Kidnap

17

Seonghwa was confused. He seemed more confused than anything else now a days, and it honestly made him feel like an idiot. He knew that the rest of the crew were also confused with their Captain's actions, but were too terrified of him to say anything about it, or even ask about it. Though, with the introdution, and the subsequent few times he had been around Hongjoong, he could confidently say that he understood their fear. Still, he felt as though he had the ultimate confusion in the bag. So many things he had thought were true were apparently not? They just expected him to believe them, and Seonghwa liked to say he was not that stupid, but he kind of did. It was obvious that they had done their research, and at the end of teh day the royal staff HAD come for him. He just wondered if the reason for it was a bit different from what the Captain thought it was.

Considering how his family had treated him-how could they do that if he was an heir apparent to the throne? They had beat him, starved him, locked him up in a room. Surely these sorts of things would not have happened if he was truly an Heir to the throne. While Seonghwa could not answer that too assuredly, what felt even more sketchy to him was the reasons that the Captain claimed he was left in the first place. It really just made no sense. Throwing one heir away just because there was another one was kind of...stupid. What happened if one got assassinated? After all, they were common enough in nobility.

He may not understand nobility well, but he knew that well enough. He had read the stories, heard the histories, memorized deaths and murderers and gallow dates. He knew more often than not being a royal ended in a violent death or murder. It was well known, so surely having more heirs was better than just one? It was logical, but then again Seonghwa supposed logic did not always accompany many people, even when they were supposed to be royalty. It was really just so confusing. And now the Crown Prince wanted to have him back home? As if...Seonghwa was just confused. He was confused and he did not like not knowing things.

He also knew that Hongjoong had hidden motives. Glancing towards the fellow, he quickly ducked his eyes as the Captain looked at him. He let out a soft breath of air, and pulled his knees closer to his chest. Things were so odd right now, and he had no idea what the Captain truly wanted from him. If it was true, if he was truly an heir, if the Crown Prince truly did refuse to finish his coronation unless he met Seonghwa, than he supposed he was kind of valuable? But why would the Captain want to stop the coronation in the first place? It was not as though one king would do much worse than a new one. They would adapt. Didn't pirates always adapt? He would have also thought that they would want a new person to take over the position. The laws regarding sea fare and pirates in general were harsh and restrictive. Surely they couldn't get too much worse. After all, if a pirate was caught it was basically the death penalty already. A new King may not be able to change things but it wasn't as though they could make things worse than they already were for pirates and sea wayfarers.

No, whatever Hongjoong wanted with him...it was personal. Seonghwa was not really fond of being used as bait, but he did not really have much of a choice now did he? He had been captured so pitifully easily. And that...that person was right. He did not have the guts to handle royalty. Not nobility. Not when he could barely stand up to his own family, let along a Pirate Captain and their first mate...or whatever that Jongho was. He may have been screwed either way, but at least he knew he was fucked, now he had no idea what was supposed to happen. The crew hated him, the Captain was looking at him oddly and had been since he had been snatched up, and honestly he just wanted to lay down and not have to stress about what was going to happen when he woke up.

Sure, his home life had been awful, but at the very least it was predictable. He knew what was going to happen, knew the rules, knew what would happen if he broke them. While living with the Pirates was a certain plus in his life, he was not entirely sure of anything. The unknown was always so much stressful than the known, even if the known was awful. He would take it over having no idea what he was going to do, over what was going to happen to him.

If that stupid Captain would just explain things it would be so much better!