The Pirate King's Daughter - Chapter 54

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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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Chapter 54
“Ah, now this is romance.”
Beer so cold it burned, drunk under a sky thick with stars, alone in the middle of the Black Sea with no knowing when death might come.
“You sound like an old man.”
Dilshard pushed toward me a plate of cheese scattered with dried fruit and crushed nuts.
“You wouldn’t understand. You’ve only ever lived under skies without dust and haze.”
“You’re barely two years older than me. Don’t get smug about it. Anyway, explain it now.”
Was he asking about Wings? Now that Berto was gone, it didn’t matter if everyone else knew, as long as Perian didn’t.
I set down my glass on the table and leaned back against the sofa. Dilshard pressed me with an impatient look.
“Hurry.”

“Well, if you think of it as similar to an Aura, it’ll be easier. That’s how I’ve managed to survive up until now. But I can only use it once more.”
“What are you saying? Are you talking about when you grew Wings back then?”
His reaction was strange. It seemed like he was asking about something else.
“Then what did you want me to explain?”
“I was going to ask about that too, but we made a deal — if we survived, Berto would tell me what wish he made.”
“Oh, that.”
I’d completely forgotten.
“He asked about the power. When I was captured by the navy before, I almost died in Erosion Cave. He made a wish because I saved him then.”
I answered straightforwardly, but Dilshard’s expression hardened.
“An angel… no, you’re saying Berto saw you grow Wings?”
“Back then it wasn’t Wings. It was a Mermaid form.”
“A Mermaid? What’s that?”
Even Dilshard, who’d traveled the whole world, didn’t know what a Mermaid was. I was now certain this world had no fairy tale about the Little Mermaid.
“The upper body is human, the lower half has fins.”
“…A siren?”
Berto had it worse. First compared to a fish, now lumped in with half-human monsters.
“There’s a kind of Mermaid that’s said to be very beautiful.”
“…I wouldn’t know about that. Since I don’t know what it looks like, I can’t really say.”
What kind of ability would manifest next, I wondered.
I regretted not having the chance to swim and fly properly in that tight, urgent situation.
“In any case, that power can only be used once more, and Berto’s wish was to have you explain it?”
“That’s right.”
I nodded and drank my beer. Dilshard cut cheese himself and handed me a fork.
“I have a request.”
He opened his mouth, his voice dropping slightly.
The mood didn’t feel right to say ‘you’re out of wishes now.’
“The scar on your inner thigh — would you let Perian see it?”
So that had been bothering him.
Since it was Dilshard and not someone else, mentioning the scar wasn’t entirely uncomfortable.
“I already showed him. He said reducing the scar would need surgery, but he’ll apply a salve to ease the pain first.”
Having finally brought it up, Dilshard exhaled a long breath of relief.
He wasn’t asking why that scar existed — that must have been his way of being considerate toward me.
I raised my glass when he did. We clinked — a clear, bright ring.
“Tatiana, you’re getting drunk.”
“It’s the first time I’ve ever drunk it.”
I put on a brave face, but a chilly sensation crept up my skin — the alcohol was definitely hitting.
As I wrapped my arms around myself, Dilshard brought the Blanket from the hammock and draped it over me. “Your face is red.”
“Your face is red.”
Should I stop drinking?
‘I want to stay a bit longer.’
A secret I’d never thought I’d tell slipped out so easily, and warmth bloomed strangely in my chest.
Different from when I’d told Berto.
“Good.”
I laughed foolishly, and Dilshard chuckled along before downing his Beer in one go.
“I want to ask you something else.”
“You’re full of questions tonight.”
From Primaryu until now, on the journey to Od Island, we hadn’t spoken about our pasts or our hearts.
But once we started, it felt quite good.
‘The garden thing was unexpected.’
I’d never have guessed that a conman magician who’d even lied about her gender would have gardening as a hobby.
“You don’t have to answer if it’s difficult.”
“What is it?”
Countless stars falling, the gentle sound of the sea, a soft breeze, the pleasant buzz of alcohol, and the intimacy I felt toward him.
Dilshard hesitated with a serious face, but I kept wanting to laugh.
“Tatiana, what is your status?”
After such a solemn buildup, he was only asking about status?
“I’m a Duke’s Daughter. My biological father is a Duke of the Empire.”
“…You?”
“React properly. You’ve slightly hurt my feelings.”
“Then why did those three keep suspecting you? Is it a political conflict?”
“Ah, so you were curious about the Wanton Lady.”
Dilshard furrowed his brows and tilted his head.
