The Pirate King's Daughter - Chapter 6

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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 6
“What do you mean by that?”
I asked Perian.
“Simply act as you normally would. After all, His Highness intends to travel with the lady anyway.”
His unmistakable hostility drew a hollow laugh from me.
Kiis was the one who despised me most, but Perian was no softer in that regard.
He had an absolute aversion to people who lacked ability yet strutted about on their family name alone.
The prime example: Lady Frey.
And in the original work, she proved nothing but a nuisance on the return journey—no help whatsoever. How grating she must have been.
‘But I haven’t done anything yet, have I?’
If anything, I’ve been helpful. I got him to meet Kiis sooner, and I dealt with the pirate captain.
I wasn’t docile enough to yield to someone picking a quarrel with me for no reason.
“Wouldn’t it be to your disadvantage if I act normally?”
“Pardon?”
Perian’s face twisted in an instant.
“Did you want me to make a fuss about a lowborn daring to lay hands on me? Or—did you want me to commit some outrageous act so the Crown Prince would cast me aside?”
“My lady, we are not in the Empire.”
In other words, rank meant nothing here.
“You said to act normally just now. Which tune do you want me to dance to?”
…….
Perian seemed to realize the contradiction himself, falling silent and fixing me with a sharp, piercing gaze.
Meanwhile, I relaxed my expression and smiled gently, almost sweetly.
“We have a long road ahead. I know you don’t care much for me, but wouldn’t it be better if we both wore masks and got along tolerably?”
Perian’s eyebrows twitched.
Those who knew his nature used to joke that he should “change his mask,” and it seemed he recognized that I’d borrowed that very phrase.
“You have changed considerably.”
Soon he opened his mouth again, slipping back into his habitual gentle expression.
“Surviving the Black Sea seems to have had a positive effect. Now you can control your temper and even jab with some wit. Impressive.”
What good is a mask when what comes out of your mouth is worse?
“Did Kiis mention something about how to address you?”
“I’m not sure it matters if someone of note is called by their name.”
“I only need to endure it until we return. I’ll call you by your name too—Perian.”
Perian offered nothing but an unsettling smile in response.
“Then I’ll bring the meal now.”
“Thank you.”
After Perian left, I collapsed onto the bed. I would have preferred Kiis’s suspicious pestering.
“Ugh, I’m exhausted.”
Through the window crack, a breeze drifted in.
‘I slept so much, yet I’m still drowsy.’
Clear sunlight became a warm quilt, and birds chirped, providing white noise.
And then—bang!
Someone shattered this peaceful moment into pieces.
“Why are you waking up so late!”
“It’s you…….”
The child who came running was breathing heavily, tears glistening in their eyes.
“Ah, the little one from yesterday?”
The child who’d been seized by the pirates.
The one who’d told me not to worry about them and just take down the pirates.
“Who are you calling ‘little’!”
“You, obviously. Come here, you rascal.”
I flicked a chop to the child’s head with my finger.
“Ow!”
“Why didn’t you run away instead of staying around where danger was? You almost got yourself killed.”
“I can’t leave the village to outsiders! I’m the one who’ll protect it!”
The child cried out, rubbing their forehead.
This one will grow to be something.
“You’re still too young for that. The adults protect the village.”
“Hmph, the adults are too busy to actually protect anything.”
Oh? Does the little one spout such profound wisdom?
Their sullen face was charming. The words “troublemaker” seemed written across their forehead, which their yesterday’s actions certainly proved.
“What’s your name? I’m Tatiana.”
“Luke.”
“Nice to meet you, Luke. Did you come all the way here because you were worried about me?”
“Hmph, I just felt a sense of responsibility. Since you got hurt because of the pirates on my account.”
Luke spoke curtly, but Perian, who’d returned with a tray, interjected abruptly.
“He cried the whole day yesterday and wouldn’t leave your side. The Village Chief had to come and drag him away because he insisted on not going home.”
Perian set the tray on a small table as he spoke.
“What? He cried?”
I asked in an exaggerated, theatrical tone, and Luke’s face flushed crimson.
“I did not!”
The child bolted from the room.
