When Roger got home, he saw Rouge making dinner.
"Why are you back so early today? Are you not feeling well again?" Rouge asked, turning to look at him in surprise.
Roger set his bag down by the door and just stared at her, not saying a word. Rouge seemed to sense something was wrong. She fell silent for a moment, and two streams of tears ran down her face.
Roger finally smiled. "Let's eat first!"
"Okay," Rouge nodded.
Soon, hot dishes were placed on the table. Roger and Rouge sat across from each other and ate in silence.
"Time sure flies," Roger suddenly said with a sigh. "Two years have passed in a flash."
Rouge forced a smile. "Yeah, it went by so fast."
"I'm leaving," Roger said suddenly.
The smile on Rouge's face froze. Her hand trembled as she put a piece of food on his plate. Then she said, "I know."
Seeing Rouge pretend to be strong, Roger felt a wave of guilt. He couldn't help but say, "If I hadn't left all those years ago, we…"
But before he could finish, Rouge shook her head. "Roger, the man I love is the one who sails the sea, never gives up, and always charges forward. If you weren't the man you were back then, I wouldn't have fallen in love with you."
She paused for a moment, then smiled. "You are the great Pirate King. Wouldn't the sea be too boring without you? How could I bear to keep a man like you all to myself?"
"Hahahahaha!" Roger burst out laughing, swallowed the food in his mouth, and said, "You're right. Two years ago, I told Whitebeard that I lived a life with no regrets. But now, I realize I was wrong. What a lonely thing it would be to live a life without regrets. I have a lot of regrets right now. I regret not coming back sooner to live this simple and happy life with you…"
"The fact that you came back is enough," Rouge said softly.
Roger didn't speak. He took another bite of rice, looked at Rouge, and whispered, "I thought I could hold on a little longer. I wanted to wait for our child to be born. Just one look, and I would have been satisfied. But now, I don't think I have enough time."
"Has it gotten worse?" Rouge asked worriedly.
"Yes, it's gotten worse. I can't drag it out anymore. And… the Marines from Headquarters have come. I don't know if they're here for me, but I have a bad feeling," Roger said, nodding. He didn't want to say anything more to Rouge. He paused for a moment and then smiled. "What should we name the child?"
"You're the father. Of course, it's up to you," Rouge said softly, touching her belly. A gentle smile appeared on her face.
"If it's a boy, we'll call him Ace… like an ace. If it's a girl, we'll call her Anne. I hope she can live a happy life like a princess," Roger said with a smile. It was clear that he had been thinking about these two names for a long time.
"An ace and a princess?" Rouge murmured softly, then smiled. "Okay, I'll go with whatever you say."
Just then, there was a knock on the door. A voice from outside said, "Hello? Is Roger home? Hello?"
Roger's face changed and became incredibly grim. He had assumed that since only one warship had come, they weren't looking for him. Even if they were, he thought he would have more time.
He had wanted to have one last meal with Rouge and a few last words, but his hesitation had put Rouge in danger. If the Marines found out that he, the Pirate King, had a wife, and that she was pregnant… Roger didn't believe for a second that the World Government would let his bloodline live.
Rouge looked at Roger and sighed. What was meant to come would always come. As a pirate, some debts always had to be paid. She stood up, walked to the door, and gently opened it.
Sure enough, a Marine was standing there. But what was strange was that he was alone. The Marine had a strong, handsome face and looked to be in his twenties. He was wearing a cloak with the word "Justice" on it and had the epaulets of a Vice Admiral.
When Diarmuid saw someone open the door, he immediately recognized the woman in front of him as Roger's wife, Rouge.
To be honest, he had no particular feelings toward Roger, either good or bad. He considered Roger a hero among heroes, but there was no need to judge him since he was still a pirate and had a lot of blood on his hands.
But for Rouge, Diarmuid had a lot of respect. First, he admired her for being able to capture a man like Roger, which was something 99% of women in the world couldn't do. Second, he admired her strength as a mother, being able to carry Ace for twenty months to avoid the Marines and the World Government. It was hard not to admire a woman like that.
"Hello, it's nice to meet you. My name is Diarmuid. I'm a Vice Admiral from Marine Headquarters. I'm here to find Roger," Diarmuid said with a gentle smile.
Rouge looked at him in surprise. She had imagined many scenarios of the Marines showing up, but none were like this. This Marine was talking as if he was just dropping by. There was no escaping him, so Rouge nodded. "Hello. My name is Rouge, Roger's wife. Please, come in."
"Thank you," Diarmuid said, nodding. He walked into the house and looked around curiously. There was nothing special about it; it was just a normal house, but it had a certain cozy feel to it. Is this where Pirate King Roger spent the last two years of his life?
