Was it how he had approached her or it was something entirely different?

She sighed in defeat. She didn't know the answer to that question.

Nonetheless, there was only one name that couldn't escape her mind. She loathed it, hated it, seared it apart with the flames of her anger.

Yet, at the end of all convoluting emotions, she couldn't help but notice that at the end of everything, among him and her, she was the bigger fool.

A bigger fool that always tasted the end of a stick after it has being smashed deep into the soil and used as a walking aid for a beggar.

Her marriage. Her image. Her ship. Her crewmen. He always got the last laugh!

At this point, she began to wonder if it was a crime to be weak. No, of course, it is. If her father was weak also then she might as well multiply her current life by a thousand.

It was a crime to be weak!

"Prince Wyatt" The name smoothly came out of her lips carrying no more malice and intense hatred. She had now calmed down.

After suffering numerous losses, time and time again. It was clear to her which side should throw their hands in the air and surrender in defeat.

A pity and a shame that it had to be her!!

Remembering how tightly he had gripped her, she finally remembered sometime else...…

"Hahaahahahahah…. Cough!! Cough!!" She mistakenly choked on her spit quickly sitting upright, she instantly felt her breathing returning to normal.

It seems that laughing hysterically while lying down might not be a good idea. However, the unconcealed fear in her eyes showed the reason for her series of laughter.

The first Prince has gotten his powers back.

His grip, the way he held her, the amount of force applied, that she has never felt from any ordinary human except an ascendant and also, the sight of the strange beast he had summoned out of the sea.

A sea beast that size meant that it was strong. And for a mortal to control that kind of beast meant that he had to be ridiculously strong.

'Prince Wyatt' Clara thought as her heart began to beat faster than the sound of a galloping horse.

The Prince has gotten his powers back and he was stronger than ever.

"Haaa!!!" Hot breath escaped her mouth.

'The Prince has gotten his powers back' She thought, repeating the words again and again in her mind.

'Wait a minute!'

Doesn't that mean that there was a way for her to save her marriage?

Her eyes widened as his thoughts came to halt. Regardless, it suddenly sprang back to life with the unexpected blast of a raging volcano.

'But why hasn't he gone back?' She thought.

Why hasn't he returned to the Empire and informed them about his powers returning?

Why didn't he inform her also so that she could figure out a way to fix her marriage?

'Was it because I was making his life a little too difficult while he was gaining back his powers' The thought made her wince in trepidation.

The fact that she has been ruthlessly oppressing an ascendant like him left a bad taste in her mouth as she thought about the consequences of doing so.

No wonder he tried to kill her. If she was the one, she would have done the same thing, yet, she still didn't feel any regret for her actions as it was well deserved because of the humiliation and emotional torment he had put her through.

"C-can h--he help me?" She muttered, albeit with some difficulting.

Even if he tried to kill her previously, well she was still technically his sister-in-law even with the bad blood between them.

A single minute of her thoughts racing and somersaulting against each other was enough to overturn her whole emotions and sense of reasoning.

At this point, she was no longer filled with the intense urge to kill Prince Wyatt even with the death of her crewmen, instead, she only wanted to sit down and talk with him.

A simple talk was all she needed to get the answers to a few questions of hers. Even though it wouldn't be able to clear all of the misunderstandings between them, it was still the only achievable, working option she saw right now.

"SLAP!!" Both her hands clapped against her cheeks, sending ripples above them, clearing away her raging thoughts before they turned her into a mess once more.

She stood up and walked towards the table where the food she was informed about, is. She needed to eat and fill her stomach to continue thinking properly.

Nevertheless, she couldn't wait for when next she will meet with Prince Wyatt.

…............

"Click!!" The doors of the room opened as Captain Crimson eye walked into his office, shutting the door once more behind him.

Jerry, who was waiting patiently in the room, sitting on one of the two chairs asked "How was it?"

Captain Crimson eye sat down before he answered "It went well".

"I thought that you would have some problems" Jerry asked, doubtfully.

"I thought so too, but it worked out well in the end" Captain Crimson eye responded "All worked out well in the end thanks to Prince Wyatt".

Jerry frowned. He knew what his words meant, and he knew that he was being sarcastic.

"What did you do?" He asked, curiously.

"Nothing much, all I did was direct her anger at Prince Wyatt while making her warm up to my presence. I didn't push things too much or else I might risk pushing her away".

"And when you do get her, what do you really plan to do?" Jerry replied, knowing that there was more to this.

"What do you mean?"

"Drop the act, I know you more than you know yourself. When you do get her, I doubt that you are only going to use her to get Captain Davy. I know that you have other plans in mind".

Captain Crimson eye smiled. His teeth glistened under the dim lighting in the room.

"When I am done with her father, I am sure that she will need someone else who will fill in the gaps in her heart after his death" He replied "I will gladly take responsibility and do so myself".

Jerry sighed. Having been with his Captain since his early age as a Pirate, he knew the ins and out of the man's mind.

Using the emotion of another individual was the same as breathing for him. He didn't feel regret or pity for whoever was to fall victim within his grasp. He simply used and disposed of them whenever they failed to meet his expectations.

Yes, it was cruel. But that is what has gotten him this far. A man walking on a cruel path for the sake of survival will never derail from it until he obtains whatever he needs from it.

However, sometimes they just keep walking forever on that path because they have already become so used to it, that it just becomes their way of life. The very core of their being!

That was also why he sometimes wondered why Annabelle had eyes for only him even when he was more bluntly and unapologetically true to himself in contrast to his Captain who hides his true self underneath a veil of thick clothes.

Nevertheless, he has sworn by the Pirate code to always stand behind his Captain. Besides, that was also one of the reasons why he was never worried whenever his Captain chooses to make a decision alone since he always got whatever he wanted one way or the other.

And so, If he needs to win her over, then he needed to play the game fairly and win her love together with her heart.

In a game of love against someone he loves and the other which he respects, he might as well be holding a signboard with his feelings written on it, showing it over to the woman who refuses to look at it.

He knows it, and that was why he would keep on trying. After all, she can't keep on saying no to him every day, right?

"Knock!! Knock!!!" A sound came from the door.

"Come in!" Captain Crimson eye responded.

"Click!!"

The figure walked in. Startled by her arrival, Jerry was the first to respond.

"What are you doing here, this early?" He asked.

Her eyes glanced over his body, with a snort.

"I came to see the Captain. Aren't I allowed to do so?" Annabelle responded, walking towards the table and stopping as soon as she was right in front of it.

"Sit down" Captain Crimson eye said.

Both man and woman turned as one, glancing at each other before they both turned their direction to their Captain in front of them.

Jerry's eyes twitched. Well, at least she was no longer dismissing her presence as she had done before when she first arrived.