Roger's light, rhetorical question instantly crashed Elizabeth's brain.
Teach me?
Teach me how to be a female Captain?
She looked at Roger with the eyes one would use to look at a prehistoric monster.
How exactly was this pirate's brain wired?
He had kidnapped her, blackmailed her father, taken the money but still wouldn't release her, and now he was actually saying he wanted to teach her how to be a pirate?
Was this some new form of humiliation?
Or had he finally gone mad?
"You... what trick are you trying to pull?"
Elizabeth took a step back, watching him warily, as if he were some contagious virus.
"Trick?" Roger chuckled.
He extended a finger and wagged it in front of her.
"No, no, no, Miss Swann, this isn't a trick, this is an investment."
"Investment?"
"Exactly." Roger nodded as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
"You see, I currently have over thirty burly men on my ship, not only are they not easy on the eyes, but besides me, there isn't a single one who can fully understand a sea chart."
"If I ever have an accident one day and fall into the sea to feed the sharks, this ship probably won't even find its way home."
Roger sighed dramatically when he said this, looking like he was utterly heartbroken over his illiterate crew.
"So, I need a backup Captain."
"A tool-person who can, at least, manage to sail the ship when I'm not around."
His eyes swept over Elizabeth from head to toe.
"I figured, since you're the Governor's Daughter and have been exposed to so much since childhood, your intelligence should be... a tiny bit higher than Billy's."
"You barely meet my minimum hiring standard."
"So, congratulations, Miss Swann, you're hired."
Every word of this speech felt like a slap across her face.
What did he mean, 'barely meet the hiring standard'?
What did he mean, 'a tiny bit higher than Billy's intelligence'?
That idiot named Billy couldn't even tell the difference between 'G' and 'Q'!
She, Elizabeth Swann, had read extensively since childhood, was fluent in multiple languages, and was the most talented lady in all of Port Royal!
And in his mouth, she had become a barely useful tool-person?!
Elizabeth trembled with rage.
"You wish! I will never learn anything from you dirty pirates!"
"Oh? Really?" Roger wasn't surprised at all.
The smile on his face became even more playful.
"Miss Swann, it seems you haven't quite grasped the situation."
"You now have two choices."
"One, refuse me. Then continue to return to your little dark room, scrubbing toilets and eating dried salted fish every day until I get bored, or until your father gathers the second, then the third ransom."
"Of course, I can't guarantee when I'll get bored."
Roger's words made Elizabeth's heart sink.
"Two, accept my 'kindness'. Become my student and learn how to be a true navigator."
Roger paused, then leaned close to her ear, his voice very low, filled with a devilish temptation.
"Think about it, Miss Swann."
"When you master this knowledge, when there's nothing left on this vast ocean that can confine you, won't your so-called freedom be within reach?"
"At that point, whether you want to sail home and be the Governor's Daughter, or assemble your own fleet and become the Queen of the Caribbean Sea, won't it all be up to your own will?"
"You could even sail your ship and sink Norrington's entire fleet; no one would be able to stop you."
Freedom.
This word struck Elizabeth's heart fiercely.
She had always yearned for freedom, yet she had always been trapped in the cage of her identity as the Governor's Daughter.
But now, this man was painting a grand picture for her.
A more enticing, yet also more insane, picture!
Being a Captain herself?
Taking control of her own destiny?
This idea was so wild, yet it damnably made her heart stir.
She looked at Roger's face, so close to hers, at his eyes that seemed to see through everything, and her heart began a fierce internal struggle.
She knew this might be poison.
Poison coated in sugar.
She couldn't figure out what game Roger was playing.
Perhaps he was luring her to fall, luring her down a path of no return!
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