MTFBMP Chapter 16

“Are you…, I mean, why looking like that now?”

 

Dion’s eyes scanned my body up and down, then glanced at the hallway behind me. Every step I’d taken had been marked by water.

 

Somehow, it made me feel like an undercover thief. 

 

“Oh, this.”

 

“Are you here to help with the deck work?”

 

I nodded, not sure if I could call it helping, but at least they were happy to have caught a lot of fish, so it was something like that.

 

“Hah.”

 

Dion sighed heavily.

 

“You don’t have to… No. Never mind, I’ll give you some extra clothes and shoes from my cabin.”

 

Before I could refuse, Dion stated firmly. He then averted his gaze. There was something about his expression that made me feel uncomfortable, but I couldn’t tell.

 

“Would you like to come in for a moment?”

 

I almost nodded, pleased to see the comforting clothes, but a retort immediately came to mind.

 

‘No! If I spend time with Dion here again, he’ll be furious back down below!’

 

I had to avoid the god’s wrath as much as possible.

 

“I’ll wait for you in my cabin while you get organized.”

 

“…Sure.”

 

Dion gave one of those still-suspicious looks at me, and I avoided his gaze as best I could.

 

“Oh, and… Anthele?”

 

Looking at Dion, I frowned, wishing he would just let it go.

 

“The door by the closet in Anthele’s cabin leads to my private bathroom.”

 

“What?”

 

I stammered, startled by the unexpected information. My hands loosened from their grip, holding tightly around myself.

 

From the looks of it, there was no other door between my cabin and Dion’s. So I assumed the door in my cabin was simply an unused built-in cabinet, locked from the inside because it was the captain’s private bathroom.

 

“I’ll leave the door open, you can use it.”

 

“You mean I can take a bath?”

 

“…I’m sure there’s still warm water in there, you can use it.”

 

A warm bath! The thought of it was just delightful. It was exactly what I needed right now. I couldn’t refuse this one.

 

Just then, the saltwater in my bangs ran down my face and dripped off my chin. The droplets landed on my arms, which I held across my chest.

 

“Ahem, I’ll leave the clothes in the cabin, you should go.”

 

Dion coughed and spun around.

 

“Thank you!”

 

Excited about the unexpected bath, I ducked into the cabin, not paying attention to Dion’s reaction.

 

Just as I slammed the door shut, the ship tipped once and hard. 

 

“Ugh!”

 

I lurched forward. I heard a thud outside a few seconds later. Dion must have fallen too.

 

“Please, just let me take a bath. You saw me struggling.”

 

I begged, banging my head on the floor. My stomach churned next.

 

“I promise I’ll be there right after that!”

 

When I yelled one last time. Finally, I felt the waves stabilize.

 

It made me feel like a prophet to a truly fickle god. The problem was that my offering to the gods should be myself, not the octopus.

 

💫

 

Just a bath?

 

“Is this what humans are supposed to do?”

 

The beast shook its head.

 

Or was it just that the glowing human took an unusually long time to get ready?

 

“I greeted you with a gift.”

 

How could anyone possibly greet her better than he did?

 

 “And she seemed uncomfortable, so I tried to cover her up.”

 

And then she showed them to the owner of this very ship. Everything was not to his liking.

 

‘Grrr.’ A cry of displeasure echoed loudly through the prison.

 

It was the throaty sound of a beast, with nothing of a human voice left in it.

 

The beast lifted its head and stared at the ceiling, its eyes glazed over, never thinking that it didn’t want to accept its invitation.

 

‘I wanted to reach out and speak to it, but I couldn’t seem to reach it.’

 

One more proper touch and I might be able to bind it more firmly.

 

“Ah.”

 

I wondered if I had used too much strength to greet a human.

 

‘I thought I could hold out a little longer.’

 

That brief encounter was not enough.

 

The image I had held of the shining human faded as it disappeared into a cloud of light.

 

Soon, the beast’s form took shape.

