Episode 1

1.

“Damn it.”

The life she’d poured everything into was sinking with the Toulon. The proud wolf figurehead was already submerged within the sea—she hadn’t even witnessed when it disappeared.

The sound of the mast snapping brought her back to her senses, only for panic to hit her even harder. If she could survive this—if she could just make it through—she could find another ship. Sure, it wouldn’t be anything compared to this one. Nothing in the world was like the Toulon...

—Whiiir—BOOM!

The shelling, which had taken a short pause like it was catching its breath, started up again. A splinter slammed into her ribs, and Rosetta went tumbling across the deck.

Blood filled her mouth with that nasty iron taste. She spat it out, coughing hard. Her left ear rang like she was underwater. The cannon fire must’ve ruptured her eardrum.

She tried to stand, but the bow twisted violently, and she rolled again.

“Helmsman! You bastard! Can’t you steer this thing right?!”

She screamed with the last of her strength. The smoke was thick—she couldn’t even tell if anyone was still at the wheel. For all she knew, they’d already jumped ship.

Dragging her shaking body, Rosetta forced herself toward the captain’s quarters.

She stumbled inside and ripped the map off the wall. Behind it, she scraped at a thin panel until something dropped into her hand—a tightly rolled scroll.

She shoved it into a glass tube, strapped it against her chest, and finally—finally—let herself breathe.

Now she just had to wait for the shelling to die down. Once the ship sank, she’d go with the wreckage.

And if luck was on her side, the Lyaia Current would carry her to land.

Damn it. But how the hell did they find her?

Today’s route was kept strictly secret. She hadn’t told anyone about this deal. No one...

Wait. Was that true? But Nick—Nick was like family. If she couldn’t trust him, who the hell could she trust? They’d been together forever.

Both born from nothing—just the rotten bloodlines of pirates, raised by the streets of some dirty harbor town.

They used to sleep back to back just to keep warm. If there was anyone she could believe in, it was Nick. That was trust. Real trust, from person to person.

For fifteen years, she’d been the one leading. And Nick? He was fine being protected by her. Thinking of that made her feel almost guilty.

There’s no way Nick had anything to do with this. Maybe he’d just found out—maybe right now, he was rushing to come save her...

“Rosetta.”

Damn it. You bastard. What are you doing here?

“You filthy piece of shit... You better explain. Now.”

“Try breathing first.”

Nick’s creepy calm made him seem more insane than level-headed. When she followed his gaze down to her body, she instantly regretted it. A thick wooden splinter had stabbed straight through her stomach.

It must’ve just barely missed her organs. But the bleeding was bad—too bad. Her vision kept flashing.

She coughed, trying to catch her breath.

“You... bastard... how long’s this been going on?”

“What’s it matter? You’re dying here either way.”

His voice was eerily gentle. Rosetta clenched her fists, blood still leaking from her side.

She was planning to gift him a ship after this. That was the plan. He’d earned the right to be called captain too. They used to talk about the future all the time. There was no reason for him to betray her. None.

She let out a bitter laugh. Yeah. What did it matter now?

“We needed a ruler, Rose. But I didn’t think you’d be dumb enough to hand the leash to a commodore.”

Her lips barely twitched. She’d smiled through worse—with even more blood spilling out of her—but her body felt like stone.

“I know. ‘Freedom.’ You used to say it like a prayer. You wanted to give pirates their rights back—but that was just you begging for scraps from the nobles’ table.”

Nick stepped forward and tilted her chin up.

With what little strength she had left, she spat in his face.

“Tch.”

He wiped it off like he’d expected it.

Damn it. That wasn’t even satisfying. Nick just gave a lazy smile and brushed her cheek.

“That idealism of yours—it pissed everyone off.”

“...”

“Seventeen captains put a bounty on your head. They gave their word: if I hand you over, they’ll spare the crew.”

“...”

“I’m not gonna act like I had no choice. Every bit of intel they got—came from me.”

Her teeth clenched so hard her jaw ached.He patted her on the head like she was a good girl.

“That’s right, Rosetta. You die, your crew lives.”

Something poured into her mouth.

She tried to spit it out, but his hand was already over her lips.Half of it she choked back up. The rest went sliding down her throat—some freezing cold, bitter liquid.

She let out a gasping curse.

“You... fucking bastard... I swear I’ll kill—”

“It’s the same stuff I’ve been feeding you all week. You really think I couldn’t take you down if I wanted to?”

Her breathing went ragged.

Damn it. Damn it. DAMN IT!

If she could just move her hand—just once—she’d rip his damn throat out. But her body was sinking. Her mind was slipping.

The edges of her vision started to go dark, like someone bruising her whole world black-and-blue. A coldness crawled up from her feet, wrapping around her throat.

Her tongue went numb. She couldn’t talk.

Everything she saw now felt like a dream—or a delusion.

‘Ro.’

That golden hair, shining in the sun. Ocean-blue eyes. A soft, gentle smile. The voice—deeper now, but still warm. He’d finally grown into his looks.

That dumb golden retriever. She'd never once cared about him, never even looked his way.

But now, at the very end, it was his face that came to mind. Maybe she’d cared more than she realized.

Too late for that now.

To hide the pathetic thought, she laughed.

Ah, you sweet, stupid mutt...How are you gonna live without me?

---

“Gah—kuhuh, kuhk!”

Air tore into her lungs like fire. She’d nearly drowned more times than she could count, but nothing had ever burned like this.

She was alive. They must’ve tossed her into the sea right after the poison—without even checking if she was really dead.

She gasped for breath, chest heaving.

“That bastard Nick—!”

She jerked upright like someone who’d just come back from the dead. But something was wrong—really wrong.

Her hands weren’t wet. Her vision kept swinging from light to dark—but one thing was clear:

This wasn’t right.

The fabric under her hand felt soft. Silky.

Which was already suspicious. As hell. A pirate with her experience could tell—this wasn’t just silk. This was crazy expensive silk.

What the hell was going on?

She coughed again and tried to open her eyes.

Then—

“L-Lady?!”

A shrill female voice. Something shattered nearby. Wait—Lady? Rosetta had never been called that. Not once in her whole goddamn life.

Fuck. It figures. Out of every ship she could’ve been rescued by, it had to be that pompous noble wannabe, Ollivander.

“Oh no, my lady! Are you awake? Can you hear me?”

“Kuuh—ck...!”

Could she stop calling her that?

Rosetta tried to wave her off with a “shut up” motion, but the woman rushed over and grabbed her hand.

“Please, don’t move too suddenly, Lady Lea!”

...This isn't it.

---

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