The Cursed Prince

  "I am not like you," Emmelyn said flatly. "I value people who are close to me and I will never let them go if I can do something about it. Tell me... what is your price?"

"My price?" Kira looked at Emmelyn with an amused expression. "What makes you think you can buy me?"

"Because I know everyone's got a price," Emmelyn replied. "If I want to get my friend back, what is the price you ask? I know you can find out what happened to him if you are really the boss's daughter. Unless you are lying about it."

"Hmm... I don't know what I should charge you," Kira chuckled. "I have all the money I would ever need in this lifetime."

"There must be something you want," said Emmelyn again. "I know everyone desires something in their life. You are no exception."

"Even if I do, I don't think you can make it happen," Kira replied. 

"Try me." Emmelyn looked at Kira with a challenging expression. She crossed her arms on her chest to show her seriousness.

If there was anything she learned from her experience in Draec, it was what Mars told her that everyone's got a price, even if they were a crown prince of a big empire... they would still need or want something.

"Well... okay, if you insist," said Kira who seemed amused by Emmelyn's persistence. She smiled broadly and tapped her slender fingers on the table. "I want to experience falling in love. If you can give me that, I will find ways to bring your friend back."

Emmelyn almost spouted her wine when she heard Kira's unexpected request. The pirate lord's daughter's life must be so boring that she wanted to experience how it was like to fall in love, she thought.

"That's it?" she asked Kira in disbelief. This seemed easy. "You just want to fall in love? What kind of man are you interested in?"

"If it's so easy don't you think I would have had it by now?" Kira asked Emmelyn in annoyance. "Obviously I am not interested in an ugly man like yourself."

Emmelyn realized she did look ugly with the huge 'birthmark' she put on her face. So, she was not surprised that Kira looked down on her.

"You sound so superficial," Emmelyn retorted back. "Well, this ugly man is not interested in you either. Don't be so full of yourself."

Kira chuckled when she heard Emmelyn's words. "I just have high standards. Is that so wrong?"

"Fine. So, you are into handsome men?" Emmelyn decided to just follow along. "I know a few."

That's right. She had met so many handsome men over the years. If she could make them seduce Kira and got her to fall in love with them, there was hope that she could find Regan and her teacher.

"But I won't fall for just a pretty face," said Kira smugly. "The man also has to be stronger than me."

Her words sounded really arrogant in Emmelyn's ears. She thought this woman truly thought so highly about herself.

Emmelyn could fight and beat average men or thugs who were harassing her, but she could definitely find many men who were stronger than her.

Even Gewen who looked so well cared for and people would think he had never used a sword in his life was actually a tough general.

He only looked weak, but Emmelyn had sparred with him in the past and, if he wanted, Gewen could easily beat her up.

Who else? Edgar was another handsome man who was definitely much stronger and more valiant than many, many men out there. Surely, it was not hard to find men who could meet Kira's standards. Handsome and strong.

But, would they want a woman like her? Her background was violent and shady, she also didn't seem to be the type of woman that men, in general, would want as a wife. She was not timid and obedient. Just look at the way she carried herself.

"What? Do you think I am not that strong?" Kira chuckled.

She looked offended that Emmelyn seemed to look down on her. Before Emmelyn could say anything, Kira suddenly stood up and took out a sword from the table. She waved it and shouted at the other patrons in the diner.

"Aye! Anyone who could beat me in a fight will have a chance to sleep with me tonight. Any takers?"

Emmelyn spouted her wine when she heard Kira's blunt words. This woman was really bold, she thought. She cast her glance around them to see who would take the offer.

Surely, it was not that difficult to beat Kira in a fight, wasn't it? She was a woman, quite beautiful, and had a slender physique. She was not a scary giantess who could break a man in two with her bare hands.

Emmelyn heard about a tribe of giants in the deep jungle of Blanzona, far away in the other end of Atlantea. They had such women and she was sure those were hard to beat.

However, Kira was not them. She was a normal woman who was probably trained in fighting from a young age, but that didn't make her much stronger than most men.

Right?

Well, Emmelyn thought wrong!

Many men in the diner seemed to know who Kira was, because they whispered among each other and secretly tilted their chins at the tattoo in her right arm, while she was waving her sword to get their attention.

Their gesture made Emmelyn notice that tattoo and realized it looked quite scary. Along her right arm was the tattoo of a snake, wrapping her arm from her shoulder down to her wrist.

If she had made a name for herself in combats, most warriors or knights for hire would know who she was from that tattoo.

So, judging from their reaction, Emmelyn could assume that Kira was famous. Maybe it was not solely because of her status as the pirate lord's daughter?

This made her respect grow for that woman. So.. maybe Kira was really as formidable as she claimed to be?

This was so interesting.

Emmelyn was lucky because she was about to watch a really good show. Even though most male patrons of the diner seemed to know who Kira was and respected her enough not to mess with her, a few didn't.

Around six men at one table got up from their seats and walked toward her with a smirk. Their leader was an ugly burly man with an over-the-top outfit to show that he was rich. He approached Kira followed by his five men and stopped right before her.

"You seem so confident that nobody here will call you on your bluff," he said with a chuckle. "Honey, I would love to sleep with you, but I don't want to hurt you. If you wanted to be fucked so badly, you don't have to make a scene like this. I will give you what you want."

Emmelyn wanted to vomit when she heard the man's disgusting words. Secretly she was rooting for Kira, hoping that she could really beat up this man and his henchmen. If not, Emmelyn would not back down. She would help Kira.

However, she hoped she didn't have to do that. She was not in the mood to fight. 

Emmelyn really hoped Kira was as strong as she claimed she was.

Kira didn't flinch. She looked at the burly man with a smirk too. Obviously, she was enjoying the scene. The more arrogant the opponent, the more painful and embarrassing their loss would feel like.

"Ah, surely I want a good fuck every now and then, but I only fuck men who are stronger than me. Weakness turns me off." She moved one step closer and now their front bodies almost touched each other.

Her lips curved up in a crooked smile and she looked very sinister when she continued her words. "You little mouse think you can beat me with your five mice? Poor thing. You don't stand a chance."

The burly man was dumbfounded when he saw her reaction. Instead of looking scared, this woman actually insulted him?

He was called a mouse and his henchmen mice???

"You..!!  Wench!" The burly man was flying in a rage. He raised his hand to slap Kira but the woman was so much faster than him. Before he knew it, Kira had moved to the side, took his other hand and twisted it, and suddenly put him on a chokehold.

"Aaaahhhh!!!" The man's scream pierced the air and prompted his men to jump on Kira and attacked her simultaneously.

They didn't care that they were ganging up on a young woman. Nobody thought about pride anymore. All they had was fury and they wanted to teach this wench a lesson.

"Sorry about the furniture, Elora!" Kira shouted as she jumped on top of a table and made a swift round kick toward her five attackers.

She was so fast and strong. Her kicks all hit a target and the impact was strong enough to send them all flying, one by one.

She had not even used her sword.