Me too, I wish they were more stories like this
me to me to. I'm a fan of the beauty and the beast concept.
Mehh,,, the water god just a egoistic man who see her as a toy or possesion. He take her voice, let her starving to death and play trick with her and human boy. I M ROOTING for the human boy who is kind and brave to save her n never let her hand go. That boy is something special, she deserve him better.
Actually, I would say a more compelling story would be if she didn't end up with the water god, honestly. Simply because upbeat happy girl/kind of a cold guy with a secret heart of gold is something seen fairly often in shoujo manga? Also, I'm a bit tired of the narrative of 'this girl has to be the cheerleader and help this guy get good and then they fall in love once he's reached some acceptable measure of not being kind of awful' story. A more compelling story would be, she is a cheerleader and helps the water god regain faith and love for humanity, they become friends. No jealousy. They help each other grow. That's it. And the romance part can come from the human boy. A fake out love interest character that... just winds up being like your best platonic mate, I'm weirdly still hoping for that.
Buuuuut, knowing that this is a shoujo and looking at the title... I'm not holding my breath for my own personal hopes. I know the end game is probably going to be her in some amazing goddess outfit and wearing more jewels than a mega costume jewelry shop has in stock. But I guess that's the 'romance' of some shoujo things. Not a 'modest but just as good and happy' attainable happiness but a 'and you better have a yacht and be drowning in your tulle dress with the Hottest most Powerful Man in Town' happiness. Which is fine, but I heard that story before.
Just so you know, I ship her with the water god. I think it would make for a compelling story to have the cold and distrustful God, who has seen the ugly side of humanity, to learn to love and care for humans by falling in love with the gentle hearted human girl.