September 16, 1503, Age of the Sea Circle
Orion finished the farewell dinner with his in-laws and left Count Cindry's house in the company of his sweet wife, Victoria. Together, they boarded the carriage that was waiting for them on the spot and set out on their return journey to the port city, where the rest of their companions were waiting to head back home.
Orion and Victoria enjoyed a lovely time alone inside the carriage, and while the beautiful actress told him everything that had happened over the past few months, Orion took advantage of the moment to let his hands roam freely over her sensual body.
Finally, after several hours of travel, they arrived on the outskirts of the coastal city, where Gloriosa and the others were waiting for them. The carriage came to a stop in front of the group of people, who were sitting in silence around a campfire, and Victoria emerged with flushed cheeks and slightly disheveled clothes, wiping her mouth with a silk handkerchief.
It was inevitable that the fiery pair of lovers would have taken advantage of their moment alone to deepen their love, although they had almost been discovered in the act by the motley group seated by the campfire.
After Victoria stepped down from the carriage, Orion appeared as well, wearing a satisfied smile as he adjusted his trousers. However, almost instantly his libidinous expression vanished, replaced by his usual diplomatic calm. After all, he had to maintain a certain image in front of his subordinates.
"Are you ready to depart?" Orion asked as he approached the group by the campfire.
However, once he drew close enough, he was able to take in each of their appearances. Mitsu was sitting beside Hototogisu, kneeling with a very rigid posture, like that of a student forced to kneel as punishment by a martial arts master.
Moreover, her face was completely swollen, as if she had received a brutal beating moments earlier. Even so, the small clone maintained her usual deadpan expression and seemed a bit more solemn than usual.
Normally, Mitsu tended to spend a large part of her time eating all kinds of snacks—much like Lucky Roux—but now there was no trace of food in her hands, which was undoubtedly a somewhat surprising sight for Orion, who, after more than a month of traveling alongside the girl, knew her quite well.
Orion raised an eyebrow in curiosity at the little girl's appearance and moved closer to her to assess her condition more carefully. With his doctor's eye, it was not difficult for Orion to reconstruct what had happened, and he could not help showing surprise when he realized that Mitsu had taken a much more severe beating than he had initially surmised.
While Orion was checking her physical state, Mitsu remained kneeling on the ground without making a single movement, as if she were a soldier on a life-or-death mission.
Orion brought a hand to his chin and turned to look at the others present. Hototogisu immediately averted her gaze, staring up at the stars in the sky with great interest while whistling nonchalantly. It was obvious who had been responsible for beating Mitsu, even though Orion did not quite understand why the two girls would have come into conflict.
"What happened here during my absence?" Orion said, looking at his subordinates.
Immediately, the bodies of Hototogisu and Gloriosa tensed, and both began to gaze up at the night sky with keen interest in the stars, whistling casually. Meanwhile, Lucky Roux was eating marshmallows at a distance, using the campfire to cook them, paying no attention to what was happening.
Orion frowned slightly, releasing a very faint hint of his Conqueror's Haki, which made everyone present tense up even more, and even Lucky Roux stopped his continuous devouring of marshmallows.
In the end, it was Yukimura who stepped forward. He was the most serious member of the group, so despite having been threatened by the two girls to keep quiet, he had no intention of hiding what had happened from his leader.
"My king, Hototogisu and Mitsu had a duel, with Hototogisu emerging as the victor. As a consequence, Mitsu agreed to become her little sister and follow her orders. She is now carrying out her punishment for having lost the fight," Yukimura said, pointing at the small clone, who simply nodded her head to confirm Yukimura's words and continued to focus on her punishment.
After Mitsu challenged Hototogisu, she had been completely beaten by her, as their combat levels were worlds apart. Even though Mitsu possessed far greater talent, she was only an eight-year-old child with no training whatsoever, and therefore had not been able to hold out for long against Hototogisu, who had been training for years in Pacific Kingdom.
As a result of her victory, Hototogisu had declared that Mitsu was now to be her little sister and obey all of her orders, something the small girl accepted without much trouble.
Curiously, Hototogisu felt a certain affection for Mitsu, since her personality was similar to her own. For that reason, she had decided to accept her as her little sister. Now that she was an official concubine of Orion, she needed to have her own small sphere of influence, just like the other women of the harem.
Although Orion's harem was peaceful, that did not mean that its different members lacked their own desires and ambitions, and all of them sought to carve out their own personal space in Orion's life. Whether by holding positions of power like Giola or Christina, or by recruiting little sisters like Olive, all of Orion's women had a role to fulfill, and Hototogisu did not want to be left behind.
Since Hototogisu admired Olive quite a bit—especially after what had happened in the New World—she had decided to imitate her, and Mitsu was her very first little sister under her command!
Hototogisu felt comfortable dealing with the small, expressionless girl, and she was quite pleased with having beaten her and taken her as a subordinate. Although now that Orion had appeared on the scene, she feared that he might punish her for having hit her too hard.
