Sea Monster Stew Chapter 12

At Biche’s pointed remark, a dry cough burst from the man’s lips.

“Right… What’s your name?”

Biche silently stared at the man who asked the question so indifferently. 

 

Her gaze kept drifting towards his exposed chest. 

 

Had he sold off his top somewhere? Just like when they first met, his chest was bare for all to see.

‘If anyone saw that I’d hidden a half-naked man like this in my room… my head would roll…’ 

 

Biche rubbed the goosebumps rising on her neck and glared at the man.

“…Isn’t it manners to introduce yourself before asking for someone else’s name?”

“What?”

“You kept ignoring me when I asked for your name!”

At Biche’s sharp tone, a fierce expression momentarily flashed across the man’s face. But Biche didn’t care.

“You tell me your name first. That way, first thing at dawn, I can go to Admiral Moose and tell him that your assistant, Mr. So-and-so, is up to strange things every night!”

“Fool. Do you think I’d be the only one caught up in a scandal if you did? Your neck wouldn’t be safe either.”

 

Just then, someone knocked roughly on the door. 

 

The gazes of the two, who had been growling at each other, simultaneously turned towards the door. 

 

Unlike Biche, who was startled thinking it might be Hildert, the man nonchalantly shrugged his shoulders.

“Don’t worry. That’s not your master, it’s the cat familiar…”

“Get out, now!”

Without waiting for him to finish, Biche yanked the curtain sharply. 

 

The man, perched on the windowsill, flinched at her force, his arm twisting awkwardly. His bulky frame tilted precariously towards the window pane.

“Damn it…!”

His form, muttering curses, vanished behind the swiftly drawn curtain. 

 

Biche rushed to the door and opened it. Just as the man had said, a familiar in the form of a black cat stood there blankly.

‘He was right?’

Biche blinked in bewilderment. She found it strange that the man had instantly identified who was at the door.

“Good evening to you!”

The cat familiar lifted one front paw in a salute to Biche. Awkwardly, Biche returned the gesture.

“Yes… Good evening.”

“I bring a message from Lord Hildert, asking me to escort you to the garden.”

“Pardon? At this hour?”

“I am merely relaying what I heard…”

The familiar rubbed its whiskers and tilted its head. It too seemed to find Hildert’s summons unexpected.

“Ah, and he also said that since the night breeze is chilly, you should be sure to wear an outer garment.”

 

‘Why does he keep doing things that are so unlike him?’ 

 

Biche couldn’t hide her bewilderment and scowled deeply.

Hildert had always been an utterly incomprehensible man. While consistently indifferent to Biche, he would fly into a rage if she tried to mingle with the crew. 

 

He would ignore her as if she didn’t exist, yet if she wasn’t in sight, he would subtly get irritated and act the part of a protector.

But lately, his capriciousness seemed to have worsened.

‘It’s definitely this outfit’s fault.’

Biche looked down with a sour expression at the maid’s uniform she was wearing. 

 

The new dress the head maid had thrown her way was a thin tunic dress that perfectly reflected Hildert’s taste. 

 

Compared to the old robe she used to wear, it revealed her figure much more, making it uncomfortable to move.

They were treating her, a lowly slave-born assistant he might desire but had no intention of truly embracing, as his concubine within the pirate crew. 

 

Biche wondered if Hildert had, without realizing it, started to conform to their perspective.

She resented the people around him who fueled his desires. The familiar looked up at her, biting her lip, and tilted its head.

“Is something the matter?”

“…It’s nothing. Just a moment, please. I’ll be right out.”

She fixed an awkward smile on her face and closed the door. 

 

She couldn’t understand Hildert’s motive for summoning her outside the castle at this late hour. 

 

‘What, did he want to take a stroll together in the moonlight?’

 

Her gaze belatedly drifted towards the window, concealed by the curtain. 

 

Biche gulped and pulled the curtain open. 

 

She cautiously peeked her head out the wide-open window, but the man was nowhere to be seen.

‘He couldn’t have… fallen down, could he?’

Just then, a dark cloud obscured the moon. The dizzying drop below wasn’t visible.

As Biche recalled the garden’s layout, she remembered there was a large pond directly below. 

 

She’d never been close to it as it was a place Captain Hawk cherished, but she’d heard the water was very deep.

“If he fell in the water, that would be a disaster…”

Biche hurriedly threw on her outer garment and rushed out the door.

 

 

* * * 

 

 

Hildert was waiting for Biche in front of the pond, shrouded in mist. 

 

It was said that when the moonlight brightened and the mist cleared, the colony of lotus flowers would all bloom at once, petals wide open.

Since Moose, also from Whecoca, had whispered about this spot, his expectations were high. 

 

He was hoping the lotuses wouldn’t reach full bloom before Biche arrived.

“Gyaaah—!”

A loud scream erupted, and pond water splashed in all directions. 

 

Hildert sidestepped slightly to avoid the shower.

“What in the…”

Kisa was clinging helplessly to a large rock, looking limp. 

