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It truly seemed as though fate itself opposed the idea of Asmodeus Zechs ever setting sail or leaving that uninhabited island.
The storm they encountered on the very first day had not been the end of their troubles.
No.
It had only been the beginning.
After surviving the near disaster that almost sank the ship, one problem followed another without pause.
On the second day after leaving the island, hundreds of waterspouts suddenly rose from the sea around them.
Towering pillars of seawater twisted down from the dark clouds above, surging across the ocean as though they were alive. They chased the ship from every direction, threatening to tear it apart.
The winds were so fierce that even Pudding had to cling to the mast with both hands, her hair whipping wildly around her face.
Zechs did not dare spread his wings. The gale was so violent that he feared it would snatch him straight out of the sky.
Meanwhile, Katakuri shouted orders from the helm. His mochi clones rushed across the deck, and the few that had not been swept away by the wind desperately hauled on the ropes and adjusted the sails.
Together, they narrowly managed to steer the ship through the tiny gaps between the spiralling columns of water.
Only then did they finally escape the disaster.
But if anyone thought that was the end of their troubles, they could not have been more wrong.
Sailing without a Log Pose was a disaster.
One current carried them in one direction, the wind dragged them somewhere else, and before long the ship had wandered into a sea so thick with fog that they could barely see beyond the bow.
Strange sounds echoed through the mist. Bells rang somewhere in the distance, and more than once they caught sight of the shadow of another ship moving beside them—only for it to vanish the moment they looked properly.
They even tried using Observation Haki to trace the sound, wondering if there might be an island or another vessel nearby.
But they sensed nothing.
No people. No island. Nothing at all.
In the end, they concluded that the bells were probably just the wind… or perhaps some strange sea creature hidden in the fog. Either way, they had no desire to stay there and desperately tried to steer their way out.
By the time they finally escaped the mist, the side of the ship had scraped against a rocky formation hidden within it. Half the railing had been torn away.
And that still was not the end.
Afterward, the ship drifted into a region where the sea itself seemed to boil.
Great bubbles rose constantly from beneath the surface, and jets of steam erupted without warning. The underside of the ship blackened from the heat, while one side of the hull cracked badly after a blast of boiling water struck it head-on.
Katakuri somehow managed to patch the damage with his sticky mochi.
But seawater constantly splashed against the repairs, slowly melting them away. He had to repair the hull over and over again, eventually dedicating an entire mochi clone to doing nothing but maintaining the ship.
A few days later, an even greater storm descended upon them.
Lightning tore across the sky from one horizon to the other. Then, without warning, a bolt struck the mast directly.
The upper half exploded apart, and the sail burst into flames.
Pudding nearly got caught in the strike. She screamed and immediately threw herself against Zechs, clinging to him tightly as she trembled in fear that another bolt might hit them.
And more lightning did come.
Again and again, brilliant white bolts crashed down around the ship. If they had not used Katakuri's trident as a makeshift lightning rod to draw the strikes away, the situation would have become far more dangerous.
But even that could not undo the damage already done.
The first strike had completely destroyed their sail.
Fortunately, they had prepared for that possibility. Before leaving the island, they had brought several spare sails with them. Working together in the middle of the storm, they replaced the burnt sail with another one made from animal hide and continued onward.
Even then, the disasters refused to stop.
By the second week, the ship barely resembled a proper vessel anymore.
The mast had been crudely pieced back together with logs and rope. Cracks spread across the deck, and the hull was riddled with so many patched holes that the ship looked as though it were made of repairs rather than wood.
After that, the ship drifted aimlessly for nearly two days because it could barely steer.
By the end of the third week, all three of them looked exhausted.
And still, they had not found a single island. They did not even know where they were sailing.
"Sailing… bleh… it's not fun at all…" Pudding whimpered, dark circles hanging beneath her eyes as she leaned over the side of the ship and vomited the water in her stomach into the sea.
She had never been used to sailing in the first place. After enduring one disaster after another, the constant strain was beginning to wear her down badly.
Fortunately, her body was no longer as fragile as it had once been. If she still had her old physique, she was certain she would have died from the ordeal by now. Even if not dead, she would have definitely fallen ill.
"It was never this bad…" Katakuri muttered, visibly irritated. Even after spending most of his life at sea, he felt that this journey had become absurd.
"…Haa…" Zechs sighed as he rubbed Pudding's back.
He honestly did not know what to say anymore.
But before he could think of anything, a sharp screech cut through the air.
The three of them, already exhausted and on edge, immediately snapped to attention at the sound.
"What is it?" Pudding asked, shrinking closer to Zechs and instinctively clutching his sleeve. "Another storm…?"
"No…" Katakuri muttered, staring upward. "It's a… bird."
Above them, an enormous bird crossed the sky.
