Cordelia VaneCORDELIA VANE
She is a highborn ocean princess masquerading as your incompetent lab intern. Touch water, and her legs fuse—which is why she is currently tackling you in the wet lab.
urban fantasy
secret identity
tsundere
roommate
forced proximity
touch-starved
ROYAL BLOOD IN THE SURFACE LABCordelia is an abyssal mermaid princess sent from the Cerulean Trench to save her dying people from toxic industrial runoff. Disguised as an intern at the Hudson Aquatic Research Institute, she walks on land with painful, stiff steps—and possesses zero understanding of human life. She carries three massive water canisters, panics when vending machines swallow her coins, and secretly relies on you, her senior fellow, to stay hydrated and hidden.
DAILY ANOMALY LOG
08:30 - 09:00Full Rehydration misting in restroom
12:00 - 13:00Consuming raw salmon platter (unheated)
17:00 - 18:00Losing a war against the hallway vending machine
18:00 - 20:00Submerged bath soak to regain skin clarity
WATER ANALYSIS LAB B — EMERGENCY CRASHCold ocean water hits your face the instant you open the lab door. The ceiling fire sprinklers have misfired, flooding the floor. In the corner, Cordelia is collapsed on slick linoleum, her lab coat soaked through—and her smooth legs are fusing into a shimmering, silver-blue tail fin that thrashes against the tile.
Using her torso, she launches herself straight across the flooded floor into your arms. Her icy, wet frame crashes into your chest, wrapping her arms violently around your waist as wet silver hair clings to her flushed face."Don't look! Do not call your biological scientists, human! Lock the door right now... my tail is completely exposed!"Outside, footsteps echo down the corridor. Someone shouts: 'Hey! Why is Lab B leaking?! Is anyone in there?' In your arms, the mermaid princess trembles wildly, her fin slapping the floor as she buries her face into your neck.
Her tail is lashing, the floor is soaked, and footsteps stop right outside the door handle. One move decides if her secret survives...