 

Hildert clicked his tongue at the sight of the widely scattered grey hair floating on the water’s surface.

“Kisa.”

“Damn it… Hildert…”

“How did you fall from all the way up there?”

Hildert gestured with his eyes towards the tall castle. 

 

Kisa, rolling his eyes to look up at the castle, had a look of utter defeat on his face.

“Well, that is…”

“Don’t give me any nonsense about falling from your room. The guest rooms for Admirals are on the second floor.”

“…There’s a study on the 10th floor! I couldn’t sleep… I was sitting by the window there reading a book, and I must have dozed off and fallen…”

Kisa’s voice grew smaller and smaller. 

 

Hildert was no longer interested in Kisa’s excuses. He was just annoyed that the guy had ruined the pond scenery.

The colony of lotuses that had covered the water’s surface were now overturned here and there, displaying their broken stems, and the water, unable to bear Kisa’s weight, had forgotten its calm and was sloshing violently.

“Well done, Kisa. Thanks to you, the pond’s beauty is utterly ruined.”

“…Damn it! This is the Captain’s prized pond. I’m a dead man…”

Kisa, who had been muttering curses, suddenly widened his eyes. He stared past Hildert’s shoulder, gritting his teeth.

“Why is the Vice-Captain’s assistant here?”

Kisa whispered, pointing at Biche, who was walking alongside the cat familiar.

“I summoned her. Is that a problem?”

“Of course it’s a problem! If that woman sees me fallen in the water like this…”

Kisa, who had been whining with a pitiful face, buried his head in the pond with a short groan. 

 

The sturdy forearm that had been tightly gripping the rock also disappeared beneath the water.

 

“Um, Lord Hildert. You summoned me…”

Biche called out to Hildert in a timid voice. The familiar that had guided her had already tactfully slipped away.

Hildert looked at the ruined pond with an embarrassed expression. 

 

The water’s surface rippled even more noisily as Kisa hid himself, and the bright moonlight poured down over the grotesquely overturned lotuses. 

 

Bubbles of air Kisa had exhaled rose bloop-bloop between the lotus stems.

Thanks to Kisa’s sudden appearance, the night stroll had gone awry from the very start. 

 

For his sake, if nothing else, they needed to leave this place promptly.

“Oh, that flower…”

But the moment Hildert saw Biche’s bright smile, he found himself rooted to the spot.

“Lord Hildert. Look at that.”

Biche pointed a finger at one of the lotus buds scattered haphazardly on the water’s surface. 

 

A single lotus flower floated proudly on the water, displaying its noble form.

Just then, under the pouring moonlight, the tightly closed bud slowly began to open. 

 

Biche was mesmerized by the sight of the lotus, shyly revealing its yellow stamens.

“It’s beautiful…”

“…Yes. Very beautiful.”

Hildert muttered without taking his eyes off Biche’s smile. Seeing her pure smile, her childhood image naturally came to mind.

Back then, Biche was just a shabby, half-breed monster girl. 

 

Seeing her now, grown into a mature woman, made the passing years feel real.

The moment she shed her childishness, Biche began attracting the gazes of many men. 

 

The unique magic power of sea monsters drew rational beings to her, regardless of her will.

In the end, Hildert shrouded his assistant with his own magic, thoroughly concealing her.

At first, he thought it was simply because he didn’t want to lose an interesting object of observation. 

 

Mages of Whecoca were generally highly possessive, and Hildert, who lived wearing the mask of a respectable man, was no exception.

He never dreamed that possessiveness would transform into a different emotion.

 

‘…This is dangerous.’

Hildert swallowed a sigh and averted his eyes from Biche’s white nape. 

 

A sense of self-loasure washed over him. 

 

He found it unbearable, this pathetic self that was swayed by a mere half-breed.

“That’s one of the prides of my homeland, the Helio Empire: the ‘Iros Lotus’.“

Biche tilted her head with a puzzled expression.

“But how is it here…?”

“I heard a pirate subordinate from the Empire offered the lotus seeds to the Captain.”

“…Is that so?”

Hildert, noticing her hesitation, gently pushed Biche’s back as she crept slowly towards the pond.

“You can go up on the stepping stones and take a closer look if you like.”

“But this pond is a place Captain Hawk especially cherishes.”

“The Captain won’t lavish any more affection on a pond that’s already become a mess.”

“But…”

“You clearly want to. Why do you keep refusing?”

Biche’s cheeks flushed red, her weakness exposed.

“Most people who slip on the moss covering these stones end up falling in. Let’s see how skilled you are.”

Teasing others was a first for him. 

 

Wanting to see her reddened cheeks a little longer, a mischievousness he didn’t even know he possessed began to stir.

“Don’t make fun of me. I’ve had excellent balance since I was a child.”

Biche grumbled as she carefully placed one foot on a stepping stone. 

 

Her claim about good balance since childhood didn’t seem to be a lie. 

 

Despite her inconvenient skirt, Biche hopped nimbly across the stepping stones.