"Where is it?" I asked calmly.

"Where be wha'?" The pirate answered. I raised an eyebrow at him before glancing at Lars. Lars signalled another man who dragged a crew member of the pirate out of the cabin. His clothes were tattered, and his face was swollen due to all the punches it had taken. The pirate watched his crew member uniting with the sea.

"You know well what I'm talking about. Where is it?" I tried again.

"I said I don't know," He gritted, glaring at me. That's all he could do then— glare at me because he was tied to a pole while his precious crew members were being probed separately inside the cabin by my men.

I glanced at Lars again, who signalled one of our men, who in turn dragged out another of the pirate's crew members before putting him on the plank as well. I didn't miss the flicker of despair in his eyes as he watched his crew member jumping into the water.

"That was your son, wasn't he?" I asked grimly.

"Ye're messin' wit' the wrong scallywag," He dared to threaten me. I straightened up from the railing without taking my eyes off him and stalked towards him. He swallowed hard, regretting his words.

"I'm certain that you know about its whereabouts,"

"I 'ave nah a single idea wha' ye're natterin' about!" He persisted. Without wasting another word, I glanced at Lars again, and soon enough, another crew member was walking on the plank. The earlier look of despair deepened with a flicker of vengeance in his eyes.

"You lost two sons today just because you don't want to tell me where it is," I declared.

"I told ye... I am swearin' it on me sons that I dunno wha' ye're natterin' about!" He roared. I pinned him with my fatal stare before stalking closer to him. The stale odour of liquor combined with morning breath washed over me. It almost made me sick... so sick that I wanted to drench him in the sea a couple more times before continuing with the probe.

"Mad Arc gave me your name. Now, are you going to make me believe that Mad's lying?" I inquired calmly. I saw a flash of fear in his eyes upon mentioning that particular name. Something else flashed in his eyes momentarily, but it disappeared before I could inspect it properly.

He knew something...

"Seems like you wish to see the rest of your crewmember walk the plank," I noted.

"Wha' did Mad Arch tell ye?" He asked hesitantly.

"He said your ship was in the Monklam waters that night," I informed him.

"I was thar that night, but that doesn't mean that I know about it. Monklam waters are full o' archipelagos, a good spot fer hidin' fer us pirates aft a good loot, if ye ask me. But 'twas nah us that night; I swear it on me sons lost t' the sea. Thar was someone else thar that night,"

"I suppose I didn't establish this before," I said, inching closer to him until I was towering over him. I saw him briefly shake with fear as I dug my eyes into him and added, "Mad saw your ship racing away from the place of incident... he said, it was as if you were running from something,"

He swallowed hard. I clutched his face and forced him to look up at me.

"You know something," I gritted. "Need I tell you of our ways that make even a deadman talk?" He dragged out a ragged breath at my words. "What happened that night?" I demanded, digging my fingers into his cheeks.

"'twas around midnight; we be hurryin' back t' the Rumrunner's port aft bein' chased by the Somirean navy when we saw two ships," He finally seemed to be getting to the point I needed him to be at.

"Mad's ship and one of my merchant's," I nodded, but he shook his head in disagreement. My eyebrows came together in bewilderment.

"The other ship wasn't Mad's. I be sure on this 'cause I saw Mad's ship on me way t' the Rumrunner's port. I dunno whose ship 'twas. It had no flags, no figureheads, no naught. No light on the deck, but 'twas thar that night. It seemed like 'twas chasin' yer Merchants. That's all I got t' see that night. I didn' pay much heed 'cause we be rushin' t' the port. Though, I must admit that the other ship looked eerie," He blurted out.

My unblinking eyes were fixated on his face, scanning for any hint of lying on his tanned, wrinkly face. After staring down at him for an eternal moment, I concluded that he was telling the truth. Still, I kept my eyes fixed on his face... still searching for the slightest of the clue. I was at the edge of frustration. It had been weeks since I'd gotten myself involved in it, yet I hadn't been able to gather a single clue.

"Now that I 'ave told ye wha' ye needed t' know, would ye set us free?" He asked with a bit of hope.

"Of course, I will set you free," I told him, "I'm sure you'd be pleased to see your sons,"

~

"What a waste," Lars commented after getting rid of the last pirate.

"Of my time, yes," I snapped, irked at our efforts turning futile. He sighed deeply.

"We shouldn't have killed them though... they didn't have any idea what was on your Merchant's ship that night," Lars told me.

"Oh, they would have figured that out soon if I let them go. I don't want people to know about it. Especially my brother," I snarled, "I'll lose the throne if my brother finds out that it has gone missing from right under my nose,"

Lars remained silent for a while before assuring me, "You wouldn't lose the throne, not so easily," he sounded more confident than me.

