One Piece: It's always been you

Chapter 37 The Wedding (4)

The wedding was filled with laughter and joy. The old woman and the giant king chatted and laughed, celebrating the marriage between the two families and their reconciliation after putting aside their past grievances.

Yu sat in a corner, her head propped up in her hand, staring blankly at the place where the two protagonists exchanged rings and vows in the hall. Her other hand fiddled with the food on the table, but she didn't taste a single bite. Everything here seemed irrelevant to her.

"Sister You, are you unhappy?"

Pudding lay on Yu's lap, tilting her head to look at her.

"How could that be? Lola is getting married, and I'm very happy for her." You forced a smile.

Pudding looked at Yu's expression and burst out laughing. "Yu-neechan, your smile is so ugly!" Pudding poked Yu's face with her finger, trying to make her smile more nice. "Didn't Katakuri-nii-san tell you?"

"Shh, Pudding! Mommy's watching." Just as Pudding was about to say it, Brûlée stopped her with a start.

Brin immediately covered her mouth and stopped talking.

Following Brulee's words, You looked in the direction of the older woman, who was also looking in this direction.

What's wrong, Auntie? She's not happy? Lola didn't run away, so what could she be unhappy about?

"Yu, haha, have some snacks. The wedding is about to start." Brûlée waved her hands wildly, trying to get Yu's attention away from her mother. Her speech was also a bit hesitant.

Yu glanced at Brulee, then, remembering what Pudding had just said, her gaze fell on Katakuri beside the old woman. Were they hiding something from me? Could it be that Lola had actually already left...?

"Katakuri, Yu seems unhappy, hmm?"

"I practiced with her last night, so I probably didn't sleep well."

"Really? So, she didn't leave your sight last night." The old woman looked at Katakuri beside her and suddenly burst into laughter, "Mommom~ Mommom~"

Very good, very good. She didn't find any fault with You in this matter, so she'll let it go for now. Now, the older woman just hopes the wedding can proceed smoothly and that nothing unexpected happens.

In the morning, she was told as soon as she woke up that Lola had slipped out the window the night before. By the time she realized she was missing, it was too late to catch her, and the boats on the shore seemed to have been tampered with and couldn't be moved.

In desperation, she had no choice but to have her twin sister, Chiffon, take Lola's place so the wedding could continue.

The wedding began, and as the music played, "Lola" walked step by step into the hall and approached Prince Loki, the giant prince.

Those familiar with Lola and Chiffon can immediately spot the subtle differences between the two.

This bride isn't Laura, she's Chiffon.

Lola escaped. Was it Katakuri and his crew who did it?

"Now, please have the groom lift the bride's veil and kiss her."

The wedding had reached a crucial moment. The older woman, sitting in the audience, dared not let her guard down for a second. She absolutely couldn't be discovered.

With the veil lifted, "Lola's" appearance was fully revealed to everyone.

"You're not Lola!" Loki knew Lola had a twin sister; he'd met her. This person wasn't Lola!

"BIGMOM, since you don't genuinely want a marriage alliance with us, you don't need to fool us with a fake bride. Do you think we giants are easy to bully?"

"In that case, the marriage alliance is canceled. Our giant race and your Big Mom Pirates will never be allies!"

The old woman's face turned extremely ugly. Damn it, she was so close to obtaining the power of the giants.

The old woman clenched her fists, gritting her teeth. They were currently among the giants, and if she could, she would conquer them immediately. However, she had come for a political marriage and hadn't brought many troops. She alone couldn't possibly defeat a horde of giants. Besides, the navy was still there.

"Since Big Mom doesn't sincerely want to form an alliance with our giant race, then let's leave it at that. We'll leave each other alone from now on. You came here for a marriage alliance, so we won't attack you. However, you won't be so lucky next time we meet." A member of the giant race who was also a member of the navy spoke up. Their purpose in coming here was to prevent the two races from forming an alliance, and they had achieved their goal.

The little witch had already warned them with her eyes that they couldn't attack them this time.

The Big Mom Pirates didn't have many members, and neither did the Marines. Even if the Marines had giants, the giants wouldn't readily offer assistance. Since it wasn't worthwhile either way, they decided to keep quiet.