After walking down the hall, he saw Roger eating at the dining table. The man hadn't even turned his head, as if eating was the most important thing in the world.
"Hahahaha, Roger! You really are here!" Diarmuid said, laughing as if he had known Roger for a long time and they were good friends.
Roger slowly turned his head when he heard Diarmuid's voice. He looked at the unfamiliar Marine and was sure they had never met before.
"Who are you?" Roger asked.
"Marine Headquarters Vice Admiral Rodriguez Diarmuid. Just call me Diarmuid," Diarmuid said with a laugh. He then walked over to the dining table, pulled out a chair, and sat down, rubbing his belly. "I've been sailing all day, and I haven't had a chance to eat yet."
Just then, Rouge walked in. "Would you like to join us?"
"Hahaha, thank you very much," Diarmuid said, not being polite at all.
Roger grunted in displeasure, but for some reason, he soon started to smile. The Marine didn't attack him right away. Instead, he asked for a meal? This Marine was interesting.
"Was Laugh Tale fun?" Diarmuid asked, pouring himself a cup of water.
Roger glanced at him. "It was very interesting."
"Is that so?" Diarmuid clicked his tongue. "That's impressive. For hundreds, even thousands of years, no one could conquer the Grand Line, but you did it."
As he was speaking, Rouge brought him a bowl of rice. Diarmuid thanked her, picked up his chopsticks, and started eating.
"I'm a man who can do whatever he sets his mind to," Roger said with a smile.
"That's amazing," Diarmuid said in admiration. Regardless of whether Roger was a good person or a bad one, conquering the Grand Line was an amazing feat. It deserved to be called amazing.
After a few bites, Diarmuid looked at Rouge. "It looks like you've been very happy for the past two years."
"Yeah," Roger said, not saying anything more.
After a moment, Roger said, "Dir…"
"Diarmuid," Diarmuid repeated.
"Right. Diarmuid. Since you know I'm here, why did you come alone? Are you that confident in your strength? I've never heard of your name before," Roger asked. He was truly confused. This Marine was insane. Even stranger than Garp!
"It's probably because I'm not famous yet, so you haven't heard of me. But don't worry, once I capture you, my name will be known all over the world. Hahahahaha," Diarmuid said with a loud laugh.
"You're very confident," Roger said softly.
"Well, you're about to die anyway," Diarmuid said suddenly.
When he said that, both Roger and Rouge were stunned.
"You didn't think you could hide it from us, did you? I forgot to tell you, not long ago, I was the Deputy Chief of the Marine Headquarters Intelligence Division. For the last three years, all I've done is deal with the problems caused by your Roger Pirates. The reason the Marines were able to respond to your actions so quickly is because I predicted that you would disband the Roger Pirates even before you reached the top," Diarmuid said calmly.
Roger raised an eyebrow. "That's impressive."
Diarmuid didn't reply. Instead, he looked at Rouge. "The only thing I didn't expect was that you had a wife… and that she's pregnant. Roger, you bastard, you're so terrible. Don't you have any sense of responsibility?"
Roger was speechless. He wanted to say something, but he didn't know how. Diarmuid was right. He was an irresponsible bastard. At least, he was when it came to Rouge.
"Ugh, this is a pain. I thought I could just come here and take you with me, but you had to give me two extra problems…" Diarmuid said, scratching his head in frustration.
Roger's grip tightened on his chopsticks, and a faint murderous aura surrounded Diarmuid. But Diarmuid acted as if he didn't feel it at all. He continued, "I hope you don't make this difficult for me."
Roger was taken aback. "I am guilty, that's for sure. As a pirate, I am always guilty. Even though I believe I'm an honorable man, I have killed many innocent people, so I deserve to die. But Rouge and my unborn child are innocent, aren't they? As a Marine, shouldn't you uphold Justice?"
"Protecting you for two years makes her an accomplice," Diarmuid said softly.
Roger was speechless and didn't know what to say.
"But you're right. The child is innocent. People should never be judged by their bloodline. That is not Justice," Diarmuid said seriously. He may not have believed in "absolute Justice," but he had his own moral code.
He didn't pity Roger, but he didn't think Rouge or her unborn child deserved to die. He hated the idea of judging people by their bloodline, whether it was the "innate nobility" of the Celestial Dragons or the "innate sin" of a cursed lineage.
That's why he came here alone, to deal with Roger in private.
——————
Want to read ahead of schedule? Head over to my patreon ——— patreon(.)com/JuanFiction [remove the parentheses ( )]
There are over 100 advance chapters available for you!