Clay never believed that his own efforts could bring hope to his future destiny.

Being born into a noble family is something that many people would rather have. But as a bastard of a noble family, without magic power and without a background in his mother's family, he is not even as good as the carefree children of ordinary families.

Every time he was beaten, who would worry about him, a young master who did nothing?

[This child can't even form his own mercenary team. He has no future.]

This was when he was a child and had just learned to speak. His father, the gentleman who was kind and gentle to all his brothers and sisters, made such a judgment on him when he was ignorant.

From the beginning, he was abandoned.

The cold touch on his face was still rubbing slowly, Clay's pupils flickered a few times, and his pale lips moved twice.

"Can I take you with me?"

The hand that healed his wound suddenly stopped. Qi Yan looked at his hopeful eyes, and a hint of alienation crossed his face: "Mermaids can't leave the water."

"Ah!" Kerry shouted in panic: "Sorry, I forgot!"

Fearing that the mermaid would have a barrier with him, Kerry leaned down further. As soon as he said a word, he was interrupted by a sound on the beach in the distance.

"Is there anyone there?"

It was a girl's voice, crisp and sweet, with a hint of curiosity and exploration in her expression.

The moment the voice rang, Qi Yan turned around and jumped into the water. He didn't leave a word for Kerry, nor did he make any movements. Just like when he came, he was silent.

Clay was filled with endless disappointment, but he was not a fool and did not shout out. If other people knew that there were mermaids here, they would do everything possible to capture Qi Yan.

Mermaids are a rare species on the continent of Erli. Not only are they rare, but they are also very mysterious. Some people may never see a mermaid in their entire lives. Because of this, some adventurers aim to capture mermaids. The living mermaids they catch will be kept in aquariums in museums for people to watch; if a mermaid is accidentally killed during capture, it will be made into a specimen.

Clay remembered that when a minor noble came to curry favor with Count Hillal, he brought a wounded mermaid with him. Count Hilal was overjoyed and paved a lot of ways for the young nobleman, although the mermaid died a few days later due to injuries sustained during the transition.

In the words of Count Hilal, the mermaid was the nobleman's pet.

Perhaps because Clay's life was not even as good as that of the mermaid, who was a "pet", he did not think so. Especially

after meeting Qi Yan, he hoped to have a mermaid, but not as a pet, but as a friend.

[Clay's favorability towards Qi Yan +10, current favorability: 20]

When he first met the mermaid, his basic favorability was already ten points.

Clay stood up from the reef as if he had just finished watching the moon, shook off the gravel on his body, and turned to greet the person who came.

"I'm here to admire the moon, what do you want?" Chris met Nasha's clear eyes, and a flash of surprise flashed across his eyes, but it was only a moment.

With Qi Yan as a cushion, no beautiful woman could shake his position in Chris's heart.

Nasha's tender face couldn't hide the charming delicacy, and her sweet and pure smile shone particularly brightly in the night: "Nothing, I just came to take a look, and saw someone here, so I asked."

Chris nodded and said, "Then I'm going home, you can do whatever you want." He turned around and took just two steps when his hand was grabbed. Chris shook it off reflexively and met Nasha's puzzled eyes in horror: "What are you going to do!"

Nasha was also shocked, and didn't expect his reaction to be so big: "I, I just saw that you were injured, and asked if you were okay..."

"I'm fine!" Chris answered loudly, then turned around and fled.

Nasha looked at his gradually receding back, unable to come back to her senses for a long time, until she heard the call of her godmother from a distance.

"Nasha, where have you been?" The godmother put a light pink fur jacket on her and shook her head in disapproval: "A lady cannot leave during a banquet. You will be disliked by Count Hilal."

"I didn't leave, Linda." Nasha suddenly smiled strangely: "Let's go back."

The night remained unchanged, dark and without light, without the crystal blue of the night sky over the fields, nor the twinkling stars.

- Tonight, after all, is the beginning of the turning of the gears of fate.

There is a beautiful rose bush in Count Hilal's mansion, white and red, like blood-red raindrops falling on white roses, dyeing a few scattered flowers red.

Hiding on the stone steps beside the flowers, Clay was holding a tattered book in his hand, flipping through it carefully.

This was a history book of the Irish continent that he had secretly stolen from the warehouse. It recorded all the known species on the continent and their living ranges, habits and other basic information. He would definitely not have read these in the past, but now, he wanted to know more about mermaids.

There were very few records about mermaids in the book. Compared with the records of elves, goblins, dwarves, etc., the records of mermaids were not even one-tenth of them.

It said that mermaids do not like to live in groups and will choose the deep sea as their living environment. Generally, mermaids will not be seen in the developed sea areas for human entertainment. In addition, mermaids are not carnivorous, but feed on seaweed and sea fruits.

So, using singing to lure sailors and then dragging them into the water to eat them are all rumors spread by the world.

Suddenly thinking of how he foolishly asked someone last night if they wanted to eat him, Clay burst out laughing.

——That mermaid must be very helpless... Will I see him if I go to the beach again today?

"Hey? Is the history book so funny?"

A silver bell-like voice rang from behind him. Clay was startled and quickly closed the book.

Turning around, he found that it was the girl he met at the beach last night. Clay breathed a sigh of relief, as long as it wasn't those brothers.

"I'm sorry, I scared you." The girl smiled softly, "But I hate reading history books the most, how could you laugh at them?"

"Well, I was just taking a look..." Kerry's eyes wandered, and he changed the subject, "Why are you here?"

"I'm here as a guest." Nasha said, "I saw you at the banquet yesterday."

The boy who hid in the corner and didn't even dare to eat the food on the table must be him... Count

Hillar's bastard who had no magical talent at all - Kerry Hillar.

Kerry's face froze, and he understood.

A banquet was held at the mansion yesterday, and the godmother, nuns and the next saint of the Holy Church were invited. Looking closely, this girl seems to be the saint who was regarded as the protagonist by everyone last night.

"I have something else to do, I'll leave first..."

"By the way, I'm not familiar with this place, can you take me around?" Nasha interrupted him and asked cheerfully.

Chris's face turned pale. If those brothers knew that he was with the saint, they would inevitably make things difficult for him again.

He wanted to refuse, but the girl's bright and flawless eyes made Chris unable to refuse.