There was silence between the two. Victorian’s pleading grey eyes locked with his confused blue ones. It was her only chance to get away. It was her only chance at freedom.

“So you can you take me away? You have a ship right?” Victorian repeated. After calming down and accessing the situation, Victorian changed her speech to of a commoner’s dialect to avoid having her identity figured out.

“Yes, wait no. I can but I didn’t buy you for the reason to take you with me.”

“Please,” she pleaded. “I can’t go back there. I can’t.”

“Go back where?”

“To my father. He and my mother have been planning to marry me off to some creep who is three times my age for land.” she partially lied.

“I did agree didn’t I? Well, er, I, I guess,” he said, scratching the back of his head.

“Let’s go now, he might have sent someone to look for me.” Victorian continued the act and she grabbed him and ran towards the dock. Freedom, all she wanted and it was right within her grasp.

He led her onto a medium sized ship and was immediately greeted by a young boy with an accent, “Cap you’re back- who’s that? You didn’t waste the money again did you? Lane’s going to kill you.”

“What’s wrong Maes-kun?” A shirtless man asked as he and two others entered the scene from below the deck.

“Ah Yu. Cap brought a girl back.”

“So?”

“Just a girl.”

“What about the supplies Baise-dono?”

“You see,” Baise said, his voice was squeamish as he moved Victorian behind him.

“Cap, Lane’s going to kill you,” Maes said.

“Is that Baise’s voice I hear?” A woman’s voice shouted from below deck.

The question alone was enough to make Baise go stiff and the two other men vanish off to the sidelines and one back below deck.

“Oh this is going to be interesting,” Maes commented. He joined the other two on the crate as they cleared a space for the showdown.

A tanned woman with short brown hair appeared from below deck and the first thing she did was give a once over to Baise. When she didn’t see any supplies but Victorian she gave the red haired woman a glare.

“Baise.” she warned as she drew out her sword.

“Yes Elena?” Baise said while sticking his hands out to protect them.

“Where are the supplies?”

“You see,” Baise said as he looked around for help.

“He’s dead,” Maes commented. “Five fiore that she’s going to beat him up.”

“There is no point in betting in that, we all know that is true. Five fiore that Elena-san will going to cut him.”

“Five says she’ll stab him and then kick the girl off.” Thomas slapped Yuto’s hand confirming the bet.

“Baise. I gave you one job. Buy supplies but you bring back a girl instead?”

“Actually I kind of bought her?” he said, under his first mate’s intimidation he was nothing more of a fly.

“Not even bring a girl back but you bought her?” Off in the sides, the crewmen moved to a higher and safer spot.

“It was for a good reason Elena.” Elena brought her sword closer to the captain’s neck forcing him towards the edge of the ship. “She was going to be sold to some creep.”

“So you bought her instead! How much did you spend on her?”

“I forgot?”

“Baise,” Elena warned, her sword moved from his neck down towards a more useful region of his body.

“Five thousand,” he winced out. The cool saviour that appeared before Victorian looked like a young child who got caught stealing.

“You spend 5000 fiore on her! She better be worth that much for her ransom.”

“She’s a runaway from home, I don’t think…”

“You spent the 5000 fiore on her!” Each word was forced out of her mouth just as how Baise forced himself to not fall off the ship. Enraged, Elena brought her sword down only to be stopped by another.

“Lane-san, I understand that you are mad but if you bring your sword down on Baise-dono I must consider you my enemy,” Yuto said. He pushed himself straight up and forced Elena back.

“Thanks Thomas,” Baise said as the youngest brought him to safety. “Yuto it’s okay, she is right to be upset plus we know that she would have ended up kicking me into the water,” Baise joked as if his life wasn’t just threatened by his crewmate five seconds ago.

“Baise I swear, I really will cut you up one day and Alzono you can let go of her now.”

Alzono, who rescued Victorian from the fall, reluctantly let go of her. Victorian was glad that he did hang on a bit, albeit it was a bit too long, since she probably would have collapsed.

“Elena, take her below deck and change her into something more comfortable, Thomas go tell Julian to prepare a feast. Alzono and Yuto please go grab the others.”

“And what are you going to do Captain?”

“I’ll go borrow some supplies. Why don’t you come help Alzono? It is your expertise after all. Yuto go call the others on your own please.”

“Yes sir.”

Victorian headed below deck with Lane walking after her and they entered Lane’s room. The latter quickly shut the door and pulled out a knife hidden in her boot and threw it right past Victorian’s cheek with such a force that it cracked part of the wood it embedded.

“So who are you really? The captain may trust you but as you can tell he’s a fool.”

“What do you mean Miss Elena?” Victorian cursed in her head for adding an honorific to Elena’s name.

“You’re dressed as a commoner and claim to be a runaway but your appearance says elsewise. You speak way to proper to be a commoner as if you’re purposely changing the way you would normally speak. Your hair is long and silky meaning you are able to wash often. Your skin is pale and even, meaning you don’t work outside.”

With each statement, Lane moved forward with a knife she pulled out from her other boot and Victorian backed to the wall where the knife was thrown into.

“And your hands are off one who has never done any labour. So let me ask you one more time. Who are you?”

Victorian paused as she tried to come up with a story to fool her. Her eyes darted around but even if she could escape off of the ship, there was no way she could escape Alphenrose.

“My name is Tori I’m from a manor and I really need to run away. I promise I won’t do anything. I just need to get away from there.” Victorian dropped on her knees and begged at she clutched onto Elena’s pants. “You can drop me off at the next island and until then I’ll be useful, I promise. Please, please don’t send me back.”

Elena plucked Victorian’s hands off her pants and headed towards the closet and threw a pair of pants and a shirt at the red head.

“Even if I wanted to send you can I can’t, captain’s orders. Get changed and remember I don’t trust you.”

Back in Alphenrose, the Earl and Countess of Azure along with their dinner guest the Duke of Burgundy waited for Victorian’s appearance at the dining table. The duke had spent all afternoon with the Earl, once again trying to convince father to allow him to marry his daughter.

“Where is that daughter of mine?” The countess questioned under her breath before turning her attention to the duke. “My apologises, she should be here by now. She was informed about tonight’s festivities, she’s probably nervous.”

“It is alright. We are all family,” the duke said forcing a smile. He was so close to obtaining Victorian, that this was nothing.

“My Lord,” a guard entered the dining room, “she’s gone. No one has seen her all afternoon and my men have searched the entire manor.”

Forgetting that there was a guest, the Earl of Azure exploded, “What does thou mean she is gone! How could she have disappeared under your watch! I do not pay thou to guard air! Until thou finds her I don’t want to see thy face!”

There had been talk that his daughter had caught the attention of a prince while he was visiting Alphenrose. Not wanting to lose such an opportunity, the earl was to allow Victorian to meet the Duke of Burgundy only to have a reason to turn down his offer if the prince was truly interested.

A sly smile appeared on the duke’s face, it was his chance. He finished the last bite of steak and placed her cutlery down. He wiped his mouth with the handkerchief and turned to the Earl, “Sir, if thou does not mind, I have a proposition. If you agree, I am willing to personally with the best men in the navy search for thy daughter. All I ask in return is her hand in marriage.”