Captain – Chapter 26 – The Gown

This was definitely revenge, and the most insidious revenge at that.

When Roy, escorted by her first mate, entered a tailor shop and saw the exquisite gowns hanging on the oak walls, she became even more convinced of this view, and believed that Caine, while appearing dignified, was actually quite petty.

“Papa, we have business!”

The little girl sitting on a high wooden round chair behind the counter, swinging her legs, immediately jumped down as soon as she saw someone push the door open, and called for her father in a somewhat sharp childish voice through the curtain behind her.

Soon, the curtain was lifted, and a middle-aged man wearing a monocle came out from inside. He looked to be in his forties, with an honest face that seemed to reveal at a glance his forty years of conscientious, diligent, and family-oriented life.

The man sat at the counter, adjusted the crystal glasses hanging on his nose bridge, and skillfully took out paper and pen from the drawer, asking: “Is it custom-made, ready-made, or just some minor adjustments?”

During this process, the man didn’t even glance at the customers, as decades of tailoring experience had long accustomed him to such an efficient procedure.

“Ready-made, Uncle Hunte.”

“Hmm, then which style would you like? Shirt, suit, or…” The middle-aged man was about to record the client’s requirements when he suddenly realized that the visitor’s form of address was very unique, and he hadn’t heard anyone call him that for nearly ten years.

Due to his overly honest and meticulous nature, Hunte appeared very rigid and unfriendly to the mischievous children on Frans Island. Moreover, because he often disciplined and reprimanded the children’s disrespectful behavior, he was nicknamed “Poker Weirdo,” mocking his seemingly permanently expressionless poker face.

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And those slightly older youths, when coming to the shop to order black suits for attending banquets or traveling inland, would at most call him “Tailor Boss.” As for more intimate greetings, that was unthinkable.

Only one person was different, and that was the fair-complexioned young Howard master.

That little boy who ran wild with soldiers all day, whom even the family servants couldn’t catch up with, seemed to harbor the greatest goodwill toward everyone in this world.

Even for an uninteresting fellow like himself, who was never liked by children, he could always hear that crisp greeting when the little boy ran past the tailor shop.

“Good morning, Uncle Hunte!”

The call seemed to linger in his ears. Hunte raised his head, looking at the young man before him who had greatly changed in appearance. Finding some traces of the past in those somewhat unfamiliar features, he finally squeezed out a genuine smile from his usually expressionless face.

“Are you… Young Master?”

Roy curiously looked at the two who seemed to be old acquaintances reuniting, then was extremely surprised to see a gentle smile on Caine’s face. His ocean-blue eyes were so clear, without a trace of impurity, as if he truly was a young man just starting out. Perhaps this was his real appearance when he let down his guard.

This guy actually looks quite handsome when he smiles.

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Roy thought with a slight smile, but the smile on her face quickly froze because her first mate had completely disregarded her fierce opposition from the early morning and still requested a female-style gown.

“It’s me, Uncle Hunte. I’ve come to pick out a suitable gown for my dance partner. The material doesn’t need to be too good; existing ones will do.”

Hearing the young man confirm his identity, Hunte smiled even more brightly. He looked at the captain beside him whose expression wasn’t very pleasant, and said: “Time really flies. In the blink of an eye, the Young Master is already considering marriage matters. Coincidentally, I have many gowns suitable for this lady’s figure. I’ll go get them for you.”

As Hunte went back behind the curtain to fetch clothes, Roy could no longer hold back, even forgetting the tailor’s misunderstanding words just now. She grabbed Caine’s collar, showing a fierce expression, and said: “Didn’t we agree I wouldn’t wear a dress?”

Caine looked at the face close to him without changing his expression and lowered his voice: “Captain, you should know that a ball personally hosted by a Governor is at least at the imperial court level, with very strict requirements for etiquette and attire. If you wear a men’s suit, I’m afraid you won’t even be able to enter the door.”

“But you clearly said earlier…”

“If I hadn’t said that, would you have been willing to come with me?” Caine changed from his previous friendly manner, having no psychological pressure regarding deceiving the captain.

“You… you…”

“Besides, Captain, I’ve already begged as you asked, and I’ve agreed to all the conditions you impatiently added last night. You can’t renege halfway, otherwise, you’ll have no credibility with me at all.” Caine spoke righteously, forcing back the curse Roy was about to utter.

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Thinking of the shameless conditions she had set for her first mate last night—”captain first, forced selflessness”—Roy reluctantly let go of his hand, her tone much weaker: “I’ll wear it then. This captain isn’t a poor sport. But I warn you, if you… if you dare to choose one of those low-cut ones, I’ll break your nose.”

“Don’t worry, I know where to draw the line.”

After careful selection, Roy and Caine settled on a high-necked pure white gown. Apart from minimal gold striped trim, there were no more embellishments or decorations, nor any overly revealing designs. It was a very common style at Auran Empire court balls.

The reason they chose this gown was actually very simple. Besides being able to complement the captain’s golden hair well, most importantly, the material was thick enough to allow for action-friendly linings and pants underneath, so she wouldn’t be tripped up by this troublesome dress at critical moments.

After paying the discounted price given by the tailor, the two left the shop with the gown and headed toward the only jewelry store in town.

Besides needing a gown to attend a court ball, precious jewelry was also an essential decoration. Although Frans Island wouldn’t have luxury items of sufficient standard, making do was not a problem.

“I say, why did we only buy mine? Aren’t you going to buy a suit for yourself?” Roy glanced at the small wooden box in Caine’s hand, carefully packaged so that one couldn’t tell what was inside, and asked curiously.

“My suit has presumably been prepared long ago.” Caine thought of the Major’s overjoyed expression he had seen when he went to the garrison in the morning and mentioned it casually.

“I see.”

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Knowing the weight of the Howard family in the empire, Roy was no longer surprised by whatever strange things her first mate could procure. Even a double-masted civilian ship could be arranged in a day, let alone just a suit.

The two walked in silence for a while. After hesitating for a long time, Roy finally frowned slightly and said: “It’s not that I deliberately want to deceive you. I was too excited yesterday, so I overlooked some problems. I think… perhaps I shouldn’t participate in this ball after all.”

Caine’s footsteps faltered slightly, but to Roy’s surprise, he didn’t get angry. He just asked puzzledly: “What problems?”

“It’s my identity! I really can’t be sure that wearing a dress will deceive Federo’s eyes. You should know that even the Great Captain admires that old man’s keen intuition.” Roy explained in a low voice, unusually serious.

If this governor known for darkness discovered her identity, that ball would immediately turn into a bloody battlefield for capturing, no, killing a legendary pirate.

“Don’t worry.”

Understanding the captain’s concern, Caine was quite relaxed: “Let alone the Governor, in this world, apart from me, I’m afraid no one else can know your identity.”

“After all, who could imagine that Captain Roy would be a young woman?”