Captain – Chapter 219 – Farce

The moment those words fell, the colonel saw gathering storm clouds in Roy’s eyes, saw molten lava churning and rising—what terrible emotions lay beneath that fearsome gaze: hatred, anger… and fear.

Although it all vanished in an instant, so quickly one might think it was an illusion.

But Berney knew that the impulse to grind him to dust and scatter his bones truly existed within the young woman before him, no matter how deeply or discreetly it was hidden.

So this woman… was really him.

The colonel breathed deeply, his heart beating as rapidly as a drumbeat. At this moment, he finally had a tangible sense of the mission he had accepted.

The person that gentleman wanted him to control was not the frail boy from the past who had endured torture and abuse, gasping for breath in a corner, but a fierce and terrifying monster—one of the most powerful and legendary pirate captains in the world today.

Golden-Eyed Roy.

Recalling the vivid marks that captain had left on the imperial military during his legendary rise, as well as the cold, indifferent, violence-loving image described by the important figures of Auran, these all crashed like violent waves against the colonel’s mind, even making him regret accepting that mission.

“Help her recall the tragic scenes of her past, draw out the deepest fears from her heart, thoroughly enrage her from the inside out, and then…”

“Let everyone see her true form.”

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That gentleman’s casual words echoed in his ears, and the colonel now understood what enormous risks were hidden within this seemingly simple task.

If he provoked the Golden-Eyed Devil, forget about everyone else present—he himself would definitely have no reason to survive!

Realizing this, the colonel’s entire body stiffened, and even his breathing became much more rapid.

Therefore, when the young woman reached out to him, his first reaction was to distance himself from her. But before he could retreat a few steps, an iron-like hand grabbed his arm, making it impossible for him to move another inch no matter how hard he tried.

“Colonel Berney, as our most important witness, where do you think you’re going?”

Looking at those emotionless eyes and hearing Rear Admiral Gavin’s cold voice, Berney swallowed and forced himself to calm down.

Captain Roy was certainly terrifying, but in the colonel’s heart, that gentleman was an existence he could not defy.

Since that conversation ten years ago, he had become one of that man’s confidants.

Since then, he had transformed from a noble’s son with no right of inheritance, occupying the position of prison warden and idling his days away, into a colonel at just twenty-eight years of age who administered vast territories in the west. Both his reputation and power overshadowed his peers.

But he knew all this was due to that gentleman’s favor.

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If that person learned that his long-planned grand scheme had failed due to Berney’s fear and incompetence, the consequences would definitely be more miserable than dying here.

Suppressing his fear with great effort, the colonel coldly asked: “What… what do you want to do?”

“Nothing much, just want to borrow your sword for a moment.”

The captain’s voice was flat, emotionless.

Having witnessed the other’s wretched state earlier, Roy now understood that things were completely different from the past. Regardless of status or anything else, she no longer needed to mind this fellow.

Under Gavin’s urging gaze, the colonel hesitated for a long while before finally drawing the silver blade from his waist and carefully handing it to Roy, warning her: “Though I don’t know what you intend to do, you’d better not try anything foolish. There are at least sixty guns aimed at your head.”

Ignoring the young man’s threat, the young woman brought the blade near her left collarbone and, under the tense gaze of the soldiers, made a light cut.

With the soft sound of fabric tearing, both the pure white wedding dress and the light yellow shirt underneath split open to reveal a patch of fair skin.

The hall fell into silence.

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The nearby soldiers stared somewhat blankly at that patch of skin, unconsciously releasing their hands from their sword hilts. The Rear Admiral and the officers who had come with him frowned deeply, all turning to look at the young man who had his mouth slightly open, his expression somewhat bewildered.

Because on the young woman’s skin, as pristine as fresh snow, at the location the colonel had so confidently pointed out, there was no so-called brand… nothing at all.

Watching this scene, the First Mate standing silently beside the captain showed no surprise on his face.

Whether on the merchant ship leaving the lonely island, in the sunlit tavern room on Frans Island, or when removing Roy’s clothes to dress her wounds after the battle on the Mermaid, he had never seen any brand symbolizing evil on the young woman’s body.

Even if there had been one, it would have been washed away by time, making it impossible to see.

But the truth was not so, and only Roy herself knew what had really happened.

That brand, filled with humiliation, betrayal, and pain, had disappeared along with the miraculous changes to her body after meeting the Pirate King and experiencing that sweet black dream.

Not just that brand, but also the whip marks left from interrogations, the scars from knife wounds and gunshots in battle, and all traces of suffering since childhood—it was as if that devil of a gentleman had cast a spell, making them vanish within that warm dream.

Since then, her name had become reality, and everything… seemed completely different.

The unexpected outcome transformed the shocking events of this short time into a grand farce. Every participant wore a bewildered expression, and the Rear Admiral Gavin, as the initiator, looked particularly displeased, as if water could drip from his face.

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“It seems… there is no evidence as you claimed, Colonel.”

Returning the silver blade to the dazed Berney, Roy tidied her clothes, trying to cover that patch of fair skin with the tulle dress while gently reminding him.

“No, impossible, I branded you with my own hands, I saw with my own eyes…”

Unable to accept such a discrepancy, or perhaps fearing the severe punishment that would come from failing to complete his mission, the colonel threw aside the silver blade and pointed at the young woman’s nose, screaming hysterically.

But suddenly, he calmed down, staring at that unfamiliar face—so difficult to reconcile with the memory of that boy with mud on his face—and said hoarsely: “Oh, I understand. You must have used some optical illusion, or witchcraft. It must be so…”

“Captain Roy, haven’t you encountered many things that exist only in legends? There must have been a witch who removed that brand for you, right? You think this can fool me?”

A witch? You mean Lady Annisdora? Well, she wouldn’t be so kind to me.

Roy thought silently, looking with disgust at the face that was drawing closer and closer. She was considering whether to stop the colonel’s embarrassed ranting when that annoying voice suddenly ceased.

Because a powerful fist had struck him hard on the bridge of his nose.