It was gigantic, nearly the size of a large whale. As it passed over the ship, its vast wings cast a shadow across the deck, plunging everything beneath it into darkness.
"That is—" Pudding murmured, narrowing her eyes, "—a Skullwing Eagle…"
"Skullwing Eagle…?" Zechs repeated, hearing the name for the first time.
He glanced at the strange patterns on its feathers and quickly understood where the name came from. The markings looked eerily like skulls.
But that was not what mattered. What mattered was that there was an eagle here at all.
"If I remember correctly…" Zechs said slowly, keeping his eyes fixed on the birds. "Eagles usually do not stray too far from land. They are territorial predators."
Pudding and Katakuri's eyes widened at the same time. Both of them immediately understood what that meant. "There's an island nearby…!" they exclaimed.
The fact that the weather had finally begun to stabilize only strengthened that conclusion.
Without wasting another second, Pudding leapt up into the crow's nest. She narrowed her eyes and used her enhanced vision to search the distant horizon.
A few moments later, she trembled a little. "I-I see it!" she shouted excitedly. "There's an island! I can see its shadow in the distance!"
"Yosh… finally," Zechs muttered with a grin. Then he turned to Katakuri. "Pick up the speed. Let's get there as quickly as possible."
"Hnn," Katakuri hummed. He immediately created several mochi clones, each rushing to take up an oar. With all of them rowing at once, the ship surged forward at full speed toward the distant island.
An hour or two of relentless rowing later, the shadow on the horizon finally became clear.
It truly was an island.
Before long, the battered ship reached somewhat close to the shore.
"Finally… finally…" Pudding said, her voice trembling with relief. "Wooo… I almost thought we were never going to see land again… that we'd just keep drifting forever and die in the middle of the sea…"
She looked so relieved that she seemed on the verge of tears.
"And luckily, there are people living here too," Zechs murmured, lightly patting her head.
Even from a distance, he could see several buildings further inland. That alone was enough to tell him the island was inhabited.
"This ship can't sail anymore," Katakuri said as he looked down at the deck. "Water's getting in."
The hull had long since given up. The holes he had patched with mochi had reopened, and the ship was growing heavier by the second as seawater poured in.
He could try sealing them again…
Or—
"It doesn't matter," Zechs interrupted. "We've already reached the island. Let's abandon this ship and cover the rest of the distance ourselves."
"Alright," Katakuri agreed.
With that, Zechs swept Pudding into his arms in a princess carry and spread his wings.
A moment later, he launched into the air.
Katakuri leapt after him, grabbing hold of his ankle as Zechs carried them the remaining distance toward the island.
Behind them, the abandoned ship drifted motionlessly for a few minutes.
With no one left to work the oars or manage the sail, it simply floated there as more and more water flooded into it. The vessel let out one last loud creak before finally slipping beneath the waves.
But by then, Zechs had already reached the island.
…
At the shore of the island, two children were playing.
"Hahaha! You can't catch me! You can't catch me at all, Akari-chan!" a little boy shouted as he ran across the sand.
"Yu Onii-chan… woo… stop running…" the little girl named Akari cried as she chased after him.
Yu stopped momentarily and turned around to tease her. "Ehh? But we're playing tag. If I stop running, then won't you—" But then, he suddenly cut himself off. "Huh? What's that?"
Akari looked up as well. "T-That's… a strange bird…" she murmured.
But as the shape drew closer, both of them realized it was not a bird at all. What was flying over were people…
Realizing they were strangers, Yu immediately pulled his little sister behind him. "Akari, get back here…"
He tried to hide her, but there was nowhere to hide on the open beach. All he could do was stand in front of her protectively as the figures descended from the sky.
As they approached the shore, Katakuri let go of Zechs' ankle and dropped to the ground first.
His landing struck the beach hard enough to make the sand tremble slightly, knocking both children onto their butts.
A moment later, Zechs landed as well and retracted his wings into his back, then gently set Pudding down on the sand.
The moment her high heels touched solid ground, Pudding let out a long breath of relief, "Finally… land…"
While Zechs and Pudding adjusted to the ground, Katakuri bent down and reached toward the boy on his butt.
Faced with his enormous size and intimidating face, Yu shut his eyes tightly and shouted, "D-Don't touch my sister! If… if you want something, then—"
But his words stopped abruptly. Katakuri had simply taken his arm and pulled him back to his feet. "If you're going to protect your little sister," Katakuri said calmly, "then don't fall over like that." After that, he also helped the little girl back on her feet.
Yu stared at him in shock.
Even after being helped up, his legs still trembled. But at that moment, he realized that this frightening-looking man might not actually be dangerous.
Pudding leaned around him curiously, smiling faintly after seeing what Katakuri had done. 'Katakuri Onii-sama really is a softy,' she thought. 'He just likes pretending to be scary.'
