Chapter 40: [40] The Birthday Girl (3)

Chapter 40: The Birthday Girl (3)

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The princess’ birthday ceremony began in the evening, after the sunset. The guests were all inside the royal palace by now; enjoying the lavish castle indoors rich with history.

The huge room was adorned with sparkling chandeliers and adorned with intricate tapestries and artwork. Large windows lined the walls, allowing the soft light of the setting sun to filter in, casting a warm glow over the room.

The orchestra played a gentle waltz as guests stood and sat all around the hall room, sipping champagne and watching the festivities with enjoyment.

In a corner of the room, a group of courtiers gathers around a grand piano, listening as a musician performed a beautiful melody. The sound of laughter and music flew around the air, creating a festive and joyous atmosphere.

“Now, everyone, I will take a minute of yours.”

Amidst this atmosphere, Nefertari Titi said after she walked to stand on the platform that was at one end of the room, raised by stairs.

Even with so many gorgeous ladies present at the ball, the Queen seemed to stick out even so. With a diamond crown gleaming on her head, Titi stood beside Nefertari Cobra who wore a golden crown.

“Haha, as you know,” The King started. “Today my one and only daughter, my heart that pumps out of my body, has turned into an adult. It’s Princess Nefertari Vivi’s birthday.”

A gentle cheer, suitable for the atmosphere, rang out across the ball. Everyone was excited, it was time for her to enter the room.

“Obviously, we can’t start the party without her here, can we?” King Cobra stood to the side, creating a little space between him and the Queen, and gestured his hand to the door behind. “Please welcome, the Star of the night.”

Silence fell as the door opened and blue flower petals washed into the room. Wind came from behind the door, and the wind brought a scent and the petals of Hydrangea flower.

With anticipation, everyone watched as the princess herself slowly became visible. Wearing a sleeveless white dress, a bit tight as if to show her mature body to indicate that she had stepped into adolescence, Nefertari Vivi came into the view of everyone.

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After a spreading gasp of awe, a loud cheer and handclapping deafened the area.

*   *   *

“She has grown well,” Hashirama was eating a kebab, sitting by the long food table. “Not even saying just for the sake of it.”

“I guess you’d know,” the young man sitting beside him said, a glass of vodka in his hand. “I was a little jealous at first, but uh, it’s better this way.”

“What the hell’s that supposed to mean, Koza dude?” Hashirama turned to give the man, one of his close friends at this point, a deceptive look. As if he didn’t know what Koza meant.

The ceremony began to take a more cheerful turn; the things Noble people found fun. Hashirama didn’t have much interest in that, so he continued eating while Koza mused over his question.

“No, it’s nothing.” Koza chuckled.

Then, the party continued.

Later, Hashirama frowned and sighed. With a shake of his head, he looked at Koza. This guy he hated when he was a kid. This guy was annoying back then. But now he truly was a friend, and he was a strong one too.

Hashirama said, “Koza man, I think you really should find a girl for yourself. You sound dry today, actually for a few months now. You feel depressed. For someone like you, you’ll look cheerful just one day into marriage.”

“Heh,” Koza chuckled. He was about to wave it off before he frowned and licked his lips. “Actually, I might just take on that offer this time. You’ve been talking about it for a while now. Speaking of, that girl you wanted to introduce me to should also be here today, right?”

“Uh, yeah, that redhead. She should be, she is noble.” Hashirama nodded.

Koza’s father was promoted to the town mayor of Yuba, and later into a noble due to his achievements. Koza was the only child, so he would inherit that title. He was basically a Noble too. So, another noblewoman should suit him well.

Hashirama turned his head away from the food and looked into the crowd. It seems people had started to dance, the party had gone quite deep already, who knew when. Yet, Hashirama’s eyes locked onto the girl he was looking from right away, his Observation Haki coming in clutch.

“There,” Hashirama pointed his food-soaked finger. “Oh my, she is being courted by a fat noble. She looks uncomfortable. Koza, mate, this is your chance—go and strike the iron when it’s hot.”

“Uh- Okay, alright, I will go and see.” Koza cleared his throat, put down his vodka glass and instead took a sip of orange juice, and then ran off to the incident.

Hashirama was just about to go back to eating, but his Haki caught onto something else. Someone else was trying to court someone else, though neither party looked uncomfortable.

As couples danced, some kissed, and through the gap between their movements, Hashirama’s eyes caught a blonde prince. He was kneeling, and yet his well-built body was apparent; his hand held the right hand of Vivi, and his lips touched the back of her hand.

“Who the fuck is that guy?” Hashirama wiped his hands with a paper towel. “Fucking hell, how dare he touch my Vivi.”

*  *  *

The Rommel Kingdom was the house of people who had the ability to talk at length about the weather, and to also make a cup of tea in response to a crisis. With the royals prone to have blonde hair and a thick accent, they were also people considered gorgeous by most.

