The tension was palpable even for the clueless Shirahoshi. Mansherry was looking at me, a bit troubled, her mind seemed to send me a message saying: 'Do you need some space?'.
"Viola-san and the respectable sir looked really well together!" Shirahoshi said joyfully, sending me and Mansherry both into a huge deadpan.
"W-Wait, Shirahoshi!" Mansherry waved her little hands, sweating. As expected of the Mermaid Princess, as tactless as she can get.
Viola glared at Shirahoshi and grit her teeth; she even pointed her finger "Could I know who this person is, Lord Veyron?"
I crossed my arms, "This is my fiancée, Shirahoshi, she's the princess from Fishman Island, brought her along to sightsee a little bit".
Mansherry also looked like she wanted to say something, but she didn't; she looked at me, expecting me to say something, but I felt a bit awkward to say it straight away.
"And about Mansherry–" I wanted to clarify things first before they became more awkward, but Viola interrupted me. Stretched her hand to gently grasp my wrist.
"Princess... so that's why, no wonder. You see, between that guy and me, t-there is nothing going on, believe me!"
"... I know", I said nonchalantly.
"Eh?" She didn't seem to expect that.
"I know nothing is going on. You were just dancing with him, weren't you?" I added.
"Yes, that's right! There is nothing, so... please don't misunderstand".
I looked at her, even if it is true that I believe there is nothing between them... that guy's confession left me thinking... thinking nonsense, or maybe just something deep... I don't know.
"Shirahoshi, Mansherry, could you guys go and have fun for a bit? I want to talk to Viola" I said to them.
"Okay! Let's go, Shirahoshi!"
"Ah? But I want to hear– eh!?"
Somehow, Mansherry managed to pull the big Shirahoshi away under the excuse to look for something to eat. I stared at them until the end. Shirahoshi tripped, and I recovered her with my powers, as expected.
"Shirahoshi, don't run! Be careful... what am I gonna do if you get injured?"
"Sorry, sorry!~"
Once they were gone, Viola looked at me, "You like her a lot, don't you?"
I nodded with a big smile, "Well, she's a very nice girl... I am very lucky to be able to marry her".
Viola frowned and took my hand again, but I let go of it.
"V-Veyron?".
"You know, that guy just now, he looked very serious", I said, trying to phrase my words in a way that wouldn't make me sound like a douchebag.
"Eh?"
We stared at one another. She seemed to know where I was coming from.
"He said he loved you and even used some flowers. You have known him for a while, haven't you?" I asked.
"Yes... he is a childhood friend of sorts, but... w-why are you suddenly talking about him?" she asked back, shivering.
"I am thinking, perhaps... you should take it" I uttered with a sigh, very low, expecting tears... and sure enough, tears.
!!!
"W-What do you mean?" Her voice was not much more than a little stutter; her tears spoke for themselves.
"Viola, even if you don't marry me, I am going to help Dressrosa. I have formed bonds with this island, and it is also a place that Hancock treasures a lot. So, you should not feel like you have to marry me because of politics or anything".
"..."
"Also, I am a very busy man, and I have so many lovers already... lovers who I don't pay as much attention to as it may look like. I am a terrible husband, what I am trying to say is... I don't think you will be happy with me. One way or another, I ended up getting in a compromise with Mansherry too, and I couldn't find it within myself to reject her, so–".
"So you're rejecting me instead?" Her voice sounded desolate.
"That's not what it is!"
"If it is not, then what is it!? I love you too! I am not marrying you out of politics, Veyron!"
Her sudden outburst left me breathless, as if that wasn't enough, she pressed me against a wall, cleaning her tears fruitlessly because more of them kept just pouring out.
"But I have so many lovers already... how can you accept that?! You can't! Just now you were looking at Shirahoshi with those eyes".
She faltered for a moment.
"Viola, I know killing intent when I see it".
"I saw you dancing with her, and I didn't like it, that's the truth, but... t-that doesn't mean I don't love you! Why do you have to say those hurtful things!?" She cried harder, and it touched my thin fibre.
"... don't cry".
I don't like to make women cry, but for what I can see, Viola is not the type to share... she's going to be hurt more in the future.
"We haven't seen each other in a while, instead of this nonsense... shouldn't you be hugging me?"
I opened my arms, and she came to me... her hands clung tightly, her chest pressed warmly.
