One Piece: The Silver Sovereign

"Wow, you're amazing, you can fly!"

After flying through the air for a while, Kather·Lynn's fear had turned into excitement.

"I've got lots of amazing abilities," Shirakawa said proudly.

But Kather·Lynn kept gasping and exclaiming, and while it was tolerable the first couple of times, it quickly became annoying.

Thankfully, the flight didn't last much longer; he could already see the city outskirts.

Once they were outside the city, the two of them landed.

"Wow… that was fast," Kather·Lynn said with a tinge of disappointment.

"'Fast' is not a word that applies to me."

Shirakawa's face darkened slightly at the word, and he replied unhappily.

"Then… why don't you just fly me back to my kingdom?"

Kather·Lynn looked up at him with sparkling eyes full of expectation.

"No. The main point of this trip is for us to train on the battlefield. Returning you to the palace is just something we're doing along the way."

"Along the way? I'm just an afterthought!?"

Kather·Lynn couldn't believe her ears. Was she hearing things? But one look at Shirakawa's firm expression told her she hadn't.

"You jerk. A beautiful woman like me is standing right in front of you, and all you care about is getting stronger. No wonder you'll be single your whole life!"

She puffed her cheeks in frustration and walked a few steps ahead, turning her back to him.

"I'm doing this for your good."

Seeing her disappointed figure, Shirakawa couldn't help but feel a little bad. He stepped forward and spoke gently.

"You and I… aren't suitable. I'm not suitable for any woman in this world. Do you understand what I mean?"

"What do you mean, exactly?"

Kather·Lynn could hear the sadness and regret in his voice.

"Maybe you'll understand in the future. Even if I told you now, you wouldn't believe me."

Kather·Lynn knew then that their relationship could only remain as close friends of the opposite sex. Anything more… was impossible.

"It's fine."

She forced a smile, but the tears in the corners of her eyes betrayed her. That smile only made her heartbreak more obvious.

Shirakawa did this for her sake, to cut off both her unrealistic hopes and his own.

For some reason, after saying those words, Shirakawa felt a weight lifted from his heart.

After waiting outside the city for a while, Shirakawa finally saw Buggy and Shanks gasping and out of breath as they arrived. He breathed a sigh of relief; at last, the awkward atmosphere could be broken.

"Shirakawa, you bastard!"

The moment they saw him, both of them marched forward, grabbed his collar, and yelled in unison.

"Haha, I believed in you. I knew you two had the strength to escape those soldiers."

Shirakawa's tone softened; he knew he'd gone a bit too far.

"Hmph. Don't think that flattering me will make me forgive you. I'm telling you now, I've added this to your tab. One day, you'll pay me back!"

Shanks growled.

"Yes, yes."

Shirakawa pretended to agree, but he was sure Shanks would forget about it sooner or later, knowing his personality.

"Shirakawa, next time you fly, can you take me instead and leave Shanks behind?"

Buggy asked seriously.

"Of course, if you can escape Shanks's clutches first."

If Shirakawa flew alone, Shanks might grumble. But if he took Buggy and not Shanks? No way Shanks would allow that. Not because he was so close to Buggy, but because he needed someone to accompany him.

"Hey, what happened between you and Kather·Lynn? You two seem kind of… off."

Shanks narrowed his eyes.

"Nothing happened. You're imagining things."

"Don't tell me you did something unspeakable to her in such a short time? Hmph. Scumbag."

Shanks squinted at him suspiciously.

"What the hell are you saying!? Unspeakable? Scumbag!?"

Shirakawa shouted in frustration.

"Am I wrong?"

"Shut it, Shanks!"

Shirakawa couldn't believe Shanks had become so nosy and irritating. Was this Rayliegh's bad influence?

"Yeah, I need to stay away from Rayliegh more when we get back. He'll corrupt my pure heart, too. Just look at what happened to 'innocent' little Shanks."

Rayliegh: I'm not taking the blame for this.

Far away, Rayliegh, still gambling at the casino, suddenly sneezed.

"Someone must be talking about me. Doesn't feel like it's a good thing. I'd better be careful for a while."

"Let's go."

Now that everyone was here, it was time to head out. Shirakawa walked up to Kather·Lynn and spoke stiffly.

"Okay."

Kather·Lynn replied curtly. Her mood was still low.

Her first love had ended before it even began. She hadn't even had a chance to confess before he mercilessly shut her down.

The group fixed up their clothing and set off again. As for disguises? They ditched them. Outside the city, there wouldn't be many soldiers anyway, no big deal.

"Do you even know where your kingdom's capital is?"

"Of course I do! Our country lies in the northwest part of this land, so we just need to head northwest."

"So… you don't know the exact location of your capital, do you?"

"Come on, I've never left the capital since I was a child. If it weren't for certain circumstances, I wouldn't even be here!"

"You're pretty amazing, though."

"What's that supposed to mean? Are you looking down on me?"

"Not at all. I mean it sincerely. A girl raised in the capital her whole life managed to survive this long in the outside world. Sure, it was a bit rough, but still, impressive."

"Hmph. Even if you praise me, it won't make me happy. It can't make up for the emotional trauma you caused me."

Shirakawa was a little embarrassed. How was he supposed to respond to that?

Kather·Lynn also realized she might've said something she shouldn't have, and fell silent.

"Buggy, see? I told you something happened between those two."

Shanks whispered in Buggy's ear. But since the four of them were walking close together, both Shirakawa and Kather·Lynn heard it.

Kather·Lynn's cheeks turned red.

Shirakawa, meanwhile, was already plotting how he was going to deal with this nosy little brat.

"Yeah… they're acting different from this morning. Something happened for sure,"

Buggy agreed.

"Mm-hmm."

"Shut up, both of you."

Shirakawa smacked each of them on the head, and two huge bumps instantly formed, comically puffed up.