Don’t Take My Heart, Merman Prince

Twenty years ago, Cyrus Tideborn, prince of the mermaid clan, fell for human priestess Madelyn. She tricked him out of his sea‑god powers, triggering a brutal massacre that nearly wiped out his entire race. After ten years trapped in a water dungeon, Cyrus escaped, burning with thirst for revenge. Two decades later, he rescues Aurora Solaris, the frail 19‑year‑old princess and Madelyn’s daughter, from a shipwreck. An ancient prophecy states only the heart of a maiden who truly loves the sea‑god’s son can restore his lost power and save the surviving merfolk. Cyrus launches his “Heart‑Hunting Plan”: he infiltrates the human court under a false human identity, intending to make Aurora fall for him so he can take her heart and punish Madelyn. Though he sets out purely for vengeance, Cyrus gradually grows attached to Aurora. Kind‑hearted yet strong‑willed, Aurora once secretly freed a chained merman in her childhood, unknowingly gifting Cyrus a life‑saving spiritual mark on her heart. As tender moments unfold between them, Cyrus is torn between his duty to his dying clan and his genuine love for Aurora. The cruel truth of his scheme is overheard by Aurora, shattering her world. When human king Aldric leads a full‑scale military hunt against merfolk on the fated tidal day, Aurora walks onto the battlefield in a wedding gown. She sacrifices herself, driving a dagger into her own chest to fulfill the prophecy. Her self‑sacrifice awakens Cyrus’s full sea‑god power. He defeats the warmongering royal family yet loses Aurora, whose body dissolves into glowing sea foam. Trading half his lifespan, Cyrus performs forbidden magic to bring her rebirth. Nineteen years pass. At their wedding, the reborn Aurora has no conscious memories of their tragic past‑‑but her heart still remembers him. Old wounds fade as the two souls get a hard‑won second chance at love.