Chapter 91

“I heard that you’ve been looking for us everywhere.”

Margarita still smiled as beautifully as ever, humming an unknown tune while absentmindedly braiding Margaret’s hair into a neat plait. Caesar’s sister remained just as Miguel had seen her last—sitting motionless in that armchair in the darkness, like a lifeless porcelain doll.

“I found the Fountain of Youth,” the man said matter-of-factly, his expression unreadable.

Margarita’s hands paused for a moment, and her singing ceased.

“I told you,” the still youthful and beautiful woman said, her voice now tinged with less amusement, “Little Caesar, you shouldn’t force it.”

“The process was smooth.”

With just a few words, he summed up the blood-soaked storm they had weathered while raiding the Spanish Royal Port and setting the Mermaid Harbor ablaze.

Margarita stared at Caesar for a while, hesitating. But under the man’s gaze, as deep and calm as the night sea, she ultimately couldn’t bring herself to say what was on the tip of her tongue. Holding her skirt, she looked around somewhat aimlessly, her eyes finally landing on Miguel, who was leaning in close to Margaret, studying her with the curiosity of someone observing a rare animal.

At the same time, Miguel turned his head and gave her a radiant, springlike smile.

Margarita was momentarily stunned, instinctively glancing at Caesar, whose expression remained unchanged, as if he hadn’t noticed anything unusual.

Sighing inwardly, Margarita smiled and asked the black-haired young man, “What happened to your legs?”

“They’ll heal,” Miguel said. “I accidentally got my head caught in a door, and it affected my nerves.”

Margarita: “…”

Caesar: “…”

Giving the dog’s mother another brilliant smile, Miguel turned his attention back to the girl before him—

This was the one who had turned day into night—when darkness fell, she would fall into a deathlike state; when the sun rose from the horizon, she would begin to breathe like a normal person. Yet, because of the ghost ship curse, the Lady Lovibond had to remain in the cold, deep sea during the daylight, never seeing the sun.

Margaret, Caesar’s sister, a child also cursed by the Fountain of Youth—she could only walk, talk, and sing like a normal girl during the day, but she would never see the light of the sun.

…Hmm, she’s quite a beauty.

Miguel reached out and silently adjusted the hat on her head—the same one Caesar had taken from his pocket and placed on Margaret’s head the last time they visited the Lady Lovibond. When Miguel turned back to Caesar, his expression was somewhat awkward. He absentmindedly patted the nonexistent dust off his clothes and stared at his toes. “Your sister seems to like you a lot.”

“Of course,” the man said, giving the navigator a puzzled look. “Between a disappointing brother and a sister who never sees the light of day, at least one of them should be normal in terms of personality.”

…Three Leozas combined couldn’t match one of your quirks.

Miguel said nothing, offering Caesar the kind of agreeable expression a neighbor might give when their conversation partner is bragging.

Before dawn, Margarita bid farewell to the sailors of the Wind Fury as usual. However, to everyone’s surprise, with a heavy thud, it wasn’t just Caesar and Miguel who returned from the Lady Lovibond. Caesar, with his astonishing strength, effortlessly carried two people back to the Wind Fury, cradling Margaret like a precious treasure.

The girl’s extravagant dress dazzled the eyes of the Wind Fury’s sailors.

They gaped in astonishment at the captain’s previously unseen family member, watching as she was carried in his arms like a lifeless doll. Meanwhile, Miguel, the disabled man and the captain’s… well, man, was unceremoniously thrown onto his second mount, Rick, as soon as he boarded the deck.

The captain offered no explanation.

And no one dared to ask.

As for superstitions… well, ever since Zhizhi learned to climb the rope ladder and started darting around like a monkey, only appearing obediently on her little boat during meal times, the rumor that no women could exist on the ship had become a thing of the past.

“—I haven’t seen Margaret in over a decade,” the red-haired first mate of the Wind Fury mused, watching the captain stride away with his sister in his arms.

Miguel, who was sprawled on his back, replied dryly, “She’s not even that old, is she?”

Rick chuckled, “She’s not younger than you.”

Miguel: “…”

Rick: “Ah, the captain took her back to his cabin.”

Miguel: “…”

“Having a little girl in the middle might interfere with your love life, huh?”

“Doesn’t matter,” the shameless navigator patted the overly concerned first mate and said with a straight face, “She only wakes up during the day. It’s still dark, so there’s still time for a quickie.”

