I Became the Villainess, But My Beast Husbands Can Hear My Mind?!

Roxanna stared at the changes happening to Sybill, her eyes filled with disbelief.

The black mist slowly wrapped around Sybill’s body, changing her into something that no longer looked like a mermaid.

Her fish tail gradually turned jet black, while dark veins spread across the shimmering scales. The beautiful blue fins she had once been so proud of withered away, replaced by jagged, shadow-like fins that looked more like blades than part of a living creature.

Her long hair floated wildly around her as if it had a life of its own. Even her skin began to lose its healthy color, becoming pale enough to resemble a corpse.

”W-What happened to her?” Roxanna asked, unable to tear her eyes away.

Zeir’s expression grew grim. ”She’s being corrupted. The black magic isn’t simply giving her power,” he continued. ”It’s changing her body to match the darkness inside it.”

As if to prove his words, Sybill slowly raised her head. Her eyes no longer had white sclera or colored irises, but they had become completely black.

A wide smile spread across her lips. ”I can feel it...” she whispered. ”So much power...”

Her voice no longer sounded like her own. It echoed with another voice beneath it, deep and distorted, as though something else was speaking through her.

Roxanna felt a chill run down her spine because she realized that wasn’t Sybill anymore.

On the other side, Maristella stared at her daughter in horror.

”You...” Her voice trembled. ”You took that black artifact!”

She swam forward, unable to hide the fear on her face. ”It has been sealed inside the secret chamber for centuries. How...?” she whispered. ”How did you manage to break the seal?”

The moment those words left her mouth, Azul understood exactly what she meant. Back when he was still living in the palace, his father had once gathered all of his children and warned them about one of the kingdom’s greatest secrets.

As the king, his duty wasn’t only to protect the people of Aquillian, but he also had to guard the dark entity sealed inside a black pearl.

According to his father, that entity had once been a powerful sea witch. She had devoted her entire life to studying black magic, believing it would grant her limitless power.

Instead, the darkness slowly consumed her mind and by the time she realized what was happening, it was already too late because the black magic had taken everything from her.

Her sanity.

Her humanity.

And eventually... her soul.

If Maristella had never seen this in her vision, then there was only one possible explanation: the black magic had hidden it from her all along.

”Foolish...” Sybill spoke, her voice echoing with two different voices at once.

A twisted smile slowly spread across her face as she turned to look at Maristella. ”You were so busy watching over one child...” she said. ”...that you never realized one of your own carried the exact same soul as the being you sealed away centuries ago.”

Maristella’s face went completely pale. ”N-No...” She added, ”You’re the reincarnation of that witch!”

Sybill’s smile widened. ”So...” she whispered. ”You finally understand.”

The black mist around her swirled faster, wrapping around her body like a living cloak.

Maristella staggered back, her fish tail nearly giving out beneath her. ”No...” she repeated, shaking her head. ”That can’t be possible.”

”It is,” Sybill replied calmly. ”I never understood why I always heard another voice in my dreams.”

She placed a hand over her chest. ”It whispered to me and it showed me things no one else could see.”

”It promised to give me something I had never dreamed of.” A twisted smile spread across her face. ”It promised to give me the power to rule the ocean.”

Her eyes slowly turned crimson as they locked onto Azul once again. ”But I can never have that... as long as this child of prophecy is still alive.”

The dark shadow suddenly twisted together before shooting toward Azul like a giant claw, ready to rip him apart.

One of the demon sea beasts immediately threw itself into its path, trying to shield him. But the shadow instantly dissolved into black mist, slipping through the beast’s body as though it didn’t exist.

Soon, it continued rushing straight toward Azul and just before it could touch him, the water around him suddenly froze.

Within an instant, a massive sphere of solid ice surrounded him. Layer after layer formed around the icy barrier, growing thicker with every passing second.

The ice wouldn’t last long beneath the ocean, but it was more than enough to stop the black magic from reaching him.

Roxanna’s eyes widened. For a moment, she thought Azul had awakened another new ability, but when she looked at him more closely, she realized he seemed just as shocked as everyone else because this wasn’t his doing.

Without meaning to, Roxanna’s gaze shifted toward Zeir, but only then did she notice a thin stream of icy energy flowing from his outstretched hand into the frozen sphere surrounding Azul.

”Zeir?” she whispered.

She had been so focused on Azul that she hadn’t realized Zeir was the one freezing the water around him.

Cracks had already begun to spread across the sphere as the black mist slammed against it again and again. Zeir gritted his teeth, pouring even more energy into the barrier.

”If you’re truly a witch, then you should know that a prophecy isn’t something you can break so easily.”

His voice echoed directly inside Sybill’s mind. ”You’re not strong enough to do that.”

His words only made the anger inside Sybill burn even hotter. ”Nonsense!” she screamed. ”This kingdom sealed me away for centuries! If I were really that weak, they would never have gone to such lengths to imprison me!”

”I’m not saying you’re weak,” Zeir replied calmly. ”But even the strongest magic has its limits. You may have gained incredible power, but that doesn’t mean you can rewrite fate.”

Sybill let out a cold, mocking laugh.

”Fate?” she scoffed. ”Fate is nothing more than an excuse the weak use to comfort themselves!”

The black mist surrounding her exploded outward, slamming against the frozen barrier again and again. Even as cracks slowly spread across the ice, Zeir’s expression never changed.

”If that’s true,” he said, ”then why are you trying so hard to kill the child of prophecy?”

His calm voice echoed through her mind. ”If you truly believed fate could be changed so easily, you wouldn’t be this desperate to erase the one person the prophecy chose.”

Sybill’s smile slowly faded upon hearing his words.

Zeir narrowed his eyes and looked at her without fear. ”Who do you think you are?” he asked. ”You’re nothing more than a speck of dust in the eyes of the universe.”

For a brief moment, Sybill didn’t say a word, then her face filled with fury. ”Shut up!” she roared.

The black mist exploded once more, finally breaking through the thick layers of ice surrounding Azul.

Everyone thought the black magic would finally reach him. But instead, the swirling water around Azul spun even faster, creating what looked like an impenetrable barrier.

The black mist slammed into the raging currents, only to be swallowed by them. Within seconds, it completely dissolved into the whirlpool.

When the water finally settled enough for Roxanna to see him clearly, her eyes widened in shock because Azul had transformed into his beast form.

He wasn’t a betta fish. Instead, he had become a magnificent merman.

His upper body remained human, but from his waist down, his legs had become a long, bluish-purple fish tail. Every scale shimmered beneath the water like countless tiny stars, reflecting the ocean’s light with every movement.

Delicate fish fins had appeared on the sides of his head, gently swaying with the current, making him look as though he had become one with the sea itself.

Roxanna couldn’t help but gasp because he looked even more beautiful and handsome than ever before.

His sharp features seemed softer yet more regal, while the faint blue markings across his skin gave him an almost otherworldly charm. His long bluish-purple tail swayed gracefully with the current, each movement elegant enough to leave everyone speechless.

The spear in his hand slowly began to change. Its silver color gradually turned deep blue, while the tip of the spear became even sharper.

Ancient patterns slowly appeared along the shaft, glowing faintly as though they had been asleep for centuries.

A powerful wave of energy burst from the weapon and the surrounding currents immediately responded, swirling around the spear as if welcoming its true master.

Beneath him, Zeir looked up at Sybill with calm eyes. ”If he isn’t meant to fulfill the prophecy,” he said, ”then every hardship he has endured... every sacrifice he has made... will have been for nothing.”

He took a deep breath before continuing. ”But, Sybill, the prophecy came true the moment our wife entered this world. So even from the very beginning... you were already destined to die.”