November 9, 1503, Age of the Sea Circle
Bianca Vespa, the princess born into the royal family of Vespa. She had spent the first years of her life surrounded by the luxuries of the royal palace, while being trained by her mother in the art of poison handling that had been passed down in her family for generations.
She was the daughter of one of the concubines of the king of Vespa, who was also a distant cousin of his. Being a woman, born from a concubine and very low in the line of succession, she had never had the chance to compete for the throne of Vespa with her brothers, and had instead been used as a political tool to consolidate the relationship between the crown and another powerful noble house.
At first, the marriage that had been arranged for her was with a local noble who was nearly fifty years older than her, although fortunately for the beautiful Bianca, her first fiancé had died mysteriously two years before the marriage could be consummated, when she was only fourteen years old.
Although Bianca suspected that the death of her fiancé had clearly been a murder, she did not care much about the matter, since she had been spared from having to share her future with an old man who repulsed her.
In truth, her beauty had already begun to blossom during her adolescence, which had prompted the passionate young men of the kingdom to try everything in their power to eliminate Bianca's fiancé. Perhaps in that way they might gain the chance to win the girl's love, although in the end it had been her own mother who had silently taken care of eliminating her daughter's fiancé, since she did not wish to see her suffer in the future.
After the death of her first fiancé, the next partner chosen for her was not a local noble—as the passionate young and not-so-young men of Vespa had hoped—but rather a duke from a neighboring kingdom, named Mario Lysander.
Mario was a powerful duke who had just inherited the title from his father after the latter had died on the battlefield. At only eighteen years of age, Mario had stepped forward to lead his family, demonstrating remarkable diplomatic and administrative ability. It had been he himself who approached the royal family of Vespa in search of a marriage, with the intention of forging an alliance for the future.
For the crown of Vespa, marrying one of their lower-ranked princesses to a high-ranking noble from a neighboring kingdom was undoubtedly an excellent option, since in that way they would not only avoid political problems among the future contenders for the throne, but would also secure a point of entry for future development within another nation.
Perhaps in the future, the Vespa could use this connection with the Lysander to extend their power and conquer new lands, something that was always welcome for the insatiable nobles.
Finally, the king of Vespa decided that his daughter Bianca would be the designated wife for Duke Mario Lysander, and they immediately placed their signatures on an alliance and marriage agreement.
Bianca, who had just freed herself from her first fiancé and was enjoying the peace of being free, learned that a new marriage had been arranged for her in the future, and she sighed with sadness at the impossibility of escaping her destiny as a princess. From the moment she had been born, her fate had never truly been in her own hands, since she was nothing more than a tool of the family.
One cold autumn afternoon, a month after her new fiancé had been decided, she saw her future husband for the first time during one of Mario's visits to meet her.
The mediocre appearance of her future husband disappointed Bianca somewhat, yet she still felt relieved that her partner this time was someone close to her own age—five years older than she was—and not an old man like her first fiancé.
Without much hope, Bianca began the formalities of her first meeting with her fiancé, discovering that Mario was quite different from the reports she had received. According to the information gathered by the Vespa, Mario was an incredible diplomat, a charismatic leader, and an ambitious noble.
However, the man who stood before her was rather simple in the way he spoke and carried himself, and he was also quite shy when interacting with her, becoming visibly nervous whenever any contact between them grew too intimate.
For Bianca, who was accustomed to being aggressively pursued by nearly every man who crossed her path and to receiving constant harassment from young men in love, Mario's calm and somewhat shy demeanor felt like a breath of fresh air, immediately improving her impression of him considerably.
During the following two years, they had countless meetings meant to "cultivate their feelings," which of course remained completely innocent and chaste, even far more so than what was socially accepted among the nobility.
It was normal for betrothed couples, even without taking the final step, to engage in a certain number of intimate activities if there was even the slightest attraction between them, yet Mario had never even attempted to take his fiancée's hand during their meetings, demonstrating a passivity that Bianca found quite surprising.
Even so, for the beautiful princess of the Vespa family, the personality of her future husband was perfect for her tastes, since she did not wish to marry a womanizer, and instead preferred someone who could focus on building a small, close-knit family in the future.
For that reason, after two years of contact with the clumsy and shy Mario Lysander, Bianca had fallen in love with her fiancé, and she enjoyed making him blush with some sudden and unexpected gesture of intimacy.
