At that moment, the whale tail beneath her suddenly flapped the ground restlessly, causing a sound to resonate in the room. After hearing it, Karma immediately sat up in bed in a daze, while Fisher and Moli simultaneously turned their heads to look, only to realize that she hadn’t even opened her eyes. Her little hands waved in the air a few times,
"Stupid bird... ow..."
After mumbling these unclear words, she collapsed back onto the bed like a turned-off device, straight into Old Jack’s arms.
Once Karma had lain back down, Fisher let out a sigh of relief. He then glanced at the still profound moonlight outside before gesturing towards the door to Moli.
After this gesture, he let go of Moli and took the lead to walk towards the door.
Moli, lying on the floor, gently covered her own chest. She sat up and watched Fisher, who was gradually moving away toward the deck, hesitate for just a second before getting up to follow him.
The deck was very dim at night, and the entire Iceberg Queen seemed to have become invisible in the cold sea domain. Fisher, who had hardly slept, felt a rush of cold night air that sobered him up considerably.
He walked down the stairs to the deck once again. Just as he steadied himself and stretched a bit, he heard something flapping its wings atop the mast.
He turned his head and saw a colorful parrot quietly standing on the mast, tilting its head and looking at him. Fisher calmly locked eyes with it for a second before the parrot, confirming Fisher’s identity, flapped its wings and flew off somewhere else.
Behind him stood Moli, hugging her own arms and standing at the stairs with a dodgy expression.
When Fisher turned around, things were too dim in the room to see clearly. It wasn’t until just now, as they stepped outside, that Fisher realized not only had her hair and pupils completely turned black, but her fair skin had also begun to develop a peculiar and complex pattern of markings. The sight was staggering, much like a usually docile killer whale suddenly baring a blood basin towards you, striking an oppressive feeling.
Yet her expression remained that of the delicate Miss Moli, with an evident apology for what had just happened,
"Fisher, about earlier... I’m sorry..."
Hearing Moli’s voice, blurred like the night wind, Fisher simply smiled and moved to stand at the railing,
"...It’s okay. Actually, I’ve been wanting to talk to you for a while. If you hadn’t burst into my room, I wouldn’t have had the chance to speak with you. You ignored me this morning."
"Be.. because you always meet other women, Fisher... so, I was thinking about taking you back to the sea with me... I’m sorry."
She moved to the nearby railing as well, but maintained a full meter’s distance from Fisher. She gently placed her hand on the iron railing, but the moment her fingers touched it, there was a slight corrosive Trace, frightening her into quickly withdrawing her hand.
Had her curse already spread to such an extent in this short time?
Fisher didn’t care about the distance, just looked straight at Moli, who was gazing at the sea, and after a long silence, he suddenly said,
"Actually, what you’re really concerned about isn’t about me, right?"
Moli kept her head down and didn’t respond while her tail and long ears behind her drooped a bit.
"In reality, it’s the humans, the world on land that you’ve started to reject... or maybe you’re confused? Is it because of Isabella, because of me, that you wanted to find just a bit of evidence to speak in favor of the world on land and convince yourself to continue the journey with me? But when Isabella gradually became quieter, and I also met other women, that way of proving things became precarious... and your curse is the proof."
Moli pursed her lips but remained silent, yet her gaze held a trace of bright teardrops. Fisher saw through to her inner thoughts and continued to ask,
"Moli, so now I want to ask you, how do you see humans, how do you see me?"
She reluctantly turned her head to look at Fisher, her eyes not only shimmering with tears but also filled with immense confusion and helplessness.
Perhaps she had some regrets, wishing she hadn’t asked her mother to let her go ashore alone to find her aunt. That way, she wouldn’t have faced so much suffering or been unable to sleep through the nights due to nightmares, having to pretend to be strong in the mornings and continue on the road with Fisher.
And as kind-hearted as she was, even when Fisher posed such a question, she actually still wanted to tell white lies.
She wanted to talk about the happy times she had on land, about the good people she met there, and say nothing about the fear and unease in her heart...
But facing Fisher’s gaze, she opened her mouth and yet slowly opened a corner of her heart,
"I... I don’t know..."
"Isabella told me that her family appears harmonious on the surface but in reality, there is constant calculation of interests among siblings, subordinates and friends, and even, every moment trying to deliver the other to the Dead Land; perhaps, even the small circle of Saint Nali University where I live is the same; or maybe, all Humans are like that..."