Captain – Chapter 286 – When Will You Marry?

Simple but not crude dishes were brought one by one into the dining room, placed before the four people seated around the long table. Whether in serving etiquette or dining atmosphere, there was no difference from an ordinary noble family—somewhat rigid and dull.

Roy was naturally uncomfortable with this.

But considering the status of the three people beside her, the young woman didn’t act on her own accord or behave unreasonably as she had in the past. Instead, she quietly and obediently lowered her head, occasionally putting some food in her mouth, looking like a wolf in sheep’s clothing, or perhaps more aptly, a “lady.”

Without much thought, this was certainly an act.

Not only Caine, who understood her extremely well, and Federo, who had witnessed her terrible temperament before, but even Governor Naren, who had not met her for long and hadn’t had much interaction with her due to various incidents, all thought the same.

Being a pirate, and moreover one who could become a captain and command respect, she naturally couldn’t be like those noble young ladies who knew and observed proper etiquette. She was more accustomed to speaking with knives, guns, and fists.

The reason she acted this way now, even responding with friendly smiles to the elders’ gazes, must be because she had something to hide.

Roy indeed had something to hide.

However, it wasn’t tugging at the captain’s heartstrings or whispering some guilty matter in her ear. Instead, it kept urging the servants to serve faster, to end this dinner that made her feel like sitting on pins and needles.

This feeling of unease came from the old man who occasionally narrowed his eyes, sizing her up with an ambiguous expression.

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The former Governor, Federo, had now become a leisurely Duke, no longer concerned with political affairs but managing the Garcia family matters instead.

Because the old man had once been extremely busy, controlling the empire’s intelligence network and planning various major events in the shadows, his vision and methods far surpassed ordinary family heads. Various decisions, including inheritance, might give others headaches and anxiety, but posed no difficulty for him.

This created a problem: after resolving family matters with swift decisiveness, the old man had little to do—to put it plainly, he was bored.

The captain didn’t know the old man’s arrangements or experiences during this time, but she could clearly capture the emotion that flashed in Federo’s eyes when he saw her.

That emotion wasn’t hard to interpret—like an old cat seeing a little mouse, picking up some rare interest.

Roy’s awareness of the old man’s thoughts was partly due to her keen observation skills, but another reason was that she had experienced this cat-and-mouse emotion in many places before—like the Great Captain, like Red Beard, and also… that devil.

No matter how powerful or even great a person was, there would be times of boredom, and when bored, one naturally sought entertainment. This principle applied to anyone.

When the Great Captain was bored, he would train her like a little dog, making her sniff various spices day and night to identify the Black Raven Society’s “rats.”

When Red Beard was bored, he would throw her into the sea to learn swimming, floating beside her watching her occasionally choke on water while laughing loudly, saying it was shameful for a pirate to be a landlubber. Eventually, she learned to swim and now had good swimming skills.

As for that devil… better left unsaid.

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Thinking of that pirate ancestor’s temperament, even worse than her own, Roy couldn’t help but shudder, not wanting to dwell on it further.

All of these were her “unsightly” past, solid evidence of those old fellows using her for entertainment when they were bored.

Federo was Caine’s elder and Naren’s close friend, so he naturally cared about the Howard family’s affairs. The more serious problem was that when they met on Frans Island half a year ago, she hadn’t shown him any respect, and could even be said to have been quite discourteous.

Now that he was bored, what sort of entertainment would he find with her?

Roy dared not even imagine.

It was for this reason that she pretended to be this way, aiming to appear weak so the old man wouldn’t mind past unpleasantness, hoping to slip by unnoticed, however…

Once at the dining table, how could there be any talk of escape?

“I heard… you two got engaged in Elvet?”

The moment Federo’s voice sounded, the knife and fork in the captain’s hand trembled involuntarily, almost falling onto the pure white tablecloth.

Carefully raising her eyes to find the old man’s emerald eyes staring directly at her, Roy’s last glimmer of hope in her heart completely dissipated.

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It still came…

Secretly sighing, the young woman put her cutlery aside, picked up her napkin to gently wipe her mouth, put on a friendly expression, and responded: “Yes, Grandfather Federo, but we didn’t get to exchange engagement rings before being interrupted. Technically speaking, it wasn’t completed.”

The captain addressed the old man like Caine did, naturally drawing their relationship closer.

Hearing the captain’s manner of address and perceiving the enormous difference between the young woman before him and that unreasonable pirate from before, a flash of amusement passed through Federo’s eyes, but he was also somewhat satisfied. He continued asking: “Since it wasn’t completed, it should be made up for.”

Understanding the old man’s meaning and feeling Naren’s gaze upon her, Roy maintained a calm expression without the awkwardness of having her little scheme seen through, not showing even the slightest unnaturalness.

She glanced at the young man still drinking wine beside her and smiled: “Of course, we will complete the engagement ceremony before leaving Auran. After all, this is my promise to Caine, and also to Uncle Naren.”

“However… we’ve already had one sufficiently solemn ceremony. Let us complete the next part ourselves. Moreover, now that the storm has subsided and Auran has initially stabilized, I imagine Uncle Naren will have many matters to handle. Family affairs are ultimately not as important as state affairs, right?”

Feeling the young woman’s questioning gaze, Naren nodded gently in agreement.

He had already attended that ceremony and witnessed the couple’s feelings, so naturally didn’t need further expression. Besides, what the young woman said was indeed correct—now that major matters had concluded but the situation wasn’t yet stable, as the empire’s only current governor, he certainly had countless affairs to handle.

Like the young prince’s letter, which had arrived in the morning.

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Curtis hadn’t concealed anything from his grandfather’s assistant.

The reason he could persuade the Marshal, the news that the Emperor would abdicate soon, as well as his vision and arrangements, were all briefly explained in the letter. At the end, he earnestly requested Naren to return to the imperial capital to attend a ceremony—as for what ceremony…

Naturally, the coronation.

After reading the letter’s contents and understanding the general course of events, Caine could say that Naren and Federo thought that young prince was promising, and he naturally felt the same, so he could leave with peace of mind.

Catching a glimpse of Federo also nodding slightly with a satisfied expression, Roy thought she had managed to muddle through, secretly breathing a sigh of relief.

She hadn’t mentioned the method she would adopt to complete the engagement ceremony—simply having the ship’s priest witness and exchange rings would suffice.

Feeling her response was absolutely perfect, the captain couldn’t help but feel somewhat smug. However, her smugness didn’t last long before being extinguished by the old man’s cold-water question.

Federo tapped his finger on the crystal glass he was holding, causing the wine inside to ripple slightly. He asked in a gentle voice: “Doing as you said would resolve the engagement. But have you two thought about…”

“When will you actually marry?”