"I am going to marry you no matter what, Veyron! You can't leave me! from the moment I saw you, I knew I wanted you... even if my father didn't want it, I'd just flee with you, this doesn't have to do with politics or anything!"
"I understand, sorry", I realised that nothing I said was going to change her mind. I could still reject her, but just like Mansherry, I didn't find it within me to do so... am I being greedy? I don't know.
She took my chin and lifted it up rather daringly, "Or is it you that doesn't want to marry me?"
"No, I..." Staring at this gorgeous princess up and down, who wouldn't want to marry her?
"Do you not want me?" she insisted, caressing my chest with that puppy expression.
"... of course I want you, Viola"
She kissed me like that, hard, suffocating... very passionate.
"Say it again... do you not want me?~" She repeated with such a vulnerable expression, it left me breathless.
I looked up and down at this absolute treasure, "There is no man that wouldn't want–"
"I don't care about other men. I need to know if you want me or not, Dear Lightning God".
I turned the tables, pinning her to the wall.
!!!
"You have been calling the shots for a while now, but the first thing I see once I come back to see you is you dancing with another man" I flushed our bodies together; that crimson dress of hers was so tight that I might as well be holding her bare self.
She gasped, then smirked and covered her mouth, "So it was jealousy after all~ so cute~".
"Weren't you jealous as well...? Jealous of Shirahoshi".
"I was".
We both smiled, and she even giggled, lifting her leg, rubbing my crotch with her tigh.
"Don't try", I warned
"Why not?~" She tempted.
"We're in a public place".
"So?~ there is an alleyway just down the corner, nobody ever goes there" she pointed me to a street down the block. We were getting very few gazes now, but she wanted to take things further.
"Viola–".
"You can take me there... I'd allow you many things," she winked.
"You're naughty".
"Between Scarlet and me, I was always the most rebellious. I am a bad girl, Veyron... you should know that much".
"I have things to do..."
"But your lightning is sparkling", She pointed at the place where her tigh was still rubbing me insistently, yes... There were lightning sparks. I still didn't think that was the right choice.
"If my amour is way too conservative, then there is a hotel a bit further ahead" She ditched the bad Idea and then pointed far ahead to a building with lights that looked way too tempting.
"Will you take me there?" Her finger caressed my hand, "Or are you afraid Shirahoshi-san will be waiting for us?"
I bit my lips; she did so too, but also took my hand and put it on top of her huge boob.
"Can't you feel my heart palpitating fast?"
"I can feel more than your heart..."
"Wonderful, let's go~".
She took the initiative and pulled me onwards, we were both blushing, we both knew what was going to happen, in broad daylight with no dim lights, able to see, feel and smell everything.
I didn't think she'd be this daring.
"Wait, Viola! You don't want to have a normal date first?" I wanted to eat her up, but I wanted to do so after due process.
"I am the type that likes to have the dessert first, amor~", Her hurried tone told me everything I needed to know. Everything looked promising, but turning around a corner, we found someone had been eavesdropping. I furrowed my brows. This guy... his aura was so weak that I couldn't even sense him.
Viola, too, looked very displeased; she didn't let go of me but rather pulled me in closer.
"A-Albert, what is–".
"I don't know what the relationship between the two of you is, but... I do not plan on giving up, Viola!" He advanced.
"W-Wait, Albert!–"
I put Viola aside, standing between her and him, "You're Viola's childhood friend".
"That's right! I have known her and protected her since we were kids!"
"... and I presume you don't know who I am", I scratched my head.
"I do not have a clue. Does it matter? My love is not going to lose to you" The man even took out a knife, much to my surprise. Viola paled. She wanted to let me go and stop this reckless man from killing himself, but I was actually quite enjoying his display.
I haven't seen someone so ignorant and reckless in a while.
"And how exactly did you protect her? During the Donquixote assault, what did you do?" I asked genuinely, giving the man a chance to at least entertain me. Taking someone else's lover is not my style... although sadly for him, Viola is already mine.
"I-I... I was turned into a toy, there was nothing I could do!"
"Albert, please stop this... Veyron is not someone you can fa–!"
"Let him talk, Viola, I want to hear~" I pulled her behind me once again, and she noticed I was just enjoying myself. I guess she still didn't want me to kill her friend, even if he was being delusional.
"Veyron, don't be like this, please... he's an old FRIEND, that's all".
"Viola, don't you remember our promise...? Didn't we promise we'd marry?".
!!!
"Oh, there was such a promise?~" I asked, feigning surprise in my tone.
