"He is so tall! Look at him y/n!" your younger brother whispered with a huge smile on his face, an audible gulp emitted from your throat as you looked at the back of him, the sear size of Katakuri was enough to make you want to turn and run for the grand hall doors. Thankfully you weren't the sister being forced married to him, your half-sister Uwaki was the blushing bride to be. Or so all appeared, unknown to everyone of the y/l family Uwaki had hatched a plan to elope with a Totto land citizen that very night after her family's arrival party had ended. You glanced around the room at all the people in the room, they were all so tall, granted most of your half-brothers and half-sisters averaged 10 to 12 feet in height due to father's penchant for giant woman, then there was you… you stood at 5'8 on a good day, but despite your smaller stature you were a fierce fighter, a skilful negotiator, and your father's favourite despite being the ripe age of 21.
You held idle conversation with the younger Charlottes as you drank your wine, waiting patiently for Big Mama's speech and thus the ending of the party. You had to hand it to your father securing ties with Big Mama's crew was nothing short of a feat, the tyrannical pirate queen had been a thorn in your father's arm dealing company for as long as you could remember. Alas that chapter has finally drawn to an end with the political marriage of Charlotte Katakuri and Uwaki l/n.
A tugging on your dress brought you out of your train of thought, you glanced down to see the small pink-haired Charlotte by the name of Anana staring up at you with an intense fixation that made you squirm under the fixed scrutiny.
"Hello?" You said unsure of what else to say, you couldn't exactly tell her to get lost without facing swift backlash from everyone in the room. " Cracker wants to dance with you." Blushing would have been no problem, but then you went as red as a beetroot and radiate heat like a hot pan. "Oh…" you said gingerly, as she held out her hand waiting rather impatiently for you to take it. Grabbing the little girls hand she lead you across the vast room, weaving through the crowds of people of all shapes and sizes. Most of the guests paid you no mind, but some would spare you a glance as your dress billowed behind you in a golden flourish.
The night was a whirlwind that somehow landed you in the Seducing woods with a bottle of some candy-flavoured vodka clutched in your right hand, and flower homies dancing all around you. You slowly staggered up, aching in your skull ebbs and flows like a cold tied, yet the pain is remained stagnant. Normally this wouldn't have been considered a bad morning for you, well until a raw, primal scream emitted from every corner of the woods. The intensity to it that told of urgency, of desperate need of something, you slumped against a tree as the scream tore through you like shards of glass. Your eyes widen and pulse quickened, heart thudding like a rock rattling in box, all you could do was cover your ears and pray the god awful shrieking stopped. With a momentary silence you quickly shoved daisies in your ears as makeshift ear plugs and booked it to the castle where you saw 3 of your older siblings scrambling, frantic looks on their faces. "Where is Uwaki?" Your oldest brother, Talon, said clutching your shoulders tightly.
The question although simple in structure, took you back, "What do you mean?" A look of horror slowly spread across your face, she didn't do what you think she did, did she? "She isn't in her room, and we don't have much time to find her, big mama has already caught wind that Uwaki isn't in her room!" Your face just fell, like every facial muscle just snapped and left you hanging for the briefest of moments before you snapped back into a stoic composure. "Search the library, all the fucking bedrooms, search the whole goddamn island we are literally dead if we don't find her, I cannot express the dead part enough!"
With that your siblings took off into different parts of the castle and you headed to the corridor where your sisters room was located. Never in your life had you thought that Uwaki would run away, granted from a young age she had always been a fickle girl, but this was her family she turned her back to. Growing up in the shadow of your father's shady business practice there was an unspoken understanding that the will of your father came first anything else was minor in comparison, the will of your father vs. your 14 siblings, each with so much wasted potential living under his rule. Did the betrayal of Uwaki help you realise that the lives you and your siblings were living weren't really lives at all, half your sisters were already married off to strengthen business ties and the other half already had their future husbands lined up. How long till you were married off to some man and forced to live under his thumb? It dawned on you that perhaps you weren't mad at Uwaki for running away, you were mad at yourself for never having the courage to stand up to your father, to run from the family and never look back… if only it were that easy for you though.
