Empress of the Sea|✔️

Chapter 27

Rewritten
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"This is nonsense," said Sehyun, rubbing his eyes. "I refuse to gamble like the other lowlives."

Suzy sighed. She'd made it a point to try and convince the captain to gamble. A while back, three of their underlying ships had sunk--and they needed to retain their power. Without enough underlings, pulling of genocide tends to become difficult.

And she knew just the place she could get a pirate ship for free--since they were running out of money too.

"Captain, think about it. Your gambling skills could get us a new ship. For free."

Waihg, the island just off the coast of Tereline, with the casino filled with crazy bastards. Waihg was also known as the "Pirate's Haven," so getting a ship and a crew would be easy for someone who's trained in mathematics and violence should it come to that.

"My gambling skills are reserved for Marty. I refuse to gamble without him or against someone other than him."

"Because he's the only one who can beat you?"

This riled the captain up. Sehyun clenched his fists. "Marty has won endless rounds of poker and chess--while he was drunk. So it's pointless for me to gamble if I can't beat a drunk man."

Suzy smiled. She looked around Sehyun's chaotic room, trying to find a way to convince him. They really needed a new ship. "Marty might be in Waihg," she suggested.

"As if. He would spend his vacation properly, not on some island sinking in whiskey."

"Marty can be unpredictable, Captain. We should at least try--"

"Suzy, I thought that you might be against gambling. You're so level headed and all that, so why do you want me to go to a casino?"

"I'll cheat for you," she mused, her blue eyes twinkling in the candlelight. She pushed back her hair and smiled once again, trying hard to make it seem genuine.

For Suzy Aranaz, emotions would always be a confusing, mind-bending thing. People say love comes from the heart, but the only thing the heart pumps is blood.

Certainly not love.

Sehyun bit his lip, leaning back on his chair and crossing his feet on his desk. "You'll cheat for me?" he asked, looking to the low ceiling. The ceiling that would brush against his hair if he were another inch taller.

"Of course."

Sehyun twirled the idea around his head. There would be no losing if Suzy would cheat--and if Suzy was willing to go so far...

"Fine. We can set sail for Waihg."

Suzy closed her eyes and fist in a silent victory and left to give the orders to the crew.

Sehyun heard her shout out orders for a while. She told them to lower the sails and get the ship prepared. She'd given the sailing master a map of the general idea of where Waihg was.

Then came the knock of the angriest person on board the Black Egret.

"Oi," called Maya, banging her palm against Sehyun's bedroom door.

Rolling his eyes, Han stood and opened the door. "Yes, Princess," he mocked with a grin on his face. A grin that conveyed annoyance rather than happiness.

"We're going to a casino?"

He titled his neck to face the sky, stretching out a hum. "No. My quartermaster is the only one accompanying me to Waihg."

Scoffing, Maya continued. "Why can't I come?"

"Would you like to...dance on a pole? Then be sure to come along. Waihg preys on women, but you'll be fine up on stage," he said with fake enthusiasm. What he said was true. Most pirates were men, much to his dismay, and they were all drunkards who saw women as objects.

As deers just waiting to be eaten.

He never understood why. It wasn't that hard to treat them as a human. He also never saw the reason for touching a woman or going beyond.

If anything, it was gross.

Just like Maya's reaction to his life as a pirate captain. Ever since Princess Maya Djord came aboard his ship, she'd caused nothing but ruckus. And she was still angry he lied to her about his life.

Who wouldn't lie about being a pirate? Who would tell the truth in a castle full of guards? Who would take the risk of revealing such information to a princess who's getting married to another nation's prince?

Not Sehyun Han.

He'd tried to explain, he'd ordered Suzy to explain, he even asked Illorin to explain as the only one Maya's age.

But the only thing getting through her thick skull were compliments and unhealthy doses of sarcasm.

"How could you even suggest I dance in such a way?"

"I didn't suggest anything. I just said it as it is. Now, if you have nothing else to say, please leave and speak to someone else." Sehyun reached to shut his door, already planning on slouching on his bed and reading a book, but Maya would not have it.

"Take me with you. If it really bothers you, you can have someone watch over me. Like a guard. But you don't have to. I can defend myself."

"Why? Why do you want to go to a filthy place that even I am repulsed by?"

"I've been on this ship for so long. I'm getting seasick," she whined, squinting her brown eyes and crossing her arms.

Something about Maya reminded him of Aeryn. Those two headstrong women should have met each other in their childhood instead. And something about Prince Juele intrigued him. The way he kept to himself but still used his authority made Sehyun wish he'd met the prince instead of Maya.

Not that he hated Maya. He would always see her as a younger sibling, one he would always have to take care of and tolerate. They had their fun--but never when she was angry.

"It's been five days, Mayal. If you can't handle a bit of sailing, why'd you even come?"

"You told me to. You said that the castle was too dangerous. That's why I came." she picked at her blouse, one she had borrowed from Suzy. Pirate attire suited her frame and her personality much better than some gown.

Princess was a title Maya would chew and spit out because being a princess was a burden.

But being a pirate was freedom.

Sehyun had heard from his crew that being a pirate was a perfect lifestyle. A life of freedom and happiness.

Sehyun could never understand their tales.

The life of a pirate was forced onto him when he wanted to be someone else. His father had smacked a hat on his head the morning of his eighteenth birthday and made him the acting captain.

That day he received two gifts. His hat and his curse.

His terrible, horrid curse that would have drowned anyone else to insanity. Sehyun was lucky for having apathy and the ability to ignore on his side. Otherwise, the ghosts would have eaten his soul.

He groaned, upset she had turned the tides of the conversation. "Fine. Come, but don't come crying to me when something happens. I have warned you. Waihg is not a place for a princess."

Then he slammed the door, regretting his final statement. He knew Maya hated being a princess, but he used it to insult her. It should be fair...right? She'd belittled him and used such unique words to hurt him every time she got angry.

He'd always catered to her feelings even if he didn't understand them.

But she never did the same for him.

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Word Count: 1258