"What is this?" I ask as I brush my finger along the curved surface of the purple pearl. The gold chain is thin and elegant, consisting of small loops tied together by the slightly bigger pearl.

"It is a special pearl. As long as you carry this with you, I will be able to find you anywhere," he explains as he fastens the golden string around my wrist. "I apologize for not informing you I would be away for so long. My mission turned out to be more time-consuming than I previously thought. The situation is getting more dire with the new demon appearances. With Aethon missing, I need to take on more duties than before."

"You're forgiven," I say absentmindedly as I stare at the bracelet. "This is so beautiful, Ze. Thank you," I murmur. "Where did you get it from?"

"I forged it myself, of course," he declares proudly.

My brows shoot up in surprise. I was not expecting that.

"You did? That's impressive."

"Of course." He nods. "The pearl is an exceedingly rare one. I acquired it from the nereid queen herself. There are only two in existence," he proclaims proudly.

"I don't know what to say," I mumble in awe, unable to take my eyes off the bracelet. "Who has the other pearl?"

Silence greets me at that question.

I slowly look up to find him staring at the ceiling, his cheeks flushed.

"I do," he admits awkwardly, pulling his sleeve up to reveal a similar bracelet with a white pearl.

"Oh, we match." I smile, placing my wrist against his. The two pearls emit a sharp gleam when they're placed side by side, indicating they're a pair. As I stare at the two of them together, the purple and white swirl together, almost as if the essences of the pearls are getting combined. Moving my hand away, I note that my pearl becomes a deep purple again, while Ze's returns to its white state. "But how did you convince her to give you both of them if they're so rare?"

"I did not need to convince her. The pearls are the solidified tears of a mermaid, and they become the property of whoever makes one cry. Mermaids almost never cry, which is why they are so rare."

I stare at him in shock.

"You made a mermaid cry to get the pearls?" I ask numbly. Speechless, I do not know whether to be incensed or touched—both emotions are at war inside of me. This is Ze we're talking about, though. Am I really that surprised he'd do this?

The answer is rather obvious...no.

"Not...directly," he answers sheepishly. "I merely relayed to her that her mate was dead." He shrugs. "But she only shed one tear, and I needed two so we could match, so I told her how he died." He nods to himself, no doubt proud of his strategy.

I shake my head at him.