Captain – Chapter 25 – Beg Me

Roy’s just-closed eyes immediately opened. She slowly sat upright, frowning at her first mate whose gaze was wandering, as if he had committed a terrible sin: “What did you say?”

She doubted her ears had a problem. Her usually meticulous first mate actually… invited her to be his dance partner? Didn’t he understand that letting a pirate infiltrate a ball full of nobles was an extremely dangerous and utterly absurd foolish act?

As if having made up his mind, Caine took a deep breath, then looked firmly at Roy, whose face was written all over with the word “ridiculous”: “Captain, be my dance partner. Let’s attend the ball three days from now together.”

The ball three days later naturally referred to the one hosted by Governor Federo.

Roy finally understood what her first mate was planning and immediately felt relieved: “I thought something was wrong with your nerves, inviting me to a ball. So it’s just about having me watch the Black Raven Society’s people, or in other words, protecting that old fellow Federo?”

Caine thought Roy had agreed, his expression slightly relaxing as he nodded, confirming her statement.

“You—are—dreaming.”

Roy leaned forward—since their beds weren’t far apart, she could bring her light pink lips to the ear of the naval officer still sitting on the edge of the bed—and said those three words in a deliberately drawn-out voice.

After speaking, Roy immediately withdrew, hugging her arms and smiling at him, looking exactly like a mischievous child who had successfully played a prank.

After a brief moment of confusion, Caine quickly came to his senses and asked puzzledly: “Why?”

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“What else could it be? My dear first mate, you need to understand your position. You are now a pirate, not an officer anymore. Don’t always think for the empire. Instead of spending that leisure time attending a ball, you’d better carefully consider which route can most safely avoid naval patrols.”

After saying all this, seeing that her first mate still wasn’t giving up, Roy sighed: “Besides, Federo himself is a ghost who crawled up from the darkness. The severity of his methods is something even I can’t match. Where does he need you to consider for him?”

Caine knew Roy was right. In terms of leading troops in battle, that governor was far inferior to himself. But when it came to schemes and machinations, even ten of him wouldn’t be enough for the old man to calculate against. However…

Recalling the great fire he had witnessed and remembering his father’s lost and dazed appearance as he slumped before the estate, Caine simply couldn’t let go.

Even if he couldn’t personally end the life of the chief culprit of that fire from years ago, he at least needed to see with his own eyes that Federo was safe and sound before he could peacefully embark on the journey with the young woman before him.

“There are some people and things one simply can’t let go of, Captain.” Without further invitation or probing, Caine calmly expressed his true feelings.

“How can you be as stubborn as a bull?”

Roy was helpless, turning her face slightly to one side to prevent her first mate from seeing her irritated expression: “Go if you want to, but don’t think about dragging me along. Don’t think I can’t see through your thoughts. You’re just wanting to use me as a thug, or worse, as a hound. This captain won’t do such a demeaning thing.”

The term “hound” was very apt, making even Caine feel somewhat guilty, because he indeed wanted to exploit Roy’s sensitivity to scents to seek out the Black Raven Society members hidden at the ball.

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Now that Roy had exposed his intentions, Caine lowered his head slightly in apology: “That’s not what I meant. It’s just that, as you know, my abilities in this area are pitifully weak. Without the military, I can barely protect myself, let alone directly confront the Black Raven Society. So I had no choice but to think of troubling you.”

The first mate’s rare display of vulnerability improved Roy’s mood considerably. Thinking of her previous embarrassment and awkwardness in front of him, she felt a slight stirring in her heart and came up with a good idea to save face.

“Well… since you put it that way, I can’t just stand by anymore. After all, you are a person on my ship, and your enemies naturally count as my enemies as well. How about this…” Roy turned her face back, pretending to consider with difficulty for a moment under Caine’s slightly brightened gaze, then clapped her hands and looked at him with her chin slightly raised.

“Beg me, and I’ll go.”

The young man, who had been seriously waiting for Roy’s request, clearly hadn’t expected this. But when he saw the mischievous intent gradually becoming unbearable on Roy’s face, he confirmed that it wasn’t his poor hearing earlier, but that she had really made such a… trivial condition.

Just like the typical contests of will among pirates.

It’s exactly like children fighting over winning and losing, Caine thought silently. In order to get this captain involved in this battle, what’s so difficult about showing a little weakness?

In reality, it proved to be very difficult indeed.

“I… I beg…”

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Caine had never discovered that there could be three words in this world so difficult to say. He couldn’t help but take a deep breath, intending to summon all his courage to blurt out these words of entreaty that had never appeared in his dictionary, but unexpectedly, the malicious pirate suddenly interrupted.

“What? Speak louder. A grown man, why do you speak like a woman?”

Caine’s face darkened, and he gritted his teeth to raise his voice: “I beg you!”

“Don’t grit your teeth like that, it sounds all muffled. How about one more time?”

Seeing that her first mate’s expression was trending toward displeasure, Roy finally stopped teasing him, but the smile at the corner of her mouth simply wouldn’t stop: “Alright, alright, this captain will reluctantly accompany you to this ball, but this is an exception and won’t be repeated.”

Summer nights are very short. Roy felt as if her head had just rested on the soft pillow when she heard the call to wake up by her ear, along with some gentle pushing.

However, this time, it wasn’t Alfie’s somewhat sharp call that sounded by her ear, but a deep, pleasant male voice.

“Get up, Captain.”

“What time is it? Let me…” Roy clutched the quilt tightly like a koala, and her unreasonableness due to lack of sleep showed for the first time the girlish charm of her age. Unfortunately, the young man didn’t seem to appreciate this youthful beauty.

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“Swoosh!”

The curtains were pulled open to their limit in one go. The bright sunlight passed through the glass and poured into the room, falling on the golden curly hair spread across the white bed, reflecting dazzling light.

Although the blanket provided by the tavern wasn’t of poor quality, it was too thin. After failing to hide her head under it to avoid the light, Roy angrily threw off the blanket and glared at her expressionless first mate, secretly thinking this must be his revenge on her.

“What are you doing, rebelling?” This time it was Roy’s turn to grit her teeth.

“Our time is very tight. We only have two days left to prepare everything needed for the ball,” Caine replied righteously.

“What’s there to prepare? Isn’t it just attending a ball? At most, buying a fitted black suit. How much effort could it take?” Roy questioned furiously.

“No, not just the suit. For a ball of this caliber, we need many things, and you have many things to learn. But most urgently…” Caine’s mouth curved into an arc filled with the satisfaction of revenge.

“Is a gown worthy of your beauty, Captain.”