Chapter 77 Finalize The Decision, Waking Up

"Okay, I will accept you into my crew. But what are you going to do with your Captain? I doubt that he will let you go that easily".

'This is it?' Annabelle thought cheerfully.

"You don't need to worry about my Captain, Prince Wyatt. I am sure that he will be very supportive of me since he isn't the type to do anything that would stunt my growth" She replied.

Prince Wyatt slumped back on his chair "Are you sure? Because he doesn't look like the type to let go of something just for the sake of it".

Annabelle nodded her head assuring "I am very sure. I am even spoken with him about this and he had agreed. The only thing that needs to be done is for the two of you to shake hands and give your consent on the decision".

"Okay. I will talk with Captain Crimson eye whenever I see him to finalize the decision. Just inform him that I will meet with him tomorrow to talk with him, together with my decision on the contract".

"Contract" The words slipped out of her mouth. The excitement and sense of accomplishment died away from her face with a noticeable frown overshadowing it.

There was something that she doesn't yet know of, isn't it?

Her mind wanted to know more as curiosity grip her, but she refused. She knew better than to ask unnecessary questions that would lead her to nowhere but hours of restless thinking.

Besides, it's her Captain, so she would rather refrain from doing so since he would have told her if he wanted her to know about it.

"Alright, I will take my leave and prepare myself for tomorrow," Annabelle said as she stood up and walked to the door. Her legs moved hastily as she left the room closing the door with a resounding 'click'.

The room went still. The negotiable atmosphere that was there before was suddenly, immediately replaced with a grim atmosphere.

"Do you believe everything she said?" Prince Wyatt asked, still staring at the door, wondering if all this is some kind of game or plot or if it truly is real with no backed-up ambitions behind it.

"I don't know Captain. It's hard to tell from only this" Mad John replied.

"Mages are special because of their monstrous amount of mana. But, that only means that they need special training to properly utilize their powers. However, those who cannot be admitted into a mage tower are left to find teachers for themselves to guide them"

"So that means that everything she said right now is the truth and she means no harm".

"As I said before Captain, I am not sure if she has malicious intentions or not. The same explanation I have just said can also be the same for other groups of ascendants but finding someone to be your teacher as a Pirate is rare and almost impossible if you don't have something to pay up in return. This deal might have been a steal for her if we look at it this way. So there is a possibility that she is only making use of this once-in-a-lifetime possibility".

"Hmmm….."

Suspicion. Belief. Uncertainty. His mind was restless as he tried to come up with the conclusion for today's meeting. Whether miss Annabelle was a threat to him or not.

He sighed "Let's just leave it at that. Besides, I am not against a beauty joining our crew as we need some kind of colour in this grumpy ship" He added.

"Cough!! Cough!!" Mad John scratched his head with an embarrassed look on his face "If we look at it that way Captain, then this might not be a good idea".

"Why?" Prince Wyatt asked curiously, transitioning the stillness in the air to a much jovial one.

"Their nights -the crewmen might become more restless"

"Restless" Prince Wyatt repeated with a confused look. His head perked up as he tried to understand Mad John's words.

"I can hear several obscure sounds coming out from their rooms, and when I looked to see what was going on…." Mad John shivered as he remembered the sight of several men standing in a circle as they beat their meat to the air.

'If care is not taken' He shivered once more thinking about the possibility

"If their urges are not taken care of, then we might not need to worry about bringing in a woman onboard again".

Prince Wyatt blinked. His gaze widened as understanding filled his eyes.

"Oh no" His hand snapped, grabbing Mad John's arms tightly "Don't tell me...."

Seeing that his Captain has finally understood, Mad John said "Fortunately, it hasn't yet come to that, there is still time to save them".

Prince Wyatt's racing heartbeat pulled down the brakes. His breathing slowly became normal as his shoulders fell relaxed, and gratified.

"Thank goodness" He muttered.

"That means, we will need to find to find a suitable brothel when we arrive at this Vrymath Kingdom" He added.

"Yes, exactly what I wanted to propose" Mad John nodded his head in agreement.

"Alright then, it is settled. Once we reach land, the first task would be to locate a brothel" Although he doubted that it would be easy to find one in a frozen wasteland, it didn't matter as long as it wasn't an impossibility.

"Besides, I promise to make their lives several times better, so we might as well start here"

Mad John nodded his head in understanding "Do you have any plans today?" He asked.

"Yes," Prince Wyatt stood up, arranged his coat, and walked towards the door.

"Which is?"

"I am going to be checking Knight Camille's for anything valuable. She is dead now, so there is no need to waste them" He elaborated.

"Do you know any help?" Mad John asked, also walking towards the door.

"No, don't worry. I can do it myself" Prince Wyatt answered "What you can do for me now is take care of the ship. We don't want it falling apart before repairs or before we reach our destination".

"Okay, Captain. I wil…"

"CLICK!!"

The resounding noise interrupted his voice, causing his shoulders to drop in defeat.

His Captain has changed. His change has been more great and complex than he had imagined.

"Click!!" The door was opened once more as he stepped out of the room.

If he hadn't met him before, he would think that this has always been his character. He wouldn't even know that this was someone who had permanently lost all of his memories.

"Click" The door closed lightly behind him as he walked away.

Thankfully, this type of change didn't spell their doom so there was no need to overthink it.

…...

She opened her mouth. Her lips halted, previously wanting to utter words of protest and forgiveness, however, she immediately realized that she wasn't in any danger.

"Ah---- Where am I?" She muttered, breathing in the fresh morning air before her lips closed.

Something was off! Where was she?

Whose room was this? And what the hell was that smell?

Regardless, she sat up on the bed and decided to look for answers, keeping her lips closed even though her mind protested against her decision.

"You are awake"

The world around her froze.

Snapping her head toward the direction of the voice, with a weak and threatening tone laced into her words, she said "Who are you? Where am I?"

"Shhh---- You don't need to worry yourself too much with such questions. You know, I assumed that you would wake up by midnight, but it seems to have taken much longer than that".

His voice was smooth and calm, reassuring her that there was no danger and she could rest and calm down her mind in peace. Yet….

"Whoosh!!" She tossed the sheets around her, out, and ran towards the door.

"Bang!" The door was locked.

"Bang!! Bang!!!" She struggled, again and again, nonetheless, her efforts for freedom were futile. She wanted to scream, yet, the idea that she might have been kidnapped mellowed into her thoughts and subdued her words before she could utter them.

She didn't want to draw any other attention during her escape. She would rather not draw any more attention as she knew and understood how powerless she was if this was kidnapping.

"Your reaction is as noisy as I had expected" She heard his voice again.

Turning around in a haste, she looked in the direction she had entrapped him with the bed sheets.

There was no one there!

"If you wanted to see the morning sun, all you had to do was ask"

Beside her!!

She was met with the figure of the same man she attempted to flee from.

"How?...…. Ascendant" She uttered cautiously. All she needed was a second to understand what kind of opponent she was dealing with.

She dashed back to the bed, her eyes scrawling desperate as they search for something.

There were no windows.

"Damn it" She cursed under her breath.

"Knowing who I was dealing with, I made sure to put you in a room with no windows while also making sure the doors have a functioning lock" The man said, walking towards her, calmly.

Seeing that any escape route she could think of currently was sealed shut, she asked "Who are you?"

The man smiled, his voice bellowing into a series of laughter.

"Lady Clara" His words made her flinch.

He knows who she was!

"Why don't you guess?"