Such was the Prince of Rommel, Adam Rommel. He was a tall and broad man with blond hair and blue eyes.

Adam had served in the Marines and reached the level of Marine Captain at the young age of 27. Just recently, his father called him back from the Marines, as the goal of sending him there, to begin with, was so that he got strong enough to protect himself, and that he had done finely.

Now, he had to find a wife for himself—so that he could inherit the throne of the Kingdom with ease. At least that was the plan, until one day a letter from the King of Alabasta invited them to the birthday of the Princess.

“Ehh, scrap the earlier plan. Your younger brother’s gonna take the throne,” the King of Rommel has said to Adam. “You will get married into the Nefertari family, and become its King. With your achievements, it should be easy to win over the Princess, along with the King and Queen.”

Though against the idea at first, and only reluctantly coming to Alabasta, Adam had a change of heart the moment he saw Nefertari Vivi. The princess was, in one word, breathtakingly stunning.

‘Well that would be two words,’ Adam laughed in his head as he took a gentle kiss of Vivi’s hands. ‘But one falls short anyway.’

“The princess of my dreams,” Adam looked up at Vivi’s eyes and said. “May I be lucky enough to share a dance session with you?”

Contrary to his expectation, the Princess didn’t say yes right away. That made Adam’s heart warm. He didn’t like girls who fawned over him too much anyway. What bothered him a little though, was how Vivi’s eyes seemed to flicker around the crowd, as if she was looking for someone.

It’s not as if she looked uncomfortable with his touch, so it’s not her parents she was looking for. Besides, while the King wasn’t in this part of the ball, the Queen was just nearby. Speaking of the Queen though, for some odd reason she gave a disapproving look seeing him with Vivi.

Was something wrong?

‘Where did that bastard go,’ In the meantime, Vivi’s eyes were looking for Hashirama. ‘After touching me so… lewdly, he didn’t even come to meet me, let alone an apology. I was hoping he will watch someone else court me and get jealous, but where-’

“Hey, sir, you’re touching the wrong chick.” A voice said from behind Vivi and a hand wrapped around her waist, lewdly.

From the side, the Queen smiled in satisfaction and went back to focus on chattering with old hags.

In the meantime, the hand pulled her back from the Rommel Prince’s hand while squeezing her waist, making her release a soft moan unintentionally.

Hashirama frowned at the moan. “Stop squeaking, that was nothing.”

“Ugh, I was caught off guard…!” Vivi ignored the prince and snapped her neck at the bastard. “It’s not my fault you’re so sneaky.”

“Excuses,” Hashirama squeezed her again, and she moaned again. “There, what was that? Not only can you not sense my presence, but is this the most you can endure after two years of training? You are making me lose face to myself, as your teacher.”

“S-shut up. You went harder this time; you’re not even playing fair!” Vivi once again complained, but the result of it was another moan.

The Queen who was nearby covered her eyes and walked away, not intending to see and hear her daughter make those sounds. In the meantime, some other people noticed the moans and looked at the scene with frozen gazes.

“Weakling,” Hashirama smirked down at her with a scoff, and that seemed to irk her a bit too much. “Oh my, is the little princess about to complain to papa? Should I call him for you?”

“…Listen, you,” Whispering, the Princess pulled him towards her face by the collar, frowning at him. “You want me to fight back while so many people are looking?”

“You say it as if doing that will guarantee your win, and you don’t want to fight back since you want to save my reputation?” Hashirama whispered back, while more people locked their gazes on the scene since Hashirama and Vivi were too close to one another.

Someone on the music crew, noticed this incident, changed the calm music to something romantic. Vivi’s eyes twitched, noticing that.

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“Listen,” Hashirama spoke before she was able to. “Were you trying to make me jealous?”

“…Uh. I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Vivi looked away, to the other side. She cursed under her breath, “Fuck.”

“Lucky for you that I caught onto your stupid scheme, or that Prince guy would be on the floor right now.” Hashirama wrapped his hands around her waist, though this time his hands didn’t lower to feel a grope. “Instead, the beating should be shifted to you right? But I don’t feel like beating you while so many people are looking—so what else must I do?”

As Vivi paled, even as she was frowning and trying to keep a strong face, Hashirama looked to the distance where the Queen was.

“Your mother,” Hashirama said. “She looks stunning today, doesn’t she? Maybe I should go and ask her hand in a dance. She will accept, obviously, it’s not uncommon for respectful dance to happen. However, my cursed hands may not be respectful and might just slip down a little.”

“Y-y-you foolish bastard! You will not!”

“Awh, is ‘bastard’ the only curse you know?” Hashirama looked at her as if looking at a cute puppy. He released her and then began to walk toward the Queen. “Talk to you later, princess.”

“Oy, S-Shira!” With a loud voice, Vivi called from behind; calling him by a name she didn’t have permission to use.

The call attracted everyone’s attention, and they all looked at the turned-around Hashirama who had paused on his spot from walking. Taking a deep breath, Vivi raised a hand.

