of moving together in a narrow carriage with him seemed suffocating. I don't know what he was thinking by guiding her directly, but Iran just decided to turn her attention away from him.

* * * *

At the shore where she eventually arrived, she found the sailing ship that had brought her here. However, no matter how much she looked around while standing at the shore where the ship was anchored, she couldn't see the dolphin she was searching for.

'No way, did she already go back to the uninhabited island?'

Iran was dragged by people, but she was a dolphin who followed her from the island to here because she was worried about herself. Somehow, she wanted to meet Delphi again, so she decided to sing the song she sang when she first met the dolphin.

As only the sound of the waves could be heard, the clear voice of Iran resounded from above the rock.

— Hush now my Storeen. Close your eyes and sleep.

Waltzing the waves, diving the deep —

Rubros's eyes widened slightly, standing silently behind her, at the sound of a song in an unknown language. He felt it when he first heard her voice, but her voice, which spreads as clear as water, has a corner that resonates with people's hearts.

After a while, something with white skin emerged from the sea with a wailing sound like a dolphin. It was the same white dolphin that attacked their ship on the uninhabited island.

「Siren—!」

With a voice full of welcome, Iran stopped singing and looked at Delphi. With its head sticking out of the water, the white dolphin was moving forward with momentum as if it was about to jump to where she was at any second.

「I was worried. I was frustrated because I couldn’t do anything while watching you being dragged along by humans.」

"Sorry to make you worry. Due to the circumstances, I couldn't come here immediately yesterday."

"Um…...."

She lowered her head for a moment and looked down at her clothes.

The dress she's wearing now is a dress similar to what she wore on the uninhabited island. It's a peplos-type dress reminiscent of a Greek goddess.

A soft white cloth that naturally flowed down along the brooches hung on both shoulders extended to the ankles, and a separate belt was tied around her waist to fix the loose cloth. The only difference was that the color of the belt to fasten the clothes was blue, not gold.

'Should I have brought clothes to change?'

She thought that she wanted to jump into the sea where Delphi is, but the thought of going back wet seemed out of the question. After much consideration, she sat on the edge of a rock on the pier and reached out towards the dolphin.

Then, as if waiting for her, Delphi approached the rock where she was, rubbing its head on her hand and making a wailing sound.

But Delphi soon showed her discomfort when she found Rubros, who was standing a few steps away. The white dolphin said nervously, spewing seawater from her mouth.

「I hate that human — ! Go away — !」