Maelstrom

Barbara Miller, the madwoman of the Angelos Trading Company.
Because of the Siren’s curse, she becomes deeply entangled with Admiral Farrell, known as the Pirate Hound.
She tries to end their relationship, which is nothing more than a physical one, and run away, but.

“A deal. I want a deal, Barbara.”
“With what?”

The admiral who chased her down proposes a deal because he refuses to let her go.

“Nimira’s map and the Siren’s curse.”
“….”
“If you hand over the map to me, I’ll actively help you get rid of the Siren’s curse. What do you think?”

But Barbara couldn’t readily agree.
Because she didn’t want to be dragged around by him under the pretext of the curse.

“I’ll have to think about it.”

That was what she said, but in truth, it was a refusal.
There was no way the admiral wouldn’t realize that.

“Barbara, this isn’t a proposal.”
“….”
“It’s an order. Unless you want to be arrested for illegal dealings with pirates, you’d better do as I say.”
“So in the end, it’s a threat.”
“Let’s call it an order. Hmm? I’m not a gentleman, so I’m not very good at coaxing people. You know that.”

The way he pretended to plead with her was irritating.
In the end, it was a deal she couldn’t avoid anyway.
If she had to give something up no matter what, then she would do so without hesitation and take something else in return.
Wasn’t that what merchants were? People who never did business at a loss.

“There’s a condition instead. There are two pirates I’m looking for. Help me capture those bastards.”
“Gladly.”