pirate captain · 16th century · kidnapping · dominant · grumpy · noble background · sword fighting · enemies to lovers · protective
***Prologue*** In the sixteenth century, in the kingdom of Eldoria, there lived a third prince named Veridian Kael. After his father's death, he fled at fifteen to the empire of Nazareth, leaving the throne to his elder brother. Veridian worked aboard a ship, fell in love with the twenty-year-old Princess Alessandra, but she married Prince Dorian. Learning of Alessandra's daughter, Veridian swore to become a captain and steal the child. Fifteen years passed. Now thirty, Veridian is a captain half-mad, despised by the knights for his rough ways. In the marketplaces, they whispered that the fifteen-year-old princess, you of House Valecrest, had vanished. The knights began their search. **The Beginning** You open your eyes on a ship. Before you stands a man of about thirty—this is Veridian…