#617 The Neo Mermaid Kingdom’s Situation

My name is Gedu, one of the patriots concerned about the degeneration and crisis plaguing the True Mermaid Kingdom.

What is the True Mermaid Kingdom, you ask?

It is a nation ruled by cultured mermaids who respect history, honor the deceased, and never disregard the laws and traditions they have established.

Now, tradition is being destroyed by the foolish new king—Mermaid King Arowana.

He is a young king who ascended to the throne after his predecessor, benevolent Lord Nagus. But because he is young, he lacks judgment and has made various blunders.

Among them, the worst is the selection of the queen.

The Mermaid Queen is the companion who always stands by the Mermaid King. As the co-ruler of the state, she has tremendous influence.

As such, the selection of a queen must be more scrupulously done than the king himself.

First and foremost, she must be of noble birth. She must be no less than a daughter of a prestigious family. 

She must be well-educated, well-cultured, well-versed in ancient and modern etiquette, and have the virtue of obeying her parents and supporting her siblings.

If she graduated at the top of her class from Mermaid Witch Academy, the most prestigious school in the Mermaid Kingdom, you wouldn’t hear a word of complaint from me.

As you can see, the selection of a mermaid queen requires a multi-layered screening process and the input of her retainers. 

The current king, Arowana, had disregarded all of this and had chosen the worst possible bride—Mermaid Queen Puffer. 

A lowly, uneducated, and by all accounts unqualified to be Mermaid Queen.

Not to mention, she’s a witch.

Witches are wicked women who use their incredible gift of potion compounding for the wrong purposes and bring misfortune to society.

They symbolize the anti-regime and should never be allowed near the royal family, but King Arowana broke that rule.

I heard that Puffer, also known as the Witch of the Bitter Cold, was a genius in creating and handling ice magic potions.

However, she is a dangerous woman with a rebellious spirit, opposes all authority, and does not care if her research leads to the world’s destruction.

Such a woman should never have been given the grave responsibility of queen of the Mermaid Kingdom, but King Arowana violated that taboo.

Our nation is on the road to extinction.

But there is still hope.

Even if the ones on top are foolish, if their retainers are wise and correct in admonishing their lord, the nation should be able to correct its course. Otherwise, there is no way an uneducated woman with zero dignity can fulfill the great role of Mermaid Queen.

Within three days, she would show her true colors and confess herself unfit to be queen.

If all of the retainers were to propose at that time, even the king would feel compelled to obey it, however foolish he may be.

The king would promptly divorce her and would re-elect a suitable queen.

...Alas.

I’ve been hoping for all this to happen for over a year now.

It hasn’t turned out as expected at all.

The evil woman who snatched the position of the Mermaid Queen is still sitting pretty on the throne, and the voices against her are gradually dying down.

How can such an uncultured and uneducated woman be the queen?

Even when she attends various ceremonies with the king, she behaves calmly and is not in the slightest bit disgraceful.

Instead of interfering in policy-making and stirring up trouble, she gives accurate advice that even civil officials are sometimes astonished by.

I thought deeply about how a commoner can be so well-informed with scientific attainments, but according to the rumor I heard...

“The world’s best potion compounders can only earn the title of ‘Witch.’ As a witch, Queen Puffer can’t be as stupid as you think.”

What?! Aren’t all uneducated, common women as stupid and dull as sea cucumbers?

Some wisdom she has for a commoner!

And not only that, she started something on her own.

She created something called pickles.

At first, all the retainers wondered what she was up to, but it soon spread to the whole nation.

It seemed these pickles were a kind of food originating from the land.

It’s apparently tremendously delicious. At first, it was prepared only for the king, but then it was shared among the retainers till it reached organizations where they reproduced and sold pickles. 

Pickles have now spread to every corner of the Mermaid Kingdom and have become a very popular product.

As its inventor, Queen Puffer is well known and popular even among the lower classes.

