Garden Of Poison-Chapter 262: Third try of the princess

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"If only I could find some poison," Niyasa murmured under her breath. "Not to kill myself, but others." In no way was she planning to die, as she was determined to achieve the greatness she had envisioned for herself.

To be the wife of a prince, or even better, a king. That had been Niyasa Blackthorn’s dream. All she would ever need to do was dress elegantly and enjoy the gossip. Although not many people acknowledged it openly, she was aware that it was a dream shared by many.

Niyasa pushed the mop back and forth tirelessly. She had been aboard this useless pirate ship for weeks and had become proficient in the art of floor cleaning. When one of the pirates nonchalantly trod upon the area she had just cleaned, her face contorted into a scowl and her jaw clenched in frustration.

"Who do you think you are glaring at, you worthless woman?" barked a gruff voice from one of the pirates, who was in a position of authority under the ship’s leader. "It looks like you want to be flogged or tossed into the sea. There are many hungry fish waiting to be fed out there."

"I think it would be rather strange to feed me to fish and then dine on them," Niyasa murmured, causing the pirate to narrow his eyes.

"I have been observing you closely for many days, and your movements have been suspicious. Not to mention the way you look," the pirate remarked, his suspicion of her showing no signs of diminishing.

She had done nothing but clean! When she had attempted to escape, no one had deemed her suspicious then! Niyasa struggled to control her expressions, as annoyance and irritation threatened to break through her otherwise rigid expression. She made an effort to be polite. "This is how I was born. It is how my face naturally looks."

"Who gave you permission to speak, you mongrel?" snapped the pirate at her, and Niyasa found herself a breath away from pushing him off the ship. Maybe it wouldn’t be such a terrible idea, she thought to herself.

Niyasa even glanced left and right to check if the deck was clear, with the intention that when the man eventually turned his back, she could seize the opportunity to shove him into the sea. When the pirate finally did turn away, she muttered under her breath, "Devil, if you are listening, may you sink these men and let their souls rot at the bottom of the sea."

She shivered as the sea’s chilly wind grew even colder than before, and the coat she had been given felt as rough as a gunny bag. What the fuck had happened to her luck? She was a princess who had been reduced to a pirate. In fact, the bitter truth was that she had been reduced to nothing more than a pirate’s maid!

As night descended over the sea, the sky remained starless, obscured by thick clouds. When it was time to serve dinner, Niyasa was tasked with bringing the meal to the pirate leader’s cabin. Upon entering the cabin, her eyes fell on the woman who had been bound there and whom the beefy pirate had taken a liking to.

"I brought you food," Niyasa said, placing the meal beside the woman. She had come to know that the woman’s name was Daniela.

"Have you eaten yet?" Daniela asked, and Niyasa, who was far from her family and the royal environment, felt a subtle warmth at the question. Because it was something no one else had cared to ask her. frёewebnoѵēl.com

"Not yet. I will be given my share once you finish eating. So eat," Niyasa replied with a hint of glare. She couldn’t forget the last time Daniela refused to touch her meal, spat, and even kicked the hefty pirate leader. That incident led to Niyasa and a few others being denied food.

It wasn’t that Niyasa was fond of the food aboard the ship, and in fact, if she were still her former self, she wouldn’t have even considered touching it. However, after living on the island alone in the company of crocodiles, she knew that it was better to eat than to starve.

"How are things looking above?" Daniela inquired as she began to eat.

"Shiny with footprints. I cleaned the entire deck. Every inch, only for them to walk all over it," Niyasa grumbled.

"These bastards will get what’s coming to them soon. They will be punished," Daniela declared, and Niyasa hoped it would come true. "Make sure you eat well; you will need the energy for it."

"To mop some more?" Niyasa grimaced with evident dissatisfaction.

Daniela ensured there was no one eavesdropping at the door before she lowered her voice and said, "Tonight is the night we make our escape." Niyasa’s heart leaped with anticipation. Wonderful! She couldn’t wait to leave this awful ship and return to her kingdom, to be hugged by her mother, and to sleep in her own bed again.

Niyasa missed home more than anything, and amidst her frustration and wondering why no one had come to rescue her, she began to question whether they were unable to locate where she was. They were her family, after all, and surely they wouldn’t abandon her just like that, right? However, after a few seconds of silence passed, a fleeting thought crossed her mind that maybe they could.

In an attempt to recall why she might have been abandoned, she began to count her transgressions: she had publicly whipped the now-King’s wife, spoken back to the said King and the Mother Queen, supported her mother when she had exiled the royal women to the old palace, and she had been terrible to her siblings. It became increasingly evident that her actions were likely the reason why she hadn’t been rescued yet.

"But that’s fine; I must have some redeeming qualities," Niyasa spoke to herself, which Daniela overheard.

"What are you mumbling there?" Daniela asked. "They are going to think you are a witch."

