One Piece: Under the Throne

Cordelia, who had spent half her life tragically because of the blood of the Vestiriya family, certainly did not want her daughter to bear the same fate, so she gave up her surname and even felt uneasy about Victoria knowing the existence of the Vestiriya family, which was the best choice.

However, Cordelia overlooked Victoria's intelligence. The girl had already guessed her identity from clues.

In the subsequent conversation, Leo and Cordelia seemed to intentionally avoid this topic. Leo was afraid that the situation would be too awkward, so he told her what happened after he broke into the lord's manor.

Cordelia listened calmly, and only showed a look of heartache when she heard that her daughter was tortured by Albert. When she heard that Leo had crippled Albert, she did not show the joy of revenge, but only emptiness.

The atmosphere suddenly fell silent, and Cordelia seemed to be lost in her memories.

After a while she said, "Leo, do you know that I am using you?"

"I can guess a little, but I can understand. After all, your original intention was to get us to help you save Victoria. It's understandable that you described your life story in a more tragic way to gain some sympathy."

"Oh? When did you find out?"

"From what you said about Albert discovering the characteristics of the Vestirians in the book, I know you are lying. How could such an ability be recorded in a book? I remember you said that the girls of the Vestirians will continue to grow old only after they find true love. Add to that your expression when you heard about Albert's fate just now, and I am even more certain that the relationship between you is not what you said."

"Yes, besides brains, the thing that outsiders covet most about our clan is appearance. The Vestirians, regardless of gender, are all extremely good-looking, and our people are loyal to love until death. But I am the only one who breaks the rules."

"Most of what I told you before is true. I was indeed picked up by Albert in the Sabaody Archipelago. He also discovered my identity, but he did not report me. Albert at the time was upright, brave, and romantic. He sympathized with my situation and secretly hid me and brought me here. In the first few years, I worked as a maid in the lord's mansion. Albert did not do anything improper to me and treated me fairly."

"Where there are people, there will be struggles. Even servants have their own groups. Outsiders like me are naturally bullied. They assign the dirtiest and most tiring work to me and deduct my wages. The butler also hinted that I should serve him. When I refused, he found excuses to make things difficult for me. Later, Albert found out and punished the butler in front of everyone and expelled him from the castle."

"The Vestirians had been living in hiding. That was the first time I was treated fairly. Since then, I have only been obsessed with Albert. He transferred me to be his personal maid. When I saw that he was troubled by various problems in the territory, I finally couldn't help but make suggestions. The problems were properly solved. Albert was very happy. Since then, I have been playing the role of a staff member. Albert is also a normal man. When he became interested in me and started to look at me straight in the eye, the seeds of love vaguely appeared."

"But why did Albert become like this?"

Cordelia shook her head and said no more: "Leo, thank you for saving Victoria and thank you for saving Albert's life."

Alas! Leo didn't know what to say, so he could only sigh.

Soon Gloria and Victoria came out skipping, both of them wearing new dresses. Victoria was petite and the clothes in the store didn't have the right size for her, so she used a ribbon to hold the clothes tightly around her body.

Cordelia smiled and took out a bunch of little girls' dresses from the back. There seemed to be more than a dozen of them, all with different styles. It was really hard for her that she could only miss her daughter in this way. No wonder she said that these clothes were waiting for their owners.

After some trouble, Cordelia dressed the two girls up beautifully. Leo invited her to dinner, and the five of them had a family dinner in candlelight.

At night in the hotel, at Gloria's strong insistence, Victoria slept with her in the same bed.

It was late at night. Leo opened his eyes, carefully put on his clothes and prepared to go out. Ah Fu closed his eyes and said in a whisper: "Captain, be careful."

It was always a bit inappropriate to let Albert and his son go. After all, they also knew Victoria's secret. Leo decided to completely resolve the hidden dangers of this matter.

I quietly arrived at the castle. Tonight the castle was the same as usual. Except for the destroyed gate, there was no trace of fighting.

Leo came to the top of the castle and released water droplets containing sea water into the house, feeling the situation inside.

……

"Lord Albert is so miserable. He was beaten like that by the villains, and the young master took his lordship away from him. I think he wants to die."

"Hush! Don't talk nonsense. The young master is the first heir to the lordship. The old lord is already deposed, so of course he will take over."

"But I heard that..."

The maid nervously covered her companion's mouth, looked around carefully for a while, and then whispered in her ear: "Don't you want to die? If someone hears you, you'll be finished."

It turned out that the two maids were gossiping about the lord, but Li Ao also learned about Albert's situation from their words.

After a while, they found Albert's bedroom through the water droplets. Leo sneaked in carefully through the window. At this time, the former lord was already asleep.

Leo put his hand close to him, and a circle of blue water curtain enveloped Albert. In an instant, many light balls with blue glow floated out of his body. Leo did not forget his agreement with Jesus, and this was also the way for his fruit power to increase rapidly.

After extracting all the power of the devil fruit, Leo put one hand on the dagger, but he hesitated when he thought of the happy expression hidden under her calm appearance when Cordelia told him about Albert's past.

Alas! Forget it, he is already a useless man. Leo turned around and left the castle with the power of the fruit.

But what he didn't expect was how much trouble his soft-heartedness today would bring him in the future.

With a splash, Leo on the coast threw part of the power of the devil fruit into the sea and absorbed part into his body. After doing all this, he was not in a hurry to return to the hotel, but just calmly enjoyed the sea at night.

The next day was the day they left Mushroom Island. They had been out at sea looking for medical treatment for 5 days and it was time to return.

At the port, Cordelia came to see them off. She brought a big package filled with clothes for the two girls, which they could wear all year round.

Gloria and Victoria happily carried the clothes onto the boat. Victoria stood on the deck, gave Cordelia a sweet smile, and waved goodbye to her.

"Ma'am, let's go. I swear to protect Victoria. Please rest assured."

Just as Leo turned and took a few steps, Cordelia called out to him.

"Want to know Victoria's real age? I can tell you..."

Leo looked back at Cordelia in surprise, then gave her a sunny smile, "I'm 15, and Victoria will always be my sister."