Tesoro wore an apron and carefully held a steaming bowl of herbal broth, muttering to himself under his breath.
"My dear, this is the new medicinal soup Kiryu prepared. I let it cool first. The temperature is perfect now."
Stella sat in a chair by the fireplace, a blanket across her legs. Laboon lay curled at her feet, wearing a small bracelet made of seastone on his little fin, gently nudging her knee with his head.
"Laboon, you really don't need to keep wearing those seastone cuffs anymore. You can control your strength perfectly well now."
Laboon shook his head furiously.
"Whooo! Laboon is going to be a big brother! I will not take them off until my little brother and sister are born!"
"Lord Ritter!" Stella looked up and brightened when she saw him. She tried to stand.
Laboon immediately rushed forward, pressing his head into her hand like a living crutch.
"Don't move! Stay still!"
Ritter darted to her side. Blood mist gathered behind her back and formed a soft cushion for support.
"You are the top priority right now. What do you want to eat?"
Tesoro hurriedly set down the bowl with clumsy hands.
"Captain, you came back so fast..."
"Fast? What nonsense."
Ritter gave Tesoro a gentle pat on the back, light as a feather.
"My niece is about to be born. Of course I came back. Besides, even if I only covered this place with fog, you should have sensed we returned. This was just us coming home. If someone with bad intentions landed on this island and you failed to notice, that would be a disaster."
"I knew you were back, Captain. And you already said the pirates had to leave."
Stella spoke up in Tesoro's defense.
"No, Captain. Look around the castle. Beneath the thick layers of snow is a solid bed of gold. Tesoro can turn this entire area into a sea of gold in an instant."
Ritter nodded in approval.
"Now that is more like it."
Kureha emerged from the inner room with a cigarette in her mouth. She raised an eyebrow when she saw Ritter.
"Oh? So the brat remembers how to come home after all."
Ritter immediately pulled a pile of gifts from the mist as if performing a magic trick.
"Elder sister, look. A sky-shell pillow from Skypiea. And the newest massage chair from Gran Tesoro. And this..."
"Stop acting."
Kureha cut him off, though she smoothly accepted the bottle of plum wine.
"The expectant mother is in better shape than you. Judging from how you two are fussing around, I seriously worry you will spoil that child beyond saving."
Ritter chuckled and turned his gaze to Stella's belly.
"Little one behaving these days? Not causing trouble?"
Stella gently stroked her stomach.
"They have been good. They only kicked once last night..."
"What?!"
Tesoro and Ritter sprang up at the same time. One grabbed a stethoscope, the other had already begun scanning her with blood mist.
Bang! Bang!
Kureha cracked her knuckles.
"You two idiots. Fetal movement is normal. If you keep overreacting like this, get out of my castle."
Laboon nodded gravely.
"Whooo..."
(Exactly. Exactly.)
Night fell, and the castle buzzed with activity. Lina and Perona were decorating the nursery, Enel watched the sea from the shore, making sure no pirate dared approach. Ritter had said the island was off limits to all pirates, so he took that order seriously.
Moria... was chopping firewood. The zombies stacked the logs, and Moria's shadow axe cleaved everything into perfect quarters in one swing.
"Why do I have to do this?"
"Because if Enel does it," Ritter replied with absolute seriousness, "what if he accidentally sets the wood on fire? We do not need thunder-struck firewood."
Late that night, Ritter stood alone on the terrace.
"Lord Ritter?" Tesoro's voice came from behind him.
Ritter looked at him with mild curiosity.
"What is it, boss? Why are you still awake?"
Tesoro leaned against the doorframe, moonlight spilling across him.
"I cannot sleep..."
He hesitated.
"Actually... I am a little scared."
Wham!
A spark hissed in the cold air.
"Still scared now? Do not worry. You will be fine."
Ritter's voice grew uncharacteristically serious.
"What are you afraid of? We have Kureha, we have Moria and Enel, and we have me."
He paused.
"And besides, that child will inherit the best parts of you and Stella. They will definitely become a tiny tyrant."
Tesoro lifted his gaze to the moon.
"Captain, Wapol is not fit to be a king. I have never seen a ruler cast out the very foundation of his country. I have never seen a nation so foolish, officials so blindly obedient, and people who accept misery as if it were normal."
Ritter flicked his finger.
Tesoro snapped upright.
"Captain! What are you doing? If you cannot explain yourself, do not blame me for taking action."
Ritter dug his nose with complete disinterest.
"Your only job now is to protect Stella. I know about that king. If a heart is sick, it needs medicine. That is not your burden."
"All right. Go sleep."
Ritter stretched lazily and went back inside.
Tesoro watched him disappear into the hallway.
"That feeling again, Captain..."
Whenever family was involved, the captain would always stand behind him.
The next morning, sunlight spread across the castle as hurried footsteps shattered the quiet.
Thud, thud, thud.
Outside the door came ragged breathing and frantic shuffling in the snow.
Doctor Hiruluk stumbled forward, clutching his bleeding arm. His red nose was purple from the cold, yet he laughed wildly.
"Hahaha! You fools! You tried to catch me! They refused my treatment, so why do you have the right to arrest me?!"
Behind him, a team of Drum Kingdom soldiers chased him with spears, though their captain looked pale. He glanced repeatedly toward the mountaintop where the Blood Mist flag fluttered in the morning light.
"Captain..." one soldier stammered.
"Up ahead is..."
"Shut up!" the captain hissed.
"Keep chasing! But do not go near the castle!"
Hiruluk leaned against the castle doorframe, panting hard. Mud splattered his suit, and bruises colored his face. He glanced at the hesitant soldiers in the distance and grinned.
"Why is everyone so scared today?"
"Doctor Hiruluk!" Kureha's voice came from the second floor.
"What trouble have you stirred up again?"
"Haha, Kureha!" Hiruluk scratched his head.
"I may have accidentally 'cured' a few villagers. They got some side effects and their stomachs are acting up. Wapol is losing his mind again."
His voice dropped.
"But stay inside! I am leaving now!"
He sprinted away in the opposite direction, shouting loudly on purpose.
"Come catch me, you useless idiots!"
The soldiers looked at each other. Not a single one dared take another step toward the castle.
The captain wiped cold sweat from his forehead.
"That lunatic... running straight toward that man's residence. Is he trying to get us all killed?"
"Captain, maybe... maybe we should retreat?"
The young soldier trembled.
"I heard when the Mist Lord got angry yesterday, he melted the snow at the port..."