The Pirate King's Daughter - Chapter 73

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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 73
“Oh, and this is a gift His Majesty the King presented directly.”
The Aide withdrew a crimson jeweled box embroidered with gold thread and opened the lid.
“In the Nedelian Kingdom, snakes are regarded as sacred. Only members of the royal family or those who have received a personal gift from His Majesty may wear snake-shaped ornaments.”
But why are you giving this to me?
I peered into the jeweled box with a lukewarm expression.
Inside lay a single bracelet—a golden serpent coiled from wrist to forearm.
“…I’m grateful for such a precious gift. Though I hesitate to refuse and risk impropriety, I fear I’m not someone meant to possess such an item, not being a subject of the kingdom.”
“Are you not the Pirate King? Should you wish it, His Majesty would surely grant you a title.”
I needed to find a place to settle, but this one just crossed itself right off the list.
‘If they learn I’m really just an unremarkable person, who knows what they’ll do.’
A Pirate King who cannot fight.
These people would likely rage at anyone audacious enough to wear a crown.
“It’s too much. I simply wish to live quietly and move on in time. My apologies, but…”
I was about to refuse once more.
A knock sounded, followed by the Knight’s voice.
“My lord, Captain. The innkeeper says she has something urgent to discuss with you.”
That title still doesn’t sit right with me, no matter how many times I hear it.
“Come in.”
I spoke with the air of someone ready to end this conversation.
‘Let me wrap this up quickly and send them away.’
The door opened, and beside the Knight stood the innkeeper, fidgeting anxiously.
“What’s the matter?”
The woman glanced nervously at the Aide, then rushed ahead at my gentle tone.
“Come quick, come quick, Captain! Your friends are fighting with some pirates right now!”
“I…beg your pardon?”
“Where? Who are they fighting? Why?”
The Aide sprang up and asked, but those details hardly mattered.
“Where exactly?”
This was clearly a one-sided brawl.
Even in the Nedelian Kingdom, even as a supposed Pirate King, causing trouble would mean expulsion without question.
‘They probably didn’t start it…’
But if those terrifying ones deliberately engaged, there would be nothing left—not a person, not a building, nothing.
“It’s at number three down that way—no, follow me!”
“Hurry!”
“Just a moment, Captain!”
I paid no mind to the Aide’s grasp and followed the innkeeper.
* * *
Early that morning, Perian left the inn alone.
To visit the Fortune Teller’s home.
Tatiana had dismissed the Fortune Teller as a charlatan when leaving the tent, but she was clearly hiding something.
‘She even recognized the artifact.’
If that Fortune Teller truly did know the future, there was something he desperately wanted to ask.
Perian quickened his pace, found the tent, and stepped inside—then froze in rare confusion.
“Is Tatiana coming here too?”
Dilshard regarded Perian with a sneer.
Though Kies and Berto seemed unsurprised, as if they’d expected this.
“You all rose early. Sleep well?”
Perian quickly composed himself and smiled, asking breezily—which earned a muttered “Faker” from Dilshard.
“So you all came after all.”
The Fortune Teller appeared as before, sweeping aside cloth.
“We meet again. Are you open for business?”
Kies stepped forward with the question, and the Fortune Teller’s displeased gaze settled upon him.
“If I weren’t open, would I tell you to wait? But here you’ve been since before dawn, carrying on as if you had all the time in the world.”
“…It was when the dawn light was beginning to brighten.”
“Exactly. You wasted your effort. I don’t read the futures of others—and certainly not scheming men sneaking about in the shadows.”
None of them denied it; clearly all four had come to ask about Tatiana.
But Kies quickly seized upon an idea and spoke up promptly.
“Let us set that aside. I would ask about what I myself can accomplish.”
“Quick on your feet, aren’t you?”
The Fortune Teller paused briefly in thought, then agreed surprisingly easily.
“Fine. You come in first, and the rest of you think carefully about what you’ll ask.”
After a considerable time had passed, Kies emerged from the inner tent with a grave expression and said nothing.