It does not matter what the common people, who are only ruled by the aristocrats, think, but it’s unamusing to see the reputation of Queen Puffer rise, regardless.

Even among the aristocrats, some idiots say things like, “Reputation is important,” and place importance on the commoner’s public favor.

The situation only keeps worsening.

Both the top and bottom classes are recognizing Queen Puffer!

I can no longer sit back and expect her to collapse by herself.

If there is still any hope, it’s the heir to the throne.

The most important duty of the queen is to produce an heir to carry on the king’s noble bloodline.

Failure to do so disqualifies the queen, no matter how beautiful or wise.

It is a justifiable reason for divorce.

If that abominable Queen Puffer does not show any sign of fertility within a year or even six months, all the retainers can make an issue out of it and petition the king to re-elect a queen officially!

...But the very moment I thought of this, Queen Puffer’s pregnancy was officially announced.

Both the top and bottom congratulate them as if they fully acknowledge that the witch is ruling us.

Unacceptable!

At this rate, the truly venerable mermaid royal family will be ravaged by that witch!

If so, now’s the time for me, loyal retainer Gedu, to show my faithfulness to the royal family, even at the cost of baring my fangs at them.

Troops, assemble!

Run up the royal palace and strike down that vile wench!

His Majesty Arowana may feel a momentary grief, but I’m sure he’ll eventually realize that it is for the good of the entire Mermaid Nation!

Rouse yourselves!

Justice is ours!

Strikeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

* * *

Immediately after that, the Imperial guards stormed into our secret hideout and rounded us up.

How? Did they foresee our movements?

“Former Imperial Chief Gedu, you are in custody on the charge of plotting a mutiny. You will present your case at the interrogation and trial.”

“Hendra of the Betta family?!”

You buffoon of an official who has curried favor with that foolish king!

“Your ambition to retain power in the next generation with your daughter as queen was crushed long ago. But your persistent attempts to drive out Queen Puffer are the cause of your downfall.”

“The Imperial guards had long been aware of your deviousness and had been observing you for some time. You really set yourself up to get caught by the tail this time.”

Tsk, Witch of Hellfire Lampeye?!

I hear she has been reinstated as an Imperial guard, so why is she coming to arrest me, of all people?

Gaaaaah! The forces I’ve gathered for this upheaval have been completely overpowered by the guards...!

Were they waiting for this very moment to hold us on indefensible and certain charges?!

Curse you! I am not a man to let things end here...!

It will be impossible to win over Hendra. In that case...!

“Hey, Lampeye! The most powerful potion compounder, Witch of Hellfire Lampeye! Are you not bored with this situation?!”

“I beg your pardon?”

If I can get her on our side, we still have a chance!

“Puffer is the queen, and you’re an Imperial guard under her thumb! You must feel miserable about yourself! You deserve to be given an equal opportunity! If you work with me to get rid of Puffer, you may even have a chance to become Mermaid Queen!”

Any mermaid would dream of becoming the queen.

I’ll use this stupid woman’s dream against her and manipulate her as my pawn.

“...”

“Gwah!”

She replied with a punch to my face?!

“...How stupid. Are you seriously asking a married woman to indulge in adultery?”

Huh?!

“Don’t think that all the women in the world hold uncouth ambitions like you. If a woman’s happiness is to marry the man she loves, it matters not whether he is a king or a commoner. The same goes for Puffer. For her, the person she fell in love with happens to be the king of a nation, that’s all.”

Impossible... I refuse to believe such nonsense...!

“The person I fell in love with also happened to be a spirited genius, so I’m going to exercise my power as a witch to help him. I don’t owe you an apology even if this causes you trouble.”

“I’m lucky to have a hardworking wife...!”

Hendra and Lampeye lock eyes with one another.

Huh? What’s going on?

“The fact that you’re blind to our marriage means you’ve never had an interest in anything other than your own plans. No wonder you failed, considering how narrow-minded you are. Take him away! This is the last of the royal palace’s major cleanup!!!”