The Little Mermaid endured the excruciating pain of having her tail split open like a dance on a knife's edge for the human prince, only to suffer utter betrayal during their seven-year marriage. To break free of her shackles, she signed a "Return to the Sea Pact," enduring a hundred times the pain of having her tail reshaped to return to the ocean and completely erasing all traces of her existence on land. The once arrogant prince, after losing her, repented deeply. To protect his beloved's home, he sacrificed his lifespan and the loss of his legs to lift the ocean's deadly curse. In the end, the Little Mermaid, having severed all ties with love, was crowned Queen of the Sea, while the prince relinquished everything, becoming a crippled reef guardian, atoning for his arrogance with a lifetime of solitary vigil.