Dilshard and Berto, who entered next, were the same.
‘Why should that memory come back now of all times?’
Perian felt Dilshard’s words echoing in his mind.
―You torment the kind-hearted one, much as a boy would a girl he favors?
Like a young man tormenting the beloved he doesn’t know how to approach.
‘What nonsense.’
That Berto harbored feelings for her—this Perian had never anticipated.
But Perian himself would never fall for her innocent face as the others had.
“Why hasn’t the last one come in!”
The Fortune Teller stepped outside and called out.
Perian belatedly entered and sat across from the Fortune Teller.
“Ask quickly. I’m tired today and closing up shop.”
“I…”
Unable to find his words easily, the Fortune Teller spoke with disdain.
“You sneak all the way here at this hour, yet you’re afraid to ask?”
With no one else around, at least.
Perian, unaware he was deceiving himself, steeled his resolve and opened his mouth.
“Tatiana said she will not return to her homeland.”
“So that’s what she told you? That cunning thing knows exactly how to wrap foolish men around her finger.”
“…I am not wrapped around her finger. Unlike the others out there.”
“Tsk tsk, there’s no cure for stupidity. So what? Did you come asking how to capture that young lady?”
It was not that he harbored feelings for her like the others, seeking to claim her.
“She is capable. She even discovered a cure for Sea Sickness, which had been thought incurable. And she is a victim. Shouldn’t she reclaim her position?”
“Pathetic, absolutely pathetic. You want to pursue someone who’s running away just to survive?”
“I know a way she can live safely should she return home.”
She can change her appearance, after all.
With Dilshard, he would stay at her side and keep supplying her with Artifacts.
“What I truly wish to know is different. I cannot convince Tatiana myself. But if my companions out there spoke to her, would she go with them?”
Tatiana draws near without reservation, yet never truly opens herself to anyone.
‘Though she does have a weakness for emotion.’
If a first love, a friend, a companion clung to her, she might willingly yield.
“You’re a fool.”
“You keep calling me stupid, an idiot—but I’m quite intelligent, actually.”
Perian spoke with evident displeasure.
“Even if you capture her, she’ll let herself be captured.”
“…Excuse me?”
But the foolish, weak Perian did not grasp that simple meaning and furrowed his brow.
“There’s still hope for you, Yon-seok. Before she runs, make her truly yours. That’s all there is to it.”
“As I said before, I do not harbor such feelings for her.”
“Then let another man claim her entirely. At least that way, she’ll go home with you as you wish.”
“…”
The Fortune Teller stood, as if she had said all she needed to say.
“Wait—one more question, if I may. I thought you were taking Tatiana’s side. Why are you giving me such advice?”
“I only consider the customer before me.”
And the Fortune Teller added a cryptic remark.
“Besides, I feel sorry for the others. They never even had a chance.”
With a dismissive wave, the Fortune Teller retreated to the back and vanished.
Perian left payment atop the coins his companions had apparently left on the table and stepped outside.
The three waited, their expressions still grave, though they seemed not to have shared which questions they’d asked or what answers they’d received.
“Why are you so late? Tatiana will be awake by now.”
Dilshard grumbled and urged them to return quickly.
“Tatiana’s not a child. She can feed herself and rest just fine.”
As they emerged from the tent, the street had already come alive with activity.
“And Pudding’s there besides.”
Kies and Berto led the way in silence, while Perian and Dilshard bickered as they walked.
“You call it superstition, yet here you are seeking it out immediately.”
“I was just having fun.”
Perian was answering this with shameless ease when—
“There’s supposed to be a Pirate King here, they say.”
Pirate King. At the mention of her, all four heads turned in unison.
There, sitting at an outdoor table since morning, were obviously rough-looking men drinking beer.
“A woman who looks that weak is the Pirate King? This could be easy pickings.”
“You’re not actually trying to kill her, are you?”
“Why not? That a woman like that dares to play pirate—ungh!”
In an instant, the table crashed down with a bang, and screams erupted.

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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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