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It barely rained in Dressrosa.
Most people would argue that it could be caused by the notorious weather fluctuations in the New World, or perhaps something as stupid and boring as simply saying that it is a tropical island, but Trebol never limited himself to such logical or mundane explanations. Instead, he chose to believe in something even more absolute, something that was much more painfully obvious:
That the sun just couldn't help but illuminate the glory of the Young Master.
He described it as painful, because it hurt to know that not many people were aware of this fact. That the man he raised from the ground up was favored by the entire world, and that it was destiny to have fame, power, and wealth fall naturally into his hands…
And yet, beside him stood an opposition that posed a more immediate threat to the family than Kaido or the world government itself—so threatening that even someone as vile as himself would kill to avoid:
The vice captain herself.
Originally, there was never going to be a vice captain until she came around with decapitated legs and earned the Young Master’s respect. Sure, it was extremely impressive how she orchestrated such a large-scaled crime at such a young age, and as Doffy’s self-purported mentor of crime, he respected that part of her a great deal—but there was a distinction between her capabilities and her ambiguous motives.
‘Keep your friends close but keep your enemies closer’, huh, Doffy… That’s Mafia 101 for you. Still, he couldn’t shake the feeling entirely even after decades upon decades of seeing her working closely with Doffy. She is still hiding something, but he couldn’t quite put a finger around it. When he brought this concern to Doffy’s attention, he only laughed and said: She put a leash on herself. There’s nothing more powerful than that . Starting with her ambiguous motives, now Doffy is starting to say ambiguous things he couldn’t understand! What is with this she-devil…?! Is she tainting the Young Master?!
“Trebol. You’re going to die.”
He turned, looked down, and saw Sugar snacking on a basket of grapes. Her face was unwavering and sure even after making his confusion apparent. He had to make this little girl explain herself.
“Behehe! What do you mean, die? This is Dressrosa, you know. Assassins and the like are killed before they can even step foot around the castle's borders."
“Not that.”
Trebol raised an eyebrow, “What the hell is it then?”
Sugar lowered her head and looked up at him with a wide, creepy grin.
“Tsukusaya-sama is calling for you.”
Oh, speak of the literal darned devil!
Trebol had never walked so slowly in his entire life.
“Drop dead, Trebol.” said Sugar who walked alongside him, but she didn’t get a laugh from him in response.
“I am just so glad I’m not in your place.” Sugar tossed a grape onto her mouth, making her sound a tad muffled. “Whoever Tsukusaya-sama calls upon personally had all but left her office with tears in their eyes. As if they have seen the most terrifying thing ever. Either that, or they’re straight up dead.”
“Whatever,” he argued, “She can’t do anything to me. I’m an elite executive! A fellow founder just like her. Hell, I was there first before she came around! Doffy would not allow her to do anything reckless…”
Sugar recalled something horrifying and smiled wryly, “That’s where you’re wrong. She holds more power than you could ever imagine.”Trebol clenched his teeth. She’s right. Even though she was the Vice-Captain in name, they had always felt that her authority was slightly on par with Doffy’s, except he was in the limelight, and she worked in the shadows. Oh well, there’s no way Tsuku could imitate even a shred of the charisma that Doffy exudes, and yet, she still seemed to be Dressrosa’s second ruler. Like a…
“A queen .” Sugar shivered in her place as she walked. “That’s essentially what she is. Idiot.”
“Idiot?” Trebol was visibly offended. “I’ve realized that a long time ago! Don’t underestimate me!” He realized that only a second ago.
Sugar laughed and bid him farewell, as if it was the last time she’d ever see him. It was half in jest and half genuine, because those were also the odds whether Trebol would come out of those doors alive or not.
He glanced down at the meager size of the door. Its very existence was an insult to the tall, grand palace walls that surrounded the vicinity, and yet this tiny little door held the most ominous aura he had felt in a while… He caught himself gulping down with a slightly constricted throat and a tight chest as he twisted the knob open.
If she was going to kill him anyway for whatever reason, he might as well make the first move and catch her off guard…!
