I was Toritoma, the "Snake Princess," one of the strongest contenders to become Amazon Lily's next empress.
Although my name wasn't beautiful, I had always firmly believed-
Love?
Hah. That sort of thing was nothing but an excuse for the weak.
Because both the previous empress, Gloriosa, and the current empress, Shakky, were lovesick fools!
One had gone crazy for Roger, utterly obsessed with him, and left the country to sail the seas for love.
The other hid it well, but she exchanged letters with Rayleigh every chance she got. She had even started planning to fake her death and run away as soon as she became empress.
Even my good-for-nothing younger sister, Torch Lily (Toritoma), had spent so much time following those two around-
That now she spent all day talking about her "destined man," too.
But Amazon Lily didn't need a ruler like that.
We were born warriors, rulers of the seas, Kuja warriors whose very names struck terror into our enemies!
Love? It only made people lose their minds and become lambs led to slaughter.
At least, that was what I had always believed before meeting this man.
But three years ago, at the Sabaody Archipelago...
That was my first mission away from Amazon Lily.
Lady Shakky had only just become empress, yet she was already urging me to go to the Sabaody Archipelago to "pick something up."
Looking back, she had clearly just used it as an excuse to have me deliver a letter to Rayleigh!
At the time, I had been standing on the auction house roof, coldly watching what unfolded below-
A tiresome farce involving a father and son, both Celestial Dragons, trying to capture a member of the Mink Tribe.
But just as I was about to leave, everything changed far too quickly.