"How about we stop blaming anyone instead?" Roxanna said at last. She gave them an awkward smile and clapped her hands once, drawing everyone’s attention back to her.
[I’m used to blaming myself, but it turns out... I don’t like seeing other people blame themselves either.] Roxanna let out a soft sigh in her mind. [I should really stop thinking that way.]
"I just want to do something to help my daughter," she said softly.
A small smile appeared on her face when Azura wrapped her tiny mouth around her finger and gently nibbled on it.
Helga finally turned her full attention to Azura and stopped teasing Azul. "It’s a condition that can happen when a beastkin from the sea has a child with a land beast," she continued. "Their lungs develop differently from ordinary children. They can breathe on land, but they also need a large amount of moisture from the ocean to stay healthy."
Helga continued, "Some sea beastkins can breathe on land if they have a strong body like our prince here. The weaker ones, however, can only stay on land for about a week before their bodies start to struggle."
She glanced at Azul before letting out a long sigh. "Unfortunately, His Highness didn’t think twice before getting a land beastwoman pregnant, so his daughter didn’t fully inherit his strong constitution."
"Because of that, she can’t stay on land for too long, but she can’t spend her entire life in the sea either." Helga gently looked at Azura. "Normally, this wouldn’t be a serious problem if she were an amphibious beastkin. Her body would naturally adapt to both environments."
Her expression grew more serious. "But because of her lung failure, things are different. Her lungs are constantly working harder than they should. Over time, they become exhausted, and that exhaustion keeps getting worse."
Roxanna’s heart immediately felt heavy, especially now that she could see Azura struggling to breathe again.
In the end, she gave the blue pearl to her daughter as well, hoping it would make breathing underwater easier for her.
[System, what if I give the rainbow pearl to Azura?] Roxanna asked. [Wouldn’t that make my daughter a permanent sea creature too?]
The system quickly replied. [Unfortunately, the rainbow pearl can only be used by beastkins who are 100% land beasts. Azura is half sea beast and half land beast. The pearl will not work on her because she is already part sea creature.]
Unfortunately, Azura was the defective one.
On the other side, Azul looked guilty as well because he had never considered this possibility before. He had always assumed that his child would either become a full sea beast or a full land beast.
He had never imagined there could be something in between.
"What do we need to do to help her?" Azul asked Helga. His eyes never left Azura. "Do you think my mother knows how to cure her?"
"Her Majesty is one of the greatest healers in the ocean, so there is a good chance she knows something about this," Helga replied. Then her expression became more serious. "But, Your Highness... meeting your mother won’t be easy."
Azul swallowed hard. "I know she’s guarding something deep in the ocean," he admitted. "But I don’t know where she is, and I can’t remember what she’s protecting."
Helga exchanged a look with the shark beastmen before speaking. "In that case, you should recover all of your memories first before moving forward, Your Highness."
Tian swam forward. "Your Highness, the reason we went to the palace earlier was to retrieve your crown from the people who stole it from its guardian."
Azul frowned. He had heard them mention taking back the crown, but no one had explained why it was so important.
After all, a crown was just a crown.
If they could one day take back the Aquilian Kingdom itself, then reclaiming a crown shouldn’t have been difficult.
"What’s so special about it?" he asked. "Does it contain something valuable?"
Tian nodded without hesitation. "Yes, Your Highness."
Before Tian could explain further, Orion spoke. "That crown contains a copy of your memories, Your Highness. Your brother arranged it before everything happened. He wanted to make sure you would still have a way to recover your memories if you couldn’t remember them on your own."
Azul’s throat tightened when Tian pulled the crown from his bag and held it out in front of him.
The crown itself looked simple. It was made of silver-blue metal that seemed to shimmer like moonlight reflecting on the ocean.
There were no large jewels or decorations that would make it look valuable. The only thing that stood out was the single dark-blue gem set in the center.
"How can I get my memories back from it?" he asked as he slowly picked up the crown.
Orion nodded toward it. "It’s a fairly simple magical item," he explained. "As long as the owner of the memories wears the crown, the memories stored inside should reveal themselves."
Azul looked down at the crown in his hands. He was about to respond when Roxanna suddenly spoke. "Can I see them with him?"
Azul blinked in surprise and immediately turned to her. "Why would you want to see them too?" he asked. "My memories might not be very pleasant."
"Maybe they aren’t," Roxanna admitted. She reached for his hand and gently squeezed it. "But they’re still your memories."
"I’ve been inside Calen’s nightmares before," Roxanna continued. "I learned about the painful things Luan and Cyrus went through as well. So I think... there’s nothing wrong with me learning about your past too."
Her voice was soft, but there was no hesitation in it. She wasn’t saying it out of curiosity, she was saying it because she cared.
[I think Azul will feel very lonely if he has to go through all of those memories by himself,] she thought.
Her eyes drifted to the crown in his hands. [I’m not sure if my being there will actually help, but... it’s better than leaving him alone.]
For a moment, Azul simply stared at her. The fear in his chest hadn’t disappeared. If anything, it had only grown stronger now that he was standing so close to the truth he had forgotten.
But somehow, Roxanna’s hand around his made it a little easier to breathe and a little easier to face whatever was waiting for him inside those memories.
Helga nodded thoughtfully before speaking. "Magic is like an ocean current," she said. "As long as you’re connected to His Highness, I believe the magic will affect you as well."
Roxanna glanced down at the hand she was still holding. "So I can really see his memories?"
"Most likely," Helga replied. "Though I’ve never seen anyone do that before. We can only make an educated guess."
"That’s not very reassuring," Calen muttered.
"No magical artifact comes with an instruction manual," Zeir replied. "But that’s the beauty magic. Anything is possible."
Helga turned to Zeir. "You sound like someone who knows a lot about magical artifacts."
Without a moment of hesitation, Zeir nodded. "I do," he said. "I used to collect them."
Roxanna blinked in surprise. "You never told me that!"
Zeir pressed his lips together before answering. For some reason, he seemed a little slower than usual. "I didn’t think it was that important," he said. "But... I’m telling you now."
Roxanna stared at him. Come to think of it, where had Loba even found Zeir?
If she remembered correctly, he had been bought through an elite auction that only tribal leaders were allowed to attend.
But how had Zeir ended up there in the first place? No one knew.
To be honest, out of all her husbands, Zeir was probably the most mysterious. There were still so many things about him that she didn’t know.
"I can tell you more later," Zeir continued. "But for now... do you still want to see Azul’s memories first?"
Roxanna narrowed her eyes slightly. It felt suspiciously like Zeir was trying to change the subject so he wouldn’t have to talk about his past right now.
Still, she let it go because Roxanna had never liked forcing her husbands to reveal everything before they were ready. If Zeir wanted to tell her someday, he would.
"Yes," she said, becoming serious again. "Do you know exactly how to do it?"
Zeir nodded immediately. "I can help."
The confidence in his voice made everyone turn toward him.
"It’s actually very simple," he explained. "You just need to stay connected to him while the crown is active. Holding hands should be enough, though tying your hands together would work even better."
"Why does that sound a little strange?" Calen asked.
Zeir glanced at him. "Because magic follows connections."
"Alright, tying their hands together probably not that strange," Calen said.
Ignoring him, Zeir looked back at Roxanna and Azul.
"As long as the connection remains stable, both of you should be pulled into the memories together."
Roxanna instinctively tightened her hold on Azul’s hand. Meanwhile, Azul looked down at their joined hands and suddenly felt a little less nervous.
If he had to face his past, at least he wouldn’t have to face it alone.