“Oh, Trebol.”
Trebol turned around, looked down, and saw Tux snacking on a basket of grapes. What the hell?! She was outside the entire time?! He felt a weird sense of deja vu.
“I didn’t think you would arrive so early. I heard that you were occupied with resource management.”
“Isn’t that… Sugar’s basket of grapes?” The pure shock compelled him to say his true thoughts.
“Ah,” Tux looked at the basket and then back at him. “She gave it to me.”
Sugar, THAT Sugar who would threaten to turn him into a toy for asking for a piece of grape— actually gave them away?!
Just how scary is Tux right now?! And what the hell did she put someone as rebellious as Sugar through to tame her so well and submit to her unprompted?! Trebol felt his chest tighten even more despite himself…
“What happened?”
“I passed by her on the way here and she said ‘have mercy on me!!’, put the basket in my hands and ran away.”
Trebol’s jaw dropped and sagged almost all the way down like deflated slime.
Just how much trauma did she put the poor Sugar through?!
“Anyway, I’m glad you’re here. Come inside, Trebol.”
“Alright.” Conversely, her gentle and amicable way of speaking right now scares him more than her usual sarcastic tones!
Once they were inside, Tux locked the door from behind him with a click. Trebol had never turned around so fast in his entire life. Is it starting? Is he about to die?! Bring your worst, you she-devil you—I’ll smother you with slime and then–
Tux grabbed a bunch of dresses from her closet and showed it to him. “Which of these do you think suits me the most?”
Ah?
Huh?
HUH?
“Didn’t you call me here to kill me…?” Trebol almost tried to cover his mouth reflexively. The shock made him say what was on his mind again.
“Kill you? Who told you that? I would never kill you, Trebol.” She said with a nonchalant shrug. “You’re a precious member of the family. Where do you find an idiot who kills their family for no greater reason?”
So it was all a lie? A setup?! Did Sugar trick him? That conniving little…! No, he shouldn't get ahead of himself. He should think about this calmly. That's right; if Sugar lied to him, she wouldn't have given up her basket of grapes to Tsuku. That was severely uncharacteristic of her. She would never do something like that under any circumstances.
Tsuku picked two dresses from the bed and lined them up with her silhouette. "So which do you think suits me more?"
Trebol's jaw sagged again. He was simply in utter disbelief.
"The…" He cringed at the tremble in his voice. "...white and pink one."
Tsuku glared at him with the intensity of a thousand invisible daggers. Hell! What was he supposed to say?!
"Okay, then how about the one without white? The pink one…"
Tsuku's glare intensified tenfold. What?! What the hell did he do?!
"...I see…" came a quiet reply from her after a while. Her spirits seemed to have sunk a little after Trebol's comment. "Out of all the colors I showed you, pink feels more suitable for you…"
What is she saying, after all this time? She had always worn pink ever since they left North Blue twenty years ago!
Tux looked up at him with a dry stare.. Curses! He said that out loud.
"Behehe!" He chuckled frantically, trying to ease the tension in the air. "Didn't we pass by a boutique store as teenagers all those years ago, and Doffy stole a pink dress for you to wear? You tore it to pieces, though, and both of you came home bathed in blood after that…"
He still couldn't understand why she would destroy something so precious that the Young Master deliberately gave to her. Does she even care for him at all? His ambitions and his visions? Sure, she had the right to stand by his side through skill and foresight alone, but what about her true motives and what drives her? Did she even understand what the Young Master was trying to do?
"Hm. I remember." She said simply, and discarded all the other dresses that Trebol didn't pick. "This didn't go according to plan."
"Behe?" Trebol cocked his head to the side.
"Ah, well," she drawled out the last syllable slightly, as if it was a pain in the ass to explain. "Doffy is organizing another event after a while. You can't increase the soldiers' morale if you don't reward them, after all. As you know, this is his way of weeding out the moles. People are at their weakest when they think they're safe from all harm. The wine served there is drugged. You finish the story."
