Arthuas led me through the castle, showing me the majority of the rooms. There was a garden made out of different coral. A giant ballroom and lots of beautiful bedrooms. There was one bedroom in particular that captured my interest. It looked just like my room back home. But instead of having white walls, there was a giant mural that depicted the city of Atlantis.

"The castle is your home now. So you can go anywhere you like," Arthuas said as we made his way to his chambers. He opened the door, and I was in awe of the room he had. The room contained a large balcony that had a beautiful view of the city, and the room was decorated with numerous seashells and starfish in one corner. I could small chests that appeared to contain objects from the human land.

"Do you like my room?" Arthuas asked after I spent a while looking at the room and all its features. "It looks amazing," I smiled, looking back at the handsome prince. "So, did you mean what you said back there? Do you really think I'm handsome?" Arthuas asked, taking a seat on his kelp bed.

I silently hoped that he would forget that ever happened, but now I was put in the position where I had no idea if I should say yes or no. He was handsome, but I didn't want him to think that I was trying to flirt with him. "Yes, I think you're handsome. You said that not a lot of people tell you that?" I asked. He let out a small sigh and gently patted the empty side of the bed. I sat down next to him, wondering what was wrong with him.

"What I meant by that was, the reason why not a lot of people call me that is because I'm not very social with other people," he admitted. I was a little surprised. He didn't seem like the guy who would be by himself all the time. I thought that he would be hosting parties and carrying flirtations with other mermaids. "I know. It's difficult to understand, but unfortunately,  it's the truth. It wasn't always like this,"

His hand shifted slightly towards me, and our fingers were inches away from touching. "What was it like?" I asked. He looked into my eyes, and once again, my heart started to pound rapidly, and I was beginning to worry that he could hear the loud boom-boom of my heart. "I don't know. It's hard to talk about," he sighed. "It's okay if you don't want to talk about it. I won't be mad," I nodded understandingly. He started to smile slightly, and I smiled back at him. 

"You know, you seem like a nice girl, Delphine. I'm glad the pearl chose you to be my companion," I felt my cheeks start to turn slightly pink, and I tried my best to stay calm and collected. "Me too, your highness," Then I felt Arthuas gently place his hand on top of mine, and I looked up at him once again, with a slightly bigger smile.

"You don't have to be so formal. Please call me Arthuas," he whispered. I tucked a small piece of my hair behind my ear, and I started to feel a slight tug in my stomach. It was almost similar to the same tug I felt back at the beach. We reconnected eye contact, and we slowly began to lean in towards one another.

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door, and I quickly moved away slightly from Arthuas. "Enter!" he called out. The door opened slightly, and I saw one of the mermaids from the throne room staring at us. "Prince Arthuas, your father wishes to speak with you," she said. He nodded slightly, and the door closed. "He's probably going to give me another lecture about becoming King one day," He sighed.

I nodded, and I followed him back to the throne room, where his father was still sitting on his clamshell throne. "Miss Delphine, you may stay outside. My son and I need to talk in private," King Nereus said, pointing to the door. "Yes, your majesty," I nodded. The large doors of the throne room closed shut behind me. And immediately, I started to wonder what they were talking about in there.