Chapter 5
‘So it was all a lie, that nobles supposedly learn about women from a young age.’
It was too widely spoken of to simply dismiss as a lie, though. In truth, women from the land who drifted into the pleasure quarters were always busy boasting, at the slightest opportunity, about which nobleman they’d shared a bed with.
The label of having been someone’s “courtesan” was their one and only point of pride, a badge that proved their standing.
Having captured the attention of a highly titled noble was, after all, an open testament to just how exceptional one’s looks and talents were.
‘So it’s probably not some lovers quarrel, then.’
Among the usual reasons men fought one another, taking a woman for oneself, or reclaiming a woman who’d been taken, accounted for a fairly large share of it.
So then, what reason could there possibly be to threaten the life of a man so utterly devoid of flexibility it might as well be used as medicine? He didn’t seem to understand jokes, and rather than having a loyal subordinate, he didn’t even seem to have a single friend he could open up to.
If his human relationships were this simple, that meant the pool of suspects narrowed accordingly. But that didn’t mean a suspect couldn’t be found outside those relationships either. Sometimes, the pure malice or greed of someone with no connection at all proved far more frightening.
‘Resentment isn’t something that fails to arise just because a man lives righteously.’
If anything, that very uprightness and integrity could stir up someone’s envy, fuel their greed, and ultimately give birth to destructive hatred.
Perhaps this man was exactly such a case. All the more so, given how indifferent he seemed toward others.
Kalina tilted her mouth into a crooked smile as she teased Lucian.
“Well, it’s not exactly some huge flaw for a man to be a virgin.”
“…”
Lucian’s brow twitched faintly, but he didn’t respond. He simply hacked harder at the vines blocking their path. That silence only fueled Kalina’s mischievous streak further.
“Men are beasts too, they say—no one has to teach them how to use their hips, they’re just naturally great at it.”
Crack.
“For the love of God, could you please shut that vulgar mouth of yours!”
As the crude, ear-soiling harassment continued, Lucian’s patience finally snapped, and he ground his teeth, shouting with a fierce expression.
“A virgin is a virgin, what else am I supposed to call it?”
“Ha, I must have been out of my mind to even try exchanging words with a pirate in the first place.”
Lucian let out a self-mocking sigh and hacked roughly at the brush with the sword in his hand. A sharp, green scent rose up from the crushed leaves.
Behind Lucian, who led the way clearing the path, Kalina kept her eyes fixed on his broad back, following along with light, silent footsteps. Then, tilting her head, she asked.
“Did you want to talk to me?”
“No.”
“So firm about it. And here I’ve got a mountain of things I’m curious about, when it comes to you.”
Things like whoever it was that wanted him dead, for instance. Kalina’s gaze flicked briefly toward his injured back.
Amid the scattering of large and small wounds, one particularly dark, hideous burn scar stood out. The skin, flushed red and puckered into wrinkles, looked far from good at a single glance.
‘What did they even do to that pretty body of his.’
To a pirate, information was treasure more precious than gold or silver. Especially for those confined to living solely at sea or on certain islands, information about what happened on land was bound to be extremely limited.
Everything she knew about Lucian, including what she’d just learned moments ago, amounted to a mere three facts. Colonel Lucian Harrington. Son of the Harrington duke’s household. And a virgin.
She’d never particularly cared about the navy to begin with, but Lucian, with his handsome looks, was the exception.
She’d been gathering information on him lately, but hadn’t managed to turn up much of substance.
Judging by his reaction, it wasn’t some resentment tangled up with a woman. And whatever had triggered the death threat against him seemed to have happened only quite recently.
That she was utterly infatuated with the “treasure” that was Lucian Harrington was an open secret known to her own crew, and to any pirate who so much as knew her name.
Given how much what she’d been doing resembled obsession more than courtship, it would have been stranger if no one knew.
It wasn’t as though Kalina had been chasing after him hoping for some romantic relationship, in particular. She’d simply been tracking him purely to add a coveted treasure to her own treasure chest. It just so happened that this particular treasure was a human being.
‘He’s just so pretty.’
It wasn’t his dull past she cared about—only his current standing and circumstances. Though, part of the reason she only knew these three things was that pirates, being slow to hear the world’s news, could only offer so much information to begin with.
With so pitifully little information to work with, it was difficult to even form a proper hypothesis, let alone investigate.
