The Pirate King's Daughter - Chapter 64

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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 64
I don’t need your souls.
I shouted it silently, but the poor tribespeople, deceived by the demon, let out thunderous cheers and gulped down their drinks with abandon.
Soon they began dancing around the bonfire in rhythm with the music.
“Raeila, is the food not to your liking?”
Saulo spoke as he watched me leave the drink and food untouched.
“I’m afraid someone might have poisoned it, so I can’t eat.”
“……I beg your forgiveness. Please, let go of your anger.”
Hearing the word poison makes me think of Dilshard. I hope he’s well.
I sighed and cut into the meat to replenish my strength.
‘This tastes incredible.’
Honestly, I was just looking for an excuse—I knew well enough there was no reason to poison me right now.
After walking through the Jungle for so long without a proper meal, I kept food moving into my mouth while maintaining a blank expression.
No one sat on the opposite side; they were all facing the bonfire, so I had a clear view of the people playing.
From children to adults, everyone looked joyful.
“Saulo, you love it here, don’t you?”
They looked so happy that I didn’t want to shatter this atmosphere.
“Of course. I swore to my ancestors that I would protect the tribe.”
Like Basil, his demon blood was thin, so he didn’t seem inherently evil—he seemed to want to live among humans.
“I have a place I need to return to as well.”
The Jellyfish Pirate Ship.
I always thought I had no home to return to, but now I ached for our ship with a fierce longing.
“…….”
Saulo gave me no answer at all.
So you’ve decided to gladly sacrifice me to protect their happiness.
“Raeila.”
The tribal chief, Aso, who had been silent until now, finally spoke.
“Surely this place will come to please you.”
Selfish bastards.
“I should go rest.”
As I tried to leave, Saulo stopped me.
“Raeila, before you go, there’s one decision you must make.”
“Me?”
Saulo rose and gestured to someone, who struck a large drum.
At the deep resonant sound, the tribespeople stopped their games and quickly moved to clear a space in the center.
The strange part was that all the children had been sent away somewhere.
“What are you doing?”
“A Selection Ceremony.”
Before I could even ask what a Selection Ceremony was, three men stood in a line before me.
They were all exceptionally tall, bare-chested, their muscles tensed and rippling.
‘Three Bertos.’
These were probably the most physically impressive people in the Sehar Tribe.
“You need only choose a warrior to guard your night, Raeila.”
“But I already have guards, don’t I?”
I gestured to the two men who had been following me around all day.
If you needed to rotate them, you’d just assign them like you did before.
“Those two guard the outside of your sleeping chamber. You need to choose someone to serve you inside.”
Inside?
“Surely not…….”
You mean I have to choose someone to spend the night with me? Like a bedtime attendant?
“After kidnapping and imprisonment, now you’re subjecting me to this humiliation?”
“Humiliation? It’s merely a ritual for the Next Deity.”
Fire clawed through my insides. I gasped, unable to contain my rage.
I wanted nothing more than to flee this place, but I still had no strength.
And the urge to cry out against this terrible truth faded away. Nothing would change anyway.
“What if I refuse? Will you force me?”
“We would never do such a thing.”
Saulo sat rigidly, his gaze cold as ice.
“But we will find other means of persuasion.”
There’s no convincing these people at all.
‘Fine. Then I have no reason to hesitate anymore.’
I slouched back in my seat, crossed my legs, and surveyed the men.
“They’re all mediocre. Don’t you have anyone else?”
Saulo hesitated at my sudden casual tone, then continued.
“……All three are the strongest warriors in our tribe.”
“So what? They’re not my type.”
Helpless, Saulo introduced more men from the tribe—unmarried, married, every age.
The people’s agitation was only natural.
“Raeila, you’ve now seen all adult tribespeople. You must choose.”
“I haven’t met one person yet.”
“I……?”
I stood up.
“Aso, come with me.”
At my words, Saulo’s eyes widened.
‘So he values his son after all?’
I wondered what would happen if the tribal chief’s son were the last to die in the hands of a goddess.
Aso rose stiffly, and his wife, Marika, stared at him with a pale face.
‘Ha…….’
I’m the victim here.
“Raeila, I have something to tell you.”
As Aso tried to follow, Saulo quickly stood and grabbed his son’s arm, speaking to me.
“Speak.”
“I’ll explain if we move to another place.”
I found myself sitting face-to-face with Saulo alone in the Assembly Hall I’d visited earlier.
“Officially, no man should ever touch you, Raeila.”
“You can’t hide behind euphemisms.”
Does he still think he holds the upper hand?
“……The principle is that any man who spends the night with you will be put to death before dawn breaks.”
Truly rotten to the core, these people.
I should have seen through it when they first mentioned being a closed tribe.
“So you’re telling me now that your son shouldn’t? He becomes blessed by a goddess, father of the Next Deity, yet you exclude him?”
“…….”
“Do all the others know?”
“Yes. They all consider your Selection Ceremony an honor.”
“And your family, except for all of you, knows this is all theater to keep your chieftain seat?”
Love for the tribe indeed—a demon playing king.
“……Demons live long lives. When I pass my seat, I will fake my death and take my own life, as my predecessor did. My devotion to the tribe is genuine.”
“And?”
“I ask that you give my son the chance to dedicate his brief life and heart to the tribe as well.”
“What about the people with even shorter lives who die? Why is that acceptable? Because they don’t love the tribe as much as your son?”
Saulo said nothing.
‘Hypocrite.’
As I stood to leave, Saulo hastily jumped up, and his chair clattered to the floor.
“Don’t worry. I won’t touch your son.”
When I returned to the center of the settlement, the restless crowd fell silent.
Saulo, arriving belatedly, took a seat beside me.
“Come out one by one again.”
The tribespeople hesitated, and I spoke as if just remembering something.
“Ah, Chief Saulo.”
“Yes.”
“Do you have any other sons or grandsons—any other blood relatives?”
“……I have one granddaughter.”
“Then that’s settled. Is there anyone else you’d like me to exclude?”
“……No one.”
The tribespeople stared at Saulo with trembling eyes. A sense of betrayal hung thick in the air.
I could read exactly what they were thinking.
So the goddess touches you and brings glorious death—yet you exclude your own blood?
“Raeila, I will serve you.”
In the midst of this, Aso spoke with such dutiful conviction.
“No. Your father warned me against it. You go drag them up to me one by one.”
“It’s not that. Though I am married, this sacred ritual of serving you, Raeila…….”
“I said enough. Go drag them out one at a time.”
There was no sacred ceremony left anymore.
Each person looked at me with a different fear in their eyes.
“You.”
And I chose one.
With each man who came forward, I watched the faces of the women surrounding them.
“Come to my chamber.”
At those words, tears finally fell from the eyes of the woman I’d been staring at.
“Chief Saulo.”
“Yes.”
“Tomorrow night, I choose again then, correct?”
“Tomorrow night as well, you mean……?”
Saulo’s eyes filled with bewilderment.
“I find myself bored at night, after all.”
“…….”
“Marika, prepare my bath.”
After speaking those final words, I held my head high like a true goddess and returned to my chamber.
I threw myself onto the bed and buried my face in the pillow.
I kicked my legs—Bang! Bang!—the bed creaked in protest.
‘Why hasn’t anyone come yet!’
Kies, you bastard. You said you’d come running if I so much as called your name. How many times have I called?
‘Can I escape on my own?’
If my plan to die today failed, this crude provocation had its limits.
My opponent was a demon chief who might have lived for centuries.
He simply hadn’t anticipated I’d act so recklessly all at once.
But I’d find a way to adapt going forward.
As I thrashed about, someone knocked on the door.

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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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