Rejected by the Hunt Champion, Claimed by the Prince…

The whole arena went silent for exactly one second. Then the laughter hit Lela like a wave.

She had just swum into the middle of the hunting competition after-party to confess to Lavi, the academy's star champion. "I like you," she said. Someone in the crowd shouted that even the chubby mermaid was into him now. The heckling died down when Lavi finally looked at her—and then he spoke.

"I just want to know what made you think you could confess to me? Did you really think my standards were that low?"

Then came the follow-up: "Don't you think you're kind of disgusting?"

Lela ran. She locked herself in a washroom stall, and someone poured a bucket of slimy seaweed over her head. A voice told her to look in a mirror next time before embarrassing herself. That was the moment her first love died—in front of everyone.

The Boy Who Protected Her Once

Here's the cruel part. Lavi wasn't always the villain of this story.

Lela had secretly loved him for a long time—so much that she starved herself, desperate to lose weight. One day after an underwater trek, she was so hungry she nearly passed out. Lavi scooped her up and carried her to a quiet corner of the reef. He told her to stop starving herself, and that if anyone made fun of her body, he'd make them shut up.

He was the first person who ever protected her. So of course she thought he liked her back. Of course she confessed.

The morning after the disaster, Lavi's friend Talent showed up to move Lavi's desk, claiming Lavi wouldn't be at the academy for a few days. Then Lavi came back with his arm around Maisie, the cheer captain—the girl every guy wants. The room erupted in cheers. Nobody had time to laugh at Lela anymore. She told herself that was good enough.

It wasn't. But it was something.

The Grandma Boot Camp and the Masked Deskmate

Lela buried herself in studying and beat Cato, the top student, on her next exam. A new deskmate, Cato himself, was friendly—until Lavi mocked him for sitting with her, tossed postcards on their desks, and asked if she was really his type. Cato grabbed his desk and moved back. The sea burgers he'd brought her went cold.

Then things got worse. Graffiti on her desk. Printed photos spilling out of her locker while students laughed. During a storm, a few girls slammed into her from both sides and she crashed into a coral formation. She couldn't swim. She asked Lavi for help.

"Maybe if you were thinner, you wouldn't fall so hard."

He walked past without looking down. Lela got up by herself, one hand against the ground at a time, and called her grandma.

Grandma didn't coddle her. She controlled Lela's meals strictly and trained with her every single day. And she gave her the line that changes everything: "If they ever try to knock you down again, then knock them down first."

When Lela returned to the academy, a transfer student stood behind the teacher—masked, face completely hidden. Sal. He was assigned to sit next to her. For nearly a month, they didn't speak a word. Kids called them "the mask freak and the fat mermaid."

Then one afternoon, Lela noticed Sal slumped over his desk, hand pressed to his stomach, shoulders shaking. She helped his nearly six-foot-three frame to the healing room and fetched his tonic. When she came back, he was watching her with a faint smile.

"You dislike me that much, and you still helped me. That's pretty kind of you, deskmate."

She told him she thought he hated her because she was fat. He never took off the mask, never spoke to anyone but her—but every day after class, he trained with her. Her weight changed. Her strength changed. Grandma said she looked healthier.

The Punch That Changed Everything

The first person at the academy to notice Lela's transformation was Lavi. He grabbed her wrist at noon and accused her of starving herself again. She told him it was none of his business and to let go—or she'd bite him. He called her a brat. She walked away.

Not long after, Sal claimed his stomach hurt again and asked her to walk him to the healing room. They ran straight into Lavi—and suddenly Sal lost his balance and fell against her, saying the pain was so bad he couldn't walk. Lavi's gaze turned to ice.

Then Talent caught up and opened his mouth: "Whoa, chubby girl and the mask freak."

Sal's fist slammed into his face. Talent stumbled back and crashed into a coral pillar. Lela grabbed Sal's hand and pulled him away.

"Thanks, Sal. But next time, just ignore him. He won the clan combat championship. If you mess with him, you'll be the one getting hurt."

Sal's answer is the line that made me sit up straight: "He was bullying you, Lela. I can't let anyone bully you."

So now Lela has a masked deskmate who fights for her, trains with her, and refuses to show his face. A hunting champion who suddenly can't stand watching her life get better. And a secret about Sal that the story is dangling right in front of us—because a transfer student that strong, that guarded, and that devoted to one girl doesn't wear a mask for no reason.

Dive into this addictive fantasy romance and watch Lela turn the tide.