It was a bright morning.
Adrian was about to enjoy the beautiful morning when a maid approached him, gave a simple greeting, and then leaned in to whisper something to Adrian.
Adrian's eyebrows twitched slightly upon hearing the report:
"Tell them to keep him locked up for now."
"Yes, sir."
The maid respectfully replied and then turned to leave.
Adrian stroked his chin and muttered to himself:
"It's much more fun when it follows the plot after all."
In fact, Adrian had told a lie last night.
When he left, indeed only these two Little fellows were still alive.
As for the others, they had simply been cleaned up.
Meanwhile, in the room where the two Little fellows were sleeping,
A knock on the door was heard, and immediately after, a stern-faced Head Maid entered. Her voice was somewhat neutral but carried authority.
"Young masters, please get up."
Rosinante, not understanding what was happening, groggily got out of bed. Doflamingo had already been awake since the knock on the door.
Seeing that the two young masters were awake, the stern Head Maid clapped her hands, and then a large number of maids filed in. They were mostly divided into two teams, one team specifically serving each boy.
While Rosinante still looked bewildered, one maid had already helped him remove his pajamas, and another maid, holding a brand new outfit, helped Rosinante put it on. Then, one maid held a golden basin, and another maid took a towel, wet it in the basin, and gently washed Rosinante's face.
Rosinante was like a puppet, letting the maids do as they pleased with him.
But Doflamingo on the other side was different. He was very resistant to the maids' actions, but the maids did not force him. They simply communicated with Doflamingo, trying not to touch him too much. Not a single maid showed any unusual reaction to Mingo's bad temper.
Soon, the two brothers were dressed, their refined appearance no less than their daily life in the Holy Land.
Looking at the well-dressed brothers, the Head Maid nodded in satisfaction, then bowed slightly and said:
"Please follow me, young masters. The master is already waiting for you to have breakfast together."
Having walked this path before, the two brothers were much calmer than yesterday.
But Doflamingo seemed preoccupied, his sunglasses hiding his eyes from others.
Soon, they arrived at yesterday's dining room. In the same seats, Adrian was just as he had been last night.
Out of politeness, Rosinante greeted Adrian:
"Good morning, Mr. Adrian."
Adrian just smiled and replied:
"Good morning, Little Rosi. You can actually just call me by my name."
Adrian motioned for the two to sit down.
As the food had not yet been fully served, Adrian began to speak to himself.
"Two Little fellows, you must be curious why I adopted you."
This was precisely the question on both their minds, and they both looked at Adrian in unison.
"First, I know your experiences, your past. You don't need to worry about that. What I value is you yourselves, and it has nothing to do with your status. In fact, I could even blow up the place where you were born right now."
Doflamingo was the first to scoff.
"Hmph, impossible."
Adrian didn't mind and continued with his own thoughts.
"I truly want to treat you as family. In the future, no matter what you do, you must know that I will always be your backing."
"These past few days, you can explore here and spend some time with me. If you are willing to stay with me then, you can give me your answer."
Neither of the Little fellows replied, both seemingly deep in thought.
Soon, breakfast was served, and in a quiet atmosphere, the meal quickly concluded.
Adrian gestured with his hand, and a maid stepped forward.
"Doffy, Rosie, you are now free to explore. This maid will lead you. You have freedom of movement, so feel free to go wherever you wish."
Saying this, Adrian stood up and left.
Only the Donquixote brothers and the maid remained in the dining room.
The maid spoke first.
"Young masters, if there's anywhere you wish to go, please tell me. There's a map in the central hall for your reference."
"Then let's go to the central hall first."
Rosinante replied.
Doflamingo also nodded. For him, it was important to get a better understanding of this man, Adrian. He even dared to talk about blowing up the Holy Land, hmph.
The three then set off on their journey.
It wasn't until noon that Doflamingo realized how enormous this residence was!
Several classical buildings were interconnected, with several independent small buildings scattered around.
They hadn't even explored a quarter of it in the morning before it was time for lunch.
Doflamingo had once asked the maid if such a large place wasn't inconvenient.
But the maid replied that they, the maids, only had a certain range of activity, and the master's main building was the core. The areas they had just visited were merely annexes, or used for welcoming guests and such.
Indeed, it was true that the intersecting center of the classical buildings, which was also the highest point and surrounded by the other buildings like stars around the moon, was the family's home.
Doflamingo immediately sensed the profound heritage of this place shortly after beginning his tour, not just in its army but also in its wealth. The decor, atmosphere, feeling, and indeed everything here far surpassed the Holy Land.
If an outsider were to come, they might think this was the Holy Land itself.
They were preparing to eat.
But upon pushing the door open, the man who should have been sitting there was nowhere to be seen.
"Where did Uncle Adrian go?"
Rosinante asked.
The maid who had been following them replied,
"The master has an engagement and said that the young masters would have to have lunch by themselves first. In the afternoon, the master will take you out for a stroll."
Hearing "out," a peculiar light flashed in Doflamingo's eyes.
Up until now, Doflamingo still hadn't figured out his current location. He only remembered being somewhere in the North Blue.
It wasn't until lunch was over that Adrian appeared.
"Doffy, Rosie, later I'll take you to an interesting place, something you've absolutely never seen before."
Then he composed himself and said,
"Your father didn't get the chance to fulfill his duties as a father, so I shall carry them out for him."
