Shrouded Seascape

Chapter 57. Margaret

The chilly wind woke Margaret out of her slumber. With her hair disheveled, she opened her eyes and scanned her surroundings. Nothing had changed. She was still trapped on the same unfamiliar ship deck.

Looking through the glass of the pilot house, she could see a man wrapped up in bandages manning the helm. His appearance sent a shudder of fear through her entire body. He was the man who bought them.

Margaret initially thought that she had finally escaped from hell and was on her way back home. But then, she realized that the man had purchased them to be used as sacrificial offerings. If not for the ship's captain returning on his own accord, she might have already sunk to the depths of the dark waters.

Her father's words had been spot on: Every man at sea is bad. They had no regard for law or life. To them, human lives were as good as the fish.

Father, where are you? Save me... If you can get me out of here, I promise to stay in Whereto and never ever leave the island again. Tears trickled down Margaret's cheeks at the thought of her father.

Just then, a flurry of noises traveled into her ears. The sailors were up for their deck cleaning duties. Their conversation didn't go unheard either.

"Are we just going to keep those slaves? Slave trade is not allowed in the Coral Archipelago, so what use is there for us to bring them back? Might as well dump them overboard."

Hearing the sailor's words, a look of terror appeared on the faces of the slaves. They huddled closer to each other like cornered rats.

"The First Mate bought them with his own money, so they're his personal property. Do you have the guts to throw them?"

"Ehhhh. No way! Besides Captain, who dares to mess with him? If I happen to incur his wrath, he might offer me a sacrifice the next time around."

"Cut the crap. Can't you see him manning the helm up there? You'd be dead if he heard you."

Watching the sailors' boots slowly approaching them, Margaret hurriedly buried her head into her filthy gunny sack.

Thwack!

The mop dripping with dirty water struck the slaves.

"Do you have eyes? Can't you see I'm mopping the deck? Scram to the other side!"

The slaves, huddled into a corner, hurriedly stood up and scurried across the deck like a bunch of mice.

Margaret stood up, wanting to follow the crowd, but a tall and muscular sailor blocked her path. His large, thick fingers with callouses reached out to pinch her chin and lift her face upward.

"Look, this female slave is quite the beauty," the sailor remarked with a lustful sneer on his face.

Encircled by the three sailors, Margaret trembled with fear. Her gaze was filled with terror as she desperately tried to retreat, but her back was already against the ship's railings. She had no escape route.

A bucket of water was thrown over her, and it washed the grime off her. Her milky white skin was revealed, and a pair of large eyes framed by long lashes blinked on her delicate and petite face.

The sight of Margaret's unveiled beauty had the sailors breathing heavily as lust consumed them. It had been a long while; their deprivation had made them hungry and yearning for release.

Subjected to the trio's invasive and relentless gaze, Margaret struggled and screamed in terror. She had seen the same thing happening to other girls in Sottom.

"Get off me! I'm the daughter of the governor of Whereto! You can't do this to me! Father! Help!" Margaret wailed between sobs.

"What are you doing?" A weary voice sounded from behind the trio. The sailors shuddered in fear at the newly arrived presence. They hastily grabbed their mops on the floor and lined up in a single file. "Reporting to the Captain! We're cleaning the deck, sir!"

"Why are there slaves on my ship?" the young man questioned.

"Captain, the First Mate bought them at 4000 Echo per slave. They were meant to be offered as sacrifices to save you!" A sailor answered.

Margaret turned to look at the young man who had just appeared on the deck. He had jet-black hair and wore a deep-blue captain's uniform. The diagonal scar across his cheek added a dash of ferocity to his face.

Seeing the sailors trembling under the man's authority, Margaret threw herself at the young man. With tears streaming down her cheeks, she looked up at him and pleaded, "Please save me. I want to go home. I'll never be out at sea—!"

Before Margaret could complete her sentence, she felt an unseen entity coiling itself around her and pushing her away.

Margaret struggled to sit up and found herself face-to-face with the young man. Seeing his handsome visage up close, something stirred in Margaret's heart.

"You say you're the daughter of the governor of Whereto? Do you have any proof?" the captain asked in an icy tone.

The young man's words jolted Margaret out of her fearful state as she hurriedly fished out a fishbone token from her pocket.

"My father gave this to me. You just have to show it to him, and he'll know that I'm here."

The young man took the token in his hand and examined it. Meanwhile, Margaret waited anxiously for his verdict. After all, her life hung in the balance of his decision.

Just then, she suddenly noticed something chilling about the young man before her. One of his eyes was looking at her, but his other eye was studying the fishbone token.

Horrified, Margaret hugged herself tight as she bit her lip in trepidation.

"How did you escape?" The man's sudden question startled Margaret.

"They kidnapped me to Sottom and locked me up for a long time. But one night, a woman rescued me. I don't know who she is, but she wore the same clothes as me and disguised herself to look exactly like me."

Upon hearing Margaret's answer, the young man's brows were pressed together as if recalling a previous memory.

Margaret continued her desperate pleas, "Sir, can you please take me back? If you take me back, my father will reward you generously."

"Sure, I was waiting for those words. Now we have secured funding for our adventures."

Before Margaret could make sense of the situation, she was taken to wash up and changed into loose-fitting garments.

When she emerged from the bathing area once more, her original beauty was on full display. She could keenly sense the lascivious gazes of the ship's men.

Margaret instinctively hastened her steps to return to the young man's side. Despite his icy demeanor, she felt a sense of security beside him.

"Can you write?"

"Yes..."

"Good. Pen a letter to your father."

Thinking that she had found a savior, an expression of joy blossomed on Margaret's face. However, the young man's next words drenched her emotions almost instantly.

"Tell him that a kind stranger saved you and that you've promised me five million Echo as a form of gratitude."

Margaret took the pen from him and started writing. No matter the circumstances, she was on the way back home, back to that place of warmth that she knew.

After finishing her letter, she respectfully handed it to the young man. When he instructed her to leave, an instinctive sense of fear washed over her.

"Sir... can I stay around you?" Margaret asked. She had no idea who this young man was, but she knew that she would be safe as long as she stayed next to him.

Just then, her stomach rumbled in starvation. Margaret's face flushed a deep red as the young man's gaze fixated on her.

***

Seated in the messroom, Margaret was close to tears at the sight of the most basic food placed before her. Ever since she was kidnapped, she had never felt so sated.

Suddenly, a thought flashed through her mind. She stole a glance at the young man beside her before she stealthily slipped some bread into her pocket.

After the meal, Margaret secretly ran onto the deck and emptied the various food from her pockets. The starving slaves frenziedly snatched up the food.

It wasn't as if the sailors would give them good food. It would be good if they had given them enough to survive.

"Why did you give them food?" A voice echoed from behind her. Margaret hurriedly turned around to realize that it was the ship's captain.

"Because being hungry feels awful. I'm full, but they're still starving."

"If you ask your father to give me a larger reward, I can make sure they have better meals."

"Really? Sir, you are a good man." Margaret exclaimed.

"A good man? Haha, perhaps."

Just when Margaret was rejoicing over the fact that no one had to go hungry anymore, she noticed a speck of light appearing on the sea horizon.

The dot quickly approached to reveal a colossal ship almost a hundred meters long. Its hull bore a giant white triangle.