Chapter 296: A Gentleman's Explanation
"Then... is the wound on your face something even you can't heal?"
"Not exactly. It's just that the rules prevent it from being restored."
"Rules?" Vivi frowned, visibly puzzled. "What kind of rules are you talking about?"
"The rules of Devil Fruits." Axel smiled with quiet confidence, the sort of smile that made his words strangely easy to believe. "Do you want to know?"
Vivi stared at him. "Are you saying you have a Devil Fruit?"
Axel laughed.
"No. A certain mad scientist simply helped me understand their true nature. Would you believe me if I told you that?"
Vivi gave him a strained smile.
At this point, she no longer knew what she was supposed to believe.
Seeing her expression, Axel chuckled and waved her away.
"You should leave. Before I lose control of my temper."
Vivi opened her mouth to argue, only to notice something beneath her feet.
A crack had appeared across the floor.
She followed it with her eyes and realized that the fissure stretched all the way from Axel's side of the room to the very tips of her shoes—where it stopped.
"You noticed?" Axel said calmly. "You managed to irritate me several times just now, so I took it out on the floor. I can't promise that next time, the floor will be the one receiving it."
Igaram stared at the crack in alarm.
"Princess Vivi, please leave!"
"..."
Vivi fell silent for several seconds before finally saying, "I won't give up."
The corner of Axel's mouth lifted slightly.
"Whether you give up has nothing to do with me. More importantly..." He rubbed his stomach. "I'm hungry. Go make me something to eat."
Vivi said nothing.
Judging by her expression, she had absolutely no intention of obeying.
After all, Axel had rejected every request she had made. Why should she cook for him?
Unfortunately, Axel seemed to have expected that response.
"This guard of yours stays here until the food arrives."
Vivi's gaze sharpened. "And if I refuse?"
"Who knows?" Axel glanced casually at the cracked floor. "People can be surprisingly fragile. Sometimes even more fragile than floorboards."
It was an undisguised threat.
Vivi bit her lip.
Beside her, Igaram had already been restrained by Axel and was frozen in place, unable to move or even speak.
"...Fine."
"Good. And make sure it tastes decent. I have trouble eating ordinary food."
...
Night descended.
Whiskey Peak had become unusually lively after the arrival of a new pirate crew.
Their combined bounty was considerable, and to the bounty hunters hidden throughout the town, the pirates were nothing more than walking piles of Berries waiting to be collected.
While most of Whiskey Peak prepared for the hunt, another group quietly moved beneath the cover of darkness.
Inside one of the rooms, however, Vivi had an entirely different problem.
"Don't you think it's time for you to leave?"
She glared at the shameless man sprawled across the bed.
Axel had been lying there almost the entire day, and judging by how comfortable he looked, he had no intention of moving anytime soon.
"No."
His answer came without the slightest hesitation.
Vivi's eyebrow twitched.
"This is my room. Shouldn't you, as a man, have enough courtesy to leave?"
"Is that how you ask someone for a favor?" Axel replied lazily. "You're the one who wants my help. Shouldn't you be accommodating me instead? It's only a room. No need to be stingy."
Vivi stared at him.
"...You say that as if you've agreed to help me."
By now, she had finally understood what kind of person she was dealing with.
From morning until night, she had asked Axel for help nearly a hundred times.
And nearly a hundred times, he had rejected her without hesitation.
Now the bastard was even occupying her bed.
"It's only one room," Axel said. "Can't you sleep somewhere else?"
"How am I supposed to do that?" Vivi snapped. "Have you forgotten that I infiltrated Baroque Works? If anyone discovers my identity, I'll be in serious danger. And do you really think someone in my position can rescue a stranger and then politely give up her own room? That would be suspicious!"
Axel considered her argument for a moment.
Then he shifted slightly and patted the empty space beside him.
"Fine. I won't make things difficult for you. You can have this much."
Vivi looked at the space he had generously offered.
Barely a third of the bed.
Her anger surged.
For the first time in her life, she felt she truly understood the meaning of shamelessness.