 

💫

 

Luckily, Dion had provided me with an extra set of clothes, so I wasn’t walking around shivering. I had to roll up the sleeves of his shirt, which was a little bigger than my body.

 

Meanwhile, the sun had risen well past dawn. The sun was peeking over the horizon. In a few hours, it would rise to midheaven.

 

‘Red.’

 

It was the color that brought back the vision I’d had before I passed out.

 

‘There’s got to be a better way than being thrown into the sea or becoming a griffin’s dinner.’

 

There may come a day when that seems like the best future.

 

“I got on this boat with that in mind.”

 

Although I never expected to end up in the same boat as Adelaine.

 

Focusing on what was under the surface of the ship made everything I’d talked about with Dion or what had happened in his room seem so distant.

 

When a beast is waiting on me, putting it off only makes it more painful.

 

Besides, this time, there was a chance that the beast would only become more vicious as time went on.

 

“I need to stay out of his way as best I can.”

 

She reminded herself and started walking heavily.

 

The daylight hours were actually good for hiding, as everyone was busy doing their own thing in their designated areas.

 

The new clothes Dion had brought me had a lot of useful things in them. There were socks and shoes, as well as a cloak to keep me warm.

 

Just in case, I also brought some clothes for Adele. I wanted to make sure that Adele wouldn’t run off without a decent outfit.

 

‘These are nice, although the shoes are a little too tight.’

 

I paced, pulling on the cloak I was wearing.

 

Getting back to the basement wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be.

 

Squeak—

 

The door was open, just like last night.

 

“I never wanted to go down there…”

 

What I said was one thing, but what I felt was another. My feet didn’t leave the stairs.

 

The sun was high on the horizon, but the stairs to the basement were as dark as night. If I took a step, the lights on the wall would come back on, but it was hard to take that step.

 

Whoosh—

 

“Hic!”

 

After taking a few steps down the stairs, a cool breeze blew at me from the depths.

 

It was strong enough that I reflexively pressed down hard on my hat to keep it from coming off.

 

“Okay, fine, I got this.”

 

Now I could feel that the wind had an invigorating energy to it. I took the stairs one at a time.

 

“Huh?”

 

The torch failed to ignite.

 

“Why won’t it light?”

 

The darkness was too thick to go down any further, and I fumbled around in vain.

 

Clunk!

 

Thud—!

 

“Eek!”

 

The door slammed behind me.

 

“Wh-what!”

 

I spun around and grabbed the doorknob. The door refused to open, as if it were locked tight.

 

There was no sound of the doorknob turning, no sound of anyone moving outside. The knob refused to budge.

 

“Hey, please open it!”

 

I slammed my fist down on the door, but there was no response.

 

Whoosh—

 

“Hmph!”

 

Again, a gust of wind rose from below and brushed the nape of my neck.

 

“No way. It can’t be…”

 

The door that doesn’t open to the uninvited. A torch that won’t light.

 

Was this a visitation that was meant for me, and I was running away from it?

 

“…Are you being grumpy with me?”

 

I heard the growl of a beast’s hoarse voice in the distance.

 

It was true, Adelaine was angry with me for fleeing. The thought sent a shiver down my spine.

 

“I’m on my way to you…, please light the fire.”

 

I pleaded, but there was no response.

 

“I won’t run away, I swear I won’t run away today.”

 

Anxiously, I wanted to stomp my foot, but I knew that if I took the slightest wrong step, I would roll down the stairs. I found myself frozen in place.

 

The steep staircase in front of me felt like a stairway to hell with no end in sight.

 

“I promise!”

 

I finally blurted out, “I didn’t say I promised last time, but this time I promise!”

 

And,

 

“Huh?”

 

Lights flashed in the air like fireflies in flight. I could see long, slender strands of light.

 

They were Adele’s feathers.

 

Shimmering golden feathers floated in the air. Just when it seemed to settle, the wind rose again and lifted the feather into the air. As they fluttered and flew, they resembled jellyfish in the ocean.

 

The tiny lights clustered together to form a path.