Adrian stepped forward and reached out to hold the hands of the two Little fellows.
Doflamingo initially resisted a bit, but then he increasingly felt a warmth gushing from his heart, and he stopped struggling.
Rosinante was happy about Adrian holding his hand, just as happy as when Adrian comforted him yesterday.
When they stepped outside, it wasn't the original building. Before them was an amusement park, a large amusement park!
Neither Doflamingo nor Rosinante had ever seen so many facilities in the Pirate World.
Seeing their surprised expressions, Adrian said proudly,
"How about it? I spent the whole morning setting this up."
And the two children could no longer control their desires; their eyes were practically sparkling.
Adrian stopped rambling and led the two Little fellows into the park.
This was their exclusive amusement park; besides the staff, they were the only visitors.
Adrian let go of their hands and let them find things to play with themselves.
Rosinante excitedly ran around, while Doflamingo primly looked around.
Adrian took the two Little fellows on the carousel, with the maid helping to take photos.
Then they went on a roller coaster, which startled the two Little fellows so much that they were still a bit disoriented after getting off.
Adrian also brought two ice creams for the two Little fellows, then ruffled their golden hair.
Heading to the next stop, Adrian simply picked up Rosinante and let him ride on his neck, and occasionally tossed the two Little fellows into the air.
The children's laughter echoed everywhere. The upward curve of Doflamingo's lips could not hide his happiness and excitement at this moment.
As they were leaving, nearing evening, Adrian took the two Little fellows onto the Ferris wheel. At the very top, the Ferris wheel suddenly stopped.
Just as the two Little fellows wondered why, in the distance, brilliant fireworks lit up the sky. The continuously launched fireworks formed various shapes, and the beautiful scenery momentarily made Doflamingo lose himself in thought.
Just then, Adrian extended both hands to the two Little fellows.
"Little Doffy, Little Rosi, do you want to become my family?"
Rosinante's face could not hide his excitement. That afternoon, Adrian had been like a true father, accompanying him and playing with him.
Doflamingo, however, seemed hesitant.
On the way back to their room, Rosinante fell asleep in Adrian's arms from exhaustion.
Adrian held Doflamingo's hand.
"Doffy, you really hate your father, don't you?"
Adrian began.
Doflamingo paused slightly, then nodded fiercely.
"If it weren't for him, our family would have lived well, and Mother wouldn't have died!"
Doflamingo's emotions gradually intensified.
"You originally wanted to kill your father, take his head back to Mariejois to regain your Celestial Dragons status, right?"
Adrian's voice was very gentle, but these words startled Doflamingo.
Adrian fell into a brief silence. He lowered himself, his dark eyes flashing with a hidden light.
"Nai, do you want to kill your father with your own hands?"
Doflamingo was puzzled by Adrian's question, as Adrian himself had once said that his father should be dead, but Doflamingo still nodded.
Seeing Doflamingo nod, Adrian said no more. He directly led Doflamingo through numerous buildings to the entrance of a basement, then handed him a gun, tucking it into Doffy's arms.
"Your father is locked in this basement. Go down and talk to him. This gun is your choice."
Doflamingo stared blankly at the gun in his hand. He didn't think any more about Adrian's concealment, but resolutely took the gun and entered the basement.
"I'll wait for you upstairs."
After Doflamingo went down, Adrian leaned against a flower bed and quietly lit a cigarette. He didn't tell the Little fellow who went down that his father wasn't actually locked up.
"Bang!"
A gunshot rang out. Soon after, Doflamingo came up from the basement. There were tear stains on his face, and quite a bit of splashed blood on his clothes.
It could be seen that Doflamingo had first talked with his father inside before taking action, and after pulling the trigger, he had again stabilized his emotions.
Doflamingo's right hand had a large amount of blood, not his own, but from his father's head in his hand.
"Come on, I'll take you to see the faces of those World Nobles, to see your original plan."
Adrian directly grabbed Doflamingo's clothes and instantly disappeared from the spot.
"You should be very familiar with this place."
Doflamingo was a bit slow to adapt to the sudden change of scenery, but this was the gate of Mariejois!
Adrian gently pushed Doflamingo.
"Go on, go and reclaim your status. I'll be nearby."
Saying this, Adrian disappeared again.
Adrian arrived at a high altitude. He was not interested in what would happen next; all he wanted was the transformation of this Little fellow, his true awakening.
Soon, he heard a sound from below. Adrian extinguished the cigarette he had been smoking and disappeared again.
Doflamingo, carrying his father's head, did not regain his former status. Instead, he was met with disgust and pursuit from the other Celestial Dragons.
Just as his pursuers were about to catch up, Adrian picked him up and returned to the front of the original basement.
Doflamingo was covered in cold sweat, but his emotions grew even stronger.
"Alright, first, let the maid give you a bath. You've seen what those stupid pigs are like."
"Don't be nervous. Actually, you should also know that even doing this, it still wouldn't succeed. They have long regarded you as a traitor."
Doflamingo remained silent.
"Actually, no matter what you do in the future, just do it with confidence. You should know that from now on, you will always have me behind you."
At this moment, Doflamingo's heart was churning like a stormy sea. This warmth from within his heart was something he hadn't felt in a very long time.
Doflamingo calmed himself down, then looked up at Adrian seriously.
"Adrian, I want to blow up the Holy Land!"