One Piece: The Living Devil

"What are you even talking about?", Otohime's face turned red with embarrassment, and she glared at Nia.

'What does she mean Rosse is my true love? Where did that rumor come from?'

She couldn't imagine it, this was Nia and Rosse's first meeting, and she had already caused such a commotion.

"Otohime-nee, that's what everyone on Fish-Man Island is saying."

Nia gave a gossipy look, glancing back and forth between Otohime and Rosse.

Even she could tell that Otohime and Rosse had a very close relationship.

Back when they were still in Ryugu Kingdom, Otohime rarely had intimate contact with Neptune, the distance between them was much greater than between her and Rosse.

Mainly because Neptune's body was just too huge, which gave people an overwhelming sense of pressure.

The 2.5-meter-tall Otohime standing in front of the 12-meter-plus Neptune looked like a little pet.

Anyone who saw them wouldn't think they were a good match.

Unlike Rosse and Otohime, standing together, they gave off the perfect "handsome man and beautiful woman" vibe.

She had already decided to ship this pair.

"Otohime-nee, they even said you ran off with Lord Rosse in pursuit of true love, abandoning Neptune. Is that true?", Nia looked at Otohime expectantly, she liked this couple more.

Even though she'd heard that Celestial Dragons were all bad, if Otohime liked him, then he must be a good person.

"Who said that? Why would people on Fish-Man Island spread something like this?", Otohime's face instantly turned pale as she froze on the spot.

She never imagined that such a rumor would be circulating on Fish-Man Island.

If she had actually done something, maybe it would make sense, but she hadn't done anything at all.

If this rumor spread on Fish-Man Island, she couldn't imagine the consequences.

"Huh? Everyone on Fish-Man Island is saying that. That's also why we were kicked out of the palace by Neptune. That bastard isn't a good person at all," Nia said angrily.

"You were kicked out?", Otohime was suddenly shocked, staring at Nia in disbelief.

'Why? It is just a rumor, why would Neptune kick Nia and the others out?'

Rosse glanced at Nia, who looked a bit guilty, his eyes carrying a half-smile.

'Good thing I just blocked Otohime's perception, or she would've noticed Nia's guilt for sure.'

He even suspected that Nia was expelled by an enraged Neptune because she spread the rumor.

Otherwise, based on what he knew about Neptune, before seeing Otohime in person, he wouldn't have done something so drastic.

But right now, Otohime was too emotionally affected to notice Nia's suspicious behavior.

Discovering the rumor, then learning that the sisters she saw as family were expelled from the palace and even harmed, it all threw her heart into turmoil.

"Let's not panic. Let's sort this out one step at a time," Rosse held Otohime's hand, his gentle voice gradually calming her down. He also reached out with his other hand and gently wiped away her tears.

Even though Otohime herself wasn't doing much, Nia was the one who stared wide-eyed, face flushed and breathing heavily, like she was the one being held and comforted.

Nia at this moment couldn't handle it anymore in her heart.

'Neptune? A knight of the sea? My foot!'

The three sisters hadn't even said much, just discussed a few positions, and how Otohime had just grown legs and now matched Lord Rosse even better.

Getting kicked out of the palace was one thing, but to go so far as to have them captured and delivered to human territory? Wasn't that basically sentencing them to slavery?

After all these days of torment, Nia was filled with hatred toward Neptune. She even believed he was the mastermind behind their capture and enslavement.

"Nia, explain how this all started. There aren't many World Government agents on Fish-Man Island. I haven't been deliberately monitoring news there recently either," With just one sentence, Rosse effortlessly distanced himself from the situation.

After the information was passed on to Fish-Man Island, he really hadn't paid much attention to what followed. Though Spandine, who was in CP9, still gave him daily updates.

"Yes, Nia, tell us how it all happened," Otohime was emotionally shaken, but Rosse's comfort had helped her remain calm for now.

She looked nervously at Nia, hoping to hear the full story.

"It started when we found out that Otohime-nee had gone missing. The Ryugu Kingdom mobilized its forces to search Fish-Man Island, even two captains from the Whitebeard Pirates came to help, but in the end, no one found her."

After pausing a moment, Nia got to the key point, "Then one day, a traveling Fish-Man brought news saying they saw you with Lord Rosse, and they even took a photo of you two together."

"But… I didn't do anything though?", Otohime looked puzzled. The part about being photographed surprised her a little.

But it wasn't completely unthinkable. After all, just standing next to Rosse would be headline news.

Still, she was certain she hadn't done anything with Rosse.

"You didn't do anything? I saw the two of you kissing!", Nia widened her eyes at Otohime. She never thought that after just a few days apart, Otohime's personality would become so bold.

"What? I did not!", Otohime frowned.

That was completely made-up, she had already decided this whole thing was just a big rumor.

"It's true!", Nia, seeing Otohime didn't believe her, got a bit anxious. This was a moment all three sisters saw back in the palace when the news broke.

"If you don't believe me, ask Iya and Sanya. They both saw it too. In the photo, Lord Rosse was sitting in a chair, and you were leaning over him, almost lying on top of him, with your head tilted downward!"

"That time we didn't even touch! I only leaned forward because I lost a game, and the punishment was to stare into Rosse's eyes for 10 seconds," Otohime explained with a flushed face. That was also why she had agreed to the game in the first place.

The punishment wasn't extreme, and there were other girls around, there was nothing intimate about it.

That kind of game, where two people's faces are less than 5cm apart and must stare into each other's eyes for 10 seconds, they had actually played it many times.

Compared to what those other women had done with Rosse, her punishment was practically PG-rated.

But she never expected that a friendly game would be so wildly misinterpreted, and even photographed.

"Eh? So there wasn't a kiss after all...", Nia lowered her head in disappointment. She did believe Otohime, but precisely because there was no kiss, she felt a bit let down.

Didn't this just confirm there was no relationship between Otohime and Rosse?

And Lord Rosse is so handsome, while Neptune is so ugly, if it were up to her, she'd definitely choose Rosse.

"So there was no kiss at all. What are you even imagining?", Otohime gave Nia a half-annoyed glare, but deep down, she let out a sigh of relief.

Thankfully, it was just a misunderstanding, she could still explain things to Fish-Man Island.

Thinking of that, Otohime looked at Rosse with immense guilt, "Mr. Rosse, I've troubled you again. My presence has tainted your reputation."

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