Women's restroom.
Bang!
The door flew open under the heavy kick of a foot in peep-toe heels.
"Damn it!"
The moment Stussy stepped inside, she couldn't help but grit her teeth and curse under her breath.
"He's clearly just a disgusting, lecherous, shameless bastard!"
"Why were those women throwing themselves at him like lunatics!?"
Color rushed hot and cold across her alluring face. For no reason she could name, a blaze of nameless anger surged up from her chest, making her full bosom rise and fall unsteadily.
Click, click, click—heels tapping—she marched to the sinks, snapped on the tap, and gathered cold water in both hands, slapping it hard over her face.
Inside, she was screaming silently.
It was as if another voice echoed from deep in her mind, reminding her again and again:
Wake up, Stussy… this is a good thing!
With so many women clinging to him, he won't have the time or energy to bother you!
Isn't this exactly what you wanted?
Maybe once he finds a new toy, he'll never pester you again.
Isn't that what you've always wished for…
To get rid of that bastard's entanglement for good.
Water streamed coolly down her cheeks, pattering onto the shell-shaped basin below.
Stussy stared blankly at her reflection—hair damp and disheveled—slowly going still.
Yes, if that bastard finally stopped chasing her, she might actually breathe easier.
Shaking off his control and harassment—she had always wanted that.
But…
Hands trembling slightly, Stussy lifted one palm and pressed it lightly over her heart, a complicated look in her eyes.
Why did it feel so awful, seeing him surrounded by so many women? Why did it sting to hear that every hotel room on Fish-Man Island had already been booked?
Could it be… that she'd developed some special feeling for that despicable, shameless bastard?
"That's impossible!"
She bit down and shook her head hard.
Gazing at the stranger in the mirror who suddenly felt like her, yet not, her hand moved of its own accord. She lifted the hem of her dress the tiniest bit.
Lace and floral trim slid up along smooth, pale thighs, exposing the soft pink of her knees—then, faintly, the shameful mark on her upper leg.
Some scene flashed across her mind. Heat flooded her cheeks; her breath grew hot.
She bit her lower lip, then ducked into a stall and shut the door.
A short while later,
a soft, lilting moan rose and fell, barely audible, and drifted through the quiet room.
…
Banquet hall.
The wedding party had nearly run its course.
"…Vice Admiral Darren, this is the keycard for a private suite I booked. Do come by for tea tonight," a voluptuous noblewoman murmured, slipping a keycard into Darren's hand with invisible grace. She winked, teeth catching lightly on her red lower lip.
"My hands are quite skilled, you know."
She let her lacquered fingers dance—just a whisper of touch, all flourish and tease.
"I won't miss it, Lady Takayanagi," Darren said with an easy smile.
"Darren, you brat!"
Garp waddled over, one hand bracing his overstuffed belly, grinning through bared teeth. "King Neptune set up first-class suites for all of us. It's late anyway, so we'll rest on Fish-Man Island tonight and sail back to Headquarters in the morning."
"No problem, Vice Admiral Garp."
Darren nodded, then glanced at Kuzan beside him, whose belly was just as round with food. He chuckled. "Where's Tokikake?"
Garp pointed.
Darren followed his finger and spotted Tokikake crouched in a shadowy corner. Snow might as well have been drifting down around him; his back radiated bleak, lonely misery.
"…What's with him?"
Darren's mouth twitched.
Kuzan burst out laughing. "During the party he asked thirty-eight queens, ladies, and princesses to dance—and got rejected thirty-nine times."
Darren blinked. "He only hit on thirty-eight. How did he get rejected thirty-nine times?"
Kuzan shrugged. "One of them turned him down, then thought about it, got mad, came back to scold him, and rejected him again."
Darren: "…"
Right.
He shook his head, feeling a touch of sympathy, and walked over.
"Tokikake. Time to head back and rest."
At Darren's voice, Tokikake slowly turned, tears streaming. "Darren… why… why can't they appreciate my handsomeness?"
Darren's eye twitched uncontrollably at the sight of that tear- and snot-streaked face.
…
Darren's hotel suite.
He pulled a thick stack of keycards from his coat and scattered them across the coffee table, then flopped onto the couch, crossed one leg over the other, lit a cigar, and exhaled, weariness loosening his shoulders.
Entertaining that many chattering women at once was a massive strain—on both body and mind.
"What a pack of ravenous madwomen…"
He rubbed his temples—then paused, cigar hand hovering.
A slow, amused curve tugged at his lips.
"What brings you here?"
He looked up, interest gleaming in his eyes at the blonde who had slipped in like a phantom.
Stussy stared at the smug Marine vice admiral, eyes burning with shame and resentment. She ground her teeth. "What exactly do you plan to do?"
She jabbed a finger at the heap of keycards piled like a little mountain on the table.
Darren laughed inwardly, but only shrugged on the surface. "Whatever I plan to do isn't really your business, is it?"
"As an exemplary Marine officer, maintaining close and in-depth relations with the royal families of the allied nations is part of my duty."
"And besides… aren't you forgetting how you're supposed to address me?"
Stussy nearly steamed on the spot, her chest rising sharply.
This bastard… how could he say something that shameless with a straight face!?
"Close and in-depth relations," was it!?
"No!"
She suddenly clenched her teeth and growled the word.
But the moment it left her mouth, she froze.
What right did she have to say "no"?
And yet—just thinking about that little episode in the restroom stall earlier…
Her expression kept shifting; color warmed her cheeks.
That taste from the other day—once learned, nothing else could replace it.
Everything else led only to hollow emptiness.
Darren's grin widened.
"Why not?"
He snatched up a fistful of keycards and made as if to head for the door.
In an instant, a pair of slender black wings split Stussy's gown from within, stabbing out behind her.
She slipped into her vampiric form in a heartbeat; her aura changed, turning dangerous and hypnotic all at once.
"If you do this, you'll throw the royal houses of the allied nations into chaos!"
She declared, righteous and fierce:
"As a member of the World Government's premier intelligence service, I cannot allow you to disrupt the order among the allied kingdoms!"
Darren: …
Do you even believe yourself right now?
"Fine, fine. Come on, then."
He began unbuttoning his uniform jacket.
Stussy blinked, face flushing deeper, heart pounding wildly.
"Y-you…"
"Stop me. Otherwise, I'm going out to destroy world peace."
"F-fine…"
"And how are you supposed to address me?"
"…"
"If you don't say it, I'm stopping."
"Ba— no, M-Master…"
To be continued...