Paula yawned and pushed open Robin's door.
"Miss Robin, have you gone for breakfast?"
Her voice still held the sleepy languor of someone just out of bed. She rubbed her drowsy eyes with one hand and idly fiddled with her dressing gown's sash with the other. The gown hung loosely on her, exposing much of her collarbones and shoulders.
"I could hear you laughing from next door. Care to share with your big sister?"
Then her expression froze.
Inside the room, a white-haired man who looked somewhat familiar, but whom she had actually never met, had his arm around Robin's waist.
The man was tall and slender, his short, silvery-white hair glowing softly in the morning light. His head was slightly lowered as he looked at Robin in his arms, a lingering smile on his lips-the kind of smile shared only between the closest of people.
Paula's pupils suddenly contracted.
Her hand rose reflexively, sharp thorns instantly extending from all five fingertips. The thorns gleamed a dark green in the sunlight, their tips as sharp as needles.
"Who are you?!"
Her voice was shrill and wary:
"Why are you here?!"
A month earlier.
Paula had just received word from the president, transferring her and Mr. 1, Daz Bones, to Alubarna's Royal City. Their assignment was to remain stationed on the outskirts of the Royal Tombs, while also protecting a woman who had suddenly appeared-Nico Robin.
At first, Paula had been unwilling.
Why should she? She was a senior agent of Baroque Works, Miss Doublefinger, a Spike-Spike Fruit user whose name struck terror into countless opponents. They wanted her to serve as bodyguard to some inexplicable archaeologist? Wasn't that a waste of her talents?
But after spending time with her, she found Miss Robin surprisingly easy to get along with.