Chapter 13: In Plymouth (6)

“What on earth are you talking about?”

“Elpian threatened me. He said if I escape, he’ll return to London before I can and slaughter my family.”

Henry’s expression hardened at Claire’s words, but he immediately began to plead again.

“You don’t have to submit to a threat like that. That’s just the kind of thing pirates say.”

“He is someone who can actually do it.”

“That may be true, but isn’t he on an important mission to collect tribute? He wouldn’t sail all the way back to London just for you.”

Henry’s point was valid, but Claire shook his head, haunted by the cold finality in Elpian’s voice.

“I don’t understand him at all. I can’t take that risk.”

“Then what? Are you saying you’ll stay with this fleet and become a pirate?”

Claire shook his head and gripped Henry’s arm firmly.

“Henry, they likely won’t track you. You must go to London, move my family to safety, and alert the Navy. Bring a fleet back and rescue me.”

“Claire, you don’t realize how difficult it is to track a pirate group that drifts aimlessly across the sea.”

“This fleet is stopping at Porto and then heading for North Africa. After that, they’ll return to the North Sea to have an audience with the Queen. They’ll eventually dock in London. There will be an opening, somewhere along the way.”

Seeing that Claire had clearly thought this through, the resistance in Henry’s face softened slightly. Still, he let out a heavy sigh.

“A round trip to North Africa will take months. Are you saying you’ll endure this… this degradation until then?”

“He said his interest wouldn’t last more than two or three weeks. I just have to survive. Once he loses interest, he won’t care if I live or die. If I escape then, I won’t have to fear his revenge.”

At that, Henry finally seemed to resign himself. He held out the dagger Elpian had given Claire and spoke solemnly.

“I will come for you. No matter what.”

Henry pulled Claire into a tight embrace as Claire nodded. In that moment, Claire felt Henry’s erection pressing against him. Startled, Claire flinched at the unexpected sensation, but Henry didn’t hide it; instead, he pressed closer as if to confirm it to Claire.

“Wait for me.”

With those final words, Henry climbed the railing and leaped without hesitation. He vanished into the dark water, leaving behind only a faint splash.

Claire stared at the ripples where his friend had disappeared, feeling utterly desolate. Looking down at the water, the urge to jump followed him like a shadow. He struggled to push down the desire to simply let go of everything.

Humans are creatures of adaptation, he thought. Even the self-loathing that felt fatal the first time would eventually dull. Claire recalled Elpian’s surprisingly tender touch from earlier. He hadn’t used force; he hadn’t caused pain. If it wasn’t violent, it was a pain that could be endured.

He grew depressed thinking of how he had ultimately accepted the man’s kiss.

The pleasure Elpian provided was so intense that it wasn’t strange for someone to become addicted. Miguel must have been tamed by that shifting attitude—starting with force and slowly becoming gentle. And once a person grew to enjoy it, that man would surely turn away with cold indifference.

‘I will never be tamed by such things.’

Steeling his heart, Claire stepped down from the railing. As he walked back to his cabin, he tried to force himself to think hopeful thoughts.

God gave humans the gift of forgetting. In a few years, even the most painful memories can become mere stories. He would never speak of the humiliation, but he might talk about being captured by pirates. Surviving the Capfrancis fleet might even bring him prestige.

It won’t be so bad, Claire thought as he opened his door.

His face instantly turned to stone.

Elpian was sitting on the desk, legs crossed, looking languid.

‘Why on earth is he here?’

His lapis lazuli eyes shone as if piercing through whatever Claire was hiding. It felt like being a rabbit standing before a predator. Claire’s heart hammered, but he tried to stay calm.

If I just say I went for a walk because I felt stifled…

But it was Elpian who spoke first. He twisted his handsome lips into a smirk and spoke softly.

“Did you see off the rat from under the bed successfully?”

The blood drained from Claire’s face. He knew? Then, what about Henry?

“Did you… set a trap?”

“A trap?”

“Did you kill… Henry?”

“I don’t go out of my way to set traps just to kill a little rodent who was already in my grasp.”

Elpian’s voice was mocking. Claire felt a flicker of relief that Henry wasn’t dead, but his face hardened further at the words that followed.

“I was planning to let him go anyway, so you went through a lot of unnecessary trouble.”

“You were planning to let him go?”

