The Only One Coming for My Head Is You?

Half a month later.

Alabasta, the South Hall of the royal palace.

This was a relatively secluded part of the royal palace, and no one usually lived there.

But over the past half month, it had been heavily guarded, with a considerable number of guards stationed there.

"Tap!" "Tap!" "Tap!"

At that moment, crisp footsteps rang out.

The guards immediately grew solemn and looked toward the person approaching from not far away.

"Princess Vivi!?"

When they saw the beautiful princess with blue hair, they naturally bowed in unison.

"Following Father's orders, I've come to see that gentleman and thank him for bringing rain to Cataleya."

Vivi stated her purpose concisely.

"Please let me through."

Hearing this, the guards hesitated.

But they did not hesitate for long before stepping aside as instructed.

In fact, when they had first been assigned to guard the gentleman in the South Hall, they had remained highly vigilant—especially the guards who had attended the conversation in the reception hall. They knew the identity of that guest and were well aware of his immense strength.

But as time passed, their vigilance gradually faded.

After all, the guest had used his miraculous ability to bring rain to the cities of Yuba, Cataleya, and Elma in succession, stabilizing the situation throughout Alabasta.

King Cobra had also met with him privately.

Moreover, His Majesty had recently been busy comforting the people throughout the country. Within the entire royal palace, Princess Vivi now had the highest status.

Naturally, they did not dare disobey her orders.

Once the guards stepped aside, Vivi entered the South Hall.

From a distance, she saw a reclining chair.

Sunlight poured through the translucent dome and fell directly onto the chair, where the masked Dragon was sitting.

He held a cup of cola in his hand, with the straw poking through the gap beneath his mask.

"Oh? Princess Vivi? Here to disturb someone's sunbathing again?"

When Dragon saw Vivi arrive, he turned his head and greeted her. But Vivi clearly saw him quickly shield the cup behind his back.

Who would even try to take something like that?

Vivi complained inwardly.

But after this month, she had become fairly familiar with Dragon.

She also knew that this self-proclaimed senior executive of the Twelve Zodiacs, a man of formidable strength, had a very peculiar personality in certain respects.

Thus, she merely performed a standard royal greeting. "Good day, Sir Dragon."

"I came at Father's command to thank you for bringing rain to Cataleya recently."

She spoke as though she had a perfectly reasonable reason for coming.

But—

"Ah, about that reason—I'm afraid I have to tell you, Princess, that I've already seen through it."

Dragon showed no mercy as he said this.

After confirming that Vivi did not seem interested in stealing his drink, he began drinking his cola again. "Your guard captain, Sir Igaram, came to see me recently. From what he said, I learned that King Cobra never gave you any such order."

As he spoke, his voice beneath the mask grew teasing.

"Besides, based on my guess, those people plotting against your country should be about to make their move against me. So I advise you not to come here unless you have something important to do."

Vivi's expression changed when she heard this.

"Igaram."

She gritted her teeth, annoyed by her guard captain's loose lips.

But then she stubbornly looked at Dragon. "That won't do. You have to tell me who the mastermind is. Why won't Father tell me, no matter what?"

"I'm the princess of Alabasta. I also have a responsibility to the people!"

That was indeed why she had been coming here so frequently lately, even going so far as to make excuses and lie.

Not long ago, her father had met with Dragon—but this time, he had not taken her along.

However, based on what Igaram had revealed, she could determine that Dragon had disclosed the mastermind behind Alabasta's great drought during that meeting.

But when she asked King Cobra, her father merely shook his head and refused to tell her the answer, no matter what.

"That is not something you need to know, Vivi."

That was all His Majesty had replied.

But Vivi could not accept it. As a princess, she believed she naturally ought to know who the villain trying to destroy her country was.

"That man has to pay for what he did to Alabasta!"

Vivi said angrily.

Faced with her attitude, Dragon remained noncommittal.

"Princess, allow me to ask you a question."

He spoke softly. "Have you ever left Alabasta?"

"I—"

Vivi was somewhat puzzled by the question.

Still, she forced herself to answer. "Of course, I—"

As the only princess of Alabasta, she had indeed almost never left the country.

There had been only one exception, three years earlier.

"I attended the last Reverie with Father."

She gritted her teeth as she spoke, recalling the Reverie from three years ago.

Her father had reprimanded King Wapol of the Drum Kingdom at the meeting, and Wapol had retaliated against her after the meeting.

Although she had calmly chosen to compromise at the time, swallowing her anger and apologizing, she had still burst into tears in her father's arms afterward.

It was not a pleasant memory.

Thus, Dragon spread his hands. "That is the reason, Princess."

"You have never truly seen this 'world,' and your father clearly thinks the same."

He smiled. "So please go back."

"..."

Vivi bit her lower lip and stared at Dragon. After a long while, she snorted.

She stood up and turned to leave.

But halfway there, she turned back. Amid Dragon's startled cry, she picked up the bottle of cola sitting in the ice beside him and gulped down the rest.

Only then did she give Dragon a triumphant look before striding out of the South Hall.

"..."

Looking at the empty cola bottle, Luo Yi naturally felt like crying beneath his mask.

Still, it had to be said: it was no wonder she would nearly become Wang Luffy's crew member in the future. The uniqueness of her behavior and thought process was already beginning to show.

However, just as he was about to ask the guards outside for another bottle of cola—

"Princess, why have you come back again?"

The guards' voices came from outside the hall.

"I just remembered something I forgot to tell the gentleman inside. Yes, it's highly confidential. You should all leave first."

"Ah? But Captain Igaram said—"

"What? Are you refusing to obey the orders of your princess?"

"Of course not, of course not—we'll leave right away."

As the conversation outside came to an end,

Dragon saw Vivi walk into the South Hall once again, exactly as expected.

When she saw Luo Yi, she revealed a warm smile. "Sir, I have something to tell you."

She quickly walked over to Dragon.

"What a coincidence. I also have something to ask you."

Dragon remained sprawled in the reclining chair and asked with a smile, "Did you come alone?"

Vivi's expression visibly turned bewildered.

But in an instant, she composed herself and replied with a smile, "What do you mean, 'come alone'? Didn't I just come by myself?"

"That's not what I meant."

Dragon continued smiling.

"I mean—am I the only one coming to take your head?"

"Swish!"

The instant Dragon said those words, Vivi's smiling face turned cold.

Her legs lashed out almost instantly, like a pair of whips, kicking toward Dragon.

At the same time, her appearance changed. The beautiful face of Vivi instantly transformed into that of a flat-banged man wearing heavy makeup.

Only then did Dragon finish the rest of his sentence, revealing the man's identity.

"Baroque Works, Mr. 2."