Meanwhile, Zechs bent down slightly and looked at the boy. "What's your name?" he asked.
"Y-Yu…" the boy answered nervously.
At almost the exact same moment, the little girl, whose heart had started pounding the instant she saw Zechs' face, blurted out, "Akari!"
"Uh…" Zechs scratched the back of his head, feeling somewhat helpless at her reaction. Trying his best to rein in his charm so as not to make the little girl infatuated with him, he looked back at the boy and asked, "Yu… is there an inn in town?"
Yu shook his head. "There… isn't an inn… but…"
"But?" Zechs prompted.
"But… but…" Yu stammered, clearly unsure whether he should say more.
But Akari answered immediately. "You can rent a room at our mom's tavern!"
"W-Wait, Akari…" Yu said, staring at his little sister in disbelief that she had revealed that so easily. But since she already had, he could only sigh and nod. "Like she said… You can stay at our mom's tavern. If you have money."
"Well, that's convenient," Zechs said. Then he smiled at Yu and added, "In that case, why don't you lead us there?"
"A-Alright…" Yu nodded. Still, after a moment, he asked hesitantly, "But… you do have money, right?"
"Onii-chan!" Akari protested immediately, glaring at her brother. Then, with surprising strength, she grabbed his arm and began dragging him along, leading the trio toward the tavern.
As they followed behind the two children, Pudding leaned closer to Zechs and whispered, "What are we going to do, Zechs-sama? We don't have any money…"
"Don't worry about that," Zechs replied with a shrug. There were plenty of ways to solve that problem.
Led by the two siblings, the trio soon entered the main town.
The town was not particularly large, but it was not small either. There was even a Marine base nearby.
'Hmm… the Marines really are everywhere,' Zechs thought to himself, 'But this is good… since there is a Marine base, it'd save me some trouble.'
He had some plans regarding the Marine base, though he did not pay it much attention for the moment and simply continued following the children.
As they walked through the streets, they naturally drew attention.
For one thing, nobody on the island seemed to recognize any of them, meaning they were strangers, and outsiders… Strangers and outsiders always attract attention, and then there was the fact that the three of them are also people who'd attract attention upon themselves, no matter where they are.
First of all, there was Zechs himself. Women who looked at him often seemed to freeze for a moment, their heartbeats quickening the instant they saw his face.
Katakuri drew attention for a different reason. At nearly five meters tall, he was an intimidating figure no one could ignore.
And then there was Pudding, a beautiful young woman in a maid's dress, walking quietly beside Zechs with her high heels making a click sound with each step.
Together, the three of them stood out so much that some people even began whispering that a noble might have arrived on the island…
Ignoring the stares, they followed the siblings to the tavern.
…
As soon as they arrived at the tavern, Yu and Akari ran toward their mother. "Mom!" "Mama!"
The proprietress of the tavern was a beautiful woman in her mid-twenties named Ruri. She had long black hair and a voluptuous figure. When she saw her children returning with three strangers, she blinked in surprise. "Yu-kun, Akari-chan… who are these three…?"
She felt intimidated looking at Katakuri, found Pudding very cute, and then, as her eyes landed on Zechs, she froze. Her breath caught in her throat, and her heartbeat suddenly quickened.
'So handsome…!!!' The thought echoed through her mind before she could stop it.
Completely unaware of what his mother was thinking, Yu hurriedly explained, "Mom, they want to rent a room."
Meanwhile, Akari hid behind her mother and peeked from the side at Zechs' face.
"I-I see…" Ruri said with a small nod, unconsciously swallowing. Forcing a polite smile onto her face, she asked, "So… the three of you would like to rent rooms?"
"That's right," Zechs said with a nod. Then he paused. "Miss—?"
"Ruri," she supplied quickly.
"Right, Miss Ruri." He smiled faintly. "I have to say, it's a beautiful name… as beautiful as you are."
"B-beautiful?" Ruri repeated, caught completely off guard. She clearly had not expected this refined-looking young man to suddenly compliment her.
"That's right," Zechs said smoothly. "If Yu and Akari-chan hadn't called you 'Mom,' I never would have guessed you had two children. It's honestly surprising."
"O-oh my… I… I don't know what to say…" Ruri stammered, pressing a hand to her burning cheeks. "Th-thank you…"
Beside them, Yu tilted his head slightly. For some reason, he suddenly had the feeling that he might have brought home trouble.
Because this man… This man seemed to be flirting with his mother.
At the same time, Pudding coughed pointedly and pinched Zechs' waist, twisting the skin to make her displeasure clear. "Zechs-sama…" she said in a dark tone. "We came here to rent rooms."
"R-right… Pudding-chan…" Zechs replied, maintaining a calm expression even as he thought to himself, 'Pudding-chan… it's not good to pinch your master's waist like that.'
