115.

“Uh, hhhuh…….”

The girl frantically nodded her head. Tears streamed down her face as she trembled violently in terror. Rosetta couldn’t blame her—her own life was at stake, after all—but intimidating a young girl left a bitter taste in her mouth. She shifted tactics and tried to soothe the child.

“I don’t want to hurt you. Just answer my questions honestly, and I promise I won’t cause any trouble. Understand? Good. Now I’ll let go.”

Rosetta slowly removed her hand from the girl’s lips, staying alert in case the child screamed or burst into sobs, ready to clamp her mouth shut again at a moment’s notice. She gave the girl a brief moment to calm down before asking,

“Where am I?”

“O-on board C-Captain N-Nicholas’s s-ship.”

Just as she suspected—it was a ship. The cries of seagulls, the smell of the sea, the rocking hull… Listening to the faint shouts of sailors in the distance, it seemed they hadn’t left port yet, or had only just set sail and hadn’t gotten far.

“Are we still before departure?”

“Y-yes.”

“How long has it been since I arrived here?”

“L-last n-night, C-Captain h-himself b-brought you h-here. I-I changed your c-clothes.”

“At least that’s something.”

The girl stammered badly, her speech laced with a foreign accent unlike Esperanda or Tilsen. Rosetta rolled up the girl’s sleeve and confirmed the brand mark on her skin. She must have been captured from some distant land and brought here as a slave—a common occurrence in coastal villages. Pirates would steal just about anything, after all.

Of course, in Toulon, enslaving children was strictly forbidden. Yet Nick, that bastard, dared to do it the moment he thought she was dead… As Rosetta’s expression darkened, the girl trembled again. Rosetta softened her face and asked once more,

“Is someone watching me? How many are there?”

“F-four in the c-corridor, and f-five on the d-deck…….”

Damn it, escape was impossible—unless she could squeeze her body through that tiny window. Now she understood why Nick had sent this girl. He knew she was weak toward the young and fragile. He could have forced the child to bring her a key or a weapon, but if she got caught, the girl would lose one of her wrists.

He must have known she’d rather endure anything herself than harm a child. And Nick had exploited that perfectly—so perfectly it made her feel sick. Rosetta grimaced, wiping her face with her hand as she crouched down. Damn it, if dying after killing Nick would be the end, so be it… But this kind of pitiful survival? She’d never imagined it.

The girl cautiously picked up the tray that had fallen to the floor.

“I-I’ll bring b-back some w-water to w-wash with. A-and f-food.”

Hearing about food, her mouth inexplicably watered, and her stomach loudly growled. Come to think of it, she hadn’t eaten a thing since leaving Cardier’s tent—nearly a full day. No wonder.

The girl slipped out the door and returned quickly. The tray now held a bowl of water, steaming soup, a white loaf of bread, and a single apple. Compared to the lavish feasts pirates usually enjoyed when docked, it was rather modest.

Still, if she wanted to survive, conserving strength was better than pointlessly resisting. Rosetta dipped the bread into the soup and ate every bite, then crunched through the crisp apple, seeds and all. Her empty stomach burned with the sudden intake of food, but it was better than the gnawing hunger. After finishing her meal, she dampened a cloth and wiped herself quickly. The chains clinked with every movement, and the heavy metal chafed painfully against her skin.

“Hey.”

At her call, the girl by the door flinched and shrank her shoulders, timidly replying,

“D-did you c-call?”

“What’s your name?”

“D-Daisy.”

“Right, Daisy. Can you at least loosen the wrist chains for a moment? Or maybe give me some clothes or shoes?”

“N-no, I c-can’t.”

Daisy shook her head vigorously, her face pale with fear. She looked utterly terrified of something.

“Why not?”

“T-the C-Captain… H-he’ll g-get a-angry.”

“…That bastard… Did he lay a hand on you?”

Daisy shook her head again. It was unclear whether she meant he hadn’t hurt her, or that she simply couldn’t say. Before Rosetta could ask again, footsteps sounded outside. The door burst open without a knock. It was Nick. Daisy’s face turned from white to blue with fear. She bowed deeply and slipped out through the open door.

