…
"What should we do?"
"There's only one solution…"
…
The elder then convened him out and told him that…
"It's basically your fault, so now take responsibility!" She exclaimed firmly with no room for negotiations and stomped her snake-like stick on the floor, showing how adamant she was.
'What?!' Well, no need to say that Edam was awfully taken aback by granny's audacious statement.
He was the one who was "attacked" but he had to take responsibility because he retaliated? What the heck!?
Gloriossa seeing his questioning face responded, "Only the empress or the chosen one can break this curse and no one else, so don't blame me youngster… beside … you have such an incredible luck boy, there is nothing to lose, don't miss it…" Her tone sounded oddly encouraging...
"...?" Edam slightly tilted his head to the side.
Seeing his confusion, she sighed heavily before continuing, "Whatever, just be by her side alright?"
"Oh that, alright no problem!" Edam nodded with a smile and followed the granny to Hancock's room.
He sat by her sides and observed her quietly for a moment.
Now that he carefully looked at her … he had to say that she had indeed grown up to be a world toppling beauty … even now after having calmed his bestial instinct down, he could still feel his tail swinging joyously right to left, by just being by her side.
It was if just by being by her side he could feel all the happiness in the world, which was quite an odd feeling for him.
Carefully putting a hand on her burning forehead, he began to ċȧrėss her smooth skin with a smile.
"There, there and here and it's gone…" As if it was a magic spell, he repeated the same sentence again and again in a soothing voice.
'This sure reminds me of some memories, haha…'
It has been so long since he had the chance to say those words, the last time he did so was when Luffy was three years old or so when he suddenly fell sick… and he as the elder brother obviously took care of him. He invented those words to calm him and surprisingly it did work at that time.
And now, after a few minutes of "magic", her breath strangely calmed down, and her temperature slowly but surely dropped a few degrees down much to his surprise.
He was even quietly channeling his Ki to try to heal her. Who knows? perhaps it would work, right?
"Haha…" He laughed ironically and added.
"Well, the old method still works, hehe good to know…"
Since it was working, he continued to ċȧrėss her cheeks while chanting his 'magic spell' on and on, till her breathing and temperature completely returned back to normal.
Her once painful expression softened by several levels and retained her beautiful and magnificent complexion.
But even so, Edam stayed by her sides and continued to guard her as he was told to.
A few hours later, in a beautifully decorated room, on a royal-like mattress, there was a fairy-like young girl lying on it and seemingly sleeping with some discomforts and a bit of difficulty to properly open her eyes.
"Umm, ah how about hotpot, it's her favorite dish, isn't it?" A Masculine but gentle pondering voice echoed from another area, not that much away from her own room.
"Oh? How do you know?" This time an elderly voice reverberated.
"Well, I once asked what were her favorite plates, that's how I know… ah and let me cook granny Nyon."
"What? Certainly not."
"But I know how to cook hot pot, I even invented my own hot pot style granny…" The guy's voice echoed again with a certain pride and passion as he spoke about food.
"What? Hmm… we will see... now that I think about it, I didn't inquire but why did she pass out again?"
"..." Sandersonia and Edam, especially the latter fell silent as a small sweat dripped down his forefront before he mumbled with a small and guilty voice.
"Uh… ahem It's a bit complicated…" His guiltily eyes avoided her stare and shot to the sides, anywhere but outside her sight.
Gloriossa glared at him suspiciously and waited for an answer that he ultimately spouts out after a few minutes of her glaring at him.
*Meanwhile in the fairy's room.*
Her long eyelashes were fluttering gently as her cute and small nose wiggled faintly from time to time because of a delicate and delicious smell that kept tempting her to wake up despite the pain she felt in her heart.
Strangely, the delicious smell seemed to become stronger and stronger as time passed by as if it was actually closing on her.
And before long, a pleasant voice gently echoed in her ears.
"Hello there Princess, wake up it's time to eat…"
Her eyes shivered and slowly opened her eyes as they instantly bore into a pair of black eyes pure enough to reflect her own face.
Those eyes belonged to that of a rather handsome black-haired young man with sharp outlines.
Amusingly he had a pair of birds on his head, a black and white one curiously watching her as she rapidly blinked her eyes.
Eventually, she snapped out of her stupor, as she started to inspect her surroundings nervously before saying nervously. "Where- where am I?"
