Master.
“Charles! My dad is calling you!”
At that moment, a young and spirited voice rang out from outside.
Sules and the others instinctively stopped their conversation and turned to look toward the door.
The one who entered was a young, flamboyant handsome guy with striking fiery red hair.
Sules recognized him—he was the young master of the Aylvis family.
The young master glanced at Sules without surprise, clearly already knowing the purpose of her visit.
Then he turned to Charles and said, “My dad said he needs to see you. It’s probably about the new sea route.”
Upon hearing this, Charles’s expression grew a little more serious as he apologized to Sules, “Sorry, I have to handle this…”
Sules immediately replied, “It’s no problem. You go ahead, I’m not in a rush. Whenever you want to talk about that favor you mentioned earlier, just let me know—I’m always available.”
“Ask her for help?”
Aylvis looked somewhat surprised.
“Charles, what kind of help would you want from her?”
It was obvious that, like Sules, he didn’t believe she could be of much assistance.
Charles thought for a moment and then smiled.
“Since Young Master Aiden is here, why don’t you take Miss Sulia out for a stroll on my behalf? As for the favor I mentioned to Miss Sulia, it’s actually related to you. You’ve always wanted to go on an adventure, right? From what I hear, Miss Sulia’s recent adventure was quite thrilling. It’ll be a good story for you.”
As he said this, he cast a meaningful glance at Sules.
So that was the plan.
Sules finally relaxed a bit.
She noticed Aiden Aylvis frowning, looking rather impatient.
She immediately took the hint and said, “Then I won’t need Young Master Aylvis to accompany me. As for my adventure, it’s really nothing special. If Young Master Aylvis is interested, you can come find me anytime to hear about it…”
“I’ll take you!”
Aiden suddenly cut her off.
“I don’t have much to do anyway, so consider it a walk. But your so-called ‘experiences’? I’m not interested at all. Though if you insist on telling me, I’ll reluctantly listen.”
Huh?
Sules raised her eyebrows in surprise.
Saying it like that did sound like he was interested in her experiences after all.
Could that frown earlier have been because Charles was sabotaging things?
She exchanged an amused glance with Charles and smoothly went along with it, “Alright, I do want to talk about it, so Young Master Aylvis, please bear with me.”
Aiden gave him a proud nod.
“Follow me.”
Walking along the deck, the young master clearly had no intention of introducing the ship.
He said nothing, only watching Sules from the corner of his eye.
Sules took the initiative to speak, “Young Master Aylvis, do you know where I swam from to get here?”
Aiden paused for a moment, then said, “From… the secret realm?”
He already knew Sules had been to some secret realm but wasn’t clear on the details.
As the youngest child in the Aylvis family, Aiden had grown up spoiled.
But this was both a blessing and a cage.
Up until now, Aiden had never sailed alone.
Although he was only eighteen, other kids his age—like Sules—had already been voyaging on the seas.
Despite possessing top-tier captain talent, he was stuck at home.
Because of this, Charles had specifically asked Sules to share some adventure stories with him to ease his frustration.
Sules saw through this, which was why she deliberately chose a more engaging storytelling style to narrate her experiences to Aiden.
A question-and-answer format made it more immersive, didn’t it?
Of course, some things still needed to be kept hidden.
Aiden had actually heard many adventure stories before.
Their family had countless captains with plenty of experience.
But those captains’ tales were either told from a veteran’s perspective, giving off an air of age, or were boasting about their strategies, which tended to bore the listener to sleep.
Only Sules, close to his age, told stories he could truly relate to.
Plus, she was genuinely a great storyteller.
When she mentioned noticing something was wrong with Rick, Aiden held his breath.
When she told about Smith turning back, Aiden nearly shouted out loud.
During Sules’s confrontation with Jan, Aiden listened intently.
Even when she said Kadi had saved her once, the usually proud young master gave Kadi a thumbs-up. Kadi was so shy he kept waving his hands in refusal.
When Sules talked about Anthony scheming against her, Aiden, who had sided with her by then, angrily slammed the table, “You saved them! And that Anthony treated you like that? That’s outrageous! I have to get my dad to expose those ungrateful scoundrels!”
Sules smiled.
This guy, in some ways, was even more childish than Kadi.
Clearly, he had been very well protected.
Aiden seemed to realize he’d gotten too worked up.