Reading his thoughts, Pudding released him, though she continued to grumble inwardly. 'Who told you to flirt with her?'
Katakuri, meanwhile, leaned silently against a wooden pillar, watching the entire exchange with faint amusement.
Ignoring them all, Zechs cleared his throat and returned to the matter at hand. "Anyway, Miss Ruri, we need rooms. How many do you have available?"
The smile he gave her then was devastating. The moment Ruri saw it, her heart skipped a beat and heat rushed back into her face. "T-Two…" she answered meekly. "We have two rooms available."
"Two, is it?" Zechs said with a nod. Then, with that same easy smile, he continued, "In that case, would it be possible for Miss Ruri to show us the rooms?"
"S-sure… please follow me," she said with a quick nod. Leaving her two children downstairs, she hurried up the stairs and led them to the available rooms. "These are the rooms…"
Both were small single bedrooms.
Zechs glanced inside and frowned slightly. "Only single beds? Don't you have any rooms with a double bed?"
"N-no…" she replied, embarrassed that she could not offer one.
"I suppose we'll have to make do," Zechs said with a shrug. He turned toward the others. "Katakuri, you can take one room. Pudding-chan and I will take the other."
"Yeah… that's fine," Katakuri replied with a nod.
Zechs then looked back at her. "Miss Ruri, we'll take these rooms."
"I-I see… then please, make yourselves comfortable, I'll bring over water and a towel," Ruri said hurriedly.
After giving them a few more things, she quickly headed back downstairs to bring in water and towels.
The entire time she had been showing them the rooms, her heart had been beating faster and faster. No matter how hard she tried, she could not stop herself from glancing at Zechs' face. By the time she returned downstairs, she had been so distracted that she had forgotten to ask for payment in advance or even ask where they had come from.
While Katakuri had already gone into the other room to take a look around, Pudding looked at him a bit irritably.
"Fufu… are you jealous?" Zechs teased, slipping his arms around her from behind.
"Humph!" she huffed, deliberately turning her face away. Even so, she relaxed slightly in his embrace.
"Look at me," he said softly. Slowly, she turned her head toward him.
"Fufu… I like that jealous look on your face, Pudding-chan…" he murmured before leaning in to kiss her.
"Mmm… chu…"
The two were so absorbed in each other that they failed to notice the half-closed door open again.
Then suddenly—
Splash!
The sound made them pull apart and turn toward the entrance, and murmur in surprise, "Miss Ruri?"
Ruri sat there, frozen in shock at what she had seen. The pot of water she had been carrying had slipped from her hands and shattered on the floor, leaving her kneeling amid the spilled water.
Zechs stepped away from Pudding and walked over to her, offering her a hand without any trace of embarrassment, "Are you alright, Miss Ruri?"
"Y-yes… I… I'm alright…" she stammered, her face burning red as he helped her back to her feet.
Then his eyes dropped briefly. "Oh… but your clothes…"
The water had soaked through the front of her dress, making the fabric cling tightly to her body. The sight was impossible to ignore. Every curve of her figure stood out clearly beneath the wet cloth.
"Aah—! I-I'm sorry for showing such an embarrassing sight…" Ruri said hastily.
She crossed her arms over her chest and turned away, flustered and desperate to escape. But as she stepped back, her foot slipped on the spilled water.
"Kya—!!" she exclaimed and squeezed her eyes shut as she began to fall.
Of course, with Zechs standing right there, there was no way he would let her hit the floor. He caught her easily before she could fall. "It's alright, Miss Ruri," he said calmly. "You can open your eyes. You're still alive."
Ruri trembled slightly before slowly opening her eyes.
She found herself half-supported in his arms, his face far too close to her own.
Looking at him from such a short distance, smelling that strange but pleasant scent coming from him, she felt her entire body grow hotter. The fact that she was being held by a man who was not her husband only made it worse.
And with her dress soaked through and clinging to her body… The atmosphere felt strangely intimate.
Even though she understood that she was being held like that by a man who wasn't her husband, for some reason, she did not hate it, at all.
If anything, it made her feel even hotter.
'W-what is wrong with me?' she thought in shock. 'Was I always this kind of woman?'
Ashamed of herself for reacting that way, she hurriedly pulled away from him. "I-I'm sorry about that… a-and… thank you… for… for catching me…"
"It's fine," Zechs replied casually.
"T-then… I'll be going… I need to bring another bucket of water… a-and towels…" she said, turning to leave once again.
Before she could go, Zechs called after her. "Ah… Miss Ruri. Forget the water and towels for now. I wanted to ask you something else… about dinner."
She stopped in place. Without turning around, she gave a quick nod. "Y-yes… please come downstairs later… I-I'll serve it…"
"Understood," he replied.
