Captain – Chapter 58 – A Heavy Choice

“A person of Auran? No, Governor, I think you misunderstand. As far as I can remember, I’ve always been on a swaying pirate ship.”

Roy blinked her eyes, refusing to follow the old man’s lead, simply explaining with a smile.

“Captain, you can deny the fact that you were born and raised in Auran, but you cannot erase the traces left from twelve years of living on imperial soil.”

Federo gently shook his head, looking at Roy whose smile was gradually fading: “Do you know why I was able to recognize you?”

Not expecting him to suddenly bring up this unrelated topic, Roy was silent for a moment, then asked: “Because I killed Scorpion Lion with my bare hands, or perhaps because I eliminated several Black Raven Society assassins?”

“Yes, your astounding fighting prowess certainly confirmed my suspicions, but what first made me suspect you was your eyes.”

Federo gazed at those dark golden pupils, nostalgia for the past rising in his own eyes: “You may think the Andersen name is foolproof because people from that family also possess eye colors similar to yours, but in fact, your eye colors still have subtle differences.”

Roy put the wine glass back on the wooden table, then folded her arms and leaned back in her chair: “Don’t tell me that just from such a small difference, you can confirm I’m not from the Andersen family.”

“I’m not an ethnologist, so of course I can’t determine your identity solely based on this. The real reason is that many years ago, I had already seen those eyes of yours.” Federo gently stroked the black gemstone ring on his hand, looking at the young woman with incredibly complex emotions.

“Oh? We’ve met before?” Roy was slightly taken aback. She was certain she had never dealt with this old man, and hadn’t even seen a portrait of the Governor before the ball.

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“Yes. At that time, I was leading the Empire’s elite forces, following your father’s footsteps to Auran’s western coastline. There, we saw departing warships and a woman holding you.”

Federo recalled that scene and sighed deeply: “Your father was a remarkable man. Before being certain of eliminating him, the Empire was unwilling to harm his family. So I merely looked at the child in the woman’s arms—and it was then that I remembered your eyes.”

“Well, your memory is quite impressive.” Roy unconsciously ignored the old man’s praise for that dead man, smiling in agreement as if the story he told had nothing to do with her.

“My memory was famously good in the Empire when I was young. Now that I’m old, I even doubted whether I had remembered correctly when I saw you. But now it seems my deduction wasn’t far off.”

Federo calmly accepted the young woman’s flattery, then brought the topic back: “So what exactly is your reason for being hostile toward the Empire? Is it because of your father?”

“It has nothing to do with that dead man. It’s just that, you understand, after my mother passed away, my life in Auran wasn’t very good. Every day gnawing on black bread harder than tree bark, sometimes eating, sometimes going hungry. To expect me to feel a sense of belonging to Auran would be pure fantasy.”

At this point, Roy’s tone became light again, as if that period had never left any deep, lasting pain on her: “But I don’t really hate Auran either. After all, in such a large empire, there must be people at the bottom who worry about survival day and night. It’s just that your military wanted to cut off my source of income at sea, and I didn’t want to surrender without a fight.”

“Alright, let’s end the topic about me here. I think Governor, you should be more concerned about my first mate’s situation, and…”

Roy looked at the old man with a meaningful gaze: “Those truths I learned in the Black Raven Society.”

Hearing this, Federo’s face showed no gravity. Instead, he revealed an unpleasant smile: “Oh? What truths did you learn?”

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“Many.”

Mentioning this topic, Roy immediately sat up straight, and even her gaze brightened considerably. In her view, these secrets could all serve as negotiating chips to gain as much benefit for herself as possible.

“For instance, Caine’s true identity. I didn’t hear the announcement clearly before entering the ball hall, but now I know his background is greater than I imagined. You see, I saved such an important figure for your Empire—doesn’t that deserve some compensation?”

Hearing Roy trying to use this for extortion, Federo narrowed his eyes at her: “Very well. As long as you persuade him to stay and return all the Auran royal property you’ve plundered at sea, the Empire can promise not to trouble you and give you a generous reward.”

Hearing these thankless conditions, Roy smiled awkwardly without responding. Never mind whether she still had those properties or not—even if she did, how could anything that had entered the captain’s pocket possibly be returned?

“Let’s forget that then. Moving on—the Black Raven Society executioner codenamed Mountain Demon was from the military, wasn’t he?”

Seemingly having already anticipated the young woman would bring this up, Federo nodded slightly: “It seems that boy still failed?”

If he hadn’t been so irritating, perhaps he would have succeeded.

Roy silently criticized, though outwardly she maintained a polite smile: “Yes, he took poison and committed suicide after his identity was exposed. But that’s not the main point. The main point is the fire twelve years ago—it was orchestrated by him, wasn’t it, Governor?”

The smile on Federo’s lips finally disappeared. His emerald green eyes flickered slightly, as if brewing a storm: “Yes, but so what?”

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“Nothing, just that someone told me the person standing behind that spy at the time was you.” Roy was not at all intimidated by the terrifying aura emanating from the old man, countering sharply.

The study suddenly fell into silence, with only the sound of rain outside continuing to disturb and irritate.

After an unknown length of time, the old man broke the stillness. He returned to his usual coolness, asking only one word: “Who?”

“Duke Darren, Viper among the eight executioners of the Black Raven Society, and also the mastermind who planned this assassination.”

Upon hearing this name, the old man fell into a long silence. The flame in his eyes that seemed capable of burning everything somehow extinguished silently, as if in that moment, he understood many things.

Roy didn’t notice the Governor’s change. She just squinted her eyes like a little fox whose scheme had succeeded: “Governor, besides this, Duke Darren also told me all about your objective—the kind of thought that would lead to the gallows. Don’t you think…”

Before the words “hush money” could leave her mouth, Federo interrupted her: “Do you think I’m being unreasonable?”

“Uh…” Roy barely managed to swallow those three words, somewhat dejected as she nodded. She really didn’t understand why these important figures always liked to interrupt others and often used rhetorical questions.

“Indeed, I personally planned that fire, personally watched as familiar butlers and servants perished in the flames, watched that mother and daughter cry in despair, plunging Naren and Caine into endless grief and hatred, but…”

Federo looked at the captain with an almost indifferent gaze: “I don’t regret doing it.”

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“Even if Caine might hate you for a lifetime?” Roy recovered from her disappointment over the failed extortion, her eyes showing several traces of curiosity.

“Yes, Captain. You must understand, living in hatred is still living—it’s better than never seeing tomorrow’s sun again.”

The Governor’s tone suddenly became much lower: “Even if I hadn’t acted, with the Black Raven Society’s determination and ability, do you think they could have survived? No, that would only have made the outcome more tragic. What I did was simply choose between that mother-daughter pair and Caine, that little lion. Nothing more.”

Only then did Roy realize that even if Federo hadn’t driven this event, there would have been a second Mountain Demon, and in the end perhaps no one would have been fortunate enough to survive. Viewed this way, his choice could indeed be called decisive and correct.

But the problem was that the father and son could not possibly forgive him for this. So if they knew the truth, things would only develop as Duke Darren had said.

“What else did Darren tell you? Did he want you to reveal this fact, then shake the Empire’s foundation, while also causing Caine and me to become enemies, so he would firmly decide to leave with you?”

The old man took a nearby teapot and filled his cup with tea. The rising steam created a barrier between the two, making that aged face somewhat blurry.

Roy looked at the old man through the white mist, unable to see his expression clearly, yet somehow feeling that in this instant, he had aged considerably—to the extent that even the cold and imposing aura around him had faded.

Just like he had truly become an ordinary old man.