The Cursed Prince

"What kind of work do you do by the way?" Emmelyn asked the woman just to start a conversation. After being alone for so long, she actually started to miss the human connection.

Her conversation with Elora, the innkeeper, or other people she met with in passing to look for information was not enough. She also couldn't talk to herself because people would think she was crazy.

Seeing how bold this woman was, traveling and eating by herself without trying to disguise her appearance, her tanned healthy skin, and her carefree attitude, Emmelyn was interested in knowing the woman better. 

"My work?" The woman looked up from her pork rib and smiled in amusement. "It is not for the faint-hearted."

"Try me," said Emmelyn, getting more interested. At that moment, Mary came with a tray of food and started serving them to her. Emmelyn mouthed her thank you and took her bread and started munching. "I think my heart is strong enough."

"Very well..." the woman crossed her arms on her chest and looked at Emmelyn seriously. "I am a pirate."

Emmelyn thought the woman must be joking. She had never heard of any female pirates before. It was a very violent profession that didn't suit women and pirates even consider having women on their ships as bad luck.

"You think I am lying?" the woman raised an eyebrow when she saw Emmelyn's flat reaction. Other people would gush in surprise or look terrified, but this person before her didn't show any such reaction? "Or, do you think I'm joking?"

Emmelyn didn't understand why this woman seemed so adamant about claiming to be a pirate. Of course, she thought the woman was joking for obvious reasons.

"I do, yeah. I think you are joking." Emmelyn chuckled. "I have never heard of female pirates. They don't exist. Pirates think having women onboard their ship is bad luck."

"Not if the woman is their boss' daughter," said the woman with a smirk. "Every rule has an exception."

Her words made Emmelyn gasp. She looked at the woman intently and suddenly something in her mind told her that the woman was telling the truth.

"So... are you really a pirate boss' daughter?" She was very interested in knowing the answer. It would make sense if the woman before her was a pirate because her father was a pirate lord. She looked so confident and tough.

"I am," said the woman smugly. "My name is Kira Grim. My father rules the seven seas. How do you think those fools around us don't bother to disturb me?"

Emmelyn held her breath in shock. She looked at the woman with mixed emotions. She remembered the name Grim too well. It was the group of pirates who attacked the merchant ship where Regan, her teacher's son, worked and took him captive.

That was why Emmelyn's teacher left her in Atlantea so he could free his son from the pirates' captivity. And now, suddenly Emmelyn met with one of the pirates herself?

"So, you are part of the Grim Raiders?" After Emmelyn found her voice, she asked Kira with an urgent tone. She needed to know what happened to her teacher and his son.

Were they still alive? Were they killed by those lowly pirates????

"That, I am," said Kira with a smirk. "So, you've heard of us."

"I have," Emmelyn couldn't help but look at Kira with hatred. "You have done many crimes."

"That, we have," Kira didn't seem to mind that Emmelyn basically called her a criminal. "It's what we do. In case you don't understand what pirate is."

"Three years ago... you attacked a merchant ship in Genoa bay..." Emmelyn clenched her jaws, holding back herself from lashing out her anger. "You captured someone I know."

Kira only shrugged. "We captured and sold many people. I wouldn't remember each and every one of them."

Her nonchalance really got on Emmelyn's nerve. She no longer had an appetite to eat. If she followed her heart, she would have got up from her chair and punched the arrogant woman with her fist.

However, she knew she must hold back and got Kira to talk if she wanted to find out what happened to Regan and his father.

"What do you usually do to your captive?" Emmelyn asked her politely. "You said you sold them. Where? For how much? Is there a way for me to buy them back from you?"

Kira poured wine into her cup and sipped it slowly. "Well, we usually sell them to faraway lands where people open plantations and need workers. Sometimes they work in merchant ships or whale hunting operations. To be completely honest with you, once they are sold, it's close to impossible to buy them back. So, my advice to you is... just let them go."

"That's... cold." Emmelyn couldn't believe a human being could act this evil toward her fellow humans. She looked at Kira with contempt. "I hope someday your family will be captured and sold and someone will tell you to just let them go."

Kira was the definition of evil, Emmelyn thought to herself. She thought Ellena was the worst woman she had ever met, but apparently, she was nothing compared to Kira. She could easily talk about human trafficking without batting an eye.

"You are taking this personally," said Kira nonchalantly. "I understand though. Someone you know fell victim to us. Otherwise, I don't think you will give a damn."

Emmelyn looked at Kira intently. Yes, Kira's nonchalance infuriated her, but somehow, meeting her in Atlantea made Emmelyn feel that her bad luck was starting to change.

This was where everything started. She was cursed in Atlantea and it started when her teacher's son was captured by the pirates.

Today, as soon as she landed back in Atlantea, she met with the very pirate who was involved in the attack? Wasn't this a sign from the universe that Emmelyn was back where she belonged?

She was thinking of her old teacher who was leaving in distraught three years ago, trying to save his dearly beloved son. Even if he was now dead... Emmelyn would still try to get revenge on his behalf.

She would find a way to make Kira pay.