I giggled at his adorableness, and Perian looked at me with an odd expression.
“What is it?”
“……Eat your meal.”
He stiffened his face and left those words behind before departing.
“What’s gotten into him?”
Maybe I should mimic Luke.
* * *
“Thank you.”
Perian emerged from the shop with herbal medicine purchased to stock the ship.
The clerk, flushed at his gentle smile, seemed anxious he hadn’t gathered more for her.
This was what normal looked like.
The spoiled lady’s attitude—cursing me out, regarding me as a pest—was the abnormal response.
And her changed demeanor was equally strange.
Tatiana was someone who didn’t mock when displeased; she raged.
And the refrain was always the same.
—Base creatures resort to schemes.
Unlike those who had to employ every trick to topple their enemies, the lady merely needed her rank to crush them.
‘Now that she can’t flaunt her status, she’s using her mind instead.’
Wearing a mask, as she’d said.
Just because that spoiled girl had changed didn’t mean he should let his guard down. After all, scheming was what Perian did best.
‘I’ll expose every last one of her schemes.’
Berto was loyal, but somewhat clumsy in these matters.
“So really, I’m the only one suited for this task…… Hmm? What is…….”
Perian, heading to the wharf with the herbal medicine, stopped suddenly at the sight of something and rubbed his eyes.
“No, Berto. Don’t speak to him the way you’d address a servant. Talk to him like you would a friend.”
Wasn’t Tatiana there, scolding Berto while holding Luke’s hand?
Perian stared blankly at the pair, as if he’d been struck on the back of the head.
He’d assumed Berto would find her harder to approach than Kiis, who shared a sordid history with her.
Yet from every angle, they appeared intimate now.
As Perian realized his predictions kept missing the mark with that woman, he felt a burning competitive spirit kindle within him.
“……Are you feeling well, then?”
Berto, holding Luke’s remaining hand, addressed Tatiana as he might an Academy classmate.
“Not at all!”
Tatiana thumped her own chest.
“Brother, you’re more like my grandfather!”
Luke bounced excitedly as he spoke, and Berto looked crestfallen.
“All right, then how about I speak to you the way one speaks to a lover……. Perian?”
Perian, now that Tatiana had belatedly noticed him, arranged his expression and greeted them.
“Is something the matter with you two?”
She seemed momentarily flustered, but at his question, she grew animated and blurted out eagerly.
“No, Perian. Listen to what I’m saying. When you call Berto by his name, his tone is too stiff, isn’t it? So we decided to drop formality with each other.”
It was unlikely the rigid Berto had suggested this, and Tatiana clearly had ulterior motives.
‘So she’s going to win over Berto first.’
Perian spoke in a soothing tone to understand her true aim.
“Dropping formality doesn’t seem to be helping much.”
“You know what he said to me just now? ‘This person.’ Can you imagine? I asked him how old he is to be using such language.”
“I was only trying to be friendly…….”
As Berto tried to explain, Tatiana’s eyes flicked dismissively.
…….
Perian felt an inexplicable sense of crisis, as if he were falling behind Berto.
“What if we did it this way? I’ll drop formality with you too, and if Berto follows how I treat you, wouldn’t it be easier?”
Tatiana, who had been grumbling with her horns up, faltered at Perian’s suggestion.
“We have a long journey ahead anyway. I think it would be better to just be comfortable, don’t you?”
Tatiana didn’t answer right away, her eyes rolling as she considered.
Her thoughts were transparent. As she’d said before, pretending to be friendly through a mask was better than continuous mockery.
“Well, fine.”
“Looking forward to it, Tatiana.”
Perian’s eyes curved with his smile, and Tatiana started slightly in surprise.
“Where were you headed, anyway?”
“To see Kiis.”
“Ah, I’ll show you the way then. I ran into him just now.”
“Berto knows where it is too. You look like you’re carrying something heavy, so we can go on our own.”
Despite her clear refusal, Perian moved naturally into step and joined them.
“It’s just herbal medicine. Takes up space but weighs nothing.”
I held the bundle lightly and shook it, and Tatiana, looking put out, followed with a resigned expression.

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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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