"Yes, I was waiting for you. Miss Robin told me to go see my father, and then my father told me to wait here at the door for you so we could go in together."
Vivi nodded slightly, her face wearing a complex, indescribable expression of melancholy mixed with something else.
Robin had told her to go see her father, and then Cobra had instructed her to wait at the door for Luffy so they could enter together.
"Wait for me to go in together? What's this about?"
"I don't know."
Luffy grew even more puzzled.
His powerful Observation Haki faintly sensed an ambiguous, hard-to-define emotion emanating from Cobra inside the room.
Was it hostility?
Well, it definitely wasn't killing intent. It felt more like a sensation that made his scalp tingle, similar to being stared at by his grandpa Garp.
He almost instinctively wanted to turn around and bolt.
Yet, the very moment this thought arose, that familiar, life-hounding warning sound blared sharply in his mind!
[Unexpected situation detected. Verifying...]
[Verification complete. Expected behavior aligns with the ultimate goal of becoming the Pirate King. Deemed necessary! Formulating temporary schedule...]
[Temporary schedule issued.]
[Target: Take Vivi.]
[Time: Thirty minutes.]
Luffy was dumbfounded.
Take Vivi?
What did that have to do with becoming the Pirate King?
Wait, no.
He shook his head vigorously. Vivi was already his nakama! What was this 'taking' nonsense about!
He suddenly remembered Vivi and Nami whispering together after the war ended.
Back then, although Vivi had been smiling, there was a strained, lost look in her eyes that he couldn't understand.
An absurd yet plausible idea struck him like lightning.
Luffy grabbed Vivi's shoulders, staring intently into her eyes, his tone urgent. "Vivi! Don't tell me you don't want to set sail with us anymore?!"
"Wh—? No, that's not it!"
Vivi was startled by his sudden question and action, quickly waving her hands in denial. Her cheeks flushed slightly from Luffy's closeness and urgency. "How could I not want to set sail with you all!"
Seeing Vivi's hasty denial, Luffy's brilliant mind started working at high speed.
If it wasn't that Vivi didn't want to, then there must be an obstacle?
He understood instantly.
He cut Vivi off, wearing an "I get it now" expression, and declared with fiery determination, "So, that means your father won't let you sail with us, right?"
Vivi opened her mouth.
Well, that wasn't exactly it either...
The chains binding her were numerous, and she couldn't quite explain which one it was at the moment.
Seeing Luffy's look of righteous indignation on her behalf, as if he was ready to fight someone over it, she hesitated, unsure how to explain the complex mix of feelings and responsibilities. Then, she vaguely hummed an affirmative.
Cobra: "???"
His little cotton-padded jacket was leaking cold air right in front of him.
Seeing Vivi looking wronged, Luffy grabbed her hand firmly and, without another word, charged straight into King Cobra's study, pulling Vivi along behind him!
Luffy led the charge.
Her hand enveloped by Luffy's warm, large one, the firm grip and the transmitted warmth made Vivi's heart skip a beat, then begin to race wildly. The blush on her cheeks instantly spread to the roots of her ears.
She was practically half-dragged, stumbling in after him.
"...We're going to talk to him!"
The room was lit only by a few dim, yellowish wall lamps.
King Cobra stood with his back to them before a huge floor-to-ceiling window, gazing at the sky on the verge of dawn.
Hearing the commotion, he slowly turned around.
Frankly, at the moment he saw Luffy tightly holding Vivi's hand, with his own daughter barging in with a completely flushed face, looking both shy and flustered—
Cobra felt as if an invisible hand had squeezed his heart hard, a sharp, wrenching pain.
Ever since Igaram returned, he had been looking at him with that sympathetic gaze that said, "Your Majesty, you must be strong," and "The tender little cabbage was destined to be coveted after all."
The scenario he had imagined had actually come true!
Cobra's feelings were complex.
It was the complicated feeling of a diligent old farmer who had tenderly nurtured a lovely little cabbage, only to suddenly discover one day that said tender little cabbage had been eyed by a wild boar overflowing with energy, a brain full of nothing but meat, adventure, and nakama!
Cobra's gaze rested heavily on Luffy, filled with resignation.
Especially seeing Vivi, being led in by the hand, with that lingering flush and a deep-seated, likely self-unaware dependence in the depths of her eyes.
He couldn't be entirely sure yet if this wild boar intended to dig up the cabbage, but judging by the situation, it seemed his own little cabbage had long since harbored thoughts of actively baiting this very wild boar!
Hey, hey, hey! The old father is right here watching you!
Do you really dare to charge in so blatantly without even trying to hide it?
Aren't you young people a bit too brazen?!
Couldn't you spare a thought for an old man's feelings?
"Hey, mister! I need to talk to you! Why won't you—"
Luffy's voice, initially loud and accusatory, trailed off slightly without him realizing.
Because he noticed the way Cobra was looking at him. It was hard to describe, but it made him feel inexplicably... guilty.
As if he'd been caught red-handed doing something wrong.
Speaking of which... Luffy remembered something.
Back in the underground royal tomb, when he was saving Robin, that posture of pinning her against the Poneglyph... Cobra had probably seen the whole thing.
"Although he could only see my back... but what the situation looked like from that side..."
A sudden image flashed in Luffy's mind, and cold sweat broke out on his brow.
That was... a bit awkward, huh.
Seeing Luffy's suddenly evasive eyes and diminished bravado, Cobra understood even more clearly.
He cleared his throat, trying to keep his tone calm and authoritative. "Luffy, I never said I wouldn't allow Vivi to set sail with you."
Cobra stood up.
"Huh?"
Luffy was stunned. He turned to look at Vivi. That's not what you told me.
"Father..."
Vivi looked a bit embarrassed. "You said it, didn't you?"
"...Alright, fine. I said it before, but I'm changing my mind now, okay?" Cobra's voice was filled with resignation.
Whether he'd said it or not didn't matter. Since his little cabbage said he had, then he had to own it.
"Luffy, please step outside for a moment. I have some things I wish to say to Vivi alone. I promise you, afterwards, I will let you take Vivi away completely."
Take her away completely?
Luffy was even more confused. Scratching his head, he looked from Cobra to Vivi beside him, who had her head lowered so much her neck was bright red, completely unable to decipher the riddle this father and daughter were playing.
But, according to his Observation Haki, Cobra wasn't lying. That sense of "malice" had also dissipated.
It was replaced by a complex mix of emotions.
Both relief and melancholy.
***
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