I rarely paid attention to other owners' looks, as their appearance was intimidating enough to keep me from looking too closely.
There was not a single scar on Gold's pearlescent skin, the glowing lines and scales covered him like armor.
Madam's and Gold's beauty made me think the world was worth seeing, and I wondered if there was anything captivating enough to make me want to explore it more.
Gold came closer. The jewelry on his arms and neck, gems that were worth a fortune, jingled as he moved.
To think a female abandoned him was unfathomable to me. I didn't know the reason, and the owners said he didn't like to talk about it.
"Did you sleep well?" he asked, stopping next to the table, and squeezed the towel in the basin, before bringing it to my face. He wiped my cheeks, my forehead, and neck with it.
I nodded. He wiped my arms and hands as well.
"The food is fresh, eat as much as you want," he said, moving me to the stone chair with a cushion on it.
He sat next to me, and to my surprise, began feeding me. He picked up the buttercup flowers with his long fingers, one petal at a time, and brought it to my lips. Slow, like he had all the time in the world, and I, the slowest eater to have ever existed.
He knew...he knew my tempo, and adjusted to it. It was scary to think that I had been so obvious with my eating habits, or that he was paying close attention to them.
"I can...eat faster," I said, conscious of my pace, "I can be...fast."
"No need," Gold replied, his long eyelashes blinking slowly, "The faster you eat, the sooner we will run out of things to do."
"...oh." I chewed slower, my eyes wandering around the room, trying to find as many entertaining things as I could, so we didn't run out of things to do.
Boredom was bad. I didn't want to be the source of it for anyone, especially for the owners.
"Baron asked me to keep you company until he returns. I'm the softest one out of all of us, and less likely to hurt you by accident, as he said," he didn't sound soft like Baron described him. His voice had an undercurrent of authority in it, "No need to be afraid."
I chewed the petals nervously. I didn't feel fear, it was more like...respect? He didn't look scary, but he did look important. Much more important than me.
"Do you like your room?" he asked, his fingers finding another petal, "I designed it. Made it as comfortable as possible for a female."
I nodded, then remembered that I should speak and said, "I've never been in a more beautiful place. Thank you...for letting me stay. It's...it's an honor."
He hummed, catching me looking at the strawberries, and picked one up for me.
"We have a pool garden, a beach nearby, a music room, dance room, anything you want," he said. "You can also change your room, the walls, the floors, the furniture, I will make it happen. Just say the word."
I opened my mouth to let him put the steawberry in. He seemed to want to talk with me, so I tried to prevent the conversation from dying, "Where does the shell come from? The big one...I was sleeping on it."
"Clam farms," he replied. "We raise them to harvest their pearls, and some grow big enough to be used as a bed."
"I never saw one...this big before," I said, mentioning my days in the circus and my first time seeing the sea.
"We can go see them, if you want to," he offered, another petal making its way to my mouth.
I nodded in agreement. He packed a small bag for me to take, and I held onto it as he chose a fitting outfit for me.
The outfits were all shades of white, with pearls and shells as decorations. My stomach was showing from under the short top, and the skirt had slits on the sides, revealing my legs.
Matching jewelry was added, on my neck, wrists, and ankles. There was a shell that went over my belly button and chains that connected it to the skirt, making it look like I was wearing a very complicated belt. A headband with tiny crystals was put on my head as a final touch.
Gold had my hair braided into a fish tail braid. He then showed me my reflection in a mirror that was as tall as him, "Do you like it?"
I twirled in front of it, liking the way the skirt flowed around my legs, how it shimmered in the light of the glowing pearls. The jewelry was a bit heavy, but it made me feel more...more like a rich sheep, rather than just a sheep.
"Do you like it?" I asked, wanting to know his opinion first, since he went through the trouble. His eyes met mine through the mirror.
"I would like it more if you liked it as well," he replied, tilting his head to the side, "It's your opinion that matters."
"I like it. The outfit, the jewelry, the braids, all of it. You are very good at choosing," I complimented him.
"You are the one that makes the clothes look good," he complimented me back. "The clothes are not as pretty without you in them."
Eh…
He waved his hand before my face, "Is too much praise making you uncomfortable? I will tone it down then."
I thanked him for noticing. So fast too.
Gold reached for my hand and led me out of the room.
The underwater palace was bigger than I had imagined. Glowing pearls and corals of every color lit the way. It was like walking inside a rainbow.
The hallway was large enough for a hundred of me to walk side by side. We stopped before a window that was the size of the whole wall. It was see-through, showing the city under the sea.
There were buildings of various shapes and sizes, stretching as far as the eye could see. The streets were full of merpeople, and I doubted I could count them even if I tried.
"So many..." I whispered, "males."
"Ten million unmated males," Gold said, his eyes on the view.
My eyes almost popped out of my head from the shock. Some even sensed my gaze and looked up. They weren't sharks, but they might as well be with the way their eyes lit up.
I quickly took a step back, and Gold stepped in front of me, blocking the view.
"How...how many females?" I asked, still not believing what I had heard.
"There used to be only one female and two million males. The ratio is better now. Fifty females in total."
Fifty…?