The Ocean's Toll: Counting Down to Forgetting You

I am a princess of the deep sea. For love, I abandoned my crown and used ocean magic to help him rise from a penniless sailor to a duke of immense wealth.

On our tenth wedding anniversary, he slapped me in front of all the guests, tore the Ocean Crown from my head to place it on his mistress, and ripped away my reverse scales: "I'm sick of this freakish marriage to a monster!" Blood flowed down the coral cuts, and my unborn child miscarried in the humiliation.

The moment the first reverse scale fell from my chest, I forgot our first kiss. At the same time, his three gold-laden ships mysteriously sank on the windless sea.

The Abyssal Pact has been activated: seven reverse scales correspond to seven memories. With each scale that falls, I forget him a little more, while he loses all the wealth he gained through me.

...

He doesn't know that when I drop the seventh scale, I will completely forget his existence, and he will spend the rest of his life in madness.

I descended the grand staircase of Rose Manor, the sapphire silk of my gown brushing the marble steps. I froze.

Seraphina lounged on my velvet throne. She stared pointedly at the Ocean Crown resting on my head—the ancient, magical coral heirloom of my royal lineage.

"That barbaric trinket would look far more noble on me," Seraphina smirked, swirling her champagne. "A fish-freak like you doesn't deserve it."

Arthur strode into the hall, adjusting his tailored waistcoat. He stepped up to the throne and wrapped a possessive arm around Seraphina’s waist. "My darling is absolutely right. The true Duchess deserves only the best."

I gripped the mahogany banister. My chest burned with a sudden, sharp betrayal. "Arthur? Today is our tenth anniversary. What is the meaning of this?"

He sneered, looking up at me with utter disgust. "Today is the day we divorce, Elara. And the day I propose to Seraphina."

I charged down the remaining steps, fury rising in my throat. "Are you out of your mind?"

Crack.

His hand struck my face. The brutal slap echoed through the cavernous hall. Guests gasped, stepping back into the shadows. Camera bulbs flashed rapidly, capturing my humiliation.

"Shut up!" Arthur snarled. "I am sick of this freakish marriage to a monster!"

He lunged at me. His hands clamped onto the Ocean Crown and he yanked it back ruthlessly. Sharp coral sliced deep into my scalp. Blood poured down my forehead, dripping warm and thick onto my pristine gown.

He ignored my bleeding. He turned and placed the blood-stained crown directly onto Seraphina’s blonde hair, pulling her into a deep, theatrical kiss.

He faced the whispering crowd. "Bear witness! From this day forth, Seraphina is the sole mistress of this estate!"

A violent tearing sensation ripped through my chest. Beneath my ribs, a single iridescent reverse scale tore free from my flesh.

The Abyssal Pact is broken. Retribution begins.

The ancient, crushing voice of the deep sea roared in my skull.

At that exact second, the heavy oak doors burst open. The head butler sprinted in, waving a yellow telegram, his face pale with terror. "Your Grace! Three of your gold-laden galleons just sank! The sea was dead calm, but they went down instantly!"

I collapsed to my knees, clutching my chest. The physical agony flared, then vanished entirely, replaced by a terrifying void. I blinked. The wooden dock. The salt spray. Our first kiss. The memory wiped clean from my mind. Gone.

I stood up. The desperate, heartbroken wife from a second ago vanished in that void. I stared at Arthur.

He stepped back, a sudden, inexplicable panic tightening his throat. "Elara? What is that look?"

"Address me as Duchess," I snapped, my voice cutting through the hall like a blade. "Until the legal proceedings conclude, I remain the lady of this house."

A savage cramp seized my abdomen. Hot liquid rushed down my legs, pooling dark and red on the polished marble. The stench of iron filled the air.

The estate doctor rushed forward from the crowd. He checked my pulse, stared at the blood at my feet, and turned pale. "Your Grace," he whispered to Arthur, trembling. "She... she was with child. She is miscarrying."

Arthur glanced at the pool of blood. He scoffed, adjusting his cuffs. "Good riddance. Saves me the trouble of dealing with a half-breed brat later."

Rage—raw, primal, and blinding—spiked in my veins. The sheer cruelty pierced whatever warmth I had left for him. Beneath my skin, a second scale loosened, burning like a branding iron.

I swallowed my scream. I turned my back on him. I packed a single leather valise and walked out of Rose Manor into the freezing, stormy night.

By the roaring cliffs, an old man leaned on a driftwood cane. The harsh coastal wind failed to move his ragged coat.

"You bleed, Princess of the Deep," he rasped, his eyes glowing faintly in the dark. "The human betrayed the sacred Pact."

I gripped my throbbing abdomen, tasting salt on the wind. "My scales are falling."

"The Abyssal Pact demands balance," he said. "Seven reverse scales. Seven memories. With every scale you drop, you erase a piece of your love for him. And he? He will lose every coin, every ship, and every ounce of luck he stole through your bond. When the seventh scale falls, you will forget him entirely, and his empire will turn to dust."

The ocean is my domain. Through the crashing waves, the magic of the deep granted me a vision, carrying the sounds of a grand hotel suite miles away.

I saw Arthur tearing through a stack of telegrams, sweating through his expensive silk shirt.

"Canceled? The royal navy contract is canceled? The stock plummeted?" He threw the papers across his mahogany desk, his hands shaking.

Seraphina picked up his ledger from the floor. Her sweet, adoring smile vanished into a hard, calculating scowl. "Arthur. You told me you held the monopoly on the eastern trade routes. You told me you were the richest man in the empire."

"It's a temporary setback!" Arthur stammered, desperately reaching for her hand. "A freak storm, a market fluctuation—I can fix it!"

Seraphina slapped his hand away. She ripped the Ocean Crown off her head and hurled it directly at his chest. The heavy coral struck him hard.

"I don't have time to play house with a broke loser," she spat, grabbing her fur coat. "We're done. Don't call me again."