That night, Sabo dreamt of Luffy. However, it was nowhere near as sweet as he would have liked it to be.
In the dream, Luffy was standing far, far away from Sabo. Despite that and the darkness that surrounded them, Sabo could see Luffy's face clearly. The face of disgust and hatred.
"You're not the Sabo that I loved."
"You abandoned me."
"I hate you."
"I wish I never met you."
Sabo knew that the real Luffy would never say these kind of things, but it still hurt nevertheless. Those words echoed in his head even as he woke up in cold sweat. Damn it, why did his chest hurt so much…?
Sabo's hand instinctively reached out to his treasure, carefully placed on the nightstand. He flipped open the locket to look at Luffy's smiling face. He calmed himself while taking in deep breaths, seeking comfort in the only connection he had left with his most beloved sunshine.
That's right…Luffy would never say those hateful words…
Upon hearing a knock on his bedroom door, he quickly tucked the locket away in his pocket. The door opened slowly, a maid poking her head in to inform Sabo that he would be visiting the princess today.
Sabo rolled his eyes. He already knew that. Lucci had been constantly telling him, in various rude ways. Sabo wondered if he would shut up if he punched him in the face again.
After getting dressed in noble clothing, Sabo boarded the private jet once again, this time to make his way to the royal palace. He was escorted by some of the servants, whose names he did not bother to remember. The noble that he hated also boarded the jet, but thankfully sat in a different section from him. Sabo guessed the ridiculously huge size of the private jet could prove to be useful to him in times like these.
The journey was short. Soon, they were setting foot on the royal garden, and truth to be told, the grandness of the palace puts any nobles' mansions to shame.
A couple of royal guards led them into a spacious room and told them to wait for their turn. Apparently it wasn't just Sabo who was aiming to marry the princess.
Sabo sat in a corner, inspecting the room cautiously. The noble was at the other end of the room, still paying no attention to him. Sabo sighed. He wished that his turn would quickly come so that at least he wouldn't have to be in the same room with this man alone anymore.
"Sabo Outlook?"
Sabo cringed when he heard the name. He wanted to deny the existence of his last name, but managed to keep his mouth shut. The noble, on the other hand, seemed pleased that the wait is finally over.
"Yes, that would be my son," he said in a gleeful voice.
The door opened and the royal guards from before appeared, gesturing for the two to follow them. Sabo did just that, and following closely behind was the noble. They walked past several doors along the never-ending hallway, at some point they crossed paths with the previous suitor who seemed to be too full of himself. Well, then again, wasn't all nobles like that?
The royal guards stopped in front of an important looking door. They knocked on it twice, declaring that Sabo was here.
"Let him in." A female's voice, most probably the princess'.
The royal guards opened the door for Sabo and the noble, and they entered the room. The room was not as big and spacious like the other rooms, but certainly had the same grandeur. In the middle was a long table, at its end sat the princess.
Her bored and tired face didn't match her beautiful white dress, or the sparkling diamonds that hung from her ears and around her neck. The locks of blue hair at the sides of her face didn't hide her frown, and it was pretty obvious that she was annoyed from sitting through these meetings with potential suitors.
"Ahaha, dear princess! We are absolutely delighted to have the chance to meet and speak with you!" The noble grinned from ear to ear, making Sabo nauseous.
Sabo almost laughed when the princess rolled her eyes and said, "I'm not here to talk to you. I'm here to talk to him."
"Ah…I see…" The noble's smile almost faltered. "Well, go on then! I hope you two have a pleasant conversation!"
The room was silent for a few seconds and then the princess spoke again. "So, what are you waiting for? Why aren't you leaving the room?"
"Excuse me?" The noble looked shocked.
"I want to speak in private with my suitor. I do not wish for your presence during our conversation."
Sabo was trying his best not to burst out laughing. The noble's face was twisted in a strange way and he was so speechless, he just stood there for a minute. He blinked, squinted his eyes, then bowed and left the room.
Sabo had never seen that noble like that before. It was…amusing.
"So, what brings you here today?" The princess mumbled, her bored face still unmoved.
"Him," Sabo replied.
The princess raised an eyebrow at the unusual response.
"Aren't you here to court my love?"
Sabo shrugged. "I guess I'm supposed to do that. But to be honest, I'm already in love with someone else, so no, I'm not here to court your love."
The princess stared wide eyed at him. "You…you are forced to come here, aren't you?"
"A noble's life. Don't get much freedom," Sabo sighed, taking a seat.
"I get it too. It's stupid and frustrating, isn't it?" The princess gave Sabo a weak smile. "Just because of some status, we can't be together with the person we love."
"Heck, I can't even live my normal life because of the blood running in my veins!" Sabo scoffed. "But wait a minute…you mean…you have someone you love too?"
The princess nodded. "Even though I'm the 'princess', I can't choose to marry that person due to some circumstances. They allowed me to pick anyone else…but if it isn't him, what does it matter?"
Sabo was curious as to what circumstances prevented the all mighty royalty from doing what she wants. But of course, he wouldn't poke his nose into that matter.
"All the previous suitors are so stuck up and disgusting…they do not even hide that they want to marry me for status and wealth! They do not care about the country's welfare; they are too cruel and unfit to be king. One of them even boasted about killing servants for fun! Those nobles…how can they be so filthy and corrupt?" The princess was shaking with anger.
"You are right…they are disgusting. But you are royalty, the highest status attainable. Don't you look down on people too?" Sabo challenged.
"I'm not like them!" The princess protested. "I was brought up to love and care for the country! I was so surprised to find out that the vast majority of nobles were this selfish and cold!"
"I'm different from them…at least, I am more human than those nobles that like to play god. You…you are also different from them. You said something about 'normal life'…what do you mean?" The princess looked worriedly at Sabo.
Sabo hesitated. "Ah…that…you don't have to worry about that."
"Is that so?" She didn't press on. "In any case, it seems like you are a good person at heart. I had been rude to your father earlier, I'm sorry about that."
"No, no, don't be. He is the same as any other nobles…plus, I don't see him as my father," Sabo said, shaking his head. Part of him was actually happy for what the princess did!
"I see…Sabo, was it? I apologise for the late introductions. I am Nefeltari Vivi, the princess of this country. It's a pleasure to meet you."
She nodded slightly, giving Sabo a genuine smile. Sabo bowed back, showing respect to the blue haired girl. Before arriving, Sabo almost believed that the princess was worse than the nobles, being of higher status and all.
He guessed there were exceptions, even for people living in the Holy Land. Right, wasn't Luffy's grandfather from Mariejois too? That was a side of Luffy that Sabo had yet to know…and would probably never know.
Sabo quickly shook off those thoughts. The princess was still in front of him, after all.
"Meeting you was quite interesting. Sadly, I have other suitors that are visiting. If it doesn't bother you, I hope we could have a proper talk next time," she chuckled.
"As you wish."
"Chaka!" The princess called out, and one of the royal guards immediately came in. She whispered something in his ear. The guard called Chaka nodded, then walked up to Sabo.
"You may stay in the palace for as long as you wish," Chaka stated, leading Sabo out of the room.
Sabo thanked him, as he began to consider taking up that offer. It may be a good idea; he could explore the place and put off returning back to the mansion with the damned noble.
"Shall I inform your father that you are finished speaking with the princess?" Chaka inquired.
"No need."
He hoped that his adventures in the palace would be a long one.