At once, Ruri hurried away, going down the stairs.
"Fufu…" Zechs chuckled softly, wondering whether he should stop at just teasing her… or take things even further and eat her later.
'Perverted bastard of a master,' Pudding huffed inwardly, having watched the exchange earlier and read exactly what was going through his mind.
…
At the local Marine base, overseen by Commodore Alpha Male, a muscular man with striking light-green hair, word arrived that three unusual visitors had appeared in the town.
Alpha Male frowned as he stopped flipping through a newspaper, and asked, "Three strange people?"
"Yes, sir," the sailor replied with a nod before describing them. "A five-meter-tall man, a young woman in a maid uniform, and a young man who looks like a noble. He seems to be the leader. None of them has ever been seen in this town, or anywhere on the island, before."
"I see…" Alpha Male muttered. "What about their ship? Did you inspect their ship? Are they pirates, merchants, nobles…?"
"That's the strange part, sir. No new ships have arrived at the harbor. We have inspected other areas as well, and there aren't any ships hidden anywhere at all. As far as we can tell, they don't have a ship."
Alpha Male blinked in surprise and frowned even more deeply. "If they don't have a ship, then how did they get here? Did they swim?"
The sailor hesitated. For a moment, he looked as though he might agree, but then he shook his head. "No, sir. Their clothes weren't wet."
"Not by ship, and not by swimming either…" Alpha Male muttered. "Then what does that leave? You're not suggesting they flew here, are you?"
"I… don't know, sir," the sailor admitted helplessly. Flying seemed to make the most sense, but saying it aloud sounded absurd.
Alpha Male let out an irritated sigh. "You're useless. Fine. Where are they now?"
"Yu-san and Akari-san led them to Ruri-san's tavern," the sailor answered. "They've been staying there ever since."
"They're at my wife's tavern?" Alpha Male exclaimed, immediately rising to his feet. "You should have started with that!"
Concern for his wife and children flashed across his face. Without another word, he strode out of the base, leading several sailors with him toward the tavern.
…
As Commodore Alpha Male arrived at the tavern with several sailors, he immediately noticed the sound of music and singing drifting from inside. A large crowd from the town had gathered around the building as well.
"What's going on here?" Alpha Male asked with a frown.
"Oh, it's Commodore Alpha Male," a few townsmen greeted him before quickly explaining. "It's that noble-looking fellow in there. He's singing. We've never heard songs like these before… everyone just wants to keep listening."
"He's singing?" Alpha Male repeated. He glanced at his sailors, then pushed past several people and strode into the tavern.
Inside, he found the crowd gathered around one of the tables, where a young man sat singing. The entire tavern seemed focused on him.
Meanwhile, Ruri moved through the room serving drinks to the customers. Beside her was another woman in a maid outfit, helping carry mugs and food, while Yu and Akari hurried around helping as well.
As Zechs sang, Katakuri leaned silently against a wooden pillar nearby, holding a mug of rum and drinking from it at his leisure.
Alpha Male watched for a while, listening to the unfamiliar tune. 'Never heard this song before,' he thought.
Still, he found that he rather liked it. So instead of interrupting immediately, he stayed where he was and observed the three unfamiliar guests.
'Don't recognize her,' he thought as he watched Pudding move through the crowd carrying a tray full of mugs.
He did not recognize the huge man by the pillar either.
As for Zechs… 'Have I seen him somewhere before?' The young man's face seemed strangely familiar, but no matter how much he thought about it, Alpha Male could not place where he had seen him.
While Alpha Male observed Zechs, Zechs had already sensed the Marine's arrival. He glanced briefly in his direction, but continued singing as if nothing had happened.
Soon, the song came to an end.
The tavern erupted into applause and whistles. Zechs gave the crowd a slight bow in return.
The clapping gradually died down.
Except for one person.
The sound of continued applause drew everyone's attention. Alpha Male stepped out from the crowd with several sailors behind him and walked toward Zechs.
"That was a song I've never heard before," he said. "Did you write it yourself?"
"I suppose you could say that, Mr. Marine," Zechs replied with a modest nod.
"Commodore Alpha Male," the man corrected. "I command the Marine base on this island. And I have a habit of making sure that not a single pirate who sets foot here leaves alive."
'Alpha Male, huh? His parents must have really hated him,' Zechs thought to himself. Beside him, Pudding had to lower her head slightly to hide a snort of laughter upon reading his thought.
"I'm Sigma," Zechs replied smoothly. "I didn't expect the Commodore himself to come all the way here just to hear me sing."
"Sigma?" Alpha Male repeated slowly. "Your name is Sigma?" For some reason, he had the distinct feeling that this young man was making fun of him. But he could not quite prove it.
"Yes… That's me," Zechs replied with a perfectly straight face.
