On the third day, the seal still came.

As Sophia hid behind a tree and watched the spring, the seal headed for the shore just as it did the previous days, and when it changed into a human form, it began to sing on the shore. When she finished singing, she threw a piece of crystal into the spring.

Then, she thought that it would return to the sea as it did yesterday and the day before yesterday, but it was different today..

“There’s someone there, isn’t there? I know I saw you there yesterday and the day before.”

The woman looked back around the tree where Sophia was hiding.

Sophia was startled and wondered whether to leave or not, but it would be awkward to continue hiding. The woman giggled as she peeked out from behind the tree.

“I knew it. I knew there were pirates living on this island, but I didn’t know there were girls here. Come here, I’m in the mood for a chat” she said

The woman appeared to be around twenty years old. When Sofia approached the spring, the woman sat down on the shore with only her toes in the water.

“What is your name? My name is Karana.”

“Karana? My name is Sophia.”

“Sophia! You look nice. Your hair is very nice, too.”

“Your hair is lovely too, Karana. It’s a mixture of gold and blue.”

“Oh, really? I didn’t like it because it looked a bit like seaweed, but when you put it like that, I don’t feel bad.”

Karana laughedband splashed the water up with her bare feet.

Sophia saw that Karana looked human no matter where she looked, and decided to ask after some hesitation.

“Karana, are you, you know, a person? A seal?”

“Well, you could say both, and you could say none.”

With a slender finger, Karana pointed to the bottom of the spring. Sophia found a black, cloth-like object sunk among the scattered crystals.

“I am a selkie. When I go ashore, I take off my seal skin and take on human form. When I go back to the sea, I take off my human skin and become a seal.” she said

“Selkie!”

Sophia was surprised, and then she wondered.

‘Well, are you sure you don’t mind telling me such a secret?

“It’s okay. You’re a girl. If you were a man, I would never tell you, but since you are a girl, it’s fine.

“you won’t tell a man?”

“Of course not! If I told a human man, he would take my sealskin and force me to be his wife! Even my sister. ……”

Karana’s long eyelashes flutter and her eyes are downcast. As she looked, tears welled up in both of her eyes and eventually spilled out. The tears were sucked into the fountain and then turned into tear-shaped blue stones that rolled to the bottom of the fountain.

‘…Unbelievable’

Sophia was astonished. A blue stone appeared where the tear had fallen. This is a selkie tear. The selkie tear was not just a name for a gemstone, it was really a selkie tear.

As Sofia stared at the bottom of the spring, Karana wiped away her tears and picked up a selkie tear from the fountain.

“Ah, humans seem to like this. For us, they are just crystals of tears.”

“Crystals of tears?”

“Yes. Sad tears turn into blue stones, happy tears turn into pearls.

Karana put a selkie tear in Sofia’s hand.

“Sad tears…? Did something happen to your sister that you were about to tell me earlier?’

Karana nodded and looked up to the sky to hold back her tears.

“My sister, six months ago, a man stole her sealskin. As I said before, we selkie women. When a man steals our skins, we become his wife and we do his bidding. Without the skins, we can’t even go back to the sea. Unless she gets her skin back, she has to spend the rest of her life on land at the mercy of the man until she dies.”

“Such a thing…”

Sophia was astonished. She was like a celestial maiden in the legend of the plumage.

“Can’t she get her sealskin back?”

“Apparently, the man who took my sister’s sealskin has hidden it away where no one can find it. My sister was crying because he wouldn’t give it back, no matter how much she begged him. Without the sealskin, she can’t even go into the sea. If she gets into the seawater, not only will she not be able to swim, but she will get a high fever.”

“…”

‘Is there no other way? Then Karana’s sister is too pitiful.’

Karana picked up one of the crystals in the water.

“That’s why I was praying like this. I prayed for her safe return to the sea. I’m very worried about her, but if she doesn’t make it, she’ll be in big trouble.”

“Trouble?”

Karana nodded and then lowered her voice.

“The dragon god is very angry because she was supposed to be the third bride of the dragon god who lives in the sea, but a human stole her away. That’s why…”

“If this continues, there will be a terrible storm and the town where the man who kidnapped my sister is from will be swallowed by the sea…” Karana whispered and bit her lip.

Sophia gasped and opened her eyes wide.