The ship came to a stop, floating still in the middle of the deep blue sea. The sun shone brilliantly in the sky, and the sky itself barely had clouds to block its azure beauty. Inside the ship, however, a particular kind of darkness loomed as the people inside watched the three prisoners slowly move through the corridor.

The prisoners seemed to be weak, or rather, sick. They were sweating profusely, and their skin appeared a bit paler. A rope was wrapped around their ankles connected to a tightly sealed bag, only allowing them to move their legs a little to walk. Their hands were tied up as well, but they carried the bag on their arms. Their arms were shaking, the bags must be pretty heavy.

The once captives looked at them curiously. They wondered what they were doing outside their cells. A woman looked at one of the prisoners and flinched when their eyes met for a brief moment. Fear and trauma evident in the woman’s eyes. And one of her friends tended to her, caressing her back.

One of the crew approached the soldier leading the prisoners.

“What is this? What’s going on?”

The soldier, Velar, paused for a moment, thinking on how to respond.

“Their judgment and penance, I suppose.”

“I didn’t expect you would do something like this.”

“I didn’t. It was the white lady’s order.”

“What?”

“Everyone should go on top.” Velar nodded and continued on.

As they climbed up the stairs, the captain glared at the soldier and Taneva. “T-This is cruel!”

Velar glanced back at him. “Don’t talk to me about being cruel.”

The captain fell silent as they reached the top deck. The lady of white was sitting down on the wooden railing. With a neutral expression, she turned towards the new arrival. She hopped off and walked a bit closer to them.

“Line them up.”

Velar urged the three prisoners to line up next to the port side.

“I was expecting you to have a plank,” the princess said to the prisoners. “I guess you had no need for such.”

Which she would have been amused by using. There were plenty of pirates in movies and shows that do just that. It would have been fun, and she was quite disappointed to see there was none of that here.

“P-Please don’t do this.”

She slightly tilted her head, showing a bit of innocence in her eyes, which disturbed the captain.

“If there would be salvation for you…” She lifted her finger to point. “It would be in their hands.”

The people, their former captives, began to gather on the deck. Others glaring at the three, some were timid, and others curious of what was about to happen. Estelia could see the intense nervousness in the prisoners’ eyes as they looked at their former products.

The lady of white stood in front of the people.

“Greetings, everyone. I have yet to formally introduce myself. I am Estelia, the Princess of Wisteria.” A soft smile radiated on her beautiful face.

Upon hearing that, the people began muttering to each other, expressing their shock upon that revelation. They never expected that they would be in the presence of a princess. They could tell she was someone very important, but still, her being a princess from the distant kingdom was still a shock to discover.

Estelia decided to formally introduce herself. It was better to declare who she really was than let others slowly discover it, as others could have already surmised it. Honesty was the best policy for a reason. And honesty leads to trust. And trust was what she needed right now. Being an outright tyrant here was not an option. It would lead to resistance and treachery. Imagine what they would say to the people outside the ship once they make land? Being seen as a villain was more troublesome.

Thus, there was no better way than to be honest. Carry yourself as a fellow victim of evil. Express that you relate to the other’s situation. It was how Velar and that poet made it out to be. And that was how Estelia wanted it to be.

“Like you, I was taken from my home by force. And nothing was more heartbreaking. Being away from home is a terrible thing.” Her gaze and face were soft and sad. “And, of course, I am angered by what happened. I am angry at the ones who did this to me.”

She stepped to the side and held out her hand towards the prisoners.

“Here are the culprits to our troubles. Slavers, abusers, heartless scoundrels. Among them is the former captain of this ship. One who had transported countless slaves before us. And his men who did not care for any of their victims. Where they take advantage of their position, and abuse those below them.” She glanced at the women. “They are monsters.”

Estelia noticed one of the women crying, hiding behind her friends. And she gave them a pitiful look.

“Even one of them tried to take advantage of my vulnerability. But thankfully, I managed to escape before it happened.” Estelia closed her eyes, as if remembering it brought terrible memories.

She slowly opened her eyes again.

“I have given these three my punishment to them. But, given the weight of their transgressions, I cannot let it end there. I’m giving you, the people, a choice.”

She paused as the crew processed her words.

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“Let them be prisoners, where they have a chance to live. Or… throw them into the sea, where they will die.”

The crew looked at each other as Estelia continued.

“Whatever you choose, I will not intervene. You are their victims. Their fate is in your hands. What punishment do you think fits them the most? What does your heart tell you?” she said as she stepped closer to the people. Her beautiful crimson eyes looked deeply into them.

“Spare them, or lead them unto death?” She then turned towards the most timid and most traumatized individuals. “What will please you? What will rid you of the nightmares? What will bring you peace?”

Estelia stepped back with a sad smile. “Make your choice, now.”

There was silence for a moment when a man’s voice shouted.

“Isn’t it obvious? Throw them into the sea!”

“Yeah! Execute them!” one followed.

Then a young woman stepped forward, tears flowing down her cheeks. “Drown them to death!”

“I don’t want to see them again!” a girl shouted in a strained voice.

“They will pay for what they did to me!” another woman added.

Seeing them, Estelia resisted the urge to form quite a devious grin. As she had expected, the fury of humanity was not so easily extinguished. Given the chance, they would strike back at their persecutors. True that there may be others so compassionate inside, but they would be all drowned out by the call of retribution.

“Let them suffer as they die!”

“Kill them all!”

“No mercy!”

Indeed, no mercy.

“I hear you, everyone!” said Estelia. “And thus, you!” She turned towards the prisoners. “I sentence you all to death. You shall be cast unto the sea.”

“You can’t be serious?!” the captain exclaimed as he took a step forward towards her. But Velar punched him in the gut, putting him in his place.