"Hm…" Alpha Male muttered. "What kind of parent names their son Sigma?"
He frowned thoughtfully, trying to remember whether he had ever heard of a pirate by that name. But nothing came to mind.
'The irony,' Zechs thought in amusement. Outwardly, however, he merely scratched his cheek awkwardly. "I… don't really know what to say to that, Commodore."
"I suppose it's not your fault you ended up with a name like that," Alpha Male said with a sigh. Then his expression sharpened. "Anyway… you're not from this island."
"That's correct, Commodore," Zechs replied with a nod.
"But there's no unfamiliar ship in the harbor," Alpha Male said, narrowing his eyes. "So how exactly did you get here?"
At that, Zechs spread a pair of wings behind him.
Several people nearby jumped back in surprise.
"W-Wings?!"
"He has wings?!"
Alpha Male frowned. "A Devil Fruit power? Did you cross the ocean by flying?"
"No," Zechs said, shaking his head. "We were on a ship. But before we could reach the harbor, it sank. Fortunately, I have this Devil Fruit ability, so I was able to fly the rest of the way to the island."
"I see…" Alpha Male murmured, accepting the explanation.
He wanted to ask the next obvious question: whether this man named Sigma was a pirate.
Zechs did not look like one. He lacked the rough, weathered appearance most pirates had. Instead, he looked more like some young noble, especially with the maid at his side. Together, they seemed more like wealthy travelers than anything else.
And yet… Alpha Male's instincts kept warning him to stay cautious. For some reason, he felt that asking that question now would be a mistake.
'Let's wait,' he thought. 'I can confirm everything later. If he really is a pirate, then I'll deal with him then.'
It was a wise decision.
Because, without Alpha Male realizing it, Katakuri had already subtly raised a finger, prepared to strike the instant Alpha Male tried anything.
Meanwhile, Pudding was reading his thoughts directly. If things turned ugly, she was fully prepared to smash the tray in her hands over his head.
His caution saved him from that trouble as Katakuri dropped his finger, and Pudding eased her grip on the tray, though he remained completely unaware of it.
Instead, he asked, "That song you sang earlier… do you know any others like it?"
"I certainly do, Mr. Commodore," Zechs replied with a nod.
"Then sing them," Alpha Male said, dropping heavily into a chair. "For me… and for the town."
"Oh, I most certainly will," Zechs said politely. "But, Mr. Commodore… my throat is a little dry after all that singing. I wonder if I might have something to drink first?"
The words were polite, but the meaning was obvious enough. If the Commodore wanted more songs, then he would have to pay for them with a drink.
Alpha Male understood the hint immediately. Since it was hardly an unreasonable request, he called out, "Ruri… bring him something to drink."
"G-got it… husband…" Ruri replied with a nod.
She hurried over with a tray and held it out toward Zechs. "H-here you go…"
"Husband?" Zechs repeated softly, sounding faintly amused.
The corners of his lips curled slightly as he took the mug of rum from her. Their fingers brushed for the briefest moment, and Ruri immediately flushed at the touch.
Fortunately, most of the tavern had already had enough to drink that no one seemed to notice.
Embarrassed at being teased so openly in front of both her husband and the customers, Ruri quickly turned to retreat.
"Ruri, wait," Alpha Male called.
"—!" She froze at once. A little nervously, she turned back around. "W-what is it, husband?"
Completely oblivious to her strange behavior, Alpha Male simply said, "I need a mug too."
"R-right… these ones are empty… I'll bring one…" she replied before hurrying off again.
Alpha Male frowned slightly at her haste, but before he could think much about it, Pudding, after meeting Zechs' eyes and reading his thoughts, walked over carrying another mug of rum and offered it to the Commodore. "Here you go… sir."
As she leaned forward to hand him the mug, the slight gap in her cleavage became visible, immediately drawing the Commodore's eyes and distracting him for a moment.
"Sir?" Pudding called out, attracting his attention towards her face.
"Ahem… thanks…" he said lightly, sneaking another glance before turning back toward Zechs.
"Then… Sigma boy… sing."
"Yeah!"
"Sing!"
"Sing! Sing! Sing!" the crowd shouted eagerly.
"Very well then…" Zechs said with a nod before beginning to sing once more.
He sang for hours, moving from one song to the next without pause. Every so often, he would stop briefly to rest his voice, and each time Alpha Male would call for Ruri to bring him another mug of rum.
Again and again, she carried the drinks over and handed them to him. And every time she did, their fingers would brush.
At first, the small touches left her flustered and ashamed. Being teased by another man in front of her husband, and in front of an entire tavern full of people, should have embarrassed her.
But as it kept happening, she found herself enjoying it more and more.
Especially because she had noticed something.
Every single time Pudding leaned over to hand Alpha Male another mug, her husband's eyes drifted shamelessly toward the girl's cleavage.
