Empress of the Sea|✔️

Chapter 14

Rewritten
***

The morning sun did not wake Sehyun up. It was the bang of a cannon and the sudden movement of his ship that successfully startled him into falling off his bed.

"Suzy, what the hell is going on?" he yelled.

A dishevelled quartermaster in a messy bun stumbled into his room. "I'll go figure it out right away." Suzy left and returned with much more stable footing a few minutes later. "Captain, a ship almost double our size has shot a single cannon at us. They sent an owl our way. They request that their captain may speak with you."

Sehyun raised his brow. This was new. "What?"

"It's better if you come out and see for yourself."

In his nightwear, he slipped into his slippers and forgot to leave behind his stuffed bear. Clutching his bear tightly by the ear, he stepped on his ship's dock. He kept his eyes closed until he gained enough confidence to look at the enemy.

Opening his eyes with predatory intensity, Sehyun observed the enemy ship. The ship towered over the Egret. They couldn't risk a fight with their low ammunition and exhausted crew.

The best path would be to negotiate.

"Tell them to send their captain over."

Suzy, taken aback, said, "Aye, Captain. You should probably change your clothing."

Sehyun looked down at his clothes. "Ah, you're right."

***

"How should I address you?" asked Sehyun, not bothering to make eye contact with the Viking-like hunk in front of him. There was no way a captain could be so...gruff.

"Captain."

"A man of few words, I see..." What Sehyun wanted to say was: Captain? Excuse me, but allow me to inform you that you have no authority on my ship, muscle-man.

The man grunted.

"Take a seat," Sehyun suggested, gesturing at the table and chairs Suzy had Illorin setup.

The black nest on the man's head shook as the man struggled to fit into the chair. Only when the man sat down did he match Sehyun's height.

Height or size never bothered Sehyun as he was petite himself, but now he wished he stood a few inches taller, it only to look normal beside him.

Had anyone encountered him during nighttime, that person would die of fear.

Sehyun sat parallel to the muscle-man.

The man pushed his overly curly hair out of his face, revealing an equally curly beard and three dots under his right eye—just like Sehyun did.

Each black dot represented the number of times a captain disregarded his curse or went against it. Sehyun only had one, and the reason behind it was the survivor. He hadn't known it before, he'd merely thrown it off as an injury or a new mole.

But after some research, he learned the purpose of the dot and the reason.

"What would you like to talk about?" Sehyun asked, shifting in his seat to appear taller. He felt bare without Suzy nearby and unsafe without the crew watching his every move.

The man grunted again. What was he? A wolf? A cicada? Each grunt he let out sounded different.

The inconsistency pissed Captain Han off, but not as much as the word that escaped his mouth. "Captain," he forced.