chapter 38 part 2
But it was at this moment.
"She stays."
Cobra, however, lightly pointed at that guard and said sternly.
Thus, even Igaram was slightly stunned.
"Your Majesty, she..."
He still thought Cobra was angry about the guard's mistakes earlier, and so he hastily tried to explain.
But Cobra didn't speak, only giving Igaram a firm look.
"...Yes!"
Thus, Igaram naturally understood his lord's intention.
He cast a "you reap what you sow" look at the guard, then led the others away.
After all the guards had left.
"Take it off."
"That armor is very heavy, and having something under your feet must be uncomfortable, right?"
Cobra looked at the "guard" and said gently.
"..."
The "guard" didn't speak, but the body under the armor seemed to be trembling slightly.
Seeing this, Cobra also shook his head: "Vivi, I'm not a father who can't even recognize his own daughter's voice."
"But you are not a good King!"
Upon hearing this, Nefeltari Vivi finally couldn't hold back.
She abruptly took off her helmet and threw it to the ground.
"That fellow—Crocodile, he was the mastermind behind everything, wasn't he?!"
She looked at her father, asking with a sharp tone she wouldn't normally use.
"You clearly knew it was all his fault, so why didn't you explain it to the government? Why did you... cover for him?"
As he had said before, Cobra didn't want her involved in the matters concerning Dragon.
But Vivi was never an obedient princess.
So she had been investigating in secret until not long ago when she coincidentally overheard Igaram's wife, Tilie Geta, mention that Igaram would be coming to the port today. That's when she formed a plan.
She secretly impersonated a guard and came here, personally witnessing the conversation between her father, the King, and the World Government agent.
She was very clear about what those documents represented.
They were Crocodile's evidence of guilt, the "truth" that this great famine and countless deceased commoners deserved.
But after hearing Vivi's words, Cobra showed no sign of anger.
He just looked at his daughter and sighed: "I least wanted you to come into contact with these things right now, but..."
He shook his head, smiling bitterly: "You are just like your mother, never one to follow rules."
After such a sigh, he pondered for a moment before speaking again.
"Vivi."
He didn't directly answer his daughter but held out one finger: "I have two stories here."
"The first story is that 'Seven Warlords of the Sea' Crocodile was actually the mastermind of a criminal organization, and the prime culprit who tried to usurp my country and caused seven months of drought. Afterward, a strong man named 'Dragon' defeated Crocodile for us and saved this country."
Speaking of this, he held out a second finger.
"The second story is..."
He looked at his daughter: "There was never any conspiracy—Alabasta's seven months without rain were simply due to this year's extreme weather."
"And the person who defeated Crocodile was 'Baroque Works' MR.0, whose name is 'Dragon'."
"Crocodile just happened to fight him in Alabasta and was killed."
"Which story do you think the World Government would prefer?"
And after hearing her father's question, Vivi naturally fell silent.
Which story would they prefer?
The answer was self-evident: the second one, of course.
In the first story, the "Seven Warlords of the Sea" chosen and granted special privileges by the World Government became a villain who usurped a World Government allied nation and one of the twenty founding nations, causing countless commoners to die.
And the members of the organization 'Twelve Zodiacs' who robbed the Celestial Tribute instead became the heroes who defeated him.
How could the World Government accept such a thing?
The second story, however, was much better—in this story, the World Government made no mistakes; Crocodile simply wasn't strong enough.
He even sacrificed himself fighting a criminal hero, which conveniently proved that the World Government's choice of the "Seven Warlords of the Sea" was correct.
"..."
Thus, Vivi naturally understood her father's meaning.
This was a transaction.
To ensure that "the second story" was true, the World Government would have to silence Cobra.
Guernica had realized this point, which was why he had called the Five Elders earlier to explain the situation.
And the Five Elders had indeed shown sincerity.
"To protect the government's reputation, that sum of money will not be small."
Cobra's gaze drifted into the distance, towards Alabasta.
"With that money, the suffering of the commoners from this year's disaster can be compensated."
Did he not want the truth to be revealed?
No, of course he did.
But...
"Vivi, do you remember ancestor Lily's words?"
"The past must compromise for the future."
"The dead must make way for the living."
He said softly: "We are the Kings of Alabasta, and we must do our best to ensure the welfare of more commoners."
In the face of the weight of lives and the stability of the kingdom, truth was the only thing that was unimportant.
"...Why?"
But before he could finish, Vivi interrupted him once more.
She looked up at her father.
But this time, her tone was no longer accusatory but a soft question.
"Why hide it from me and do all of this alone, Father?"
"If you had told me earlier, I could have shared all of this with you too..."
Only now did she understand everything.
She understood why her father hadn't let her know the identity of the mastermind.
Perhaps from the very first moment he spoke the truth, Cobra had already planned for today.
And she naturally understood that, given her father's personality, making such a decision would certainly not feel good.
To let an enemy become a hero, to let the truth be buried—this was a decision filled with shame and pain.
That's why she didn't understand.
She was clearly capable of understanding the bigger picture; she would have understood and made the same choice as Cobra—just like at that World Council meeting years ago, she had endured the humiliation and apologized to Wapol who had bullied her.
She could have shared this pain with Cobra.
"I know, Vivi."
But at this moment, Cobra only lightly stroked his daughter's hair.
And in his mind, he couldn't help but recall the last World Council meeting, when he heard that his daughter had been bullied, and Vivi, suppressing her tears, had smiled at him and said, "Father, I'm fine."
"I know you would do that."
He naturally knew how exceptional his daughter was.
But it was precisely because of this...
"That's why I didn't want you to do that—shame and pain, it's enough for me to bear it alone."
The King of Alabasta shook his head: "I am already a bad King who covers up the truth for an evil person, so I hope... at least let me be a good father."
(end of chapter)