…

As expected, the captain personally settled the young lady in his cabin—clearly, with the Land of the Dusk in sight and the gates to the Fountain of Youth about to open, and the murderer of one of the two mermaids still at large, Caesar wouldn’t tolerate any mistakes at this critical juncture.

In the captain’s cabin, Caesar arranged his disabled “son” and his “daughter,” who was as lifeless as a corpse without sunlight, side by side on his bed.

Miguel leaned in, studying the girl’s fair, unblemished face from an almost indecently close distance, but his words were directed at the other person in the room: “When will my legs heal? I’m getting tired of being carried around like this.”

“Then crawl.”

The captain, who had returned to his desk to continue drawing his nautical chart, didn’t even look up.

Miguel lay on his side on Caesar’s bed, propping his head up with one hand as he quietly admired the “handsome dog at work.” His fingers danced along his side, bouncing from his hip to his waist and back, repeating the motion three times before Caesar finally put down his quill and looked up with a resigned expression. “What do you want to say?”

Miguel grinned, amused by their strange tacit understanding.

“Your mother is worried about you.”

“Anyone with half a brain could see that,” Caesar snorted, uninterested. “Is that all you wanted to say?”

Miguel rolled over, now facing away from Caesar so neither could see the other’s expression—the captain could only see his little slave playing with a strand of Margaret’s hair, twirling it around his finger before letting it slip away. Only then did the navigator’s voice lazily drift out again—

“Margarita is worried about the curse,” Miguel said bluntly. “Big Dog, have you ever thought that the curse might also exist within you? Just… in a slightly different form?”

Miguel felt someone approaching from behind.

Sure enough, three seconds later, a dark shadow loomed over him, and the bed dipped heavily as Caesar leaned over him. Miguel turned back with a smirk, meeting the man’s amber eyes.

…

It was the same old electric connection, like thunder meeting fire.

The obsessive navigator: “…My brain’s too full of your face to function properly. Let’s kiss to reboot.”

Without waiting for the captain’s consent, he wrapped his arms around Caesar’s neck and pulled him down for a quick peck on the lips.

Caesar: “…I’ll throw you overboard.”

Obsessive navigator: “Heh.”

Caesar pressed the pouting navigator back onto the bed, his hands on either side of Miguel’s head, pinning the black-haired young man beneath him. The position was intimate, though somewhat marred by the presence of an eight-hundred-watt lightbulb…

Miguel instinctively glanced at Margaret, who was still oblivious, thinking, Girl, you should really close your eyes right now, shouldn’t you?

Unfortunately, before dawn, even a simple act like closing her eyes was beyond Margaret’s capabilities.

Miguel sighed regretfully.

“I’ve lived healthily until thirty-two,” Caesar’s deep, magnetic voice rang out above Miguel. “I can come and go from the Lady Lovibond as I please; when I want to rest, I can take my crew ashore and stay in a tavern for days; in my world, day is day, and night is night; I’ve grown to twice Leoza’s height… and if I keep feeding you for a few more years, I’ll probably start getting gray hairs.”

“Oh,” the little slave said with a mischievous grin, deliberately misinterpreting the captain’s words, “That must be from overindulgence.”

“…”

Caesar patted Miguel’s cheek, then shifted his massive body away, leaving the navigator with just two words.

It’s fine.

…

Dawn was approaching. Though the night always seemed gentle, by human instinct, people still looked forward to the moment when the sun rose each day. Outside on the deck, the pirates who had been on night watch were yawning as they waited for their comrades to relieve them so they could grab a quick breakfast and get some sleep.

No one could have guessed that, on such an ordinary morning, danger was quietly approaching.

A mist rose over the calm sea as the temperature increased, and from within the thick fog came the creaking sound of oars moving—

The surface of the water rippled unnaturally, the sound of droplets falling from the oars swallowed by the waves.

To the east, the fiery new sun was slowly rising.

As the first rays of sunlight scattered across the sea in countless glittering fragments, Margaret’s long, thick lashes fluttered slightly. Miguel raised an eyebrow, not missing the slight movement—

But before he could even say good morning, the girl’s pale fingers, almost translucent with green veins visible, twitched. In a flash, the doll-like girl sprang to life, leaping off Caesar’s bed and rushing to the captain, who was pouring himself a drink at the table. She tugged on Caesar’s sleeve, her voice still youthful but devoid of any inflection—

“Caesar, the navy is approaching.”

…

On the fourth morning before their rendezvous with Leoza, the Black Sea Wolf’s fleet encountered the British Royal Navy.

This was also Miguel’s first proper encounter with a naval battle against an official army.