"Yes, we have a child."
After Rouge heard Xiu's words,
her whole body trembled, and her face instantly turned deathly pale.
A bleak smile appeared on her face.
"They found out so quickly..."
For a moment, the room filled with despair...
Just as the atmosphere had built up enough,
Xiu spoke:
"Of course... I was lying..."
Rouge froze, almost failing to react. "Huh?"
Clearly, Rouge, who had been unable to pull herself out of her grief, was now somewhat bewildered.
Xiu shrugged and said:
"Well... I told you I only came to see you..."
"Or rather, the child in your belly..."
Rouge sighed helplessly.
Even if he hadn't been trying to arrest her just now,
the boy... still knew all about the child!
The boy before her seemed to know so much about her,
about Roger, and even about the child...
He knew them all so well!
His knowledge had even reached a frightening level!
Rouge seemed to shed her burden in an instant.
She slowly sat down in the chair opposite Xiu.
No more pretending. It was time to lay her cards on the table.
Or rather, she couldn't keep pretending anymore...
"Isn't this much better...? I told you I wouldn't arrest you, and I meant it."
Xiu smiled and continued:
"Have you thought of a name for the child?"
At the mention of her child, a rare tenderness appeared on Rouge's face.
"Not yet... I still don't know whether it's a boy or a girl..."
"Ace."
Rouge froze at his words. "Huh? What?"
"The child's name. Call him Ace..."
Rouge lowered her head, silently repeating the name.
"Ace... As in a trump card..."
"It's a lovely name, but how do you know it isn't a girl?"
Xiu smiled. "Don't worry. It'll definitely be a boy!"
After all, that was Ace...
Rouge gave a rare smile.
"Then let me thank you in advance, Mr. Marine."
Xiu nodded slightly, then continued:
"Rouge, you should know that this child's future..."
"Definitely won't be all smooth sailing."
"If... I'm saying if."
"He makes some wrong choices in the future..."
"When that happens, I'll bring him back myself!"
Rouge looked at Xiu, who had suddenly turned serious.
She was dazed for a moment, then a smile bloomed on her face like a flower.
"Hahaha, Mr. Marine..."
"You're the most interesting person I've met lately..."
"I'm already overwhelmed that you won't report me..."
"As for the future... who can predict it?"
Listening to Rouge's answer,
Xiu instantly understood what she meant...
Yes... who could say for sure what the future held?
Then he stood and stretched.
"All right, Ms. Rouge. This is where we part."
"Huh? Mr. Marine, won't you have something to eat before you go?"
Xiu kneaded his slightly sore neck.
"Well... I'll pass on the meal..."
He waved and left Rouge's home.
As she watched Xiu disappear from view,
a faint smile lingered on Rouge's lips.
"What an interesting Mr. Marine..."
"If Roger were here, you two would surely become friends, wouldn't you?"
"Just like Mr. Garp..."
Rouge slowly closed the door.
By the harbor, Gion paced back and forth aboard the warship.
"That damn guy... where on earth did he run off to?!"
"It's already dark, and he still isn't back..."
Xiu had just used Shunpo to reach the warship,
when Gion's muttering reached his ears.
"What did you say?"
"Aaaaah!!"
Xiu's sudden appearance nearly made Gion's heart stop.
Once she saw that it was Xiu,
Gion puffed out her cheeks and asked angrily:
"It's so late, and you finally remembered to come back!"
Xiu suddenly felt as though his wife were interrogating him.
Gion seemed to realize there was something odd about that question too...
Her face flushed red as she said, "Um, I was just asking."
"I'm warning you, don't get any ideas!"
"I... I don't have any feelings for you!"
Watching Gion babble incoherently,
Xiu laughed.
"Yes, yes, yes... You're not interested in me."
"How's the search going?"
At Xiu's question, Gion shook her head dejectedly.
"We haven't found anything..."
"Although the townspeople vaguely remember something,"
"there hasn't been any useful information..."
Looking at the frustrated Gion,
Xiu found himself reaching out and ruffling her hair.
"All right, if we didn't find anything, then we didn't..."
"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it... Hahaha."
At that moment, however, Gion's head was buzzing.
She could no longer make out what Xiu was saying...
He... he's touching my hair, right?!
Right? Right?!
Why aren't you resisting, Gion!!?
Could you really... like him?!
A whole drama was playing out inside Gion's mind.
By the time she came to her senses,
Xiu had long since gone inside the warship...
"Ugh... damn it!"
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