Trebol hummed contemplatively, "Well, I definitely heard of that event, and I am as informed as you are. I'm also aware Doffy gave you these dresses. But Tsuku, why are you asking for my opinion? It makes no sense."
"Why do you think?" She walked to a window and crossed her arms, gazing at the view below. "It's obvious what he'd pick, so I thought I'd use you as an excuse to wear something else, but even you had the same choices as him. I should have expected the mentor and student to share the same preferences."
"Behe! Then why not just wear what you like! Why go through all this trouble?"
She clutched at her arm tightly. "It's not as simple as you think."
Trebol recalled Doffy's words. A leash… around herself… Was it something related to that? How far does she know, and how many secrets do they share? He was already aware that Doffy confided in Tux more with these things since she was essentially the family's strategist, but to what extent, and in what scale…
Trebol followed her to the window, and found that Doffy was by the pool with his women, laughing and conversing with them, his words incoherent and muffled due to the longitudinal distance, but the giggling and laughter from the women were obnoxiously loud.
He glanced at Tsuku for a while, who had the same uncaring, indifferent expression on her face. But it was clear to him where she was staring.
It had been quite rare for the two of them to stand this close to each other because of their own duties, but being this close to Tsuku reminded Trebol of why he used to be head over heels for her for two years. It was a memory he would kill to eradicate from his mind, though. Dating Tsuku is unthinkable for anyone, no matter who they are! He won't ever forget how he ran away from her crying after two weeks of dating. No other romantic pursuits could compare to the regret he felt on that day. She's impossible!
"Hey, Tsuku!"
Her fingers twitched as if she was startled. Huh. That's rare. Did he actually just catch her off guard? Or was she staring at the Young Master so hard, she forgot that he was there at all…
Perhaps…
No way.
" Tsuku, you… do you…."
Tux looked at him with the least amount of anticipation.
"DO YOU ACTUALLY LOVE THE YOUNG MASTER?!?!"
The birds perching on her window flew off at Trebol's loud inquiry. She briefly watched them fly off then looked back at him.
"Yes."
Trebol's whole body melted almost all the way to the ground. Huh? How did she admit that so easily? Wasn't this the part where she's supposed to go, 'If you tell anyone, I will inject seawater into your veins and make sure you never see the light of day?! This lukewarm response is way too weird!
He pointed at her with shaky fingers. "The Young Master is flirting with other women as we speak, and you're aware that he's sleeping with Violet! You even treated her wounds personally. And you're telling me you actually love him?"
"Yes."
"Can you answer me with anything other than 'yes'?!"
Tux sighed and returned to gazing out of the window. At the Young Master. At her newly, Trebol-just-discovered , love of her life. He always knew that she was insane, but not to this extent. Shouldn't she be green with envy? Fuming with jealousy? Or perhaps even a little insecure that Doffy is sleeping with a woman much younger and curvaceous than her? And yet, he saw not an ounce of hesitation in her eyes. She was serious, and deathly so.
Trebol recovered his composure a little.
"Before I answer your question, I need to ask you something first."
Tux said without looking his way, which Trebol was actually grateful for. He was too shaken to face her right now and he might not be able to answer her question properly.
"Why do you think the Young Master insists on staying in Dressrosa despite all the power he has amassed?"
Trebol blinked twice and adjusted his shades. "Huh? That's surprisingly easy. It's because this is his rightful throne, and it's the most ideal location business-wise, right?"
"You're right. But do you think that Doffy is fond of stagnancy?"
He stood up and answered firmly, "No. The Young Master is always aiming for something beyond what we can see."
Tux hummed in approval. "This proves that Doffy is not entirely short-sighted, and that he actually sees the grand scheme of things and acts upon it to conveniently turn things in his favor."
Trebol narrowed at her. "I get that. But how does this answer my question?"
"Despite appearances, Doffy is actually patient and meticulous, though second only to myself. He may seem impulsive and violent, but even that is because he believes he deserves to do those things by birthright." She scoffed with a small smile. "The birthright I partially stole from him."
