Roy’s eyes flew open. She slowly sat up straight and frowned at her first mate, whose gaze kept darting around as if he’d committed some terrible crime. “What did you say?”
She wondered if something was wrong with her ears. Her usually meticulous first mate had actually… invited her to be his dance partner? Did he not realize how incredibly dangerous—and utterly absurd—it would be to let a pirate into a ballroom full of nobles?
As if steeling himself, Kain took a deep breath, then looked straight at Roy, whose face practically screamed “ridiculous.” “Captain, be my dance partner. Let’s go to the ball in three days together.”
The ball in three days was, of course, the one hosted by Governor Federo.
Only then did Roy understand what her first mate was getting at, and she breathed a sigh of relief. “I thought you’d lost your mind, inviting me to a ball. So you just want me to keep an eye on the Black Crow Society—or, in other words, protect old Federo?”
Kain took it that Roy had agreed. His expression relaxed a little, and he nodded, confirming what she’d said.
“In—your—dreams—”
Roy leaned over. Their beds weren’t far apart, so she could press her pale pink lips to the naval officer’s ear. In a deliberately drawn-out voice, she whispered those three words.
Then Roy immediately pulled back, folded her arms, and smiled at him. She looked just like a child pleased with a prank.
After a brief moment of stunned silence, Kain quickly recovered and asked, baffled, “Why?”
“Why else? My dear first mate, you need to remember where you stand. You’re a pirate now, not an officer. Stop thinking about the Empire at every turn. If you have time to go to a ball, you’d be better off figuring out which route will let us avoid the Navy’s patrols as safely as possible.”
After all that, her first mate still didn’t give up. Roy sighed. “Besides, Federo himself is a fiend who clawed his way up from the dark. His methods are so ruthless that even I have to admit he’s better at it than me. Why would he need you worrying about him?”
Kain knew Roy was right. The governor was nowhere near his equal when it came to commanding troops, but when it came to schemes and underhanded tactics, even ten Kains wouldn’t be enough to outsmart the old man. It was just…
He thought of the fire he’d witnessed, and remembered the dazed, broken look on his father’s face as he sat collapsed in front of the estate. No matter what, Kain couldn’t put his mind at ease.
If not to personally end the life of the culprit behind that fire all those years ago, then at the very least he needed to see Federo safe and sound before he could feel at ease setting out on a journey with the girl before him.
“There are some people and some things you just can’t let go of, Captain.” Kain didn’t invite her again or test the waters. He simply stated his feelings, calm and clear.
“You’re as stubborn as a mule.”
Roy had no idea what to do. She turned her face slightly away so her first mate wouldn’t see her irritation. “Go if you want, but don’t expect me to come with you. Don’t think I can’t see through you. You just want to use me as muscle—or, worse, as a hound. This captain isn’t doing anything that undignified.”
“Hound” was an apt word. Kain couldn’t help feeling a little guilty, because he really had planned to use Roy’s keen sense of smell to sniff out the Black Crow Society members hiding among the guests at the ball.
Now that Roy had seen through him, Kain lowered his head slightly and apologized. “That’s not what I meant. But you know I’m painfully weak in this area. Without the army, I can barely defend myself, let alone face the Black Crow Society head-on. So I thought I’d ask you for help.”
Her first mate’s rare show of weakness improved Roy’s mood considerably. Remembering how awkward and embarrassed she’d been in front of him earlier, she had a sudden thought: a perfect way to get even.
“Well… since you put it that way, I can’t exactly stand by and do nothing. You’re part of my crew, after all, so your enemies are my enemies. How about this…” Roy turned back toward him. As Kain’s eyes brightened, she put on an expression of deep deliberation for a moment, then clapped her hands together and lifted her chin toward him.
“Beg me, and I’ll go.”
The young man had been waiting seriously for Roy to name her terms. He clearly hadn’t expected this. But when he saw the mischievous look she could barely keep off her face, he knew he hadn’t misheard: she’d really made such a… trivial demand.
It was like one of those pointless little rivalries pirates always got into.
This was just a kid trying to win an argument, Kain thought in silence. What was so hard about swallowing his pride a little if it meant getting the captain involved in this fight?
As it turned out, it was very hard.
“I… I beg…”
Kain had never imagined there could be three words so difficult to say. He took a deep breath, planning to force the plea—words that had never once appeared in his vocabulary—out in one go. But the mean-spirited pirate suddenly cut him off.
“What? Speak up. You’re a grown man—why are you talking like a girl?”
Kain’s expression darkened. He gritted his teeth and raised his voice. “I beg you!”
“Don’t grit your teeth. I can barely make out what you’re saying. How about you try that again?”
When she saw her first mate’s expression starting to turn sour, Roy finally stopped teasing him. But she couldn’t keep the smile off her face. “All right, all right. This captain will graciously accompany you to the ball. But don’t expect me to do this again.”
Summer nights were short. Roy had only just rested her head on the soft pillow when she heard someone calling her awake, followed by a gentle shake.
Only this time, the voice by her ear wasn’t Elfie’s slightly shrill call. It was a deep, pleasant male voice.
“Time to get up, Captain.”
“What time is it? Let me sleep a little…” Roy clung tightly to the blanket like a koala. Sleep-deprived and refusing to get up, she showed a girlish charm that suited her age for the first time. Unfortunately, the young man didn’t seem to appreciate this youthful beauty at all.
“Whoosh!”
The curtains were yanked all the way open. Bright sunlight streamed through the window and spilled across the golden curls scattered over the white bed, making them shine brilliantly.
The tavern’s blankets weren’t cheap, but they were far too thin. When she tried and failed to bury her head in them to hide from the light, Roy angrily threw them off and glared at her calm-faced first mate. She couldn’t help thinking this had to be his revenge on her.
“What are you doing, staging a mutiny?” This time, Roy was the one gritting her teeth.
“We’re short on time. We only have two days to prepare everything we need for the ball,” Kain replied, as if it were perfectly obvious.
“What’s there to prepare? We’re just going to a ball. At most, we need to buy a black suit that fits. How long could that take?” Roy demanded, fuming.
“No, it’s not just the formalwear. At a ball of this caliber, there’s a lot we’ll need, and a lot you’ll need to learn. But the most urgent thing…” A smile curved Kain’s lips, brimming with the satisfaction of revenge.
“Is a dress worthy of your looks, Captain.”
