Meanwhile, in Dressrosa…
At a hidden port, a small three-masted sailboat silently slipped out, unnoticed by anyone. On deck stood a lone figure—or more precisely, a curvy, beautiful woman in a long dress.
"At last, I've set sail," Viola muttered, gazing at the shrinking port. "I may not have stocked quite enough supplies, but Monet's already returned. If I don't leave now, I might not get another chance."
"Sorry, Father…you might suffer a bit because of this. But as long as there's a chance I can find Arton and convince him to help, Monet and Sugar won't let anything truly horrible happen to you."
With resolve shining in her eyes, Viola clenched her fists and opened her Diary copy. Seeing Uta's performance being recorded, she wore a look of surprise.
"Is this…Uta's song? It's so beautiful. Not only can she sing gorgeously, but she's also such a skilled dancer. If I want Arton's attention to linger on me, I'll need to focus on my specialty, dancing…"
"But this proves that leaving to find Arton is the right move."
Viola took a deep breath and spoke softly to herself. "As long as I keep using dance to entice Arton into recording videos,
there's no doubt I'll grow stronger—perhaps even stronger than Doflamingo."
Hope filled her eyes at the thought. Had circumstances been different, she never would have risked leaving Dressrosa. But the longer she waited to meet Arton, the slimmer her chances of joining his pirate crew would become. Worse yet, there was a real possibility that Sugar would turn her into a toy, erasing her from Arton's memory forever—true despair for Viola.
"Uta just created a new song…maybe I need to create a new dance. But composing a new dance piece isn't so easy. Wait—didn't Arton draw a bunch of works for me that included dances?"
"If I can get Arton to teach me, I can perform those dances for him, right? That might prompt him to record more videos!"
"Besides, a dance piece doesn't have to be performed the normal way—
I could…like in those illustrations…perform it against Arton's…uh, on his…um…body. That way, there's a greater chance he'll record me."
A flush of scarlet spread across Viola's cheeks. It wasn't just the idea of dancing that made her blush; she imagined dancing so close to Arton that it would normally be considered a sight only for spouses, and yet it might be seen by the other Diary Copy holders, too.
"No… I can't be shy about this. I have to get used to it. I have to endure."
"That's the only way—only then can I get more points from Arton."
"Just like Nami did!"
Taking a deep breath, Viola steadied her racing heart. Watching Uta still singing and dancing in the video feed, her eyes lit up with sudden inspiration.
"Maybe if I dance alongside Uta, that'll give me more chances to appear in Arton's videos."
She murmured quietly as she turned her gaze back to the screen.
…
Meanwhile, elsewhere…
Inside Viola's room at the royal palace in Dressrosa:
"Viola! We need to have a talk!"
Monet burst through Viola's door, using enough force to swing it open violently. She'd just returned to Dressrosa after completing a mission assigned by Doflamingo, and she came straight here, worried Viola might have done something rash in her absence.
Following right behind her was Sugar, who had the same concerns.
"Huh? She's not here?"
"That's strange. At this time of day, she shouldn't have any missions."
"Sis, where do you think she went?"
Small-framed Sugar darted into the room, frowning as she saw it was completely empty.
"I have a bad feeling about this, Sugar," said Monet, noticing a letter on the desk.
"Is that…a letter?"
"That woman—she wouldn't really run away, would she? Isn't she afraid we'll kill her father?"
Sugar's gut twisted with unease as she watched Monet pick up the envelope and open it. Monet's eyes quickly scanned the contents, and she let out a sigh.
"Sis, what does it say?" Sugar asked anxiously.
"Sugar…she guessed we'd be coming for her," Monet replied. "She also said that since she suspected you might turn her into a toy—making Arton forget she ever existed—she chose to leave."
Hearing that, Sugar stomped a tiny foot in frustration.
"Damn it! How did that woman figure out I planned to turn her into a toy?"
"I'm guessing it started around the time Arton mentioned in his diary that he wanted to recruit Viola as a dancer for the Flameblade Pirates," Monet said, shaking her head. "From that moment on, we really did see her as a potential threat."
"Argh! I should've come earlier!" Sugar fumed.
"It wouldn't have mattered," Monet said sadly. "Without being able to reveal anything about Arton to Young Master (Doflamingo), there was no way to avoid Viola's Gaze-Gaze Fruit surveillance. Even then…"
"Even then, damn it, I'm so mad! Sis, let's go kill Viola's father right now!" Sugar growled.
"No, Sugar, we can't," Monet said firmly.
"Why not? If she's run away, then her father is useless to us!" Sugar's face twisted in confusion.
Raising the letter in her hand, Monet replied,
"She left us a message. She wrote that she's determined to find Arton and that she's sure he'll accept her into the Flameblade Pirates as a dancer. If we push things to the breaking point, we'll need to protect her father and keep the Young Master from killing him."
Sugar's eyes went wide with disbelief.
"Wha—? We have to protect that woman's father now?!"
***
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