Monica breathed a sigh of relief, regarding the approval from King Damon and Queen Charlotte, as Arthur took her hand to start the tour of his kingdom.
As the daughter of a family of farmers, Monica didn't have much an idea of what she was in for. Even though her home on land was around the location of a human castle, she never went inside. So this was the first time she would ever see what beyond the royal walls.
Monica was awed at how the merkingdom's castle looked. The walls and ceiling were made out of ancient sapphire, the blue colors being accented by gold.
It seemed that blue and gold were the official colors of the kingdom as Arthur and his parents all wore blue tails, with gold crowns, armbands, and bangles being decorated around their bodies. Monica, however, only wore her seashell bra, nothing else.
Arthur soon stopped swimming and then showed a wide painting that showed images of all kinds of sea monsters and merpeople all clashing against each other within the raging seas.
"It's so beautiful…" Monica said with wonder in her voice.
The merprince smiled. "Indeed. It's a picture that shows the history of our kind."
"I can't believe I never knew about this."
Arthur chuckled. "Neither did my father. My mother had to be the one to tell us both. I learned about these stories when my mom tucked me to bed."
"That's so cute." Monica gushed. "Although, I wonder… Do you think there's other mythical beasts out there? If merfolk are real, then what about dragons, fairies, trolls, and such?"
"That's a good question." Arthur replied. "To be honest, I don't know. For all we know, the humans could've vanquished them while we're still around due to merfolk being to survive underwater."
Monica's shoulders slumped. "Oh no, that's awful! I pray that's not true. I hope there's still some magical creatures out there."
"Me too but look at the bright side; Mermaids and mermen are still around and you're now one of us." The young merman said.
Monica nodded and smiled gently. "Yeah, that's true. Hopefully, my parents will get along with yours."
"Me too. Speaking of my parents, take a look at this." Arthur said, gesturing the mermaid to look at another picture.
It was a framed wedding painting of a young King Damon and Queen Charlotte. Both of them were embracing each other but one could definitely see the Charlotte's beautiful white silky gown and Damon's handsome seaweed suit.
Monica was taken away at how young they looked. Even though Monica knew about humans growing old, it still awed her that the rulers of the sea were once just a happy teenage couple.
Monica and Arthur looked at each other and soon embraced tightly.
"I want that to be us." Monica whispered.
"Me too."