The Pirate King's Daughter - Chapter 5

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 5
The Pirate Captain gripped my head and face, forcing me to look at Kies and Berto.
“Keep going!”
At his thunderous command, the dull thud of blows echoed through the air.
“Ugh!”
“Kies!”
He—the protagonist—had collapsed.
I’d dragged them into this mess. If only my Shooting had been better, none of this would have happened.
I thrashed against him, but it was useless. The pirate laughed with cruel amusement, looking down at me.
I bit the soft inside of my mouth and spat out words through clenched teeth.
“I’ll do whatever you want. Please, just stop.”
“Khaha! How pitiful—spouting the words of the helpless.”
The Pirate Captain simply turned me around, forcing our faces to meet.
“Whatever I want, you say…”
The Pirate Captain’s eyes glinted with filthy intent as he licked his lips.
But here’s the thing—no matter how defenseless I looked, wasn’t he being reckless?
With both hands free, I pulled the Dagger that Kies had given me from the holster and, without hesitation, drove it deep into the pirate’s chest with all my strength.
“Gahhh—!”
“Hah!”
The moment I hit the ground, I rolled to my feet. Then I grabbed the Revolver I’d dropped earlier and loaded it.
“Listen up, you pirates. The hostage has changed. How about you call it even?”
I stood about a meter from the Pirate Captain, weapon trained on him, speaking to the pirates who had been trampling over Kies and Berto.
“You little—!”
The Pirate Captain crouched, trembling in pain, and spat out curses.
A pirate lunged toward me, but Kies cut him off instantly with his blade, stopping him with ease.
“Fine, fine—we’re pulling back.”
“Don’t you remember what you said? Why would I trust that?”
Speaking with evident humiliation, the Pirate Captain watched as I pressed my finger firmly against the trigger.
Bang—!
He didn’t even have time to scream. He simply went limp, his rage-widened eyes still fixed on me, never closing.
I let my hand drop.
“Captain—ugh!”
Kies and Berto mopped up the remaining pirates.
I gripped the Revolver’s handle tightly with trembling hands and extended my arm forward once more.
‘Where is Perian?’
The last male lead, Perian, was a physician—he had no combat ability.
The Pirate Captain was gone, but if Perian was taken hostage by someone else, that would be a problem.
As I backed away, keeping watch on my surroundings, something touched my back.
Thump—my heart nearly stopped.
‘A pirate—!’
I couldn’t let myself be captured again.
I spun around quickly and aimed the gun. But when I saw the man’s face with both hands raised, I lowered my weapon.
“I’m not a pirate.”
A gentle voice, the eldest son of the Orde Marquis House.
“Perian?”
“You know my name.”
He smiled softly.
Why was he speaking like that? Perian and the Reckless Noblewoman had already met before.
‘No, this isn’t the time to be thinking like that.’
I tried to raise the Revolver again, but someone grabbed my arm.
“Tatiana!”
“Kies? The pirates—”
Looking behind him, I saw all the pirates sprawled across the ground.
“Damn it.”
Kies examined my neck. Without even touching where red marks had formed, he only cursed under his breath.
“They’re all dealt with. We need to get to a physician now.”
Like it was a lifeline, I released the Revolver that I’d been gripping so hard my hands ached, letting it fall to the ground.
‘Thank goodness.’
But then, a sudden thought stopped me in my tracks.
I’d killed a man. Why didn’t I feel any guilt?
‘He was a bastard who deserved to die anyway. If I hadn’t fired that shot, what would have happened?’
Feeling nothing was the normal thing to do.
But I couldn’t shake the image of the Pirate Captain’s eyes, still fixed on me even as he stopped breathing.
“Tatiana? What’s—”
Seeking comfort in the fact that I’d saved Kies, I closed my eyes.
* * *
Thanks to Tatiana, the Pirate Crew had been dealt with safely.
Among the villagers, only one small child who’d been taken hostage was injured—just scratches from when the pirate had thrown him.
“I never expected the noblewoman to step in like that. We nearly lost everything.”
Perian, the physician, treated Kies and Berto’s wounds in the small clinic in Hibery Village.
Tatiana, who had fainted, was receiving IV Fluid in another room.
“…I’m still in shock myself. Anyway, it’s a relief that both of them crossed the Black Sea safely.”
