Transmigrated Into a Cannon Fodder Phoenix, Stuck With the Ice Dragon-Chapter 138: Good Or Bad Idea

Lucian crossed his arms as three of them stood near the gazebo of his garden.

"I don’t think so, Thalor," he said calmly. "I’ve checked her background. She’s purely a fairy. There isn’t a single trace of mermaid blood."

Thalor stood beside him, frowning, his expression unusually serious. Auren remained silent on Lucian’s other side, observing.

"Then why," Thalor muttered, rubbing his temple, "do I feel like there’s something about her? I know instincts aren’t absolute, but this—" He exhaled slowly. "It feels familiar. Too familiar."

Lucian didn’t answer right away.

"But Thalor," Auren spoke up at last, his tone careful but firm. "You know the one you’re bound to was recorded as a pure mermaid. Are you really letting an old rumor cloud your judgment?"

Thalor’s jaw tightened.

Auren continued, softer now, "I don’t mean to sound harsh. But are you certain this isn’t... misplaced?"

Silence followed.

Lucian studied Thalor closely. He’d known him long enough to recognize when arrogance gave way to unease.

"Are you asking," Auren added quietly, "because you suspect something... or because you’re hoping for something?"

Thalor didn’t deny it.

Instead, he looked away.

Lucian understood then. It was about a man who had waited too long, and a possibility he was afraid to name.

"We can still try to find her," Lucian said after a moment, his voice steady. He reached out and tapped Thalor’s shoulder once, firm but grounding. "As long as there’s no proof she’s dead, there’s still a chance she exists somewhere."

Thalor’s jaw clenched.

"I was engaged to someone I never met," he said bitterly. "Can you imagine that?" His laugh was short and hollow. "And when the marriage finally happened, I was married to a ghost. A ghost."

He turned back, eyes sharp with restrained fury.

"What was I supposed to be?" he continued. "A joke? Something the entire sea could laugh at behind my back?" His hands curled into fists. "I was forced to proceed with that marriage to stabilize the core of the sea. To keep the currents calm. To prevent civil collapse."

Auren’s expression darkened.

"They told me it was duty," Thalor said. "That the sea needed me more than I needed answers." He scoffed. "So I ruled, I waited, and I pretended the absence didn’t rot something inside me."

Lucian didn’t interrupt.

"Thirty years," Thalor finished quietly. "Do you know how long that is, Lucian... to be bound to someone who might not even exist anymore?"

Thalor kept pacing, his frustration spilling out in low, bitter murmurs.

"This whole thing is ridiculous," he muttered. "Rules stacked on rules. Promises made by people long dead. A marriage I never chose, to someone I never knew." He dragged a hand through his hair. "I followed it long enough. Long enough to keep the sea stable, long enough to keep everyone else satisfied."

He stopped suddenly. "I’m tired," he said flatly. "I think I’ve reached my limit. I’ll stop here."

Lucian’s gaze sharpened. "By stop," he asked carefully, "do you mean annulling the marriage?"

The word hung between them.

Thalor didn’t answer right away. His jaw tightened, and for a moment, the usual arrogance was nowhere to be seen.

"I don’t know," he admitted at last. "Annulment would shake the sea courts. The elders would call it betrayal. Cowardice." He let out a humorless breath. "But continuing like this feels no different from rotting in place."

Auren finally spoke, his voice calm but firm.

"Walking away won’t erase the bond," he said. "It will only turn it into something unfinished."

"But," Lucian asked slowly, recalling something he had heard long ago, "is it true that this marriage can’t be broken unless one of you dies?"

Thalor hesitated for a brief moment, then nodded.

"Yes," he said. "If it’s annulled before that..." He exhaled through his nose. "One of us must be offered to the Sea Core."

Lucian frowned sharply. "Sorry?" he said flatly. "What the hell does that mean?"

"It’s not poetic," Thalor replied. "And it’s not symbolic."

Auren’s expression darkened. "The Sea Core demands balance," he said quietly. "A bonded union stabilizes it. Breaking that bond early means replacing it with a life."

Lucian felt something cold settle in his chest. "So," he said, voice low, "annulment is just another word for execution?"

Thalor didn’t deny it. "That’s why I waited," he said simply. "And why... I’m tired now."

Auren frowned slightly, something thoughtful settling into his expression. "This feels off," he said. "Have you ever asked for validation from the mermaid clan? Something official." He paused. "They should have given you a concrete reason to stay in this marriage."

He glanced between the two of them. "Honestly," Auren added calmly, "waiting for thirty years would be difficult even for me."

Lucian and Thalor exchanged a look.

Of the three of them, Auren was always the most patient. The one who weighed choices instead of enduring them in silence. Hearing those words from him made them land heavier than expected.

Thalor let out a slow breath. "I asked," he admitted. "More than once."

Lucian’s brows knit. "And?"

"They stalled," Thalor said flatly. "Promised answers. Promised time. Promised she’d be found." His mouth curved into a bitter smile. "Thirty years later, I’m still waiting."

The silence that followed wasn’t awkward.

"This isn’t like you, Thalor," Lucian said at last, his frown deepening. "Tell me the truth. Why did you stay in this marriage?"

Thalor met Lucian’s gaze and pressed his lips into a thin line.

"Honestly," he said slowly, "if anyone were to die because of this bond, it wouldn’t be me." He exhaled. "It would be her. My bride."

Lucian went still.

"I kept thinking..." Thalor continued, his voice rougher now, "I waited thirty years. Thirty. Just to let her die the moment I decided I’d had enough?" He shook his head. "I couldn’t do it."

Auren’s eyes softened slightly.

"You understand me, right?" Thalor asked, quieter now. "Duty is one thing. But choosing to end someone else’s life just so I could be free..." His jaw tightened. "That wasn’t something I was willing to carry."

"How do you break the bond?" Auren asked suddenly, cutting through the weight in the air. "I mean... how does an annulment actually work?"

Thalor frowned, clearly caught off guard. "Why?" he asked.

Auren didn’t answer right away. Instead, he smiled, soft, calm, and unsettling in its certainty.

"I might have an idea."