‘So then… where should I start prying?’
Given how stubborn and rigid his personality was, there was no way he’d confess anything willingly if she simply asked outright. Which meant she’d have no choice but to circle around and coax the answer out some other way.
* * *
She’d known, of course, that an officer’s skill was nothing ordinary, but having crossed swords with him a few times playfully, she could confirm that Lucian Harrington was indeed a highly skilled naval officer.
Still, she hadn’t expected him to go catch game even after taking a bullet.
Should she call that foolish, or capable?
Kalina stared at the wild boar Lucian had brought back. He’d caught quite a sizable one, too.
Having caught his large game, the man showed no interest whatsoever in his hunting achievement—he simply dropped the boar, settled onto a tree stump, and began applying crushed herbs to his wound.
He’d clearly done the hunting himself, meaning it was up to her to handle the rest.
‘I never thought I’d live to hear someone tell me to go cook.’
Of course, he hadn’t said it out loud, but for a man like him, his actions spoke plainly enough.
Well, whether that stubborn man was keeping watch over her or not, it was a relief he hadn’t wandered off and abandoned his post. And she’d gained something out of this too, in her own way.
Kalina slowly shifted her gaze, scanning the interior of the island. Lucky for Lucian, this uninhabited island happened to be covered in herbs excellent for treating wounds. Beyond that, there were plenty of rare herbs that fetched a hefty price on land.
Uninhabited or not, one would expect someone to have passed through at some point, and yet this small island bore no trace of human presence whatsoever.
‘Should I sell them off?’
Her pirate crew could certainly use them directly, but given their numbers weren’t particularly large to begin with, their stockpile of herbs was already sufficient. She kept several islands set aside just for managing herbs, too.
Since no one had ever touched the herbs here, their quality and size were top-grade. Selling them on the market would fetch quite a perfect price.
It had been Lucian who discovered the herbs, but with all the shamelessness befitting a pirate, Kalina decided unilaterally on their disposal.
Thanks to the crushed herbs applied to it, Lucian’s wound would likely settle down somewhat by tomorrow, but it was still too early to let her guard down.
If pus were to build up, they might need to tear the wound open again to drain it. It would hurt, certainly, but that was better than letting the wound rot and having to cut it off entirely.
A gunshot wound that had pierced precisely beside the heart. This time, he’d truly been lucky. Had he not twisted his body away on sheer animal reflex, the bullet would have torn mercilessly straight through his heart.
“Guess even in the navy, you’re not so different from us pirates.”
“Excuse me?”
No sooner had she muttered it to herself than a sharp response shot back, as if he’d been waiting for it. Glancing sidelong at Lucian’s harshly twisted face, Kalina held back a laugh threatening to burst out and shrugged.
“We pirates have our own fair share of vicious power struggles, fighting to become captain, you know.”
As she gestured toward his wound with her chin, Lucian abruptly turned his body, covering it.
“It’s not that sort of reason, obviously.”
“Ah, so it really is a lovers quarrel, then? I suppose our Lucy is pretty enough for that.”
“You’re not worth engaging with.”
Lucian clicked his tongue as if utterly exasperated and turned his head away.
Born a bastard child, Lucian had lived in dire poverty with only his mother for company.
When he was younger, they had been, in their own way, comfortable enough as commoners of the middle class, but the duke’s wife had never left his mother, his father’s mistress, in peace. Naturally, he’d been a frail child growing up, and his mother had given her small, pretty son the name “Lucian.”
His mother had remained a slight, beautiful woman until the very end, but as Lucian grew, his frame had broadened and his height had shot up, leaving him about as far removed from any impression of “prettiness” as one could get.
‘He really is pretty, though.’
Kalina tilted her head to one side. Golden hair as if molten from precious gold itself, blue eyes as if set with sapphires, her most treasured gem.
Taller even than she herself, already a good head taller than most other women, the jewel-like colors she so coveted always sparkled just above her line of sight, forcing her to look up at him. As if mocking her for it.
‘Honestly, it makes me want him so badly it’s maddening.’
Kalina’s mouth curled up in a slow, languid smile.
If a day ever came when she grabbed that pretty head of his in her own two hands and slammed it into the ground, and got to watch that sight unfold before her own eyes, it would surely feel more intoxicating than plundering the treasury of any kingdom on earth.