Finally, the day of the wedding arrived, and she consummated her marriage with Mario, becoming part of the Lysander family and emigrating to Koldara. For a little more than a decade, she lived the happiest moments of her life together with her beloved husband and their two young children, believing that she had been very fortunate that everything in her life had turned out well.
However, her wonderful life took a complete turn when Hannibal Rosward arrived in Koldara and kidnapped her, taking her to the cursed sacred land of the Celestial Dragons, Mary Geoise.
For years she had endured all kinds of tragedies in this distant land, until the moment had finally arrived when the heavens took pity on her and freed her from her suffering in this place.
Today, like every morning, Bianca had risen before dawn to clean the chambers of her daughter Aria. Despite the fact that she was her mother, Aria had been influenced by her detestable father Rosward Rosward, causing her personality to transform into the typical one of the hateful Celestial Dragons, who saw the people of the lower world as mere objects.
Even so, perhaps due to Bianca's efforts while raising her daughter and trying to prevent her from becoming completely corrupted, Aria showed a little more empathy than her other siblings belonging to the Rosward house, and on occasion she even seemed to show kindness toward her mother, although only very briefly.
It was these moments that still made Bianca hope that it was possible to reform her little daughter, since after all she was only sixteen years old at the moment, and her mind was still absorbing information about the world and finishing its formation.
After cleaning the pavilion where her daughter Aria resided, Bianca walked to the cradle where her granddaughter Shalria was and took her into her arms to give her a bottle. Although Aria was the mother of this baby, most of the time it was Bianca who took care of her, since Aria simply found it far too troublesome to deal with her little daughter.
Even now Aria was sleeping peacefully in her gigantic bed, and she would not wake up until the sun had reached the highest point in the sky. Now that the detestable Rosward Rosward had departed toward the North Blue with the rest of the depraved Celestial Dragons, both Bianca and Aria could relax and enjoy his absence.
Normally, Aria would have had to remain attentive to the needs of her father—and husband—but now that he was absent, she could relax and surrender herself to her natural laziness.
On the other hand, Bianca had also been freed from the harassment of her new captor, and so she was enjoying a brief period of peace before he returned.
Carrying the small baby in her arms, Bianca fed her, then gave her a bath and took her back to her room, where she played with her until she became tired and fell asleep again. Now that Shalria was six months old, she was much more active, and so Bianca spent more hours each day playing with her and taking care of her.
Bianca was walking back toward the room when suddenly a great explosion resounded through the place, and the entire great mansion seemed to tremble. Frightened by the possibility of an enemy attack, she hugged her granddaughter tightly and ran toward Aria's room, who had awakened because of the loud noise and was beginning to panic.
From the large window in Aria's room, it was possible to see the fire and smoke spreading near the Rosward mansion, and they could also hear a large number of screams and disturbances. It was clear that something was very wrong, so Bianca immediately approached her daughter and, taking her by the shoulder, said
"Aria, get dressed, we have to evacuate the mansion before the fire reaches this place!"
Aria, who was still somewhat confused after waking up so abruptly, looked at Bianca with a puzzled expression for a few moments, and then her brow furrowed.
With a slap she pushed away the arm of her worried mother, saying
"How many times do I have to tell you to refer to me as Lady Aria? You've been here for so many years and you still don't know your place?"
Although her daughter's words were heartbreaking for Bianca, she did not argue with her, since at that moment the only thing on her mind was that Aria and Shalria should get to safety, far from all the chaos that was taking place nearby. For that reason, Bianca immediately apologized to her angry daughter, addressing her with honorifics and begging her to prepare to leave the mansion.
Aria finally made a proud nasal sound, and raising her arms she said
"Very well, what are you waiting for? Get to work!"
Bianca placed Shalria on Aria's large bed and began dressing her daughter in the classic attire of the Celestial Dragons. After only a few minutes Aria was completely changed and ready to leave, so Bianca ran to the bed to pick up Shalria, while Aria completely ignored both her mother and her daughter and walked straight toward the door of the large room.
Just at that moment, a great impact resounded, and the sturdy doors of the room were blasted through the air. A mysterious man entered like a specter, grabbing Aria by the neck and interrogating her with a cold gaze.
Bianca could not hear what they were saying from where she was, but she knew that the enemies had arrived before they could escape, which meant they would probably suffer a tragic fate.