Neither side lingered in the giants' territory; they each returned to their own ships and homes.

"Yu, wait, I have something to tell you." Aokiji appeared in front of Yu, which did not surprise Yu.

"What does Grandpa want you to convey?" You seemed indifferent, but she was still a little uneasy inside, wondering if Grandpa would be very disappointed in her.

"The general told you to take care of yourself. If you suffer any injustice, go back to him." Aokiji's tone was unusually nonchalant as he patted Yu's shoulder. "Don't worry too much. Just think of it as good training outside."

Yu fell silent. She thought her grandfather would be angry and scold her, and would tell her to hurry back to the naval base. Who would have thought that he would allow her to stay in the pirate crew, and even tell her that her grandfather was her strong support, and that she could go back to him if she was wronged.

Yu wanted to cry, but she held back her tears. She couldn't cry in front of Aokiji; she didn't want to maintain her little witch image.

"I understand. Tell Grandpa not to worry, the little witch will take good care of herself."

"I have something else for you." He handed Yu a bounty poster. "Next time you go back, make the bounty higher, so the general can earn more."

"Does Grandpa need this little bit of money?" Looking at his 90 million Berries bounty for capture, Yu smiled knowingly. "See you next time, don't be unable to pay then."

Yu returned to the ship, ignoring the chess soldiers who greeted her along the way, and prepared to go back to her room.

"Sister Yu! You're back!" Pudding skipped and hopped to Yu's side.

"Huh? Little Pudding?" What's this person doing on Katakuri's ship? "Didn't Big Mom's ship already leave? What are you doing here?"

"Hehe, of course I'm going out to sea with you and Katakuri! Brûlée is going too! It was so hard to get him to agree." Brûlée's playful and cute face showed her aggrieved expression, but she hadn't forgotten the important matter. "Sister Yu, are you still angry with your brother? Katakuri stopped you to protect you. If you had gone last night, Mom would have caught you."

Yu finally understood: they weren't there to go out to sea, but to act as persuaders.

"Little Pudding, it's not good for you to lie to me on my behalf, you know?"

Yu patted Pudding's head with the rolled-up wanted poster, not directly answering Pudding's question. But Pudding had taken her words to heart. She had roughly guessed it at the wedding. However, her affair with Katakuri wasn't entirely related to this matter.

His helping Lola leave didn't mean he would refuse the arranged marriage himself. At least that night, Katakuri didn't answer, didn't give her a reply; she wouldn't take another step closer to him!

Not even a single step!

"I'm not siding with outsiders! I've always been on Yu-nee's side!" Given a choice between Yu and Katakuri, she would definitely choose the former. "Yu-nee, what are you holding in your hand?"

"This is my first bounty poster. Let me show it to you." Perfect timing to show off my bounty poster, hehe.

Pudding examined Yu's wanted poster carefully and said, "Sister Yu, is this a picture of you when you were little? There seem to be two other people next to you! Who are they?"

"Also, your bounty poster is different from your brother's. Yours says 'capture alive,' why is that?"

Pudding, despite her young age, has incredibly sharp eyes. The Yu on the wanted poster is indeed a bit younger than she is now. The two people next to her are naturally Grandpa Sengoku and Brother Rosinante; this is a family photo of them, and Grandpa is still holding his goat in his arms.

And this capture alive was obviously to prevent some unfamiliar navy personnel or others from accidentally bringing Yu's body back, which would give Grandpa a heart attack. Although that was impossible.

Yuko dared not show the wanted poster to Pudding anymore, so she raised her hand high so Pudding couldn't see it. "Alright, Pudding, this is my first wanted poster. I'm going to go back to my room and put it away properly. I'm not going to look at it anymore."

"Sister You, let me take another look."

The two were playfully arguing when, by sheer coincidence, a gust of wind blew the bounty poster away.

Even more coincidentally, just as Katakuri stepped onto the deck, a piece of paper blew towards him, which he caught with a swift movement.

"Don't look!"

"..."

(Updated! The part where they had a falling out might not be written very well, please forgive me.)