Chapter 134: THIRD POV.
Jacob chuckled at her reaction, rubbing the back of his neck to hide his slight nervousness. "Of course not, Captain. These two aren't even capable of doing anything of the sort."
"Well aren't you a funny one." Persephone laughed a bit. " but even if that were truly the case, what exactly would you have done about it?" Persephone giggled, speaking in a highly humorous manner.
"Well, I guess I would've been forced to fight you both and take him right back," Priscilla answered smoothly, not missing a single beat.
"Oh? That's quite confident of you, don't you think?" Persephone replied, her voice remaining sweet, but her eyes narrowing just a fraction. The playful tone in the air was beginning to feel a little heavy, like two predators testing each other's boundaries.
"You think so?" Priscilla laughed a bit, completely unfazed by the soft warning in the mermaid's voice.
Jacob had a highly uneasy look on his face seeing their tense interaction.
He could feel a cold sweat breaking out on his forehead as he stood right between the two stubborn women.
One wrong word could start a massive argument, and he really didn't want to be caught in the middle of a fight between a fierce cat-captain and a powerful mermaid who could command a pack of sharks.
Meanwhile, Artria merely chuckled softly from the side, finding the entire situation incredibly amusing. She floated a few feet away, watching the sparks fly with a light grin on her face.
"Well, I must thank you deeply for looking after him for this long, but I'm afraid it's finally time you both parted ways," Persephone said, still maintaining a polite, light smile as she looked at Priscilla. She reached out and placed her small hand over Jacob's bare foot, making her intentions completely clear to everyone on the boat.
"And why exactly is that?" Priscilla smiled in turn, completely unfazed by the obvious attempt to dismiss her. She didn't move an inch, keeping her ground as the captain of the ship.
"Because Jacob has to come back home with us where he belongs," Persephone said, her tone becoming a bit more serious as she looked up at him.
She expected him to immediately agree and jump back into the blue water with them now that the misunderstanding was completely cleared up.
"Umm... I don't think I'll be able to do that in the meantime," Jacob spoke up, his voice breaking the brief silence. He offered an awkward, apologetic smile as he looked down at Persephone.
" What?" Persephone frozen for a moment.
"And why's that?" Persephone shifted her focus entirely to Jacob, a deep frown suddenly appearing on her beautiful face.
The pleasant, smiling mask she had been wearing instantly slipped away, replaced by a look of confusion and sudden worry.
Priscilla spoke up before Jacob could even open his mouth, a smug grin spreading across her face. "Your friend here already made a strict promise to work for me as my first mate. In turn, I offer him a proper, safe ride to the mainland. He has a duty to fulfill as a member of my crew, so he can't just swim away whenever he likes."
Persephone ignored the captain completely, keeping her eyes locked onto Jacob's face. "Why on earth would you ever need to go to the dry land? You belong in the sea with us. There is nothing for you on the mainland except dangerous humans."
"Something important came up while I was away..." Jacob said, his tone turning serious as he began explaining the situation to them. "There are a lot of innocent people I'm trying to help get back to the mainland safely. I met a large group of captives who were being held by cruel slave traders."
"They were locked in tight wooden cages, starved, and treated like animals. I couldn't just stand by and watch them suffer, so we took them onto our big ship to protect them."
He told them all about the former slaves, their unfortunate situation, and the promise he had made to ensure they reached their home country without any more harm coming to them. He wanted the sisters to understand that he wasn't just wandering around aimlessly; he had a real, heavy responsibility on his shoulders now.
"Well then, after you finish helping those people, we can still go back home together to the village," Persephone said, her face softening a bit as she listened to his story. She could accept that he wanted to do a good deed, as long as he returned to her side once the task was fully completed.
"Uhh, about that..." Jacob said, his voice trailing off as he rubbed his chin. He was not so sure how to properly put his thoughts into words without breaking her heart all over again, but he knew he had to be honest with her right now.
"What..." Persephone said, her voice dropping into a dangerous whisper. She didn't like how this conversation was going at all, and a cold feeling of dread began to creep into her chest.
"I don't intend on returning to the hidden village anymore," Jacob said firmly, looking straight into her eyes. He had made up his mind days ago, and seeing his old life wasn't going to change his long-term plans for the future.
"You don't want to come back?" Artria muttered from the side, clearly surprised by his sudden declaration.
She stepped closer, her eyes wide as she looked at him, completely caught off guard by his words.
"What are you saying..." Meanwhile, Persephone's entire expression creased with a deep, painful sorrow. Her hands clenched tightly into fists, while her entire body began to tremble lightly.
The sudden shock of his rejection was almost too much for her to bear after just finding him.
"You just said you completely forgave me for everything earlier," she said, her voice breaking as tears began to well up in her eyes once more. "What's going on? Why are you acting like this? Now you're saying you don't ever want to come home with me? Was it all a lie?"