Chapter 97: Fall Out

Shina removed the hood of her dark coat in front of other people for the first time. Her silvery white hair that was smooth as silk was easily recognized. Her alluring sapphire eyes also was one of a kind. Even though these pirates weren’t privy to the latest information about the empire, her unmistakable features confirmed that she was indeed the princess of Olcour.

The twins came back up after inspecting the interior of the ship.

“There are no damages, guys. How is…”

Rico’s jaws dropped when he saw what everyone was looking at.

Finch’s usually laid back expression turned serious all of a sudden. He and Nozomi looked at each other.

Then they returned their gaze to the princess.

“You are Shina Venilon,” Finch uttered.

Shina nodded.

“So that’s why you were always hiding your face…” Nozomi mumbled to herself.

Suddenly, Nozomi’s face darkened. Shina saw her grip the hilt of her sword.

“What is your goal?” the hirazan swordsman asked.

Sensing a hint of danger coming from Nozomi, Shina instinctively took a step backward.

“I only want to reach Sekhtar,” she answered.

Finch and the others could only watch as Nozomi stepped forward, slightly pulling her blade out of its scabbard.

“Is that so? And why, exactly?” Nozomi questioned.

“The princess of Olcour is going to the land of demons with us as your escorts. How can we be sure that there isn’t a trap — that there won’t be imperial marines waiting for us ahead to arrest us?”

A drop of sweat rolled down Shina’s face as she rummaged her head for a response.

“I swear, it’s not like that,” she said.

Nozomi stopped when there was no longer a space for Shina to back up to.

“Then tell us what’s going on,” Nozomi demanded.

Silence filled the air, with only the splashing of the waves against the hull could be heard.

They waited for Shina’s response, but she didn’t speak.

Nozomi firmly asked:

“Why would someone like you commission a crew of pirates to escort you to Sekhtar?”

Shina swallowed and then said:

“I already told you, there’s someone I need to save…”

Nozomi pointed the tip of her blade to Shina’s neck.

“I smell bullshit. You are the princess of the most powerful empire in the world. Why not just send your troops to Sekhtar to save this person? Why would you, a princess, sail these deadly oceans, even going as far as hiding your real identity for one person?”

Shina warily stared at the tip of Nozomi’s blade. Even though she stood calm, she was ready for anything unpredictable that the hirazan swordsman might do.

After a brief silence, the princess responded.

“Nozomi, I need you to trust me. I really have no intention of sabotaging you guys.”

The swordsman, as well as the rest of the crew stared at her with suspicion.

She continued.

“Once we reach Sekhtar, you can just leave me behind.”

Nozomi glared at her.

“That’s not the issue here, princess,” she said with an intense raspy voice.

“No matter how we look at it, something is off here. Until you explain to us the situation in full, we’d have no choice but to turn around and return you to Olcour.”

Shina’s eyes opened wide, her blood running cold.

“Please, don’t,” she uttered.

“Then tell us what the hell is going on!!!” Nozomi yelled.

The two intently stared at each other. While Shina displayed pain and a hint of fear, Nozomi was visibly hurt.

“Over these past few days, I saw you as a friend,” the swordsman said.

“I normally don’t feel attachments to any of our clients, but somehow, I saw this gentle kindness in you that made me think I could trust you.”

Shina frowned.

“You can trust me, Nozomi.”

They looked at each other in silence before the swordsman spoke.

“I can’t. Been betrayed way too many times. You’re gonna have to talk first.”

Shina saw in Nozomi’s eyes that there really was no way that she would put her blind faith in her.

“Well?” Nozomi urged.

If it really was just up to her, Shina would have told them the truth already.

Dheinyrus kept this secret his whole life and had trusted her enough to share it. Shina didn’t know what he would feel if he found out that she revealed his powerlessness just like that.

The last thing Shina wanted Dheinyrus to think was that she betrayed him. Exposing his deepest secret felt so wrong that Shina would just rather swim all the way to Sekhtar than reveal it to another person without his permission.

Seeing as the princess wasn’t planning on explaining, Nozomi’s intense expression shifted into a cold, unreadable one.

She lowered her sword and put it back to its scabbard.

“I see,” Nozomi said before turning around to look at Finch.

“Captain, let’s turn around and go back.”

Finch looked at her with a saddened expression but he knew what he had to do.

Shina looked at the others pleadingly, hoping that just one of them would say otherwise. But of course, as a crew, they had to think about what was the best for them.

Finch loudly said:

“We will turn the ship around. Franco and Rico, tend to the sails.”

As everyone began to move and Finch went up to the steering wheel, Shina was starting to lose hope.

“No, please don’t do this!”

Nozomi turned her back on her and was walking away. She stopped for a second and said to her:

“We have no choice, Shado—” she paused.

“…princess. We need to prioritize our own safety. Once we get you back to the port, we will return your money.”

Then, she walked away, leaving Shina in distress.

The others avoided eye contact with her as they did their jobs. And as time passed, they felt the ship turning slowly to the angle of the sails.

’But Dheinyrus is… I can’t be delayed any longer!’

She looked at Remi who was confused before spreading her gaze around the ship.

’I need to reach Sekhtar no matter what.’

Shina took a deep breath. When she saw that no one was watching her, she executed her plan.

She summoned one blade from her right forearm and jumped off the edge of the ship. Before she could fall into the water, she grabbed the edge with one hand.

“Hey! What are you doing?!” Finch screamed after seeing her.

“The princess is trying to jump off!”

“What?!”

The entire crew stopped what they were doing and watched what Shina was about to do next.

Using her blade, she cut the ropes that tied the small boat to the side of the ship. As the boat fell to the water, Shina followed and landed on the smaller boat.

By the time she had done this, the ship had already completely turned to the opposite direction.

Remi flew to her and they watched as the pirate ship drew farther and farther from them, back to where they came from.

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