“The Wanton Lady?”
I finished the last of my Beer and opened my mouth.
“Yeah, the Wanton Lady. Poisoned Kies, struck not just servants but noble Young Ladies, looked down on Perian for being Lowborn, and so on…”
“Wait, wait a moment.”
As I counted off on my fingers what I could remember, Dilshard cut me off.
Following his pointed gaze at my side profile, I turned — and Dilshard appeared as two people.
“You did all of that?”
“I’m dizzy.”
I hooked the back of my head against the sofa’s armrest and my neck stretched pleasantly. It felt nice.
“Why would you do such things? There must have been a reason.”
Bad as it was, the fact that he was taking my side made my chest swell like a balloon full of air.
“I didn’t do it.”
“What do you mean? The three of them dislike you because of the Wanton Lady — because of those past actions you just described, right?”
“That’s right, but I didn’t do it. I was locked underground. A fake me was playing the Wanton Lady the whole time. She was the real piece of shit.”
“That’s…what?”
Dilshard’s face filled with confusion.
“I don’t want to part with you.”
Besides, now that I’m no longer the heroine, can’t they just not send me back to the Empire?
I was thinking such foolish thoughts in my drunken stupor.
“Explain yourself…”
Someone climbed the stairs.
“Explain yourself right now, Tatiana Frey.”
Kies approached with a terrifying expression.
My heart jumped into my throat.
‘Why is Kies here…?’
I was sure he’d seen me go to my room and gone to sleep. I hadn’t heard any sound until now. But first I need to make an excuse, what should I say, what words could I use?
“Wait.”
Dilshard stood up urgently and blocked Kies’s path against his menacing momentum.
“Move.”
“I can’t let you. You can’t even control your Aura — what makes you think I’ll let you do anything to Tatiana?”
It was like cold water dumped over my head. My mind cleared instantly.
Drunk on the atmosphere, drunk on the joy of finding someone to open my heart to, I’d let slip words I should never have said.
“You want to fight?”
A crimson Aura blazed around Kies, ready to swallow everything.
Berto and Perian rushed in and pulled the two apart.
But vines erupted from the ground, their edges sharpened into blades, poised to strike Kies at any moment.
“To the room…!”
I stood up abruptly and spoke. All four men’s eyes snapped toward me at once.
“Let’s talk in the room.”
Leaving the worried men behind, I entered my room with Kies alone.
“Tell me.”
That grim face delivered an imperious command.
I’d thought we’d built some understanding, but a single truth had shaken it so easily.
He’d probably demand to know what I was scheming with that lie.
“I’m sorry.”
“Sorry?”
“Sorry for lying. Dilshard didn’t know about my past, so I didn’t want to be a bad person in front of him.”
I admitted it honestly and apologized, but Kies’s expression refused to soften.
“You know I have no friends. I didn’t want to lose the one friend I’d just made.”
“Explain properly…!”
Kies stepped closer with long strides. His bloodshot eyes gleamed with threat.
“Explain properly. I won’t tolerate any more lies.”
“You’ve never trusted me in the first place. Why do you keep asking?”
I met his gaze unflinching, and he grabbed both my arms forcefully.
“Answer. You were locked underground, and a double of you committed the misdeeds — is that true?”
His eyes looked ready to devour me whole at any instant.
Why does he keep asking when he already knows the answer in his heart? What does he want from me?
Does he think I want to lie to him?
“Yes. Does that answer satisfy you?”
I pushed his arms away, and they gave easily. But for a moment, the fire in his eyes lost focus.
“Why… how much… you, why did you…?”
Reeling from shock, he breathed roughly, his words tumbling incoherently.
‘Is he actually believing me?’
This time Kies grabbed my arm desperately — his face begging me to lie, yet speaking the truth directly to him.
“When you were in pain… you were in pain then. From that time?”
“…Yes.”
Watching his shocked face, I spoke flatly.
“The night you left for the battlefield, I was locked away. I’d found out about the plan — that your father, the Duke, meant to kill you.”
He believed me far more easily than I expected. Or rather, it seemed like he’d just been waiting for me to tell him honestly. After that, my lips opened without resistance.
“Then how long…?”
His red eyes trembled violently, though he already knew the answer.
“Until I was thrown into the Black Sea.”
From those naive, foolish days until now, when calluses had grown thick enough to hide tender flesh.
“Eight years.”
I stated the span clinically, and he crumbled.

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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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