It was where she had met Elliot.

Where they had fallen in love.

And where they planned to marry beneath a beautiful flower-covered arch.

But on the morning of their wedding, four mysterious riders came for her.

Seraphina stood waist-deep in the crystal-clear lake wearing her pearl-white wedding dress when a glowing enchanted rope suddenly wrapped around her waist.

The riders pulled her from the water.

She screamed for Elliot.

He came running.

Still dressed for their wedding, he raced into the lake and grabbed her hand.

For one precious second, they held onto each other.

Then the enchanted rope tore them apart.

Seraphina was dragged across the prairie.

Elliot fell into the lake.

The riders disappeared.

Then he saw the symbol.

A strange blue mark burned across the surface of the water.

One wounded rider looked back and shouted the truth.

“She isn’t just a mermaid!”

Elliot froze.

“She is the lost heir of the underwater kingdom.”

Before Elliot could understand what that meant, the lake erupted with light.

He dove beneath the surface.

And discovered an entire kingdom hidden beneath the place where he and Seraphina had first fallen in love.

Glowing towers stretched into the darkness.

Ancient palaces shimmered beneath the water.

Thousands of merfolk lived among magnificent sea creatures and crystal gardens.

And at the center of it all stood Seraphina.

She wore a royal crown.

An elderly mermaid queen approached her with tears in her eyes.

“You were taken from us twenty years ago.”

Seraphina stared at the queen.

She had spent her entire life believing she was simply a mysterious mermaid.

Now she discovered that she was the rightful heir to an ancient underwater kingdom.

Then the queen showed her a magical mirror.

Inside it, Seraphina saw Elliot.

He was standing beneath their empty wedding arch.

Alone.

Still waiting.

Her heart shattered.

“Elliot…”

The queen placed the ancient crown into her hands.

“You are the rightful heir.”

Seraphina looked at the crown.

It represented an entire kingdom.

A responsibility she could never simply abandon.

But when she looked into the mirror again, she saw Elliot.

The man who had loved her without ever knowing she was royalty.

The man who had built his life around the lake because it was where he had found her.

The man who was still waiting for her.

Meanwhile, Elliot refused to leave the wedding meadow.

The sunset turned the prairie golden.

The flowers around the empty arch swayed in the wind.

Then the lake began to glow.

Seraphina slowly emerged from the water.

She was still wearing her wedding dress.

But now she wore the ancient royal crown.

Elliot stared at her.

He didn’t care about the crown.

He didn’t care about the kingdom.

He only cared that she had returned.

“Are you coming home?” he whispered.

Seraphina smiled through her tears.

She began walking toward him.

But before she could reach the flower-covered arch, the lake behind her suddenly rose.

A massive wall of magical water towered over the prairie.

The sky turned blue.

The flowers bent beneath the ancient power.

A mysterious voice echoed across the land.

“Choose your throne…”

Seraphina stopped.

The underwater kingdom waited behind her.

Elliot waited in front of her.

“…or choose your heart.”

She looked at the crown.

Then at the man she loved.

Two worlds were waiting for her answer.

And neither world knew what she would choose.

The woman Elliot thought he was marrying had disappeared.

In her place stood a lost princess with an entire kingdom behind her.

But beneath the crown, the royal blood, and the ancient magic…

she was still the same woman who had fallen in love with him beside a quiet prairie lake.

Now, she had only one question left to answer.

Would she become the queen her kingdom needed—

or the bride Elliot had been waiting for?