Katakuri froze for a moment, then slowly let out a breath.
"I lost."
The arena erupted.
No one had expected contestant Ado—Uta—to actually defeat Katakuri like that.
Still, the way Katakuri had suddenly gone blank and frozen in place at the end wasn't entirely unfamiliar. Several of Ado's previous opponents had reacted in almost exactly the same way after being hit by that mysterious technique.
Clearly, Katakuri had fallen victim to it as well.
Even knowing that, however, many people still found the result emotionally impossible to accept.
En-chan—the dancer whose fame rivaled Uta's own—
was really going to end up with some unknown brat?!
"Lady Uta! Where are you?!"
"Come kick that guy off the stage! Hell, if it comes down to it, I'd rather watch two women get married than accept this!"
Some of the spectators had already given up on maintaining any dignity whatsoever.
Uta merely smiled at the chaos in the stands before turning back to Katakuri.
"Could you stall things for me for a little while? There's something I still need to do."
Katakuri briefly expanded his Observation Haki.
Thor didn't seem to be on his way yet.
So he gave a slight nod.
He could buy her some time.
…
"Lady En-chan, nooooo!"
"She's getting married… she's actually getting married…"
"Why does it have to be that guy?!"
"WHY COULDN'T THE GROOM BE ME?!"
Wails and anguished screams echoed throughout the stands.
Then, without warning—
a gentle melody began to flow through the arena.
The entire venue gradually fell silent.
People looked around in confusion.
Why was music playing now?
And the style didn't sound anything like the music usually heard in Totto Land. If anything, it felt more like—
"Where's that singing coming from?!"
Someone in the stands shouted.
Then another spectator suddenly pointed toward the arena.
"It's him! That guy is singing!"
Uta stood in the center of the stage with her hands clasped before her chest as her voice carried outward.
♪ I like it so much, yet all I ever say is, "It's pretty nice." ♪
Someone in the crowd froze.
"Wait… that voice."
"Why does it sound so familiar?"
Hidden between Uta's hands was a small vial of hormone medicine.
So much for the "last dose."
At some point, Uta had secretly kept one for herself.
After all, she had already said what she intended to do.
She was going to declare before the entire world that En-chan belonged to her.
Not as contestant Ado.
But as Uta, the world-famous diva.
♪ When I can't even admit how happy I am— ♪
♪ You look out over the summer sea, smile, and tell me, "This is nice too." ♪
Her song flowed through the arena like an invisible tide.
Some people stood with their mouths hanging open.
Others unconsciously rose from their seats.
A few were already jumping to their feet, shouting wildly.
That voice.
That melody.
That strange feeling, as though someone had gently wrapped a hand around their heart—
there was no mistaking it.
Only one person in the world could sing like this.
"…Uta."
Someone whispered the name as though speaking in a dream.
The word spread through the crowd like ripples across water.
Then those ripples became a tidal wave.
"Uta?!"
"Lady Uta?!"
"The world-famous Uta?!"
"Contestant Ado is actually UTA?!"
BOOM—!
The roar of the crowd nearly shook the arena apart.
Yet almost as quickly as it began, everyone quieted again.
Shock and disbelief aside, nobody wanted to interrupt Uta while she was singing.
As her song continued, Uta's body and clothing began changing.
Her male form gradually shifted back into her usual female body. Her hair spilled loose before floating ribbons swept around and tied it neatly into place.
Countless glowing musical notes gathered around her, bathing her in soft white light before forming a magnificent pale-pink dress around her body.
♪ Even when the sunlight is too bright, even after all my tears have dried, you're still there beside me, holding me up. ♪
Still singing, Uta looked toward Cain standing high above the arena.
Their eyes met.
For a moment, both of them forgot everything else.
Cain especially.
His hand was already wrapped tightly around the small ring box he had been hiding, and now he stared at Uta in complete disbelief.
He hadn't expected her to reveal herself first.
His gaze sharpened.
Then Haki burst quietly around him.
Cain forced his body back into its male form almost instantly.
The transformation itself wasn't especially dramatic.
The audience reaction, however, was.
After all, a stunningly beautiful woman had just turned into a man right in front of them.
"ADO IS UTA…"
"AND EN-CHAN IS CAIN?!"
"W-W-WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?!"
The sheer emotional impact seemed strong enough to make the entire sea tremble.
Uta saw Cain's transformation too.
Their eyes met again.
Neither needed to say anything.
There were some things the two of them no longer needed words to understand.
They had each prepared their own plans.
Each had made their own decision.
But neither rejected the other.
One glance was enough for their intentions to meet, overlap, and become something shared between them.
