Empress of the Sea|✔️

Chapter 8

Rewritten
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Captain Sehyun Han enjoyed long stays on land, but sadly he hadn't stepped foot on anything other than his ship and others ever since his eighteenth birthday. The day he sunk Captain Sheries ship. The day his father, the captain of the ship then, got sick and made Sehyun the acting captain.

Well, he's been acting captain for the last three years, and his father is still alive, and sadly he would remain in charge of the Black Egret until he died or appointed another to take over.

In his three years as acting captain, Sehyun sank over a hundred ships, all belonging to captains begging for the Grim Reaper to take them to the other side. So he did them all a favour and sped up the process for them.

Now aged twenty-one, Sehyun Han remains unconvinced that his actions were wrong in any way other than a few useless ways. He merely sank the illegal ships of pirates who committed a crime. For example, Captain Sheries, the first ship he sank. That captain murdered a girl, caused another girl to commit suicide, and forced another girl to do his evil bidding.

How he knew, well, secrets should remain secrets until the time came to bring them forth. He called it a curse of knowledge. He heard whispers of ghosts—the victims of those captains. That was merely the surface of his curse.

There were so many words spoken in his ear the second he became the acting captain of the Black Egret, the infamous Katára. The curse given to captains on their birthday onboard their ship.

A knock on his door forced him to roll his eyes and say, "Come in."

A woman, slender and feline as a cat, strutted in. "Captain," she said, her voice deeper than most men.

"What is it, Suzy?"

Suzy Aranaz, the ship's quartermaster and advisor to the captain, looked distressed for the first time in a while. "Captain, there is some disturbance in the south. Our smaller ships went missing."

"How? Did someone sink our ships?" If someone sank those ships, they deserved a pat on the back and a gold medal. Sehyun only permitted educated people on his ships.

Suzy shrugged. She did not know how the other ships belonging to Sehyun disappeared. But she knew something else. "Captain, there also seems to be a survivor."

"Then ask him or her how the ships sank." He picked up a pen and twirled it around, hitting the table a few times. "Why are you even here if you have a source? Find out the cause, then come back."

"Captain, not a survivor from our ships. A survivor from the Maiden's Cross. I just got news of it when Owly came."

Intrigued, Sehyun put down his pen and stood. "But I have never left a survivor."

In his three years of sinking ships, he'd never left a survivor. Survivors knew how he operated, and survivors could turn his entire operation against him. Survivors were dangerous because they knew how to live... And how to get revenge.

He would know best. He was once a survivor.

Could it be the innocent girl he'd warned? He truly hoped it was, but according to the contract he signed with Sarah Walker, he promised he would leave no survivors. If that girl was still alive, it would be a breach of contract.

"Where did Owly get his information from?"

Owly, the messenger owl of Sehyun's ships, was better at finding information than any human on board. He only scavenged relevant information, updated information, and discarded outdated information he carried. Most messenger owls were smart like Owly, but none were as resourceful.

"He won't tell. He's secretive."

Sehyun shook his head. "Tell me more about the survivor."

"She is now a captain of her ship, and she's younger than all of us on board. I don't know her name yet, but I'm sure we'll find out in due time." Suzy stood still as a statue. Her greatest skill was being and acting professionally.

"I need to know Owly's source. Bring him to me."

Suzy left the captain's room to fetch Owly. Moments later, the snow-white owl flew into the room.

Captain. I hear you need me.

"Yes, I do Owly. Tell me about your source. Tell me where you found out about the survivor."

Captain, I am sure you keep your secrets. Allow me to keep mine. Sehyun heard the owl's thoughts using his curse. The one he obtained on his eighteenth birthday, the first day he became the acting captain.

Though it permitted him to speak to ghosts, he found a loophole, and it allowed him to speak with animals.

"I know, but if you won't tell me about your source, tell me more about the survivor."

I only know that she is a victim of Sheries' crimes. She now has her own ship and crew, which she built over the past three years. She has been a captain for the last nine months after working here and there. Though you sank her captain's ship, she escaped. I do not know how, though.

"Good job. Owly, you told me your sources." Sehyun did not mean to speak that sentence out loud.

The owl, taken aback, twisted his head. What do you mean?

The owl's sources were, in fact, the old employers the survivor worked for and links that Captain Sheries had. But Sehyun would not tell the owl he figured that out from his statement alone. He wouldn't want the owl to start watching his words. "That does not matter. Tell me where I can find her ship."

Are you planning on attacking, Captain?

"Not exactly. I'm planning on chit-chatting with the survivor."

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Word Count: 1000