“The Black Sea?”
At Kies’s words, Perian and Berto stared at him as if hearing something impossible.
“You didn’t know? This place is beyond the Black Sea.”
Kies explained to the bewildered pair what Tatiana had told him and what had happened since.
The moment he finished, Perian suppressed his anger and spoke.
“You’re not planning to take the noblewoman with you, are you?”
It was an uncharacteristic reaction.
Perian always maintained a gentle demeanor out of concern for his reputation, and even in front of Kies and Berto, who knew his true nature, he rarely showed anger.
“Until we know whether the noblewoman is in league with the Empress or is herself a victim, it makes sense to keep her with us.”
At Kies’s assertion, Perian furrowed his brow as if unable to comprehend.
“Didn’t Your Highness say so himself? That the noblewoman had become a completely different person? That she even lies about Memory Loss and changes her behavior? Doesn’t that mean she has ulterior motives?”
Perian was right.
Tatiana was not the kind of person who would sacrifice herself for a child she found absolutely repulsive.
But Kies had only said she’d changed in a way difficult to express; in truth, he felt she had returned to who she once was.
“Haven’t you suffered enough at the hands of that reckless woman?”
“Best not to overstep.”
Berto, who had been listening silently to Perian’s barbs, stepped forward.
“Surely you don’t believe that reckless noblewoman has truly changed, do you?”
“I follow my lord’s command.”
“Sometimes candid advice is necessary.”
“Enough.”
Kies cut both of them off with a heavy sigh.
Perian realized he’d become too agitated and spoke more calmly.
“I worry about it. You know better than anyone what kind of person that woman is.”
Kies’s eyes, lost in memory, lost their focus.
When Kies had left for war, Tatiana had fallen gravely ill and remained hidden from public view.
A year later, when she finally rose from her sickbed, the first thing she did was send him Poison.
And the atrocities that followed.
Tormenting noble maidens was mild compared to her endless indulgence in luxury and depravity.
Kies had fallen apart because of her.
Even when he committed his first murder, even when betrayed by a trusted ally and nearly died, he had remained steadfast. But she had utterly destroyed him.
And just when he thought he’d finally buried that love in his chest, he found himself abandoned in this place alongside her.
“Perian, I understand what you’re saying. You’ve suffered at the noblewoman’s hands yourself. But right now, as Crown Prince, I must think of my people.”
It was not sentimental weakness.
Because he had killed his heart, he could afford to give her a chance.
“If she crosses that line, I will punish her accordingly. Whatever form that takes, I will do it with my own hands.”
Perian could say nothing more. Because it was a vow to end even the noblewoman’s life if necessary.
“That said, given the history, surveillance is warranted. Keep both of them under close watch. Report any suspicious activity to me immediately.”
Kies’s eyes, now devoid of emotion, gleamed crimson.
* * *
“This place is…”
“You’re awake?”
Groggy and blinking, unable to fully wake, I turned my head toward the gentle voice.
Perian Orde.
A man with soft brown hair and warm green eyes—deceptive and sinister.
“How long was I asleep?”
At the appearance of my number-one person of suspicion, I asked with deliberate composure.
“About twenty hours?”
He glanced at the clock and answered cheerfully.
“…What?”
“Twenty hours. The Pirate Crew was dealt with thanks to you, and it’s the next day now.”
At Perian’s explanation, I pressed further.
“Why?”
I didn’t understand. It wasn’t as if my head had been struck—just my hair pulled—so why would I be unconscious for twenty hours?
“Why, you ask? I’d like to ask you that. Malnutrition, anemia, muscle deficiency. Or rather, is there anything that constitutes the human body that you’re not lacking? I’m wasting my breath even mentioning it.”
That’s not my fault. It’s all because of that angel-impersonating fraud.
If you’re going to hand me a mission to save the world, you should at least maintain my health, shouldn’t you?
Perian furrowed his brow and examined the chart.
He hasn’t dropped the mask yet, apparently. Going through all the motions of being concerned as a physician.
“Thank you.”
“For what?”
“For examining and treating me.”
Perian studied me quietly. Then came the unmistakable mockery.
“You really are quite frightened, aren’t you?”
I was mistaken.
He’d dropped the mask long ago and wore his contempt openly on his face.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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