♪ Ah—like a sunflower in full bloom, smiling brightly beneath the clear blue sky… ♪
Uta fully released the power of the Sing-Sing Fruit.
Musical notes bounced through the air as shimmering ribbons of multicolored light turned the arena into something soft and dreamlike.
Then translucent screens began appearing around them.
A memory played.
"Sorry, sorry. Guess I should introduce myself properly. I'm Kad Cain!"
"I'm Uta… the musician aboard this ship."
Their first meeting.
Only Cain and Uta remained in the image. Every unrelated person, sound, and detail had been stripped away, turning the scene into a memory that belonged solely to the two of them.
Another appeared.
"Why are you standing so far away?"
A younger Uta repeatedly leaned toward Cain while he retreated with a bright-red face.
Then came sunrise.
Sunset.
Countless little moments.
And eventually—
"Cain! Remember to come find me!"
"Uta! I found you!"
The song continued.
So did the memories.
♪ I only want to become someone honest like you. Even timid, frightened me wants to try just a little harder and keep walking toward the light. ♪
A long pathway of glowing light formed beneath Uta's feet, stretching directly toward Cain.
She didn't hesitate.
Still singing, she stepped onto it and ran straight toward him.
Cain jumped from the elevated platform at the same moment and caught her around the waist before she reached him.
Even Bella, who didn't entirely understand what was happening, immediately became delighted.
She began ordering Prometheus and Zeus around, forcing them to launch colorful fireworks into the sky to complete the atmosphere.
Napoleon alone managed to escape being dragged into the job.
…
Watching the memories unfold, the audience slowly began to understand Cain and Uta's history.
Some were moved.
Some offered their blessings.
Others remained deeply confused.
"Wait… what am I supposed to do now? I shipped En-chan and Uta, but not like this!"
"I still want to punch Cain…"
"But now that I've seen all that, I kind of can't."
Thanks to Uta's memories, most of the truth no longer required much explanation.
The identities they had hidden for so long could finally be revealed.
Cain created a Flame Cloud beneath them and gently lowered Uta back toward the stage.
Then he turned toward the audience, the gathered contestants, and the Visual Den Den Mushi carrying the broadcast across the world.
"As you can see, this is the relationship between Uta and me."
His expression turned serious.
"And regarding the misunderstanding surrounding this marriage tournament, I owe everyone an apology."
"I concealed my identity and invented a nonexistent older sister named Charlotte En-chan. That caused the people of Totto Land to misunderstand the situation and ultimately led to everything that happened here."
Cain bowed his head slightly.
"So I apologize to all of you—and to the Charlotte family."
Strangely enough, very few people seemed particularly interested in blaming him.
Morgans, who had been watching the broadcast through a Visual Den Den Mushi, reacted very differently.
The moment he heard the truth, inspiration struck him like lightning.
Still lying in his hospital bed, he excitedly began yelling at his employees that he wanted an entire feature series about the bizarre love triangle of Charlotte En-chan, Cain, and Uta.
He intended to fill in every possible detail and embellish the story until it became legendary.
Meanwhile, the spectators in the arena were still mourning.
"My En-chan… my En-chan was a man…"
"Damn it, though! Why do Cain and Uta look so good together?!"
"No! I still want to beat Cain up!"
Their voices filled the arena.
Uta, however, was frowning.
Cain had just taken responsibility for the entire marriage tournament fiasco himself.
This event had effectively deceived the entire world, and yet rather than simply revealing the truth, Cain had deliberately pulled the blame onto his own shoulders.
Why?
For several seconds, she couldn't understand it.
Then Cain slowly lowered himself onto one knee.
Uta froze.
Cain reached into his clothes and took out the small box he had prepared in advance.
He opened it.
Inside the velvet lining rested a ring decorated with a musical-note motif, set with red, white, and pink stones that shimmered softly beneath the light.
Every sound in the arena vanished.
Uta stared at him.
Cain looked up.
His voice was quieter now, but the amplifying Den Den Mushi carried every word clearly to the entire world.
"Uta."
"For all this time, I haven't been able to openly acknowledge what you are to me."
"That's gone on for far too long."
His fingers tightened slightly around the ring box.
"So this time, at the very least…"
"Please let me take this final step myself."
"Let me be the one to tell the whole world how this ends."
Cain lifted the ring.
His expression was solemn, but the warmth in his eyes was unmistakable.
"Uta."
"Will you marry me?"
…
Crack.
Somewhere far away, a certain red-haired man had been quietly listening to the song.
The moment he saw Cain kneel with the ring—
his fist clenched unconsciously.
The teacup in his hand shattered instantly.
Hot tea poured all over him.
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