The sight irritated Ruri and made her resentful towards him.
As a result, more than once, Ruri deliberately lingered beside Zechs a little longer than necessary, standing close to him as if trying to draw her husband's attention back to herself, or perhaps make him jealous.
But for some reason, it did not seem to work.
Instead, by the time Zechs finally stopped singing, Alpha Male had drunk far too much. Completely drunk and utterly wasted, he sat slumped over the table with his head resting on his folded arms, snoring loudly.
Meanwhile, Ruri remained beside Zechs, close enough that their shoulders almost touched as she helped refill his drink.
By then, the tavern was nearly empty.
One by one, the remaining customers had drifted home after paying up, leaving behind only Alpha Male, Ruri, Zechs, Pudding, Katakuri, Yu, and Akari.
"Mom… I'm sleepy…" Akari said softly, rubbing at her eyes.
"Oh… alright moment…" Ruri said, about to help her children upstairs.
But just then, Pudding, having met Zechs' gaze and volunteered, "Wait, Miss Ruri … I'll put them to bed."
"It's alright… I can do it…" Ruri replied.
But Zechs gently interrupted her, "It's fine, Miss Ruri. Let us help you."
She hesitated for a moment before giving in. "A-alright…"
With that, Pudding left with the two children, and Katakuri soon followed to his own room. From the look on his face, he could already guess what would happen next.
Now only Zechs, Ruri, and the slumped-over Alpha Male remained in the tavern.
A strange tension settled over the tavern.
A married woman sat alone with a man who was not her husband, a man she had only met earlier that day, yet he was openly seducing her with subtle touches and low words, all while her husband slept only a few feet away.
The thought made Ruri's breathing grow a little heavier. Her body felt hot, and she felt a little dazed. 'This… this…'
"Miss Ruri … could you pour me some more?" Zechs asked softly.
"R-right… of course…" she replied.
Her face was already flushed, and her heartbeat pounded strangely loudly in her chest. Something improper seemed to be building inside her, an excitement she knew she should not feel, yet could not help anticipating.
With that immoral excitement and anticipation, she poured the rum into his mug. As their eyes met, she found herself unable to look away. Instead, she felt drawn to him, staring into those eyes with the strange desire to lose herself in them.
Without realising it, she kept pouring long after the mug should have been full.
At that moment, Zechs called out, "Miss Ruri…"
"Yes?" Ruri responded, her breathing slightly heavier than before.
"It's overflowing…" he said.
"What's overflowing…?" she asked blankly.
"The mug… it's overflowing with rum…"
"The mug is overflowing with rum…?" It took her a moment to realise what he meant. By then, the rum had already spilled over the rim and onto his clothes.
"Oh—oh no… I-I'm sorry…" she exclaimed, startled. She immediately grabbed the edge of her apron and began dabbing at the rum on his shirt.
"Fufu…" Zechs chuckled softly as she fussed over him.
"W-what's so funny?" she asked, shooting him a small glare.
"The way you're acting so flustered, Miss Ruri … It's a little amusing," he replied.
His words only made her blush harder, and she argued in a small voice, "I… I am not… f-flustered…"
"If you say so…" he teased, reaching up to tuck her hair behind her ear.
The intimate gesture only made her more flustered. She bit her lip and lowered her head as she continued wiping at his shirt. Yet even after she had dried the last trace of rum, her hand did not move away.
For some reason, she remained close and kept trying to clean the rum.
The corners of Zechs' lips curled slightly. The hand caressing her cheek slid lower, tracing slowly along her side until it reached the curve of her waist… then moved around behind her.
"—!" Ruri froze.
She looked up at him in shock, only for Zechs to raise his other hand and press a finger lightly against her lips. "Shh…"
Then he glanced toward her sleeping husband.
The meaning was obvious. Her husband was still there. She could not make a sound… or he might wake up.
That gesture, combined with the sight of her husband snoring nearby, made her instinctively fall silent.
But being reminded of him only made her panic more. Suddenly, she realised just how wrong and immoral this was.
However, she had no chance to stop it because… he kept touching her, and his touches made her feel so weak that she didn't know what to do.
His hands slowly slid up beneath her skirt, brushing along her thighs before reaching her buttocks. Then his touch grew bolder, his hand squeezing and kneading her asscheeks through her panties.
"Ahh…" Ruri trembled and let out a soft moan.
"Shh…" Zechs reminded her again.
"This… I… we shouldn't…" she whispered shakily. "I'm… I'm a married woman… my husband is right there…"
"But are you really satisfied with that?" Zechs asked quietly, his hand continuing to stroke her back. "Don't tell me you didn't notice the way he kept staring at my maid the entire time."
"I…" Ruri faltered. She had noticed. And remembering it now, she felt a sharp sting of resentment rise inside her.
