A Siren Lured My Prince Away, I Let Her Keep Him

"His Highness needs a map of the sea trade routes. Draw it up and get it to me as soon as possible."

Talia barged into my office and spoke as if she could order me around.

I gave a vague nod and went back to what I was doing.

When she saw I was ignoring her, she scowled and went on.

"His Highness is taking me to a banquet tonight. Find time to tidy up our office."

I agreed again but didn't lift a finger.

Still, Talia turned and left as if she'd won.

I returned to my chambers and caught the palace maids looking at me with pity.

After all, I'd only been married to this human prince for three years. We'd sworn in front of the statue of the gods that we'd love each other forever.

Our marriage had even ended the fighting between land and sea.

But Kael had met Talia while touring the seas. At first, I thought he'd been bewitched by her siren song.

I never imagined he'd bring her right to me, fully aware of what he was doing.

I told him how treacherous sirens were, but he thought I was just prejudiced against Talia.

So he called together the kingdom's ministers to vote on whether Talia could stay.

I assumed everyone would side with him, but most voted against it, just as I had. Only a handful voted yes.

Kael flew into a rage and accused me of playing politics, winning people over right under his nose.

He kept Talia anyway, and he even punished the ministers who'd spoken up for me!

Afterward, Kael apologized to me. He said he'd forced Talia to leave the deep sea, so he had to take responsibility for her.

At first, I believed him. Then I saw him in Talia's bed with my own eyes.

He lay with his head in her lap, listening to her sing. Then they fell asleep in each other's arms.

Talia was a wild siren with no education. She was useless in the royal city.

And I'd actually believed Kael's lies. How ridiculous!

Later, when he finally came to me, he carried Talia's unmistakable siren scent.

When I first came to the human world, I'd smelled the same way. Kael used to pinch his nose, call it fishy, and make me cover it with heavy rose perfume.

Now, the smell didn't bother him at all.

I knew Kael was doing it on purpose. He wanted to make me jealous and hurt me.

At first, whenever I caught Kael with Talia late at night, I'd confront him with tears in my eyes.

But instead of holding back, he only got worse, falling asleep to her singing every night.

The angrier I got, the more he favored Talia. He took her to banquets and fussed over her in public.

Whenever we fought until I cried, he coldly told me I was overthinking it.

For the sake of relations between the deep sea and the kingdom, I swallowed my pride and apologized, and he took the chance to lecture me.

Worst of all, to get the people of the royal city to back Talia, he handed my diplomatic duties over to her.

We had a huge fight and stopped speaking.