Clearing his throat awkwardly, he added, “Cough, I wasn’t defending you because of you. I just can’t stand those kinds of villains, so I got a bit emotional.”
Sules nodded with a smile, “Mm-hmm, I know.”
Seeing this, Aiden felt a bit strange and wanted to say something but didn’t know how.
He pursed his lips and slumped his head against the ship’s railing.
“We’re the same age, but your experiences are so rich. My parents absolutely refuse to let me sail out—they’re convinced I’ll die the moment I set foot on the sea.”
Kadi, who had been quietly listening to Sules’s stories, spoke bluntly, “But you have something we want too. I even envy you for having family.”
For a moment, Sules didn’t know whether to agree with him or to tease the boy for envying Aiden’s family instead of the other way around.
Aiden hadn’t expected this naive boy to be an orphan.
His eyes flashed with genuine regret.
“Sorry, I shouldn’t have said that.”
His reaction surprised Sules.
Aiden was clearly proud and somewhat tsundere, so she expected him to be stubborn.
But instead, he apologized so earnestly?
“Ah? No, it’s nothing. I didn’t feel offended. You don’t have to apologize,” Kadi said quickly, clearly taken aback by Aiden’s apology and stammering a bit.
Suddenly remembering something, Aiden turned to Sules, “Then you…”
Sules shrugged, “I’m an orphan too.”
Aiden’s expression became awkward; he blinked before saying, “I… actually don’t really envy your adventures. After all, I’m quite happy right now.”
Though his words sounded like a jab, Sules strangely understood his reasoning.
Aiden felt that given they were all orphans, his earlier yearning for adventure seemed excessive.
So he went the other way and claimed he wasn’t envious of their adventures.
It was a bit convoluted, but Sules guessed that’s what Aiden truly thought.
Kind of adorable, she chuckled and nodded.
“Alright, alright, you’re right. So, Young Master Aylvis, I…”
“Call me Aiden,” he said quietly, his gaze a little distant.
Sules was taken aback for a moment, then happily accepted it.
“Aiden, have you ever thought about where you would go if you sailed out alone with some crew?”
She still remembered she was under Charles’s commission.
Although on the surface she was just supposed to share some adventure stories with Aiden, from the details, Sules could tell Charles’s real intention was to dissuade Aiden from wanting to venture out.
It wasn’t something she absolutely had to do, but she didn’t want to owe anyone favors either.
Helping out would repay a kindness and leave a good impression on Charles—why not?
Aiden had obviously thought about this question before and answered without hesitation, “I want to go to the Mysterious Sea. Of course, I’m not strong enough yet, so I’d train on the outskirts first.”
Sules remained noncommittal and pursed her lips to ask, “What level is your captain rank?”
Aiden replied, “Just passed level four.”
Sules clicked her tongue inwardly.
That was quite impressive.
To put it into perspective, Aiden was the same age as her, and she only barely reached level five with the system’s maxed-out sailing skills.
Yet Aiden had been captain for only half a year and was already at level four. Remember, he’d never sailed alone before!
The captain rank was quite difficult to improve.
Many people spent their whole lives at sea and ended up stuck at level five.
Aiden’s age and rank truly made him a prodigy.
Thinking about his extraordinary captain talent, Sules couldn’t help but marvel—he was definitely blessed by the heavens, or rather, the sea god.
Honestly, with such talent, it was a pity he wasn’t out on the seas adventuring.
But Sules couldn’t judge this objectively.
She had to find a reason to make Aiden believe he was still far from ready to sail alone.
She smiled and asked, “Do you know how to get along with your crew? Forget about your status as the young master of the Aylvis family—do you really think your crew would wholeheartedly follow you with your personality?”
Her words were ruthless but hit the mark.
From what she saw, Aiden’s biggest problem was his personality.
His tsundere nature might not be a big deal to those who understood him, but to others, it was downright annoying.
Aiden was stunned, wanting to defend himself.
“I can change, I…”
Sules smiled and interrupted, “See? You’re trapped in my logic now, on my level. But why would you want to give up the title ‘Young Master of the Aylvis family’? That’s your inborn advantage—you can’t throw that away.”
Stretching lazily, she turned to walk back, casually saying, “When you can face this question and confidently say, ‘I’m rich; why should I be like you?’ then maybe you can sail out.”
Kadi jogged after Sules, “Captain, wait for me!”
Only Aiden remained standing there, dumbfounded, seemingly pondering Sules’s words.