Fisher struggled to avert his gaze from Alagina, but her freshly bathed body seemed to attract his attention like a magnet specifically targeting his eyes.
"Ossie, she’s having a hard time adjusting to life aboard the Iceberg Queen after leaving the Sardinia Female Country."
"Having a hard time?"
Alagina showed a hint of surprise upon hearing Fisher’s remark, realizing only now the predicament Ossie found herself in, just as she had described.
Alagina had many things to deal with daily and had to spread her attention in numerous directions; it was understandable that she overlooked this taciturn and loyal guard by her side. Conversely, it wasn’t unreasonable for Ossie to privately harbor some resentment towards Alagina.
Fisher couldn’t help but express a wry smile as he carefully sealed away the finished herbs and set them aside on a nearby table,
"Do you really think Ossie enjoys spending every day alone at the top of the mast?"
"I... I’ve talked to her about this, and she did come down for a few days. But she quickly returned to her perch."
"That’s because she can’t communicate normally with others. She tried and needed your help, but you were not aware of it."
"...She should’ve spoken to me directly."
Fisher glanced at Alagina and shook his head calmly,
"Although it might sound paradoxical, not every heartfelt thought comes easily to the lips. She didn’t want to trouble you, fearing it might conflict with the forthright nature of Sardinia Female Country women... There could be many reasons, but in the end, she never said anything to you."
"Alagina, back in the Sardinia Female Country, she always played the role of your most devoted guard, aiding you in your rebellion against your Mother. Yet aboard the ship, she felt you were without a clear goal, and she too was adrift, because, after all, a pirate captain no longer needs a demi-human guard constantly by her side, does she?"
Emhardt, who had been sitting at the table behind Fisher, widened his eyes slightly and looked back and forth between Fisher’s back and Alagina’s thoughtful expression. He opened his mouth as if to speak but ultimately gave up.
Fisher craftily omitted even a word about how Ossie wanted to try dating him or how she wanted him to touch her wings. Truly, perilous!
But Emhardt, timid as ever, could only give Alagina a meaningful look. Nonetheless, Alagina paid him no heed, merely pursing her lips and looking down in thought.
Her sister, Helena, seemed to have mentioned this to her before, showing great disdain for such a complacent life.
But Alagina herself had no grand ambitions or specific goals to speak of.
She only wished for her subordinates who left the Sardinia Female Country with her to live well, and that she might retire with a gentleman of her choosing. Could such desires be wrong?
"I... understand now."
It was only after a pause of a second or two that she seemed to remember Fisher was still watching her, and she spoke up in response to his words.
As she spoke, the ripples that had been stirred within her by Helena and Fisher did not subside. At that moment, the tattoo on Alagina’s back emitted a faint chill in response to her emotional lows, invisibly spreading its coldness, crystallizing the slight dampness that hadn’t fully evaporated from the tips of her hair.
Fisher keenly sensed the slight drop in the room’s temperature, as if an invisible ice block had suddenly appeared in the room, freezing the surrounding space,
"Then... Fisher, it seemed like you had something you wanted to talk to me about when you came back just now. What is it?"
"Are you sure you want to hear it now?"
Alagina looked at the Nali man in a white shirt before her, hesitated momentarily, and then nodded her assent,
"Alright... I can’t accompany you to Pirate Harbor for a while. I need to make a trip to the Northern Realm."
The temperature in the room dropped even further, with transparent ice crystals slowly forming on the window behind the curtains. After he spoke, Alagina stood up abruptly, expressionless, and pushed Fisher against the wall by his chest.
She was tall, and while her injury and special feelings for Fisher meant she didn’t use much strength, not wanting to hurt him, the "fragile" Fisher was still pushed back until he was near the wall, leaving Emhardt at the table utterly stunned.
"Why?! You’re leaving? You... are you disappointed in me, too? I said before that I’d take you to the Northern Realm... Why do you want to leave now?"
Although her expression remained unchanged, the rapidity of her speech and the growing intensity of the chill emanating from her body made it seem as if she had transported Fisher instantly back to the Northern Realm.
This was truly Alagina incensed, so unlike her angry Sardinia countrywomen whose tempers were fiery. Cooled to the core by the Ice Prince, her anger was restrained but no less dangerous.