“Will you share a dance with this… foolish princess?”

A series of audible gasps spread across the ball, with one Adam Rommel looking at the scene with an agape expression. Taking a few seconds, the true prince of Vivi’s story turned around with a smile.

“How can this foolish me reject such an alluring offer.”

Hashirama grabbed her hand and pulled her towards him. Their hands twisted, as their bodies moved to match the rhythm of the romantic music.

*  *  *

Hashirama pushed open the huge white door to the balcony and released a sigh as he walked in.

In the background, the romantic music continued as couples twirled and spun across the dance floor, their dresses and suits shimmering in the light. Just then, a laughing-panting Vivi joined on the balcony behind him.

“That was… haah… fun.” Vivi said as she too released a long whiff of breath, tired from the dancing session.

Imitating Hashirama, she rested her arms on the railing of the balcony. Smiling at him with a tilt of her head.

“Hey, Hashirama, where did you learn dancing from?”

“Uh,” Hashirama trailed off. Perhaps it wouldn’t be a good idea to tell her that it was her mother, the Queen, who taught him dancing for this day precisely. Not after the comments he made earlier. “My, uh, master taught me.”

That technically wasn’t a lie. His master did teach him a dance. A battle dance that was to be performed when surrounded by a group of armed opponents. In his earlier life, learning this sort of dance wasn’t required. So he didn’t.

“You keep talking about this guy,” Vivi said while still panting, sweat trailing down her chin as her dazzling smile created a priceless face. “I don’t ever recall meeting him, though. Is he from before you came to Alabasta?”

“I guess,” Hashirama shrugged. “Anyway, fuck him, let’s not ruin your night talking about him. Instead… Vivi, I have something to say.”

Vivi pressed her smile as her heart started to beat. “I too have… something to say. Since I am an adult now, it’s the perfect time to say this.”

“You go first, then,” Hashirama stopped resting his arms on the railing and looked right into her eyes. With a smile, he inclined his head. “What does the princess have to say?”

Princess Vivi’s expression went through a myriad of twitches. She was nervous and she was… unsure. Did he think the same way? Was he not just playing around? In the end, Vivi knew thinking such things were all useless.

Only one way to find out, and that was to express her feelings outright.

“Hashirama,” Vivi’s lower jaw trembled, as she too stood straight, looking deep into his eyes. “I am in… inseparable… love with you.”

…Inseparable Love. Hashirama wasn’t expecting to hear such a combination of words while being confessed. However, his reply to that was easy.

Taking a step forward, Hashirama gently pushed her bangs behind her ear and pressed his lips against hers.

*  *  *

On the other hand, the romantic music soon stopped inside the ball. Instead, the Queen was on the mic again, while the King was just beside him.

“We have watched some amazing dances today; I liked Vivi-Hashirama, and Koza-Jessi dances the most. Am I being biased?” The Queen tilted her head as a ‘No!’ spread across the ball. Titi giggled. “That aside, I have something big to announce today. Well, my King here will be doing the big announcement, but let me call the participants of the announcement first.”

The queen raised her head a little to look at the balcony door in the far, “Vivi Nefertari, and Hashirama Senju. Please come to the stage.”

Everyone’s necks turned to look at there and waited for the two to walk out. Many had seen that those two went there, so they waited knowingly. They expected the two of them to walk out of the door.

However, no matter how much they waited…

“…Vivi? Hashirama?”

The two love birds were never coming back; they had spread their wings and taken off to the sky.

*  *  *

Earlier|

The kiss ended, leaving a trail of saliva behind. Vivi caught the saliva on her own and pulled Hashirama back to the kiss. She pulled him into a hug, her body clinging onto his as she felt more loved than ever.

When the kiss ended again, this time for real, both were panting. Vivi was blushing, but at the same time, a smile was on her lips. She looked happy, happier than at any other point this night.

“Before we get into love talks,” Vivi cleared her throat. “I want to hear the thing you wanted to say.”

“I love you too, but,” Hashirama chuckled. He jumped to stand on the railing, his shoulder-length hair fluttering by the wind as the tie had loosened while kissing. “That’s not what I wanted to say, Princess.”

Vivi suddenly looked more curious, instead of looking hurt. “Really? What may that thing be, my prince?”

Smiling, Hashirama turned to face her and reached out a hand to her.

“That would be,” Hashirama said, as his tone took a questioning turn. “Do you trust me?”

– Fhurr~

Matching the sound of the wind, two thin wooden skeletons poked out of Hashirama’s back. Thick green leaves knitted themselves onto the skeletons, and soon two gorgeous wings of leaves were fluttering behind Hashirama’s back.

“I-” without a second’s thought, Vivi accepted his hand. “Yes, I do.”

Hashirama pulled his princess up to his arms, and with that, he kicked the railing and fell towards the ground.

– Fhurr~

As they kissed again, the two love birds flew upwards with the moon shining behind them.

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