"You're ignoring me, aren't you, Tsuku?"
"Donquixote Doflamingo…" Her voice became more certain and louder. "...Is the greediest man I have ever known in my life. His desires can never be contained in a meager island such as this. He desires the whole world: from every acre of land to every grain of sand. He seeks everything this world has to offer, crush it into pieces, then mold it into something else entirely."
Trebol was entirely confused now. "What are you trying to say, Tsuku?"
"Without his greed, my dear Trebol." She leaned into the window with one arm and gazed upon Doflamingo with a small smile. "He wouldn't be our king."
Trebol was the one who asked in the first place, but…
How the hell was he supposed to react to such a sincere and earnest explanation?!
She was the very embodiment of a girl in love!! It's kind of gross!!
But now Trebol was certain about one thing: Tux understood Doffy more than he thought she did. No, actually—
She is probably the only person who understood him the most.
"Beheh!" Trebol said in a mocking voice, "So you're saying, his greed when it comes to the women he sleeps with doesn't bother you, because it's part of what makes him great?"
"Yes."
"Don't 'yes' me! Don't you know how to reply in other ways?!"
While Trebol was gritting his teeth, Tux closed the window and walked away from it. "I had to offer you a part of my perspective, or you wouldn't have understood it. Context is important."
"Behe," Trebol said with a twisted smile. "So? Didn't you think I wouldn't use this as blackmail material against you? It's impossible for you to overlook that, knowing you, Tsuku."
"I've never intended to hide my feelings for him." Tux didn't look a bit threatened at all. "What did you hope to achieve? Did you think it would cause a rift between me and the Young Master?"
"Yeah, that's right! What would he think about you fancying him, huh! After all these years! I bet he would be disgusted!"
"Weren't you listening to a word I said?" Tux gave him a twisted smile of her own, causing Trebol to flinch. "Doflamingo is a greedy man. What do you think would happen if you told him?"
"Nghh…" Trebol hated that she was right. "It wouldn't change a thing, would it?"
"Exactly. You are surprisingly smart today, Trebol."
"Hey! Watch your mouth!"
"Now with that out of the way…" She reached for more things in her closet, and came back with fabrics of various shapes and sizes. "Time for dresses: Set Number Two."
"You mean to tell me there's more?!" How many dresses did Doffy buy for you, anyway?!
"It's fine. Didn't we used to do this a lot when we were still dating?" She lowered her head then gave him a deathly glare. "But I'll kill you if you choose anything pink."
"Didn't you just say you wouldn't kill me a few minutes ago?!"
Needless to say, Trebol soon walked out of the room sobbing, completely drained and exhausted. His slimy body became heavier with each step.
"Pica! Diamante!"
The two elite officers happened to be in the same room, watching Trebol struggle to crawl onto a chair. The latter began explaining what he heard from Tux and her feelings, expecting them to be amused, or maybe even a little bit disgusted. They, however, had a blank look on their faces.
"I can't believe you never noticed after all this time, Trebol."
" Pikkya-Pikkya! You're so stupid! Everyone knows that! Are your eyes just for decorations?!"
Is he truly the only one who didn't know after 28 years!?
Unbeknownst to Trebol, Doflamingo and the two other elite officers had been conversing over the phone and they were not in any position to end the call due to Trebol's interference.
The women crawled all over him and sought for his attention, but his eyes were fixed on a certain window from behind him. He saw a glimpse of her long, black hair as she passed by. Teasing . Those strands would look so much better when he's pulling them from behind…
"Hey, Young Master~ Where are you looking?"
Doflamingo grabbed the woman by the shoulder when she tried to occupy the left side of the couch. He raised her chin with a finger and grabbed her by the waist, pulling her closer to him so that she was sitting between his legs.
"You can sit anywhere you want, woman. But remember this:" His hands snaked down her hips to her ass through the flimsy fabric of her bikini, earning him a breathy gasp. Doflamingo licked the base of her nape and whispered loud enough for the others to hear:
"No other woman is allowed to take her place."