The worst part was Axel's expression.
He looked as though he were making some enormous sacrifice for her sake.
As though he were the one being taken advantage of.
In reality, if Vivi actually climbed into that bed with him, she knew perfectly well who would be losing out.
Unfortunately, being angry did nothing to solve the problem.
With no better option, Vivi dragged a chair into the corner and dropped into it.
Still irritated, she grabbed a glass, poured herself some water, and drank it in several large gulps.
Only after she finished did Axel casually remark,
"I used that glass earlier."
"Cough! Cough!"
Vivi nearly choked.
She turned toward him in disbelief.
He had obviously waited until after she finished drinking before saying anything.
This man was absolutely doing it on purpose.
"Aren't you tired?" Axel asked.
"I am."
Vivi didn't even bother denying it.
She had spent the previous night dealing with the pirates who arrived at Whiskey Peak. Then Axel had appeared, and because of everything surrounding him, she hadn't gotten a moment of proper sleep.
Now another night had arrived, and she was stuck sitting in a chair while the culprit occupied her bed.
She had rarely felt this exhausted in her life.
"Then sleep."
"I'm not sleeping."
"If you're tired, why refuse?" Axel sighed as though she were being unreasonable. "I'm a generous person. I don't mind giving you half the bed."
The resigned expression on his face made Vivi want to grind her teeth.
"No, thank you. I've suddenly stopped feeling tired."
Axel shook his head in disappointment.
"So troublesome. If you're tired, you're tired. How can you suddenly stop being tired?" He sighed. "This is why I say girls are complicated."
A vein seemed to twitch on Vivi's forehead.
She finally couldn't hold herself back.
"Has anyone ever told you that you're shameless?"
Axel looked at her strangely, as though she had just asked the dumbest question imaginable.
"No. My teeth are perfectly fine. Why would anyone call me toothless?"
"..."
Vivi stared at him for several seconds before sinking deeper into her chair.
Fine.
He won.
She was beginning to realize that arguing with this man was an exercise in self-inflicted suffering.
After a moment, however, her expression became serious again.
"Can't you really help me?"
Axel glanced over. "Help you with what?"
"You know exactly what I mean."
"Maybe I forgot." Axel rested his head against the pillow. "I used to suffer from schizophrenia... although dissociative identity disorder would probably be a better description."
Vivi blinked.
Axel continued casually.
"Imagine several different personalities sharing the same skull. Each has its own personality, its own responsibilities, its own way of thinking—and none of them particularly wants to acknowledge the others."
He tapped his temple.
"Eventually, even I stopped knowing which one was supposed to be me. Sometimes I was a quiet person who wanted nothing more than to sit somewhere and drink tea. Sometimes I was a lunatic who wanted to destroy the world."
He paused, then gave Vivi a perfectly composed smile.
"And sometimes, perhaps, I was the refined gentleman you see before you."
Vivi stared at him.
"You call yourself a gentleman?"
She stuck out her tongue in disgust.
"If you qualify, then the standards for gentlemen must have fallen through the floor."
"No, no, no." Axel shook his head solemnly. "You misunderstand. I am the very definition of a gentleman."
Vivi gave him an incredulous look.
"Every gentleman has a beast inside him," Axel continued. "The only difference is whether he has the courage to admit what he truly wants. Only a man capable of honestly expressing those desires deserves to call himself a gentleman."
Vivi narrowed her eyes.
"Then what are you? A beast?"
Axel raised an eyebrow.
Vivi leaned back in her chair, studying him.
"If I let you devour me, would you help me save my country?"
"No."
The answer came immediately.
Vivi's expression stiffened.
"Why not?" she challenged. "Because you can't do it? Or because everything you've been saying is nothing but empty boasting?"
"Neither."
Axel looked her over once, completely unhurried.
"It's because you're not attractive enough to justify the trouble."
Vivi froze.
Axel continued with brutal matter-of-factness.
"Your figure isn't impressive enough in either direction. I see absolutely no reason to take such a huge risk and pay such a heavy price for you."