Orion looked at the two girls with a deadpan expression and concluded that it was a good thing for them to interact. Hototogisu was usually quite closed off when it came to human connections, and although she was not isolated in Pacific Kingdom, she was not particularly open to interacting with the people of the realm either.
Even though Hototogisu was well integrated into the royal family and its inner circle of subordinates—where she truly felt at ease and did interact with others—Orion wanted her to step a bit outside her comfort zone and become somewhat more open toward the people of the kingdom, believing that doing so would make her life far richer.
Hototogisu used to spend quite a lot of time with her two best friends, Kalifa and Lily Enstomach, but the dynamics she had with them were somewhat peculiar. With Kalifa, they were something like sisters who were always fighting and had even declared themselves enemies—although that was clearly not the case.
On the other hand, Lily was basically an extrovert who had adopted an introvert, so Hototogisu was rather passive in that relationship. Perhaps being in the position of "older sister" with Mitsu, who had a personality similar to her own due to her peculiar upbringing in Vegapunk's laboratory, could be something positive for both of them.
Keeping that in mind, Orion decided not to pry any further into the matter, and setting aside what had happened between Hototogisu and Mitsu, he turned his gaze toward Gloriosa, who appeared particularly nervous.
"And what else?" Orion asked, signaling to Yukimura that he could continue confidently with his role as informer.
"Additionally, Galus challenged Lucky Roux to a duel to establish the hierarchy of power within the group," Yukimura said, continuing his report.
"Oh? Another duel? It seems you've all been busy. But Galus's condition is not entirely good yet; he's still recovering from his injuries. I hope you didn't overdo it," Orion said, looking around for Galus, unable to find him immediately.
Finally, he noticed a lump in the distance covered by a blanket, and frowning, he approached and looked beneath it, finding Galus unconscious and even more beaten than Mitsu. Orion turned to look at Roux with reproach for not controlling his strength against an injured man, but before he could say anything, Yukimura's words continued to echo through the area.
"They fought briefly, but halfway through the duel Gloriosa interrupted them, and she herself began a new fight against Galus. As a result, Galus ended up in that state, after his wounds reopened in the middle of the combat."
Orion turned to look at Gloriosa, who suddenly tensed up, feeling a tingling sensation in her butt and sensing a certain punishment in her future. With a broad smile, Orion said,
"Gloriosa, when we return to Pacific Kingdom, we're going to talk about this."
Gloriosa instinctively covered her ass with both hands, recalling the spanking she had received from Orion just the day before, although, curiously enough, she felt a certain anticipation about it. Even if she did not want to admit it, she had awakened to some rather particular tastes…
Orion approached Galus, and after examining his injuries, healed him once again, giving him a couple of extra painkillers to keep him from being affected by the pain. Originally, Galus would have been able to recover completely in another week, but now his recovery date had once again been delayed.
Looking at Hototogisu, who had been registered as a concubine in the system the night before—receiving some SP in the process and a Skill called "Hyperfocus (Level 0)"—and at Gloriosa, with whom he had advanced another step in his relationship, Orion thought that it was a good thing he had his "Marital Happiness" ability, which left him in optimal condition to satisfy his wives, because otherwise he would not have been able to live with the dignity of a competent husband!
Shaking his head slightly, Orion set aside those fleeting thoughts about his love life, and with a wave of his hand opened a large portal on the spot. At last, it was time to return to his kingdom in the South Blue.
…
September 17, 1503, Age of the Sea Circle
The following morning, Orion was at Giolla's house, cheerfully having breakfast.
After returning to the kingdom the previous night, Orion had reunited with his family and loved ones after months of absence. Following a grand banquet at the royal residence, he had briefly interacted with the women of his harem and his main subordinates, before retiring together with Giolla to enjoy a night of passion alone.
After months without seeing one another, their reunion had been particularly fiery, and now the beautiful artist was sleeping peacefully after having experienced a night filled with pleasure. For Orion, Giolla was without a doubt the woman to whom he owed the most, since she had always supported him silently, without ever complaining.
Whether it was helping him manage the kingdom, smoothing over the relationships among the women of the harem, or simply being by his side during difficult moments, Giolla was undeniably an irreplaceable presence in Orion's life, and he felt that he had been unfair to her by burdening her with so many responsibilities.
However, Giolla did not see it that way at all, as she truly did not have a difficult life and was currently very happy. It was true that during the first two years of the kingdom she had been buried in work as Orion's representative, but now almost all of her duties were carried out by the governing council led by Lolo, and she was only responsible for making the final decision on important matters or acting as Orion's representative when necessary.
For the most part, she spent her days in the company of Ina and Orion's family, painting at her leisure in the grand royal residence or in her own house on the outskirts of the kingdom's capital city—the same house where she had lived ever since arriving on the island, and which held a special meaning for her.
Giolla lived her days exactly as she had dreamed of years before, surrounded by her art and her loved ones, and she had even adopted a small cat that followed her everywhere. Although Orion still felt that he was placing too many responsibilities on Giolla, she had no issue with it at all, and she had already told Orion so in the past.
