[South Blue, Baterilla Island]
Inside a private ho, Portgas D. Rouge lay on the bed, her belly high and swollen. At this mont, her originally delicate face now carried several hints of nervousness.
In order to keep the child in her womb from being killed, she had been pregnant for a full 22 months.
Back when it had been 20 months, with the Navy and World Governnt's search in South Blue weakening, she had almost relaxed.
But who would've thought, in the area she was living in, a group of CP suddenly appeared again, and they even had her facial features to carry out the search.
That instantly made her heart rise with tension, and she forcibly held on for another two months.
She could already feel that her body was nearly at its limit, and she had even fallen into a coma a few days ago.
Rouge now wasn't even sure if she could successfully give birth to the child.
She had never regretted doing this so much.
If, at the beginning, it had been out of love for that man, later, as she felt the life slowly growing inside her, she truly ca to love the little life in her belly from the bottom of her heart.
This was the life she had nurtured.
No matter what, she hoped the little life could be born safe and sound, and grow up peacefully and healthily.
Rouge's only remaining wish now was just that.
Yesterday, soone had whispered outside her door, and she had heard it.
Those searching for her said that if they couldn't find her by tomorrow, they'd be preparing to withdraw.
Recently, she hadn't left her house at all, and relied on a little girl next door to bring her als.
Back during the previous searches in South Blue, she had gotten through it like this, so this ti, she didn't think she had been exposed either.
If she could just hold on for one more day, she could have her neighbor help call soone to deliver the child and help look after it.
The neighbor was a very kind old man, who had already taken in a few orphans from the village and had always had a good relationship with her. He would surely help care for the child in her belly.
That would be enough.
As Rouge thought this, a happy smile appeared on her face.
But that smile didn't last long, and was quickly buried in the valley along with the sound of a knock at the door.
'Who is it?'
Rouge covered her mouth, staring fearfully at the door.
At this ti, the neighbor wouldn't co looking for her.
As for the other people on the island, they all thought she had already left. They didn't know she was still hiding on this island.
'How can anyone co at this ti? Are they the ones hunting ?'
"Sorry to disturb you."
A gentle male voice ca from outside the door. Imdiately after, the door was pushed open, and sunlight poured into the previously sealed room, making it hard for Rouge to open her eyes.
To prepare for sudden searches, Rouge had long sealed the room's doors and windows and drawn the curtains to make it appear uninhabited.
Now, for the first ti, an unfamiliar outsider had opened it, making Rouge tense up to the extre.
Footsteps sounded in her ears, seemingly stopping at the foot of the bed.
By now, Rouge's eyes had adapted to the sunlight, and her gaze landed on the uninvited guest who had entered.
He was a very tall and handso man, like a white horse prince from a fairy tale, like a graceful noble.
This man before her was completely different from any other man she had ever known.
Even the prince of the kingdom Baterilla belonged to was not as dazzling as this man.
As for the man who fathered the child in her belly… thinking of that person, Rouge felt a bit complicated.
He had suddenly barged into her life, half-forced her, and then suddenly abandoned her.
She didn't know how to evaluate him. If not for that man, she wouldn't have suffered like this these past few years.
But that man had ultimately died, and died in such a spectacular way, bringing countless innocent people down with him.
Baterilla hadn't been this quiet before. After the Great Pirate Era began, many pirates ca to Baterilla, and most of the island's residents had been hard.
Especially the young won. Rouge had known them. When they got married, she had attended their weddings and been a bridesmaid multiple tis.
When the pirates ca, everything was left in shambles.
Just hearing the tragedies from her neighbor, Rouge felt an endless sorrow wrap around her.
So regarding that man, maybe what she felt more of was anger and hatred.
But… the child was innocent.
She only hoped that the child in her belly could be born and live on.
"You are…?", Seeing the man say nothing for a long ti, Rouge couldn't suppress the unease in her heart and finally spoke up to ask.
She didn't have much worldly experience, and unlike that man, hadn't traveled all corners of the world.
To her, a noble man like this one before her was the most good-looking and graceful person she had ever seen.
'Soone like this, if from the World Governnt, must be a world noble, right?'
"Saint Jaygarcia Rosse, that is my na."
Rosse responded with a smile, reporting his na.
Finally, he had made it in ti.
He looked at the sickly yet beautiful woman on the bed and once again examined her closely.
Rouge's appearance could only be considered above average. Her overall rating by standard evaluation was just G . But her whole body exuded a maternal radiance. That gentle temperant made even him feel a bit moved.
There were too many beautiful faces, but few strong souls.
This woman, who had held on through 22 months of pregnancy just to protect her child, had earned the right for him to personally co this far.
"Portgas D. Rouge, this na should be correct, right?"
"That's right, sir, Lord Rosse."
Seeing that Rosse knew her na, Rouge grew even more nervous.
She didn't know what "Saint" represented, and thought it was just part of Rosse's na.
"Call Saint Rosse, or any other title is fine. 'Saint' is already an honorific, Lady Gol."
Rosse looked at Rouge with a smile and spoke another identity of hers.
The Pirate King's full na was Gol D. Roger.
Calling the woman before him "Lady Gol" already revealed her identity clearly.
"Sir, just call Rouge. I don't want to hear that na again. Are you soone from the World Governnt?", Rouge's body trembled slightly, and at that mont, she finally relaxed.
She had been discovered at last.
At that mont, she let go of all her tension. Because it no longer mattered.
Considering what Roger had done, even from hearsay, Rouge had once wished the World Governnt would exterminate his entire bloodline, let alone the governnt itself.
To question her in anger, to kill her, that was what the World Governnt should be doing, right?
"Looks like Roger didn't tell you," Rosse had been observing Rouge the entire ti, and could tell her reaction to hearing Roger's na, as well as the resistance in not wanting to be associated.
Based on what he knew, the ti Rouge had spent with Roger wasn't even as long as her pregnancy.
And after Rouge beca pregnant, Roger had left without care, not even waiting for the child to be born, and stirred up this whole Great Pirate Era ss.
Those things may have ant nothing to soone like Roger, a man of the sea, but to Rouge, being chased and hunted for no reason, unable to even deliver her own child peacefully, those were invisible pressures.
Rouge might have long harbored hidden resentnt toward Roger, but under such high-pressure circumstances, she simply had no ti to think much. Giving birth had already beco her sole obsession.
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