King Neptune drifted out of the palace. After hesitating for a moment, he still turned toward the Hard-Shell Tower.
I cannot keep it from her.
But the very thought of his daughter learning of her two brothers' deaths, and how heartbroken she would be, nearly shattered his own heart.
Yet was he himself not already consumed by grief?
Before Neptune could reach the Hard-Shell Tower, the Right Minister of Seahorses hurried up behind him, his face filled with urgency.
"What is it?" Neptune asked.
"Your Majesty, just now, Hody of the New Fish-Man Pirates gathered the citizens in the plaza…"
The Right Minister relayed the report passed on by his subordinates in full detail.
King Neptune's brows furrowed, a chill sense of foreboding rising within him.
"Your Majesty, isn't this a good thing?" the Seahorse Right Minister said with unusual optimism. "It's rare that Hody and those loafers from Fish-Man District are willing to do something for Fish-Man Island. Should we send troops to aid them?"
Neptune gave no reply. He simply continued gliding toward the Hard-Shell Tower upon his bubble.
The Right Minister sensed something amiss. Thinking it over, he finally reacted:
"Your Majesty… you suspect there is more to this?"
"Mm." Neptune nodded. "It's far too convenient. The moment the Davy Jones Pirates arrive near Fish-Man Island, my three sons go out to investigate, and on the way they're ambushed—two of them slain…"
"This…"
"In truth, we have no evidence it was Davy Jones at all. Everything is mere assumption. And yet, somehow, the entire island already believes it was him. Isn't that absurd?"
"Your Majesty, you mean to say…"
"Even if Davy Jones truly intended to strike at Fish-Man Island and Ryugu Kingdom, would it not be far too soon? They've scarcely had a chance to gain a foothold, yet they supposedly attacked my children already? Stirring conflict between us immediately—why? And how could they infiltrate so openly and assassinate my sons in front of so many?"
"Perhaps… perhaps it was the work of a Devil Fruit user?"
Neptune nodded, then shook his head. "There is… another possibility."
The Right Minister's eyes went wide.
At last, they arrived at the Hard-Shell Tower. Before its tightly closed gates lay a discarded spear, the door scarred where it had struck.
The two guards saluted. It was they who had pulled the weapon free.
"That bastard Vander Decken…" the Right Minister spat, gnashing his teeth.
Neptune, face calm, picked up the spear and tossed it aside.
"No matter which possibility it is, we lack the strength to root them out. With Jinbe absent from Fish-Man Island, we can only appeal to Whitebeard for aid."
"But Your Majesty, Whitebeard is hard-pressed himself right now…"
Neptune sighed. "Indeed… To have the very fate of Fish-Man Island placed in another's hands—it is unbearable."
He could not help but wonder: Were the kings of Fish-Man Island before me forced to rule this way, in such helplessness?
"Your Majesty…"
"No need to say more. I must go to Shirahoshi… I must tell her of her brothers' fate."
"Please, accept my condolences."
Just then, a soft, tremulous voice of a young girl came from behind the great doors:
"F-Father… is that you?"
"It's me, Shirahoshi," Neptune answered, pushing open the door.
Inside, Princess Shirahoshi's massive, ship-sized mermaid form was curled up upon an enormous bed.
The Right Minister remained outside at first, waiting.
Only after a while, when the sound of the princess's sobbing shook the very Hard-Shell Tower like an earthquake, did he enter.
Neptune was already trying to comfort the princess, who had just learned the grievous news of her brothers.
With her long flowing locks of pink hair cascading like clouds, Shirahoshi's beauty was nearly unearthly. Now, in tears, she looked even more pitiful, heartbreakingly delicate.
Her pet shark, Megalo, nudged gently at her slim waist, trying to ease her sorrow, but to no avail.
Neptune himself was deeply pained.
Yet as king, and as father, in either role, he could not allow himself to falter before Shirahoshi.
"Shirahoshi, I promise you," Neptune said firmly, "I will see the culprits punished. Whoever they are, they will pay the price!"
Shirahoshi, still weeping, slowly lifted her head. After choking back sobs, she steadied her voice:
"But… but did Mother not say… that hatred must never be passed on?"
Neptune swallowed hard.
Indeed, Otohime's dying wish had been just that. For her sake, he had aligned himself with the pacifist faction.
But first Otohime, and now Ryuboshi and Manboshi…
Again and again. Did they take Neptune for nothing? Did they truly believe no matter what they did, he would never resist?
What he feared most, however, was if one day someone were to strike at Shirahoshi herself…
Vander Decken's constant obsession was trouble enough. If more with malicious intent arose, if something happened to her—
Neptune dared not imagine what monster he might become in that moment.
"Your mother was right," Neptune said after a pause. "Hatred should not be carried on. But punishing the culprits is their due. Only through such justice can we stop them from committing further crimes, and end the cycle of hatred completely."
Is that so? Is that truly what Mother meant?
Shirahoshi froze, her face paling with confusion.
"What is it, Shirahoshi?"
"F-Father…"
From her expression, Neptune saw something that made his blood run cold.
Could it be… she knew something?
But how? She had been confined here in the Hard-Shell Tower all this time. How could she know who killed her brothers?
Yet what Shirahoshi revealed was not about the present.
Tears streaming down her face, she pointed to Megalo.
"Father… on that day, Megalo was nearby. He saw the real killer and told me. I remembered Mother's words… so I never spoke of it."
That day?
The day Otohime was slain?
Not a human? Not a Celestial Dragon? Not the World Government?
A chill ran down Neptune's spine. "Then… Shirahoshi, don't be afraid. Tell me—who was it?"
"I… I didn't know him then. Later, I learned his name was Hody…" Shirahoshi shrank back, clutching Megalo for comfort. "At the time… he was one of our palace guards."
Neptune and the Right Minister both felt their hearts crash to the floor.
Their faces changed several times, and only with great effort did they suppress their reaction before Shirahoshi.
"Father… have I… have I been wrong all this time?"
Neptune forced a thin smile. "No, Shirahoshi. You did nothing wrong. You simply kept the promise you made to your mother, and refused to let hatred spread."
The princess nodded softly.
When Neptune finally emerged from the Hard-Shell Tower, his face was dark, his breath ragged.
The hatred had indeed been passed down—only it had been misdirected all these years, letting the true culprit grow bolder.
But he could not burden innocent Shirahoshi with such words. He could only bear all the rage and grief within himself.
Could he blame her?
For eight years, he had shut her away here, to shield her from Vander Decken's attacks.
She had grown larger and larger, yet her experience had not grown with her.
To say she was still the same little girl who had once witnessed her mother's death was no exaggeration.
If only he had spoken with her sooner…
Neptune covered his face, at a loss for words.
"Your Majesty," the Right Minister said carefully, knowing Neptune's mind was in turmoil, "but the situation is dire. Hody and the New Fish-Man Pirates harbor dark ambitions. They've rallied the people, stirred up conflict. They seek to become Fish-Man Island's so-called heroes. In time, they will surely move against you, against Prince Fukaboshi, against Princess Shirahoshi. They mean to replace you."
"I know. If they succeed, they will be hailed as the island's saviors, their prestige soaring."
Neptune heaved one heavy sigh after another.
"But if they fail, will it benefit us? No… Davy Jones' crew will take their place, becoming the cancer festering here instead. The fate of Fish-Man Island is no longer in our hands."
The Right Minister looked at Neptune, and in that moment, the king seemed to have aged years.
The weight of the storm pressed down upon their shoulders, upon their backs, suffocating them both.
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