The afternoon sun spilled across the mansion's manicured lawn like melted gold. At the garden table, Usopp gestured wildly, his voice rising with theatrical flair.
"—and the dwarves wept with joy! They'd never seen so much meat! They crowned me 'Usopp the Provider,' and promised to build a statue in my honor!"
Kaya's soft laughter was a fragile, precious sound. "Really, Usopp? A statue?"
"Absolutely! Though," he leaned in conspiratorially, "they might have mistaken me for a god. It happens."
The moment shattered as three small figures and a lanky boy in a straw hat burst from the hedges.
"Captain!" the Usopp Pirates chorused, saluting.
Luffy grinned, hands on his hips. "Hey! We heard there's a great guy here who tells awesome stories! We wanna join his crew!"
Usopp's chest swelled. He shot Kaya a look that said, *See? I told you I was legendary.*
Before he could speak, Luffy tilted his head. "Wait, that's a lie. We just followed you because you smelled like adventure."
Usopp deflated. "You couldn't let me have that for five seconds?"
Ignoring him, Luffy turned his bright, demanding eyes to Kaya. "You're rich, right? We need a ship. A big one! Can we have one?"
Before Kaya could muster a reply, a voice, smooth as chilled silk, cut through the garden.
"I believe that will be quite impossible."
Klahadore stood at the terrace doors, his posture rigid, his glasses glinting in the sun. He descended the steps with unnerving grace. "The young mistress is not in the business of funding vagrants. You will leave. Now."
Usopp stepped forward, his pride stung. "We're not vagrants! We're—"
"Pirates?" Klahadore finished, his lip curling. "Or the son of one. Which is worse, I wonder? The vermin who abandons his family, or the weed that grows from his filth?"
The air left the garden. Kaya's hand flew to her mouth. "Klahadore, don't—"
"All pirates are a disease," the butler continued, his voice dropping to a venomous whisper meant only for Usopp. "They take. They lie. They destroy. What is it you want from her, boy? Money? A taste of a life you'll never have?"
Something hot and sharp snapped inside Usopp. His father's face—smiling, proud, distant—flashed behind his eyes. The stories Yasopp told in his rare letters weren't lies. They were promises.
Usopp's fist connected with Klahadore's jaw with a sickening *crack*.
The butler staggered, glasses flying. Usopp stood over him, trembling, his voice a raw shout. "My father is a brave man of the sea! I am *proud* to be his son!"
Klahadore touched his bleeding lip, a smile spreading—cold, calculated. "There it is. The pirate blood. It always comes to violence, doesn't it? Tell me, is that your answer for everything? Your solution for winning the girl's fortune?"
"I don't want her fortune!" Usopp roared, fist pulling back again.
"Usopp, STOP!" Kaya's plea was a desperate sob. She stood between them, tears streaking her pale cheeks. "Please… just stop."
The fight drained from Usopp. He lowered his fist, the anger dissolving into a cold, heavy shame. He looked from Kaya's devastated face to the butler's triumphant sneer.
"Get out," Klahadore said softly, wiping his mouth. "Never return to this mansion. You are a poison, Usopp. And I will not let you infect her."
"Fine," Usopp spat, his voice thick. "I won't come back."
He turned and stormed away, his three small crewmates scrambling after him, their protests a buzzing in his ears.
"Captain, you can't just give up!"
"He was asking for it!"
"Let's go back and kick his fancy butt!"
Luffy, Zoro, and Nami watched from the edge of the lawn. As Usopp passed, Luffy frowned. "That was boring. He was being mean. You should have punched him more."
Zoro's hand shot out, grabbing the collar of the most furious of the Usopp Pirates as they tried to charge back toward the mansion. Nami snagged another. "Don't be idiots," she sighed. "You'll just make it worse for your friend."
Inside the mansion's oppressive dining room, silence reigned. A single, untouched bowl of soup sat before Kaya.
"You must eat, Miss Kaya," Klahadore's voice was back to its usual, perfect monotone. He stood behind her chair, a phantom. "The chefs will be disappointed."
"I'm not hungry." Her voice was a hollow whisper. She stared at the steaming broth. "You shouldn't have said those things to him. He's my friend."
Klahadore placed a gentle, paternal hand on her thin shoulder. She flinched. "My only concern is your well-being. You must trust me. Have I not cared for you these three long years, since the tragic loss of your parents?"
His fingers tightened, almost imperceptibly. "I know what is best. Pirates, and their spawn, bring only chaos and pain. You are too kind, too fragile, to see the truth." He leaned down, his breath stirring her hair. "Now, eat. You need your strength."
Kaya looked at the soup. At his reflection in the polished silver spoon. For the first time, the caring butler's smile in that reflection didn't seem warm. It seemed… hungry.
A cold dread, deeper than any illness, coiled in her stomach. She picked up the spoon.
And as she brought it to her lips, Klahadore's eyes, watching from over her shoulder, gleamed with a satisfaction that had nothing to do with her health.
Outside, hidden in the shadow of a garden statue, a pair of eyes watched the dining room window. Nami's sharp gaze missed nothing—not the forced posture, not the butler's lingering hand, not the way Kaya hesitated before swallowing.
She slipped back into the woods where the others waited. Luffy was picking his nose. Zoro was napping against a tree. Usopp was sulking.
"That butler," Nami said, her voice low and serious. "He's not just a jerk."
"Told you," Usopp muttered.
"No," Nami cut him off, her face pale. "I mean he's *dangerous*. The way he looks at her… the way he controls everything. He doesn't want us to have a ship." She met Luffy's now-attentive gaze. "I think he wants something else. And I think that girl isn't sick. I think she's a prisoner."
Before anyone could respond, a blood-curdling scream tore through the tranquil evening air.
It came from the mansion.
It was Kaya.