“It’s good to see you like this.”

He smiled lazily, his eyes half-lidded with pleasure. His voice was unnervingly warm. Once, she had believed he was as kind as his voice suggested. But now she knew his true nature—and she would never be fooled again. Rosetta clenched her teeth.

“What do you plan to do with me?”

“What do you mean?”

Rosetta watched as he removed his leather gloves and placed them on the table. Now that she looked closely, the clothes he wore… were Tilsen officer’s uniform. One side of his face was wrapped in gauze, making his expression hard to read, but Rosetta could easily tell he was in a good mood. He looked even more pleased upon noticing she had finished her meal completely.

“Did you enjoy the food? The drugs probably made your stomach queasy, so greasy food would’ve been hard to digest. From tomorrow, I’ll serve meat with every meal.”

Rosetta let out a hollow laugh.

“Are you joking? Or have you finally gone mad?”

“What’s the problem?”

You don’t even know what the problem is? In that instant, Rosetta wanted to shatter his skull into pieces. Grinding her teeth, she stamped her foot. The shackle clanged and crushed her instep, but the pain was nothing compared to her fury.

“You don’t know what’s wrong? You don’t?! Let’s see if you’d say the same if I carved your belly open with a knife! I still haven’t gotten a proper answer. Why did you betray me?”

“I told you, Rosetta. I was deceived too.”

“Damn it, Nick… Don’t make me hate every memory I have of you.”

“What choice did I have, Rosé?”

Nick tilted his head slightly and whispered.

“I always desired you. I wanted you as my woman. But you were too strong, too great for me to take by force. So I asked Calypso for a potion—one that could change the body.”

“…How dare you call that an excuse.”

“I don’t understand why you’re angry. After all, you only ever had me. And I only ever had you. All that useless Sea Alliance, those orphans… There were too many things standing in our way. I just wanted to break free from those chains.”

His whisper was vile. His voice clung to her eardrums like a curse. Even the sound of it made her skin crawl. Rosetta clenched her jaw.

“You really think I wanted that?”

“I wanted to protect you, actually. I even prepared a body perfectly suited for you, but your soul vanished midway—so it became a corpse.”

“You madman…….”

“Of course, I admit the body you’re in now isn’t as good. But…”

In the next moment, he grabbed her and slammed her down onto the bed. She kicked wildly in panic, but helplessly and easily, his hand clamped around her throat and seized her ankle. Ever since her soul entered Lea’s body, she had longed for her original form—but never as desperately as now. Even if she were bound with twice as many chains, she would overpower him and tear his throat out barehanded.

“You should’ve been more careful. Such a pretty body—wounds might scar.”

He gently brought his lips to Rosetta’s instep, bruised by the shackle. His tongue licked up the wound. The slimy, stinging sensation made her shiver all over, as if insects were crawling across her skin.

“G-get your d-disgusting m-mouth away…!”

“Ah, don’t be angry. Even if you’d ended up in a worse body, I’d still be happy just knowing your soul returned. But a noble’s body? Your soul in it? That’s top-tier. The absolute best. The ultimate, Rosé.”

“How…?”

Even as his grip crushed her windpipe and she gasped for breath, Rosetta forced out the question. Where had he gotten this information? He should’ve thought she was just a servant. According to Daisy, she’d been brought here last night—but had more time passed? Or could it be… Melvin? As if sensing her suspicion, Nick smiled brightly and continued,

“I did some investigation on the body you’re in while you were unconscious. You know how it is—Vigo’s intelligence network is quite something.”

“…….”

“Lady of Valdemore, and wife of the Marquis Montrosa.”

His dark eyes slowly traced from her nape down to her exposed chest. More precisely, they lingered on the marks Cardier had left on her pale skin. His thin lips twisted for the first time in clear disgust.

“That bastard with nothing but good bloodlines dared to touch you. I never thought he’d actually fulfill that dream.”