Dance on a Grave!?
Not far behind the courtyard, there is a grave.
That was the spot where Ortolan's father was buried. The surrounding weeds had been cleared away, but no one dared to repair the seemingly unimpressive tomb, which remained exactly as Ortolan remembered it.
At this moment, Ortolan was sitting in front of the grave, offering some tributes to his father, pouring a bowl of fine wine, and gazing at his tombstone.
Gion stood to the side and respectfully offered three sticks of incense to Saronis.
"I suddenly realized that both this house and this grave seem to be facing the direction of Whole Cake Island," Gion said, sitting down next to Ortolan.
Ortolan poured himself a bowl of wine, drank it all in one gulp, and then explained with a smile, "Even the direction of Tyrean Island's port faces Whole Cake Island, which is why he brought me to stay here..."
After a slight pause, Ortolan continued, "My father used to be a formidable Great Pirate. Over thirty years ago, his bounty was already over two hundred million Beli. He was so strong that he even dared to challenge my mother head-on... although I later heard from him that he lost miserably..."
"How bad was it?" Gion asked instinctively. Then, realizing that the question was inappropriate, she was about to say something to change the subject when Ortolan said without hesitation, "He was in his forties and at the peak of his life, but he lost to Charlotte Linlin, who was in her early twenties. That's about how bad it was."
"There are so many people on the high seas who are worse off than him..." Gion replied with a smile.
"I think the worst thing about him is that after losing the fight, he fell hopelessly in love with my unreliable old mother..." Ortolan quickly told Gion his father's story.
"When I was young, he would always get up early in the morning and go to the harbor to look out at the horizon. Occasionally, if one or two ships passed by, he would get excited and carefully observe whether they were from the Big Mom Pirates. If not, he would seem a little disappointed. In fact, after he and I were kicked off Rocks' ship, he hadn't seen Charlotte Linlin even once in all these years. But even so, on his deathbed, he held my hand and said that if there was a chance in the future, he must ask me to help him deliver his sword to my old mother..." Ortolan shook his head helplessly.
Here Ortolan talks about his childhood, about the love and hate between his father and mother, and about trivial things in his memories that would have been almost forgotten if he hadn't tried hard to recall them.
Gion, standing nearby, listened quietly to everything, occasionally asking seemingly boring yet somewhat tricky questions, which amused Ortolan to the Ortolan that his expression was sometimes speechless and sometimes annoyed.
It was supposed to be a grave, a place filled with sorrow and grief, but at this moment, it felt warm and cozy, as if a family were sitting together, discussing their past funny stories.
"So, in the end, I still don't know what he taught me? He's a swordsman, but I can't wield a sword at all, and I don't even have any interest in swords. He's a Great Pirate, but before I left Tirion, I barely had any mastery of Haki..." Ortolan complained.
"Don't you think that he has already succeeded in not turning you into a ruthless pirate?" Gion asked seriously after thinking for Gion.
Ortolan, who had been complaining, was stunned for a moment. He had never considered the issue from this perspective before, and for a moment he actually felt that Gion's words made sense.
However, just as he was about to agree, he suddenly remembered the old man's shady dealings at the port, including extorting protection money, and immediately denied it. "No, no, no, I didn't become a pirate. It's entirely because I'm a kind person, and my heart has been full of justice since I was a child. It has nothing to do with whether he taught me or not!"
Upon hearing this, Gion rolled her eyes, and Ortolan inexplicably laughed as well.
He felt there was no point in pursuing the matter of education or similar issues; perhaps his father was simply not a very good parent.
As dusk fell, Ortolan took another swig of wine. The sea breeze ruffled his hair, and his gaze returned to the grave, fixed on his father's name. He thought silently, "In the end, apart from these horns, I still don't resemble you at all, Father..."
Perhaps this dissimilarity is what his father wanted?
At the same time, Gion also looked at the name on the tombstone, recalling the story that Ortolan had just told her.
The man in the story never saw the woman he loved again until his death. Even though Tyrean Island was so close to Cake Island, it felt like they were worlds apart.
Why did he leave behind these regrets?
In a daze, Gion seemed to hear the wind whispering in her ear, telling her that what he lacked back then was courage, so muster up your courage and bravely strive for whatever you want.
As Gion heard the sound of the wind, Ortolan snapped out of his thoughts, poured the last bowl of wine before his father's grave, and said, "Although I don't know when I'll be able to come again, which makes me seem a little unfilial, I promise you, the day my cheap mother passes away, I'll bury her in Tyrion, next to you... to fulfill your dream."
After saying that to himself, Ortolan turned to Gion and said, "It's windy tonight, we..."
It's unclear whether the wind gave Gion courage or Saronis inspired Gion.
When Ortolan turned to look at her and said those words, Gion didn't hear a single word.
She just stared blankly at Ortolan's face, which was so close to hers, for one second, two seconds, three seconds.
"Gion? Did you hear me?" Ortolan looked at the dazed Gion with some confusion, frowned, and asked a couple more questions.
The next second, Gion's eyes, which had been stunned, suddenly lit up. She then hugged Ortolan tightly and pressed Ortolan lips to his.
This sudden turn of events left Ortolan's mind blank, and he had no reaction for a moment, letting Gion kiss him passionately.
It wasn't until he felt a warm, soft tongue trying to probe between his lips and teeth that Ortolan suddenly snapped out of his daze.
It seemed that the feelings of affection and anticipation that Gion had been suppressing in his heart had finally erupted at this moment. Ortolan pulled Gion into his arms and the two of them pressed tightly together. The kiss was so long and intense that it made both of them feel a little suffocated.
The next second, their lips parted, Gion suddenly pushed Ortolan, who was sitting cross-legged on the ground, down, and then straddled his waist.
The bright moonlight, as if it favored this kind of scene, cast a ray of moonlight upon the two of them. Facing that moonlight, Ortolan looked at Gion's face. At this moment, the moonlight was beautiful, and Gion was as moving as the bright moon.
Immediately afterward, before Ortolan could even recover from the beautiful scenery, he saw Gion starting to tear open his bow tie. At that moment, Ortolan abruptly snapped out of his frenzied state and grabbed Gion's hand, saying, "Hey, hey, stop for a second! This is a grave, my old man is still watching..."
Upon hearing this, Gion, whose eyes were somewhat dazed, suddenly froze. Her eyes seemed to regain some clarity, and two blushes instantly rose on her cheeks. For a moment, she stood frozen on Ortolan's waist, at a loss for what to do.
Seeing that Gion had stopped moving, Ortolan naturally couldn't let her feel awkward, so he suddenly pulled Gion into his arms and said without looking up, "Goodbye, old man, I have a big event to attend tonight, so I won't be able to keep you company..."
After saying that, he picked up Gion and, not wanting to take the long way around the main gate, nimbly climbed over the courtyard wall and went straight into the old house.
At this moment, all Ortolan wanted to do was thank the people of Tyrean Island for taking such good care of his home, even the bedding was spotless, which made it easy for him to do his wicked thing!
The moon is shining brightly tonight, and spring is in full bloom.