Being your father's favourite, there was a sense that you were a key card in his dealings he was waiting for the right time to place you down and have a clean sweep. The sad part is, you would let him to because he is the only connection to your mother you have left, like a piece of her is buried within his cold heart, the last shard of his humanity. Opening the door to Uwaki's temporary room you searched for any signs of her, sadly with no avail she was gone, and not a single trace of her was left behind. You stood in the empty room, a bitter smile spread across your lips, she really did it, she left. "I'm proud of you Uwaki." You muttered to yourself, looking out the window into the vast expanse of ocean, the feeling of uncertainty slowly came creeping up on you; your gut told you that you might never cross that ocean again after today because surly once big mama regains her composure she will have your whole family slaughtered.
You felt a presence in the room and turned your head to see Charlotte Mont-d'Or standing in the doorway. "Have you come to kill me?" You said, your voice steady, your face composed showing no emotion… no weakness; you've learned at a young age to not fear death. "Kukukuku~ no I have not, Mama has demanded your presence, kukuku~" He said with a glint of amusement in his eye as you scowled and furrowed your brows, oh so he's not going to kill me, but big mama will 110% Mont-d'Or lead you down the bright and cheery candy corridors, a complete contrast from the tyrannical matriarch that is big mama, until you reached a large set of door. You gulped, straightening out your dress, trying to look presentable, if you were lucky maybe your funeral would be a closed casket. You wondered if you'd even get a funeral, or would your body just get hauled off into the ocean where it would sink like a stone, god you hope not.
Entering the room you were greeted by two things, the first one being that you weren't greeted with a beam of lightning striking you, and the second (and worst in your opinion) was the sickly sweet smile that graced your father's face. Oh boy you were in for something now, "My beautiful, talented, and brilliant daughter y/n!" Your father gushed, wow he was really selling it, big mama nodded enthusiastically as she ate her cake, "She would be the perfect for Katakuri, despite her small size she is fierce, but more importantly fiercely loyal to her family!" You're eyes widened with surprise, he was doing damage control by pawning you off so he could still keep the business relations! "She is very cute indeed! Mhmhmh, we will keep her, in return you'll be protected." You have never seen your father this happy, as sad as it was, it was very true, "But why wait a week for them to get married, lets seal these ties tomorrow night! We can have the wedding right now; y/n is already wearing a gown. Let's get a priest to officiate it, and then we can worry about a reception later." The urge to fling yourself out a window did cross you, as you smiled sweetly at the face of your father and big mama. "Katakuri! Get in here!" Big mama bellowed, causing you to hiss in pain as your hangover made it known that it was still there.
Turning to your father, you let out a sigh, "She wouldn't have wanted this, for me, or any of us. We have been reduced to pawns in your game of chess." Your facial muscles loose, there was no anger, no sadness, or resentment held in your voice. "There was no other way." He said false sorrow tinged his voice, "Your lies will not do me much good now father, there is always another way, they are just ways that you do not wish to see." You spoke softly, but clear and concise, your words striking him down. Before he could retaliate the doors opened to reveal Uwaki's former fiancée, Sweet Commander Charlotte Katakuri. "Katakuri meet your new fiancée (y/n)! Far better than that other one." Big mama said with a wave of her hand, dismissing Uwaki. "Let's give these two some time to get to know each other before their big day tomorrow." Big Mama said, spoke, raising from her seat and heading to the door with your father.
Ignoring them all, you turned and stared out the window thinking about flinging yourself, rather than talk to Katakuri. Married to this man, going to have his children, devote yourself to him forever. So this is how it ended, no you weren't dying, you were just a glorified pawn in a loveless political marriage, and perhaps that was a fate worse than death. A large hand grabbed your shoulder and spun you around; you stared up on him in awe as he fixed you a steely gaze. "You are mine now, and I'm not letting you go." Fuck.
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