Holding the little Shalria in her arms, Bianca closed her eyes as tears silently flowed from them. So many tragedies had happened in her life—why had fate chosen to be so cruel to her? Bianca wondered as she waited for the tragic end.
However, what happened next was not an enemy attack. Instead, the mysterious intruder stepped forward until he stood right in front of her and, with a trembling voice, said,
"Grandma?"
Bianca raised her head after hearing the voice of the man in front of her, and her eyes widened in shock when they landed on Orion.
"You… Who are you?" Bianca asked as she felt her pulse quicken.
The mysterious man who had suddenly appeared seemed familiar to her, even though she had never seen him in her life, and that was because his appearance was somewhat similar to her own!
Orion had inherited the good genes of Paul and Lira, which had made his appearance very attractive—thanks to the buffs of the system that utilized all of his natural potential—and his fatther Paul, in turn, had inherited 80% of his appearance from his mother Bianca.
Because of this, Orion's face bore a great resemblance to that of his grandmother, although Bianca naturally had the soft features of a woman, while Orion looked far more heroic.
Even so, it was not difficult for Bianca to notice the similarity between herself and Orion's appearance, and if that was combined with the way he had addressed her a moment earlier… she could not help but fantasize about an incredible answer, although she did not want to jump to conclusions in case she was wrong and ended up disappointed.
Orion perceived his grandmother's emotions through his Observation Haki, so, deactivating his Prism Eyes, he looked at her with a smile and said,
"My name is Orion Lysander. I am the son of Paul Lysander and Lira Lavender, and I have come to find you."
The morning sun filtered through the burning buildings around them, casting its warm rays over Orion's handsome face and making it impossible for Bianca to contain her emotions. How many times had she dreamed of a scene like this, even while knowing that such a thing was impossible?
Now that it was finally happening, her mind could not fully accept it, even though her eyes had already filled with tears after hearing the words of the mysterious man who claimed to be her grandson.
Even so, Bianca was a prudent woman, and she did not immediately believe his words, because there was something in Orion's story that did not add up: his age.
Although it was true that he had an appearance similar to hers and knew the name of her son Paul and his fiancée Lira, she considered it impossible that a man Orion's age—who seemed to be in his twenties—could be her grandson, since her son Paul should currently be only 33 years old.
"H-How old are you?" Bianca asked, with a suspicious expression while restraining her emotions.
"Oh! I forgot I was using Age Change," Orion said while striking his forehead with the palm of his hand, after which he deactivated the effect of his special ability, causing his body to return to its natural teenage state.
Bianca watched as the imposing and handsome man in front of her shrank slightly in size—though he was still quite tall—and his face became more youthful, still bearing traces of childish features that were in the process of disappearing.
Immediately, Bianca's heart leapt, and she could no longer contain her emotions. Leaning forward, she embraced Orion while sobbing.
"Sob If this is a dream, I don't want to wake up," Bianca murmured while smiling through her tears, her body trembling with emotion.
After so many years of confinement in Mary Geoise, it was understandable that she could not believe that someone had come to rescue her, much less that this person was her own grandson, who even had the appearance of a teenager younger than Aria.
Orion embraced his grandmother Bianca, trying to comfort her, but a new explosion nearby reminded him that this was not the moment for an emotional reunion, since they were still in the middle of a very dangerous situation.
"Grandma, I know all of this must be difficult to accept, but right now there's no time to explain. First we have to get out of here. Once we return home, I'll explain everything in detail," Orion said as he returned to his adult form, prepared to continue his mission of rescuing the slaves.
With a movement of his hand, Orion opened a door in the air and said to Bianca,
"For now, go in here. You'll be safe during the escape."
Then he made a brief pause, and looking at the small baby still in his grandmother's arms, he added,
"That baby…"
Bianca regained her composure and, hugging Shalria as if she feared Orion might abandon her here, said,
"This baby is my granddaughter—your cousin! We have to take her with us!"
Bianca was not willing to leave Shalria, an innocent child with the same blood in her veins, behind in the horrible Holy Land of the Celestial Dragons on her own, because in that case she would be condemning her to become a monster like Rosward Rosward and the other nobles who lived here.
Upon hearing Bianca say that Shalria was her granddaughter, Orion felt a surge of anger as he clenched his teeth tightly. He had feared that something like this might have happened, since after all his grandmother had been a prisoner in Mary Geoise for three decades, but when his fears were finally confirmed, he could not contain the anger that welled up in his chest, and his desire to destroy the Roswards increased even further.
