Tesoro was wearing an apron. He carefully carried a steaming bowl of soup, muttering to himself, "Honey, this is the new medicinal recipe Doctor Kureha prescribed. I let it cool down. The temperature is perfect..."
Stella sat in a chair by the fireplace, a blanket over her legs. Laboon lay at her feet, wearing a special Seastone bracelet on its small fin, gently nuzzling her knee with its head.
"Laboon, you don't need to wear that Seastone bracelet anymore. You can control your strength now, can't you?"
Laboon shook its head frantically. "Woo!! Laboon is going to be a big brother. I won't take it off until the little brother or sister is born."
"Lord Rhett!" Stella looked up and saw Rhett. Her eyes lit up. She tried to get up.
Laboon quickly shoved its head into Stella's hand to act as a support.
"Don't move, don't move!" Rhett dashed over. The blood mist instantly formed a cushion and tucked it behind her. "You're the protected one right now! What do you want to eat?"
Tesoro fumbled with the soup bowl. "Captain, you came back so quickly..."
"No kidding!" Rhett slapped him on the back, but the force was as light as a tickle. "My niece is about to be born. How could I not come back? Besides, even though I covered this place with mist just now, you should have sensed us returning. What if someone with bad intentions came to the island and you didn't even notice? That would be bad."
"I knew you were back, Captain. You also said something about pirates leaving, didn't you?"
Stella tried to defend Tesoro. "That's not true, Captain. Look around the castle. Under all this snow, there's a very thick layer of gold. Tesoro could turn this whole place into a sea of gold in an instant."
Rhett nodded. That was acceptable.
Kureha walked out of the back room, a cigarette in her mouth. When she saw Rhett, she raised an eyebrow. "Oh, the brat remembers to come back?"
Rhett immediately started pulling gifts out of the blood mist like a magician. "Big sister~ this is a cloud shell pillow from Skypiea. This is the latest massage chair from the Golden City. This is—"
"Save it." Kureha cut him off, but she still took the bottle of plum wine. "The pregnant woman is in good condition. Much more reliable than you. Seeing how you all fuss over everything, I really doubt that this child won't be spoiled rotten by all of you."
Rhett grinned and turned to look at Stella's belly. "Has the little one been behaving lately? Not causing too much trouble?"
Stella gently rubbed her belly. "Very well-behaved. She kicked me once last night..."
"What?!" Tesoro and Rhett both jumped at the same time. One went for a stethoscope. The other started scanning with his blood mist.
"THWACK! THWACK!"
Kureha rubbed her wrist. "You two idiots. Fetal movement is completely normal. If you two make a big deal out of nothing again, get out of my castle."
Laboon: "Woo~" (Yeah, what she said.)
---
Night fell. The castle was lively. Lena and Perona were decorating the nursery. Enel was on watch around the sea. His captain had said, "No pirates allowed on this island." So this island would be off limits to pirates.
Moria... Moria had been sent to chop firewood. The zombies stacked the wood. Moria's shadow axe split each log into four pieces.
"Why do I have to do this?!"
"Because if Enel did it," Rhett said, completely unashamed, "what if he set the firewood on fire? We don't need lightning-struck wood."
---
Late at night, Rhett stood alone on the castle terrace.
"Lord Rhett?" Tesoro's voice came from behind him.
Rhett looked at Tesoro with interest. "What's wrong, Boss Tesoro? Why aren't you resting?"
Tesoro leaned against the doorframe. Moonlight fell on him. "I can't sleep..." He hesitated. "To be honest, I'm a little scared."
"THWACK!!!"
"Gasp~"
"Still scared? See? It's nothing."
Rhett's voice was uncharacteristically serious. "Scared of what? With Kureha here, with Moria and Enel here, with me here..." He paused. "Besides, that little one will inherit the best genes from both Stella and you. She's going to be a little warrior."
"By the way, Captain, that man named Wapol is not fit to be king. I've never seen a king who drives away the foundation of his own country. Such an ignorant nation. Ignorant villagers. Loyal but foolish ministers. Maggots content to rot in place." Tesoro looked up at the moon. "This country is rotten to the core."
"THWACK!!!"
"You bastard captain!! Why did you hit me?! If you don't have a good explanation, don't blame me for—"
Rhett picked his nose nonchalantly. "Right now, your only job is to protect Stella. I know this king is a problem. A sick patient needs the right medicine. And this isn't something you need to worry about."
"Now, go back to sleep." Rhett walked back into the castle, stretching.
"It's that familiar feeling again, Captain." Tesoro watched his captain's figure disappear into the shadows. He knew that when it came to family, this captain would carry everything.
---
The first rays of morning sun had just entered the castle when hurried footsteps broke the silence.
"Knock, knock, knock!"
Outside the door, a man's heavy breathing could be heard, along with stumbling footsteps in the snow.
Hiluluk clutched his bleeding arm as he ran through the snow, one step at a time. His red nose was purple from the cold, but he was still grinning. "Hahaha! You idiots! You still can't catch me! They didn't ask me to save them! Why are you chasing me?!"
Behind him, a squad of Drum Kingdom soldiers pursued with spears. The captain leading them was pale. He kept looking up at the castle on the mountain, where the blood-red pirate flag was flying in the morning light.
"C-Captain..." one soldier whispered, "up ahead is..."
"Shut up!" The captain gritted his teeth. "Keep chasing! But don't get near the castle!"
Hiluluk staggered to the doorframe, panting. His coat was covered in snow and mud. His face had bruises. He looked back at the hesitant pursuers and grinned. "What's gotten into these guys today? They're acting so timid."
"Hiluluk!" Kureha's voice came from the second floor. "What trouble have you caused now?"
"Ahaha, Kureha!" Hiluluk scratched his head. "I just accidentally 'cured' a few villagers. There were some side effects. Stomach aches. That Wapol went crazy again..." He changed the subject. "But don't come out! I'm leaving!"
With that, he turned and ran in the opposite direction from the castle, shouting loudly, "Come catch me! You useless wastes!"
The soldiers looked at each other. None of them dared to move forward. The captain wiped his cold sweat. "That madman... running toward 'that person's' residence is going to get us all killed."
"Captain, maybe... we should retreat?" a young soldier said, trembling. "I heard that yesterday, when the 'Mist Lord' got angry, the snow in the harbor melted..."