Even as his wife was being teased, touched, and seduced right in front of him, he did not seem to notice at all. His gaze remained fixed on the maid, and even now… while this stranger touched her more boldly than before… even going as far as to insert his hands underneath her skirt, all Alpha Male did was snore, completely unaware that his wife was about to be ravished by the Sigma man.
"Fufu… For tonight…" Zechs murmured, leaning closer. "Forget about your husband."
"I…" she hesitated… but before she could say anything more, he silenced her with a kiss.
Ruri's eyes widened in shock.
But the moment their lips met, her thoughts scattered. The taste of him, the heat of his mouth, the forbidden thrill of it in the presence of her very own husband, it all overwhelmed her.
And in the end… She found herself giving in and wanting it as well.
…
Some time later…
"Thanks for the treat, Miss Ruri," Zechs said, slipping his hands into his pockets.
Ruri blushed, unsure of how to respond. In the end, she quietly changed the subject. "For helping me bring my husband upstairs… thanks," she said softly. "It would have been difficult for me to do it alone…"
As she spoke, her gaze drifted back toward the bed, where Alpha Male lay sprawled out, fast asleep and completely drunk.
"Fufu… no need to thank me," Zechs said with a faint chuckle. "If anything… his presence made it more exciting."
Ruri shot him a glare and bit her lip, her face burning with embarrassment.
After all, only a short while ago, she had been moaning on that very same bed while her husband slept on the side. Zechs had been shameless, insisting that they do it with her husband sleeping in the same room.
It was wrong. Twisted. And yet, lost in the heat of it, she had given in.
The memory filled her with shame, making her want to hide her face from him.
"N-now… you should get some sleep too…" she said quickly, trying to change the subject again. "I… I should rest as well…"
"Yeah… Well then, Miss Ruri … I'll see you tomorrow," Zechs said with a nod before leaning in and pressing a soft kiss to her lips.
Ruri hesitated for only a moment before whispering, "Good night…" and returning the kiss, her cheeks still burning red.
When they finally parted, Zechs glanced once more at the oblivious Alpha Male sleeping on the bed, then turned and headed for the door with a faint smile.
Ruri watched him leave, reluctant to see him go, already missing the feel of his hands on her body and his manhood inside her.
After a moment, she let out a quiet sigh, closed the door, and slipped into bed beside her husband, wrapping her arms around Alpha Male as he slept.
It was just that, another man's white seed was filling her core at the moment… making her feel even a little guilty towards her husband.
But Alpha Male, being Alpha Male, knew nothing about it and slept soundly.
Hell, that night he even had a strange dream. In it, his wife Ruri was moaning a name… a name that was not his, but another man's. A name that began with "Z"…
The problem was that he did not know anyone whose name started with Z.
Helplessly, he scratched his hair… hair that, somehow, had darkened from light green to dark green without his knowledge.
…
On Zechs' side, after leaving Ruri's room, he returned to his own.
The moment he stepped inside, Pudding looked at him and asked in a resentful tone, "Had your fun?"
"Yes… it's been a while since I indulged in one of my favourite hobbies. It felt good…" Zechs replied shamelessly with a nod.
Pudding was left speechless for a moment. "You really are…" she muttered before snorting. "Humph."
She turned her head away, not wanting to look at him.
"Fufu…" Zechs chuckled. He walked over, wrapped his arms around her, and pulled her against him. "Pudding-chan… I'm still not satisfied…"
She glared at him.
He had come back after tasting another woman, only to tell her he still was not satisfied. Did he really think she did not know what he wanted? Now he wanted to fuck her too.
The thought made her angry… and bitter.
As for why he had not been satisfied with Ruri… it was because she was a weak woman. He had only fucked her to indulge in his hobby of giving green hats to men. There had been no other reason for it. So after only four rounds, he had stopped with her… and returned to Pudding.
"Pudding-chan… aren't you going to help me?" he asked as his hands rubbed over her asscheeks.
She trembled slightly at his touch… and wanted to refuse, but couldn't bring herself to refuse him.
As his maid, serving him was her duty. More than that… she was helplessly in love with him. So despite the sourness in her heart, she could only nod. "F-fine…"
Having agreed, she obediently lowered herself to her knees and began helping him with her trained mouth.
As she did, she noticed something strange. 'This taste… it's the taste of another woman…'
The lingering taste of another woman on her master made her feel strange… and jealous. 'I… I need to clean it properly…'
With that thought, she became even more devoted, wanting to erase every trace of that other woman.
"Hmm… Pudding-chan is the best…" Zechs sighed in pleasure as he patted her head.
.
.
A/N:
I hope the readers will continue to give the story lots of Power Stones.
Comments and Reviews are also necessary, especially Reviews. The story has far fewer reviews than I'd prefer.
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