While Giolla slept peacefully, Orion prepared breakfast and sat down at the small table to eat comfortably, in the company of Ina, who had woken up upon hearing the movement in the kitchen. She lived in this house with Giolla, as the artist had practically adopted and raised her after she was left orphaned.
"This is delicious, Orion! I missed your cooking, hehe," Ina said cheerfully, stuffing her cheeks with the food Orion had prepared.
She was now twelve years old and had already begun to grow by leaps and bounds. At present, she stood at 1.88 meters tall (6'2"), which made her only slightly shorter than Orion in his natural form, and a full head shorter than Orion in his adult form.
Even so, Orion had conducted a medical checkup on the girl, reaching the conclusion that she would end up being considerably taller than a normal person, although in a world filled with gigantic individuals, she would still fall within a reasonable range.
"Now that I'm in the kingdom, I can cook for you more often. You can also come with me to Dressrosa to try the local food there, if you want," Orion said, affectionately patting Ina on the head.
Ina raised both arms in delight, celebrating Orion's words and telling him that he could not break his promise and leave once again on another adventure like he used to.
Ina had been saved by Orion years earlier, when she had lost everything, and she felt a deep attachment to him. However, since Orion often spent long periods away, Ina could not see him as much as she would have liked and had to content herself with talking to him through the Den Den Mushi.
Fortunately, she had Giolla and the rest of her large family—which included the women of Orion's harem and his biological family—to keep her company, so she did not feel lonely in her daily life.
During the years she had spent in Pacific Kingdom, Ina had developed her combat skills alongside the recruits of the royal army, and she had also trained with Giolla, Christina, and Ginny. In addition, she had greatly refined her use of her Devil Fruit and was already perfectly capable of fulfilling an active role within Orion's forces.
Although she was still developing and had a long road ahead before reaching her maximum potential, her current level was already sufficient to place her at the level of a Marine captain from the branches outside the Grand Line. If she could master the use of Haki in the coming years, she would undoubtedly be able to shine on the battlefield.
Beyond her combat capabilities, Ina had also learned the espionage techniques that Orion had instilled in the small intelligence group operating within the kingdom, and although she had not fully mastered the Rokushiki, she could use it at a basic level.
On the other hand, Giolla's influence had been quite noticeable in the girl's life, leading her to develop artistic tendencies as a result. While she had not shown much talent for painting, she was surprisingly skilled at origami and the creation of paper sculptures, even using her Devil Fruit abilities to shape the material with great mastery.
It could be said that her current version was very different from that of the original timeline, to the point that even her gender was different. After all, even though she had been in contact with Ivankov, she had never felt the desire to change her sex, and this was something related to the differences Orion had introduced into her life, though neither of them would ever know it.
The Ina of the original story had suffered greatly during her childhood before being rescued by the Revolutionary Army, and it was those traumatic experiences that had pushed her to want to change completely, casting aside her feminine side to embrace her masculine facet as a defense mechanism.
On the other hand, in this timeline, Orion had saved Ina from being sold as a slave when she was still a very young child, and as a result had erased from her future the horrific experiences she had been destined to endure.
Even so, there were still similarities between her current self and the one from the original timeline, and the most prominent of those was her passion for wine. Despite the fact that Giolla did not allow her to drink wine because of her age, Ina took every opportunity she could to do so—usually during the grand parties and banquets held at the royal residence.
After finishing breakfast with Ina, Orion stood up from his chair and looked her straight in the eyes with a serious expression.
"Ina, I finally have the means to completely heal your scars," Orion said.
Ina had suffered burns all over her body during the events in her hometown, in which she had lost her entire family. Although, with the help of Ivankov's hormonal treatment, a large portion of the scars had healed, there were others that still remained as an indelible mark of the traumatic events of her childhood.
Orion had sworn to find a way to fully heal her scars, and now, after many years, he finally had the necessary tool: his Room ability, which he had obtained by absorbing the Ope Ope no Mi.
Ina's eyes lit up upon hearing Orion's words, and her breathing quickened slightly with excitement. She, too, had been waiting for the moment when she could finally rid herself of her scars, as she considered them ugly and unsightly.
Even though no one around her had ever said anything about them, she felt that the scars made her ugly, and for that reason she always dressed in clothes that completely covered her body, even during the hottest summers.
Now that Orion was telling her he could finally heal her, she felt as if her heart were about to burst with joy.
Taking Orion's hand with trembling fingers, Ina looked at him solemnly and said,
"I leave it in your hands."
And with those words, Orion received the permission he needed from Ina to act. With a warm smile, Orion lifted her into his arms like a princess and opened a door in the air, entering the Pocket Dimension and heading straight to the operating area where he had also treated Galus's injuries a few days earlier.
"Don't worry, Ina, leave everything to me!" Orion said confidently as he laid the girl down on the operating table. Then, raising his hand once more, he focused his mental energy and activated his new ability.
"Room."
The time had come to fulfill his promise to Ina, and afterward he would finally be able to treat Toki's condition as well. A great event that would profoundly change the future was about to take place in Pacific Kingdom.