After 3 years of being treated like sh*t by her husband she can't take it anymore and when she finds out the mermaid scale (that the mermaid asked be given to her) is poison, she swallows it, but instead of death, she ends up 3 years in the past. She doesn't want to deal with all this sh*t again so she takes a walk off the balcony of the palace where she's at a banquet. The wizard (Alei) catches her and when she acts like she knows him he's super shocked so she makes a deal with him. Of course the male lead watched her pitch herself off the balcony so he goes to find her - which she does not want since they hadn't met yet as of this time.

He spent 3 years regretting after she swallowed the scale and then jumped into the sea when he couldn't take it anymore. He has also gone back in time and wants to fix his past mistakes, though he's just coming across like a stalker.

Ian, the ex husband, somehow retained his memories after being rescued from the shipwreck.

Ex-ML being in love with the FL somehow, after both of them time travel.

Ophelia, FL, is intelligent, calm, and calculating. She has a deep understanding of people and psychology, and uses it to her advantage. Growing up as someone who has no power of her own and no resources because of her status as an illegitimate princess, Ophelia is very aware that she has no one to depend on and trust but herself. She can trust others to act according to their nature but not in her best interests without her giving them a reason to move the way she wants, and she ruthlessly uses that POV to calculate what ways she needs to coax others to act. I want to emphasize that Ophelia is never cruel, but she genuinely puts enormous thought into every move she makes. I'm not sure I've ever seen a heroine quite like her - the closest would probably be Artezia in The Villainess Lives Twice in that both are incredibly calculating but while both are strongly motivated bu guilt, Ophelia is determined to win her freedom from the oppressive life she is trapped in and Artezia is atoning for her sins and believes she deserves to never have any happiness or contentment. I love Ophelia's character so much - she's so different from the norm and SO well written.

Alejandro, ML, is effectively walking a tightrope where he realizes that both Ophelia and Ian know information about what's really going on and won't or can't tell him and he has to decide who to believe and trust. He's working from the same script but he only has a few pages, which is exacerbated by his memory loss. Alei is constantly playing catch up while the other two can manipulate him into their plans by playing on his insecurities and offering clues to retrieve his memories, despite Alei actually being the most powerful piece on the board. Ian's unbridled hatred and jealousy and Ophelia's I Trust You But I Can't Trust You whirl Alei back and forth as he has to decide what perspective to trust, and it's fascinating watching him struggle against what he feels innately versus the information he can access.

Ian, 2nd ML; a great analogy for the selfish side of toxic masculinity and yandere behavior. He feels entitled to Ophelia's time and person as her former husband, and does everything he can to trap Ophelia with him as her only chance for freedom from the oppression she is living under, and to make Alei doubt and mistrust Ophelia at every turn. Ian refuses to admit his behavior is to blame for Ophelia's misery in the previous timeline and is convinced that he is Ophelia's best choice despite all evidence to the contrary. He refuses to hear her opinions and will not take Ophelia's "NO" as an answer to his suit no matter how many times she tells him. To Ian Ophelia is a doll he can move as he wishes, disregarding her own will and emotions. He is both motivated by his guilt from the past where Ophelia is so miserable with his neglect and loss of love that she chooses death rather than to stay with him, and yet still refuses to change his behavior or admit his part in actually making her miserable - Ian is absolutely convinced that if he can just get Ophelia to come with him everything will magically change, despite the fact his actions and behavior manifestly haven't changed at all. There's an impressive emotional disconnect here that's beautifully written, to the point I'm really wondering if the author is a therapist or psychologist. This is behavior people exhibit in real life, and the writing for how Ian acts is a thing of beauty in its subtlety.

Sante is the leader of the Sirens, and watching the contrast between the sirens and the mermaids is fascinating. Both are magical creatures and their thinking is alien from human thought processes but in completely different ways, and both can be seen as symbols of freedom. The sirens are the freedom of teenagers though - capricious, thoughtless of all consequences to their actions and not taking responsibility for whatever comes next - and when mixed with their complete command of anything in the air or sky, that capriciousness can be lethal. The sirens' power is parallel to the mermaids' but for the air - they can hear anything, create tornadoes, destroy cliffs, or even use the wind to cut down trees. They live for the moment and whatever takes their fancy for the next few minutes - then drop whatever it is without a second thought, abandoning those who might be depending on them or even physically dropping them from a height as their attention is distracted by the next interesting thing. Ophelia's handling of them is impressive - part preschool teacher and part whimsical Cheshire Cat as she tempts and frustrates them into playing into her plans. Sante is both fascinated and wary of Ophelia - he knows his old friend Alei cares deeply for her but he's also an amoral character and truly chaotic. He's so well written and I really enjoy all his scenes, although the young sirens never fail to crack me up. They're like teenage toddlers with magic powers - you've got to be VERY careful where you point those idiots!

Ariel, 2nd FL, is in the novel SO much more than I expected - as Ophelia is the main character in this retelling, I thought Ariel's presence would be reduced to the same level as Ophelia's in the OG story - she doesn't even have a name and is only "the princess of a neighboring country" status. I loved how the author uses Ophelia and Ariel to draw parallels between two completely different women who have the same end goal - absolute freedom, and what it means to them individually. The mermaids' freedom is that of mature leaders - they have great magical and physical power and therefore great responsibility to use it wisely and for the greater good. In the sea the mermaids are almost as strong as gods - anything that touches the sea can be observed by them, including up to the farthest reaches of the beach and can be influenced with anything from typhoons to preternatural calming of the waters. Ariel wants to be on land partially because of loving Ian but mostly because for her it symbolizes complete and utter freedom - her mother went onto land and never came back, and as a consequence her family has denied her any opportunity to see anything above the waves. Ariel is still obsessed with the surface world as in the Disney movie, again because her family is overprotective of the poor little princess who grew up without her mother, but with the added layer that Ariel herself does not have the strong magic mermaids normally have. The Merqueen was ancient and incredibly powerful but was caught rescuing other mermaids from hunters, and if such a powerful person could be imprisoned and killed it would be too easy for the same to happen to Ariel. Ariel's family binds her to them because they love her so much and are terrified of losing her the same way they lost her mother, but these strictures only make Ariel more determined to flee to the surface. The taboo is the most attractive because it's banned.

There are some other minor characters like Yennit and Cornelli the mages, the Second Imperial Princess Cadellia, and the odious Lillith and Lord Hydar, and all are really well written with their own motivations and end goals. I do love the character interactions, especially between Yennit and Cornelli - they're SUCH great friends and complete opposites.