Even so, Orion knew that this was not the moment to lose his composure, so after letting out a faint sigh he calmed his boiling emotions and, showing a composed expression, said,
"Of course we won't abandon her here. Go into the Pocket Dimension for now and don't worry about anything else."
Bianca sighed in relief when she saw that Orion did not intend to "purge" Shalria, and with a wide smile she nodded her head. However, she did not enter the Pocket Dimension as Orion had asked her to. Instead, she turned to look at Aria, who was still lying on the floor in the distance, completely terrified after having been grabbed by the neck by Orion a few moments earlier.
Orion had never intended to purge Shalria as his grandmother Bianca had feared, and even if the little baby had no relation whatsoever to his family, he would have taken her with him back to Pacific Kingdom anyway, because he did not want her to become corrupted by remaining in Mary Geoise.
Although Orion considered the World Government his greatest enemy, he did not feel any particular resentment toward the Celestial Dragons simply for belonging to that lineage. According to Orion's philosophy, regardless of whether they were Celestial Dragons or not, no baby was born evil; it was the environment and the culture that distorted their minds and ultimately turned them into monsters.
Furthermore, Shalria was a Named Character, so she would have a role in the original story and perhaps possessed good potential, which was yet another reason to bring her back with him to Pacific Kingdom.
On the other hand, although Orion had planned to rescue Shalria together with his grandmother from the very beginning, the same could not be said for the other person present in the room: Aria.
To Orion, this person was simply a detestable Celestial Dragon who had already been corrupted, so not eliminating her immediately was already a considerable act of mercy. However, when his grandmother remained standing there without entering the Pocket Dimension, looking toward the woman who was still lying in the distance, Orion had a bad feeling, and Bianca's next words confirmed his suspicions.
"Orion, she is Aria… your aunt… I know it is too much to ask you to rescue her as well, but please don't leave her here! She can still be saved!"
Orion remained silent for several seconds as he looked at Aria in the distance, and finally asked,
"Grandma, are there… more uncles or aunts here?"
Orion had come to the Rosward mansion to rescue his grandmother, but he could not simply ignore the situation here. What he needed to know now was whether there were more people he had to pay attention to in this place.
Fortunately, Bianca shook her head vehemently and said,
"No! Aria is my only daughter, and Shalria my only granddaughter."
Orion nodded at his grandmother's words and, using Soru, appeared beside Aria once again.
"No, no, stay away from me!" Aria said in terror when she saw Orion appear near her again, as she tried to retreat clumsily by crawling backward with all four of her limbs.
"I'm going to need you to keep quiet," Orion said with a solemn expression as he grabbed Aria by the arm.
"No! Let me go, bastard! Inferior being, how dare you touch me! Ah—" Aria began to scream hysterically while kicking the air and trying to bite Orion in order to free herself from his firm grip.
Orion, tired of tolerating the attitude of this half-aunt he had never even seen in his life, took a small pill out of his inventory and tossed it into Aria's mouth. Her eyes widened as she swallowed the pill involuntarily, and after a few seconds she fell unconscious.
"Uff, this could become a problem later," Orion said with a certain resignation, imagining what awaited him in the future when it came to reforming the mentality of this aunt who seemed to be a textbook Celestial Dragon.
After tossing the unconscious Aria into the Pocket Dimension, Orion returned once again to Bianca, and looking at her with a gentle smile said,
"It's time to go, Grandma. Don't worry, everything will be fine. Soon you'll be able to return home."
Bianca nodded firmly as tears rolled down her cheeks, and without wasting any more time she entered the Pocket Dimension just as Orion had instructed.
Once his objective of rescuing his family in this place had been completed, Orion expanded his Observation Haki while activating his Prism Eyes once again. Now it was time to focus on the system's mission again and rescue as many slaves as he could during the chaos created by Dragon and Fisher Tiger.
Orion opened the system screen and saw that there was a Named Character called "Koala" not very far from there. Confirming the location once more, Orion used Soru to move at full speed toward that place. If Koala was a slave in this location, he would take the opportunity to free her and thus gain the possibility of recruiting another Named Character for his forces.
The final moments of his visit to Mary Geoise were about to unfold in a frantic manner.