"THAT WAS A LONG TIME AGO! Albert, I am in love with Veyron now. Besides, he's not someone you can hope to compete with! Hurry up and go before it is too late! I am already Veyron's fiancée, there is nothing you can do, I told you about this!"
Viola was borderline distressed; this Albert didn't know he could die here, but she did.
"Even then, I don't want to give up!" The man even teared up, "H-How could you want me to give up just like this!?"
Viola gasped, staring between him and me as if asking me, 'What should we do? He's not giving up'.
I shrugged my shoulders, "If you love her so much, why won't you let her decide who she wants to be with?".
"Y-You're blinding her... after so many years... there is no way she'd love you and not me".
"I am sorry, Albert... I never saw you with those eyes. There are no such feelings as that in my heart. From the moment I met Veyron until now, I have loved him. I am sorry, but you had better forget me".
Viola wanted to pull me away, but this guy never ceased to amaze. He pounced on me with a knife in hand, making me sigh.
"Albert! STOP!"
I deliberately left myself wide open, unprotected, not even using Haki. The knife went through my shoulder.
*BAAAANGGG!!*
There was an explosion, a short-circuit. Albert was blown away with charred hands the moment he came into direct contact with a million volts of electricity. This is... unexpected. I was expecting the knife to injure me, just so I could then use the excuse to knock him out in a justified way.
But... sometimes even I forget, I am a lightning man, a logia.
Viola looked like she wanted to go and help him, but I yanked her to my side, walking out of the scene.
"If I don't help him–"
"If you don't help him, what? That man tried to kill me just now".
"Please... he is going to die... y-you wouldn't do something like that, would you?"
I stared at her for a while. She evaded my eyes, her foolish intent at manipulation was almost funny, but she was right... That's not the type of guy I am, at least not over a bit of jealousy.
I took her and the scorched bastard both to the hospital by flight. Once they took him to be attended, Viola turned around and saw me about to go without even saying a word. Was I angry? No, but I wasn't happy either.
She took my wrist, "Thank you, Veyron... and I am very sorry this happened. I will make sure to keep my distance from him from now on".
"He could become a bigger problem", I said.
She shook her head, "If after all this, he still insists, I will personally knock him out one step into the grave, I'll make sure he doesn't love me anymore, trust me!".
"How princess-like of you".
"I told you I am a bad girl", She pressed her body against me, "Make sure to punish me... I have been bad to you twice today, makes me feel very bad".
I copped her ass in front of all the nurses and doctors who gasped at the display, "I am going to go now, but I'll come back soon... we're not even married yet, and you're already being a problem, Viola. Don't expect a light punishment".
She purred, pressing herself harder against me, "Mi amor~".
After sharing several pecks, I set off, looking back at the silhouette of her waving at me with her childhood crush embedded in a traditional hospital bed. Oops, I did it again.
I guess love is not always a smooth sail, although I understood where he was coming from. If someone were trying to take away what I believed was mine, I would react the same way. Sadly for him, the other party is me.
Leaving Viola, I went to look for Shirahoshi and Mansherry and found them sightseeing. Shirahoshi attracted a lot of gazes.
"Where is Viola?" Mansherry asked me.
"She has to deal with some things... I already did what I came to do in this place, so Shirahoshi, Mansherry, should we–" I said to them, intending to head to my next destination.
"I want to stay a bit more! This island is so nice, Veyron!"
"And I want to show a lot more things to Shirahoshi!"
"..."
"Look, have you had these? These are called Marshmallows".
"So tasty!~"
I deadpanned, rubbing my exasperated forehead, "S-So... you two are staying?".
"YES! Let's go, Shirahoshi! We can have fun with Rebecca".
In a few seconds, they had already left my sight. I didn't think Shirahoshi would be this thrilled to see a new Kingdom.
*WHOOSH!*
"Do you want to stay? Are you sure?" I flew next to Shirahoshi. I wouldn't have a problem leaving Shirahoshi behind, but... considering some guy just pulled a knife on me, I don't know if it is that safe anymore.
She took my face and planted a deep kiss, leaving me baffled.
"I will be okay, so you can go ahead, Veyron!"
"..." I rubbed my lips and watched her go, feeling a bit embarrassed.
How delightful it is to watch a gorgeous flower begin to blossom.
"Do you want me to take care of her...?" I heard a voice next to me, it was Akainu who appeared in the middle of the city who knows when.