Sorry for another gap in these uploads! I went out of the country for a few weeks and I wasn't able to post.

Enjoy the chapter!

Occasionally, Ace had busy days around the castle. This was especially true with the mid-year festival in a few days. Just like in Moby, Ace worked with the knights, which made sense since he had been good at fighting from early on. On the first day alone, during which Ace left a note for him after waking up before him surprisingly, Marco decided to get some things done. Unfortunately, a knock on the door of the room he was sharing with Ace interrupted his vague thoughts of plans.

"Morning," Sabo greeted. Luffy was behind him, absentmindedly staring around at the hallway as he rocked on his heels.

Marco raised an eyebrow. "Good morning, yoi. Do you need something?"

"Just thought you'd be lonely today."

Despite the obvious lie, Marco decided to go along with it. "So, where are we going then?"

That's how Marco found himself in the forest, facing Sabo, who was twirling a staff in his hands. "I hope you're as good as Ace says you are."

Marco dodged a swing with ease, smirking. "Well, I'd hate to disappoint."

hey traded blows, kicks and punches as Luffy whooped and hollered, cheering Sabo on from the rock he was perched a top.

While Marco had his fair share of spars with his brothers back home, it had been a while since he had a real challenge: he was rarely sent out for fieldwork unless absolutely necessary since his skills were valuable at the castle, and while his brothers were far from weak, it was nice to face a fresh opponent.

Even n the heat of the spar, Marco could spot distinct similarities between Sabo and Ace's styles. Ace used to use a staff before obtaining his fire magic, and even now, he remained adept with the weapon. Sabo's style was more calculated, slightly more predictable than Ace's wild swings, but in return, he observed Marco. He dodged much more frequently (as opposed to Ace who preferred to just take the brunt of the blow).

The match ended in a draw. "You're good," Sabo said, leaning against his staff.

"As are you." He mean what he said, even though he could have gotten the upper hand on Sabo with the use of his powers. "Should we take a break? That match lasted quite a while."

"Not quite."

"My turn!" Luffy chimed, leaping off the rock he was sitting on.

"Taking a break is child's play," Sabo said. "I'm just seeing if you can keep up like Ace does. Fifty matches against each of us."

"Fifty?" That was a total of one hundred matches! That sounded like something insane his brothers would do. Then again, Sabo and Luffy did remind him of some of his brothers through their respective the sly attitude and the enthusiasm.

Marco was sure that every single one of his siblings would find some way or another to get along with these two troublemakers.

"What? Can't keep up?"

"Bring it on."

Honestly speaking, Marco never expected to end up in Raftel's capital when searching for Ace, let alone the castle. On the other hand, he decided that this would be the perfect learning opportunity.

While Marco's impression of a kind and gentle woman stayed true when spending time with Rouge, she was very much capable of running the country. Even though she never failed to attend a meal with her family (a tradition that was sacred in Marco's own home), she was often the first to leave when advisors or knights requested her presence.

Through this, she kept her appearance humble, with a few rare exceptions. When meeting with the people to listen to requests, she wore her crown, and even then she preferred to dress down like today.

"Thank you for accompanying me, Marco," Rouge said, holding the skirt of her dress to help her walk more easily.

Marco smiled back. "It was nothing, Miss Rouge. This is important to me too."

"Yes. I'm glad that you wish to reopen relations between our countries. I'll try my best as well."

It wasn't exactly easy work, especially since he wanted to spend time with Ace too. The thought of telling Ace about his plans made his stomach swim though. He didn't want him to worry about it when he being here made him smile so much.

That's why he woke up before Ace on some mornings: to work. Learning about Raftel was integral to reestablishing a strong bond between it and Moby. Ace had claimed reading A History of Raftel was boring, but Marco deemed it necessary. Besides, even if Ace didn't want to read it now, he'd have plenty of time to catch up when…

Marco pushed those thoughts to the side for now.

"I had Shakky contact Ryka. She's the go-to for precious metals and blacksmithing. I'll make sure to write it down later so you can speak with her."

"Thank you. I'm sure it will be useful." The renewal of official trade deals was one of the priorities under actual relations, though that actual task came with little difficulty.

"By the way, Marco, please make sure not to read too much tonight." Her words were kind, but a clear scolding. "I know you spend most of your time with Ace, but please don't overwork yourself."

"There's much for me to learn before-"

"Ah, I'm sure those books aren't that fascinating, and Ace keeps telling me he wants to wait for you anyways. I'm pretty sure he just wants to spend more time with you."

Rouge's parental concern reminded Marco much of Pops, though she could be sterner and stubborn when she wanted to. Despite her subtlety, Marco knew that this was one of those times. There was truth in her words. He needed to spend time with Ace before it was too late.

"Are you going to use the snail phone again?"

"Of course. Pops asked for an update last time."

"Please tell him hello for me. I'll call as soon as I can."

"I'm sure he'd like that."

This is a bit of a short one, but I hope you still leave a review!