"Are you sure?" I asked him grimly.

"Yes," he answered.

"Oh really?"

"Yes," he affirmed.

"Celsa is pregnant. Think again," I reminded him, and this shut him up. "My brother has a good many reasons to remove me— he's producing an heir, the Nobles are forever in his favour, and the Feudal lords have been long upset with me since I've slashed their revenues in less than half. I wouldn't be surprised if my brother is plotting with them,"

"The Warlords are on your side, and your coffers have more than enough to suppress a revolt and win a war against the Somireans in the same breath!" He reminded me, but I shook my head.

"I'm talking about the long term, Lars,"

"What happened to the girl you found that night?" He asked all of a sudden.

"That healer?" I grumbled.

"Yes, that one,"

"She ran away that night... I don't know how. I had Manius on watch. I was awake all night, but I never heard her leaving,"

"Very odd,"

"Undoubtedly,"

"It seemed like you two were acquainted beforehand by the way you two were talking," He remarked.

"I met her two nights prior on a ship from Lasuz,"

"The night you were out to meet Mad?" He asked in surprise. I hesitated for a bit before nodding. He stared at my face for a long moment, looking more and more stunned by every passing breath.

"Are you sure it's her?" He asked me with wide eyes.

"I am," I admitted out loud for the first time. I had my doubts previously, but I was sure about this now.

"Then while you're at it, you should look for her as well," he suggested, "I couldn't imagine the look on your brother's and Noble's face when you show up with your m—"

"It's not that easy," I gritted.

"Or you're just not sure yet, eh?"

"Oh, I am sure it's her, but if it were so easy, then Celsa would have already had a competitor at the court," I told him, and he gave out a short laugh.

"Oh, you overthink. Just look for her; the rest would be taken care of," He said, but I shook my head again. He wasn't aware of the severity of the curse.

"I have my hands full at the moment," I tried to brush it off.

"That's just another of your excuses. I want to see Celsa green with envy! The court Ladies would love a wildcard at their court politics. It has turned monotonous under Celsa anyway. It's time she gets a strong rival," He laughed evilly.

"I wasn't aware you took a keen interest in Ladies' politics," I couldn't help but comment. This wiped the grin off his face, but he didn't give up yet. "But I still don't get it. It would help if you were looking for her. After all, she is—"

"What is that?" I cut him, pointing to smoke in the sky. It seemed to be coming out of one of the islands in the distance. We'd been so deep into the conversation that I didn't realize when we were out of the Somirean waters. "Looks like some volcanic islands. Someone must live there,"

"The smoke says so,"

"Who would live in these hostile waters surrounded by volcanoes?" I asked in puzzlement.

"Well, people live where they want to live," he shrugged off, but I wasn't done yet.

"Still, it's a rather odd place to live, don't you think?" I insisted, trying to get a better view of the island. My eyes caught some lights flickering on one of them.

"I'll be right back," Lars disappeared briefly while I kept my eyes fixed on the smoke, which turned thicker and thicker.

"The Capitan says that's the Eternal Lagrifiri Shrine," He claimed.

"The one where those priestesses live?"

"Yes, the same one. The Shrine is said to be as old as time with enough wealth to cover the vast Somirean seabeds!"

"Mad allows that?" I cocked an eyebrow.

"Oh, Mad doesn't dare to breathe in that direction nowadays. They say he lost plenty of men and ships after that Shrine when he was young and thought he could take over the world,"

"What's so special about that Shrine that has a pirate like Mad keeping his nose out of there?" I asked with my curiosity peaking.

"I don't know, but they say there's an enchantment around the Shrine. If you cross a certain distance and you're not a priestess, then you drop dead, and the ships sink on their own, but that's not all... the priestesses that live there..." He trailed off and shuddered. It was as if he was talking about some dangerous monster.

What was more dangerous than us?

"What about them?" I asked.

"No one knows much about them because no one ever lived after meeting a priestess. Rumours have it they're like gipsies, in some cases, even worse... people abandon villages if a priestess ever so glances at it. The Somirean lore says the priestesses could cure any curse, regulate the weather, travel in the past, look into the future, destroy the present, bring the dead back to life, even bargain with death. Their sorcery terrorizes the devil. Fortunately, those witches hardly leave the Shrine; otherwise, half of the humanity would have been wiped clean," My curiosity had reached the moon by the time he was done talking.

"They sound interesting," I couldn't help but comment, "I'd like to meet a priestess one day,"

_