“Yes. He’s a soldier with many merits. There’s no benefit in inviting the wrath of the military.”

That meant Claire had risked everything and exposed his own shame for a man who was going to be freed regardless. Elpian stood up and walked toward him.

“Just… how long have you known?”

“When I left the ship, I told Miguel to keep a secret watch on your movements. He saw everything—you sneaking him out, taking him to my room… all of it.”

The realization that someone had been watching the entire time sent shivers down Claire’s spine. He glared at Elpian, who was now standing right in front of him.

“Then earlier, you did that on purpose…”

“You gave quite a wonderful performance, even with your friend right there.”

“You bastard!”

Unable to bear the insult, Claire raised his hand to strike Elpian’s cheek, but he was instantly restrained. Elpian leaned in close, his face inches from Claire’s, and laughed.

“While you were excitedly sending him down, Miguel had a gun pointed at your head.”

“…”

“If you had tried to go down with him, he would have pulled the trigger without hesitation.”

“You should have just shot me!”

“Aren’t you glad to be alive? You were making quite the interesting plan.”

It seemed he had even overheard Claire telling Henry to bring a fleet. The fury of knowing he had been a mere puppet in the man’s hands boiled over. Shaking with humiliation and spite, Claire screamed.

“Henry is a successful soldier! Pirates like you wouldn’t stand a chance in a real fight!”

Elpian merely let out a derisive laugh.

“We are the Queen’s fleet. Every year, we provide tribute far greater than the taxes from several estates. Not a single man-of-war will move an inch for the sake of your little friend.”

“Henry… Henry will come to save me, no matter what!”

“At first, perhaps. But what if he keeps failing?”

Elpian grabbed Claire’s arm and dragged him into his own room. Looking down at Claire, who had been thrown roughly onto the floor, he continued.

“Just as you said, your friend is a successful soldier. He’ll look for a way to rationalize his own powerlessness. He’ll tell himself ‘that friend is already dead,’ or perhaps…”

Elpian’s jewel-like green eyes glanced toward the space under the bed where Henry had hidden.

“He’ll sell the story of what he heard under that bed to others. He’ll tell them exactly how you were selling your body to a pirate here.”

“Henry isn’t like that! He’s nothing like a cowardly pirate like you!”

“I suppose I should show you the reality of your precious friend.”

Elpian picked up the lamp from the table, strode over, and seized Claire’s hair. He forced Claire’s face down toward the floorboards.

“Ugh!”

“Keep your eyes open and look.”

In the lamplight, the floor under the bed became visible. Claire’s eyes shook as he discovered a certain glistening liquid on the wood.

“That is the trace of your friend masturbating while listening to the sounds of you being taken. He acts so clean, yet in the end, he’s just as filthy.”

“No… that’s… impossible. It can’t be.”

Elpian yanked Claire’s hair again, pulling him up from his dazed state. He dragged the groaning Claire over and sat him down in front of the armchair.

“If you had stayed quiet, you would have been doted on for a while and then allowed to act as a doctor, and your friend would have been released without incident. But in the end, you foolishly ignored my warning.”

“You’re a demon!”

“Indeed. And how does it feel to be held in a demon’s grasp?”

Mocking him, Elpian began to undo the leather laces of his trousers. Claire’s face turned even paler as Elpian exposed himself.

“Open your mouth.”

“You dog!”

“A mouth that’s truly worth defiling.”

Elpian pulled Claire’s head toward him and forced his member into Claire’s mouth. With Elpian’s hand gripping his jaw to prevent him from biting, Claire was helpless, forced to take him in.

Barely able to breathe, Claire was forced to pleasure the man as Elpian moved his head rhythmically. The sheer size of him pushed against Claire’s throat, causing agony, but Elpian didn’t stop. In his rough, cruel movements, not a trace of the earlier tenderness remained.

In stark contrast to Claire’s suffering, Elpian’s beautiful face relaxed into a languid pleasure. He looked down at Claire with red lips parted, letting out low groans of satisfaction.

After a long bout of forceful movement, Elpian’s release poured over Claire’s tear-stained face. Having reached his peak, Elpian dressed himself and walked out, leaving Claire collapsed on the floor.

“Tie him up so he can’t kill himself.”

Claire heard Elpian’s command to Mary Read outside the door. He closed his eyes, his gaze hollowed out by despair.