Author: 唇亡齿寒 / Lips Gone, Teeth Cold

Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/

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Chapter 70

“I want to stay and become a pirate.”

After these words, there was silence. The cabin was as quiet as a graveyard. Alois nervously glanced at Darius Bayes, expecting him to fly into a rage and possibly launch an attack on the isolated Dream of a Cold Night. To his surprise, Darius didn’t get angry but instead smiled, calmly interlacing his fingers and resting them on his knee.

“Enough, Alveira,” he said. “There’s a limit to your nonsense.”

“It’s not nonsense…!”

“I will protect you. Come back quickly.” Darius narrowed his eyes. “If you don’t want to see your pirate friends behind bars, you’d better behave. My patience has its limits.”

Alveira clenched her fists, her face alternating between pale and flushed. “I don’t want to!”

“Should I send someone to fetch you, or will your pirate friends bring you back?”

“I said I want to stay!” Alveira exclaimed, waving her hand vehemently. “Who’s the princess here? Are you defying orders, Darius Bayes, Count Darius Bayes?!”

Darius remained unfazed. Only his lips twitched slightly in mild exasperation. “How unlovable. You used to call me ‘Brother Darius’, and now you just use my full name after a few months apart.”

“You…”

“Shall I personally escort you back, Princess?” The Major General deliberately emphasized the last words, practically spitting them out through gritted teeth.

Alveira waved her fist at him and stormed out of the cabin.

Darius was in no rush. He turned to Joanna and said, “I assume you don’t want my men boarding your ship. Please send the Princess back promptly, or I will have to prosecute you for ‘kidnapping royalty’.”

The red-haired pirate woman sighed in exasperation, covering her forehead. “I know, I know. I’ll do it!”

“Hope you keep your word, Joanna Begrel.”

The holographic video disappeared.

Joanna collapsed onto the table, groaning incessantly. Alois could only make out words like “can’t handle”, “failed”, and “Lord have mercy”. He knew well how difficult it was to deal with the Princess. She had always been this way since childhood. Alois had known Princess Alveira since she was fourteen—a tomboy who constantly caused trouble. She was always climbing trees or building forts in the palace gardens, leading small skirmishes with the Royal Guard, using tomatoes as cannonballs. Everyone from secretaries to the Chancellor had been her targets. The Chancellor once declared, “I would never let my grandson marry such a wild girl! Fortunately, I don’t have a grandson!”

Having often assisted the Princess in her “mischief”, Alois had been scolded by the Guard Captain multiple times. So now, seeing Joanna’s headache, he couldn’t help but chuckle as he stood up. “We’re heading back, Captain. Good luck.”

Joshua asked, “The cookies are good. Can we take some back?”

Joanna flicked the cookie plate with her finger. “Take them all. Pavlov isn’t here anyway.”

“Captain, you served dog biscuits to your guests?!”

“Dog biscuits are delicious! If you don’t want them, don’t take them. I wasn’t keen on sharing them in the first place!”

Alveira stood by the ship’s railing. The wall in front of her had turned transparent, reflecting the endless outer space. Behind the ship was a small planet, ninety light-years from the Empire Capital. Its sky was half-daylight, half-night, eternally twilight. This was Leyting, where her loyal subordinates had perished. But it was also where she had met Joanna Begrel. Alveira had never encountered anyone like her. She had heard many legends about this female pirate. When she served the Empire, she was a commendable officer; after betraying the Empire, she became a formidable enemy. She had been a pirate, and after two defections, she abandoned her military career, which could have brought her honor and glory, to become a pirate again. Such a person was indeed strange. Alveira thought, no wonder everyone called her the ‘Mad Queen’.

But meeting Joanna in person, she realized that Joanna wasn’t mad. She was calm, rational, decisive, and courageous. None of the older women Alveira knew were like her. Darius had said his late mother was also very valiant, leading fleets against the invading Federal forces. But he also complained that Marquess Madonna was a stern and harsh mother, never showing her gentle side to anyone. Joanna was different…

“Finally found you.”

The sudden voice behind her startled Alveira. She had just been thinking about Joanna, and here she was!

The transparent wall reflected the tall figure of the female pirate. Her red hair cascaded like a fiery waterfall, burning so brightly in Alveira’s vision it seemed to scorch her retinas. Alveira couldn’t help but close her eyes, speaking softly. “What are you doing here?”

“Came to check on you,” Joanna said. “You left so suddenly, I was really worried.”

Even with her eyes closed, the image of the red-haired woman lingered in the darkness, as if imprinted on her retinas.

“I’m fine,” Alveira said.

“Major General Bayes is right. You should return quickly.” Joanna stood beside her, holding the railing. “Her Majesty and Prince Annot must be worried about you.”

“They’re not…”

A hand gently patted Alveira’s head, ruffling her hair. “Don’t be difficult. This isn’t where you belong. Being a pirate… You’re a princess. You can’t be a pirate.”

Alveira countered, “Then why are you a pirate?”

The hand on her head paused.

“Because being a pirate is free.”

“I want to be free too.”

“A princess isn’t free?”

“Far from it. Always have to watch out for assassination attempts. Everything is monitored. Can’t live how I want. If I had a choice, I’d never be a princess.”

“But you, though not free, can make life better for many as a princess. That’s a great job.”

Alveira stared at the pirate woman. “You were a soldier. Defending the country was your duty. Why did you defect?”

“Because I realized that life wasn’t as good as I imagined. If one day you find that being a pirate isn’t as great as you think, you’ll run away too.”

“Being a princess isn’t as good as you think either,” Alveira retorted. “You’re guessing my life based on your assumptions. Ever think what you’d do in my place?” She moved away from the pirate’s hand.

Joanna’s hand hung in the air for a moment before slowly retracting. “You’re right. I have no right to judge you.” She looked back at the stars. “But I still think it’s best if you return to your family.” She paused. “I have no family left. It took me a long time to gather my current companions and have a small place to call home. I have to return to them too.”

“Don’t you see them as chains that bind you?”

Joanna smiled faintly. “Quite the opposite. They’re the Ariadne’s thread guiding me, so I don’t lose my way.”

She turned to leave. “Go back.”

This time, Alveira didn’t immediately refuse.

“When Major General Bayes’s fleet arrives at Leyting, I’ll personally take you back. I won’t let the Duke or anyone else harm you.” She walked away from the railing. “Go back.”

Alveira continued staring into the black void of space. Joanna’s reflection had disappeared from the mirrored wall, but the red image still lingered in her eyes.

She raised her hand, staring at her pale palm. In ancient Earth myths, Princess Ariadne gave the hero Theseus a thread to help him find his way in Minos’s labyrinth.

Did she have such a thread in her hand too?

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