"I am a nice person, aren’t I?" Niyasa asked the young woman, who shrugged her shoulders in response. She was a princess, the daughter of the King’s first concubine and the granddaughter of the Mother Queen of Versailles. However, she came to realise that none of those attributes defined her. I am the best mopper! That’s right, the Princess thought to herself.

"Just be ready, and don’t fall asleep later," Daniela instructed, as she had already devised a plan to get them out of here. "I know where he keeps the keys, and it should be easy to lower those boats. Head to the back. Ethan will be waiting there."

Ethan? Niyasa blinked, unfamiliar with the name and unsure of who this person was.

Later that night, when most of the crew had fallen asleep, Niyasa stealthily tiptoed up from the lower deck, moving with caution. She noticed that the pirates who were still awake were busy playing cards and drinking in the wheelhouse as the weather had turned harsher. The unmistakable sounds of loud and deadly snores emanated from the pirate leader’s cabin.

Niyasa didn’t want to leave empty-handed, and she decided to take some of the money from these damned pirates for forcing her to work. As she discreetly took one sleeping pirate’s pouch of money, she whispered, "Consider this a payment for all these days. I am quite expensive, you know."

They could go and find gold at the bottom of the sea, Niyasa harrumphed with annoyance and moved past the pirates one by one. She had initially believed she could easily make her way to the other end of the ship, but it proved to be a challenge with one pirate still awake, coughing, and keeping the others from sleeping.

Once she felt it was safe, Niyasa cautiously crawled past the barrels that had been tied together, which created a makeshift wall between her and the pirates. She was just about to stand up when she caught sight of a pair of shoes and legs standing right in front of her. Ready to whip up a hasty explanation for her presence here at this hour, her gaze slowly travelled upwards, and the blood drained from her face.

"G—ghost!" Niyasa uttered, her lips trembling upon seeing the man who had been thrown off the ship many days ago. "I can see ghosts," she whispered in shock.

Another pair of footsteps approached, and Daniela appeared behind her. "Niyasa, this is Ethan."

"Alive?" Niyasa questioned in astonishment. How did he even survive such a fall?

"Is the boat ready?" Daniela asked, and Niyasa noticed the woman slipping a small box inside her dress.

"It just needs to be lowered into the water. We should do it now while there’s no one around this side," the man named Ethan suggested, and they quickly made their way to where the spare boats were tied.

Niyasa kept a watchful eye out for any wandering pirates, while the other two took on the task of untying the ropes. The Princess felt a surge of optimism filling her body, as if luck were finally in her favour and she would row away from all the troubles that had befallen her.

They stealthily continued to lower the boat, trying to minimise any sudden movements that might cause the sheaves on which the ropes were secured to creak loudly. However, when the boat was midway through the process, an abrupt collision rocked the ship, causing them to lose their balance and shift their positions. As a result, the ropes unwound, and the boat plummeted into the water with a resounding splash.

"What just happened?!" Niyasa asked, feeling disoriented by the sudden jolt, and the creaking continued unabated.

"Did they lower the anchor?" Daniela inquired, but Ethan looked in the opposite direction from where they were and said, "Doesn’t look like an anchor."

The unmistakable sound of chaos erupted at the front end of the ship, and Ethan declared, "I will go take a look at what is happening. You two get into the boat."

The two women swiftly descended the back stairs at the stern of the ship and jumped into the awaiting boat. Before long, they heard the sound of approaching footsteps growing louder, causing Niyasa to grow increasingly worried.

"What is that creaking sound?" Daniela questioned, and she decided to row the boat to the side of the ship.

"Get the boats!" they heard the voice of the beefy pirate leader shouting.

"They found out! Where is Ethan?" Daniela asked urgently.

"He said boats. Not boat." Niyasa frowned, leaning forward, and her eyes widened as they saw an iceberg looming ahead.

Soon, she heard the ominous sound of the ship snapping. "We should get the boat away from it!" Niyasa exclaimed, knowing that the ship would shatter and sink, tossing them into the water.

"We need to wait for Ethan!" Daniela insisted, and thankfully, the young man managed to jump into the boat in time.

However, before they could even start rowing, the pirate leader jumped right into the boat with such force that it created a hole in the fragile vessel.

"You aren’t going anywhere without me!" the pirate leader huffed, only to realise that the cold water was rapidly filling the boat. As the sea voraciously claimed one part of the ship, the other section toppled powerfully onto the surface, violently tossing everyone and everything on board before finally submerging it beneath its depths.

Niyasa found herself plunging into the water alongside the others, the coins she had stolen sinking into the sea as she desperately tried to swim towards the surface. Her luck was truly fucking shitty! the Princess cursed, feeling as if it had deserted her entirely. Every time she tried to escape led to an even more disastrous situation, as if fate itself conspired to keep her trapped. It didn’t take long for darkness to overtake her consciousness.