The other two, however, tried to beg.

“Please s-spare us!”

“I-I won’t do it again, I swear!”

“I’ll redeem myself. Please just let me live!”

“I’ll do everything you want, please!”

They were speaking to both the princess and to the crew. But all their pleadings and cries fell on deaf ears.

“Velar, start with him.” Estelia pointed at the one who thought of stealing her dagger.

Velar nodded and began pushing him to the edge.

“N-No! Please! I beg you.”

He dropped his heavy bag, causing a heavy thud on the wooden floor. Velar quickly picked it up and shoved it into the man’s chest.

“Hold this.”

“Please don’t do this,” he continued on begging as he stood at the edge, terror evident in his eyes. However, the people on the ship merely cheered, excited for him to be thrown into the sea.

Velar didn’t give any response to the prisoner despite his begging, and coldly pushed him towards the water. A big splash scattered and sounded as he hit the water's surface. Due to his weight, tied hands, and heavy bag, he quickly plummeted into the water's depths. His screams were cut off by the water, bubbles rising to the top.

Estelia observed his drowning, as did the other people. But it wasn’t over yet.

Estelia pointed to the other. “Next is you.”

Velar pushed the other prisoner. This one seemed to have given up already. He was silently carrying his bag to the edge. He didn’t resist at all. He had accepted his fate. Velar pushed him into the water. The execution of this one was more peaceful and silent.

Estelia subtly shrugged and pointed at the last prisoner.

“It’s your turn, Captain.”

The captain gritted his teeth and glared at Estelia. “You fucking despicable witch! You won’t get away with this!”

“... Witch…?” Estelia formed a pained look. Visibly upset that she was called that terrible word. That inspired the crew to feel for her.

“Shut up!”

“You’re the evil bastard here!”

One of the men suddenly punched him in the face. But that didn’t stop there. Another came in and kicked the captain in the stomach.

“Yeah! Beat him up!”

“Beat that piece of shit!”

“Make him pay!”

“Make him suffer before he fucking dies!”

The captain dropped to the floor as he received the beatings.

Not only men stepped forward to begin beating the captain, but a few of the women as well violently sent their kicks. Given the uncontrollable aggression of the crew, Velar was forced to step back. To watch as the people began beating the captain relentlessly.

Estelia was a bit fascinated.

Holy shit.

There were those that didn’t join in. But even a few would be enough to beat someone defenseless to death.

In a way, this was worrying. Indeed, she was not fascinated because she was amused. She was fascinated to see how wrathful people could get. Although she knew this was a possibility, seeing it first hand was something else entirely. To be precise — she was fascinated as they were normal civilians, beating some defenseless fellow to death. And that was on death row. It was a pretty rare sight to see.

She didn’t mean for it to go this way. She wouldn’t want normal civilians to come to this degree. To become a bunch of savages. Was this good, though? They were unlike Estelia. These were normal human beings that lived normal lives. No, she shouldn’t let this go on.

It would be fine in another situation. She wouldn’t really care. But they would be stuck in the same ship. Estelia didn’t want anyone to get too carried away by their emotions and reduce themselves to this. Letting some of her crew fall into their dark impulses was not healthy. They could do that when she was away. But not in her watch. Not in her ship.

I don’t want wild animals.

She wanted decent men.

‘But Estelia, he's a captain of very bad men. He deserves that.’ Gah! I don’t give a fuck. Do that anywhere else, but not near me! My ship, my rules! No falling to the dark side or whatever.

True that she basically let them make the choice of sparing or killing them. But this was different. They were doing things on their own, driven by their violent and hateful impulses. They were basically out of control. Estelia was originally in control, that was why she supervised the sentencing. But this? This was basically her losing control, that was the main problem. And she disliked that.

Time to set the culture in this ship.

She stepped forward.

“S-Stop it everyone. Please!”

She tried pulling them away.

“Stop! I said stop it!” she shouted more forcefully.

Hearing her, the violent crowd came to a stop and turned towards her.

“His fate has been decided! His sentence is decided! There is no need to do this. There’s no need to be so barbaric!”

“But he deserves it!” one said.

“Don’t you despise them because they are abusers? Evil men? Abusing the most vulnerable. Then why are you acting like they are? Beating a defenseless man about to be sent to his death. We have already decided how he dies, haven't we? His punishment. Then there’s no need to do this…”

The crowd glanced at the heavily beaten up former captain.

“Do not stoop to their level. We must do as civilized men do. Do not let our fury get the best of us. We must be better than them!”

Hesitation became more apparent on the crowd’s face, and they began stepping away.

Oh wow, that worked. Oh well, at least I also got to make the image that I’m a good girl.

What was important was that the crowd was under control again. Estelia glanced down at the captain. He was bruised, bleeding, and swelling all over. He looked terrible.

Whatever, let’s just get this over with.

“Velar, let us be done with this.”

“... Understood.”

Velar forced the captain on his feet and pushed him forward towards the edge. The captain turned his head to look at Estelia from the corner of his eyes. Was it gratitude or resentment in his eyes? No, whatever he felt held no significance. Estelia didn’t care. For he was a man about to die, anyway. Who knows what kind of emotions he was having.

The captain faced the sea, and a second later, Velar pushed him into the water.

Estelia moved to the edge and watched the captain drown. Her indifference hidden in her neutral expression. She watched as the captain descended, bubbles rising to the water surface. And then, some time later, the bubbles stopped.

No signs of life from any of the three remained. Estelia glanced at the people, the former captives. Most of them were relieved, and others were satisfied. Overall, everyone was pleased. Estelia, however, felt differently. She was not fulfilled. She felt nothing…

And she could not understand why.