"Well, I kidnapped you from your place and brought you here to be with me." Edam giggled amusingly. Watching the flustered expression on her face along with a bit of anxiety and a tinge of happiness which he could be mistaken off, he started to laugh out loud, bringing her out of her thoughts.
"Wha-...?" Hancock's beautiful face turned red with a flustered expression and blushed in embarrassment.
"Umm, it's like this, after you passed out we…" Edam then started to recount every detail that happened after her blackout.
"Is… is that so…" Hancock said blankly and added.
"A- Anyway we- we still haven't signed the treaty yet we should-..." Hancock tried to stand up but the pain came rushing back, making her fall back on her bed.
"My, my aren't you in quite a hurry now Princess hmm…" Not giving her a chance to speak up he continued. "Apparently you are sick and the granny said that it's my fault… even though I'm not sick…" He whispered the last part with a tint of skepticism in his voice.
"Elder Nyon?"
"Yeah… anyway she told me to take care of you for now while she's gonna get some groceries or whatever… oh right Sandersonia is just outside..."
As he turned to face Hancock back he saw her staring at the hot pot in his hands, and most probably didn't listen to what he said just now.
Sighing softly, he started to move the bowl around and saw how her eyes were glued to the hotpot and followed it everywhere. To be honest, it was quite entertaining to see her behave so cutely, but after he saw her small pout growing, he thought it was enough teasing for now.
Hancock was completely stunned by this gesture for a few seconds.
"...?" Edam tilted his head curiously while he stayed his hand and asked. "Oh, you're not hungry perhaps?"
"I-... I am…"
"That's a relief then, here… I made it myself you know." Edam spoke with pride and even puffed his ċhėst out as he carefully approached the spoon even more.
Hancock's face glowed to rosy shades again but this time she slowly lifted her head and with a finger forked some loose strands of her hair behind her ear before taking a small sip of the soup.
Her eyes went wide open from the sudden burst of flavors in her mouth. It was definitely the most delicious hot pot she had ever eaten.
In fact, she didn't even notice when her lips opened up and the spoon full of hot pot was in her mouth as she enjoyed the taste to her heart's content.
"Hmmm!" She even involuntarily released a soft mȯȧn.
Her judgment wasn't biased because it was 'he' who cooked it (okay maybe a bit) but still… This hotpot was maybe one of the best she ever ate culinary speaking, while it seems to be the best she ever ate, heartily speaking.
Seeing her expression, Edam couldn't help but tease her.
"So, how is it, Princess? Good enough for you?" He smiled faintly and inquired.
"It's…" Hancock paused as Edam waited for his sentence.
"It's…?"
"It's delicious!" She nodded vigorously with glowing eyes and a pinkish face.
Throughout the unlimited dishes that existed in the world and those she ate, Hotpot was without the slightest doubt her most favorite food by a hundred if not a thousand times.
And having it being fed to her by 'him' in such a sweet manner was something that she kept dreaming of all nights.
"Umm… is it that good though?" Edam asked in a soft voice but still enough for her to hear.
"Umm let's see…" And then he took another spoon again but this time instead of giving if to her he took a bite for himself and closed his eyes.
Her face turns redder than red at this sight. 'He… Is he doing that on purpose?' She frustratingly thought.
But as she looked closely, there wasn't the slightest doubt that he didn't care about those very small but bold moves of his, in fact, he bȧrėly if not didn't notice it.
"Hmm… not bad…" He took a hold of his chin and reflects as he chews on the food and gulps it down.
"Phew… I'm not a hopeless case it seems…" Edam mimics to breathe a sigh of relief as he took a spoonful of hotpot and blows on it again.
"Umm, here eat some again… that granny will surely get mad at me if you're not well at her return..."
With the spoon in front of her, no need to say that her heart went racing again although she didn't refuse at all and went forward as she opened her mouth to take a bite.
Just like that, the young Snake Princess was being fed by the young Captain of the Navy.
A serene, pure, and peaceful atmosphere overtook the room as Edam continued to slowly feed her till she finished the whole bowl.
Edam had to say that feeding a beauty was a rather satisfying feeling, yup.
…
Twenty minutes quickly passed by...
"So… you're okay now? Because we still got a treaty to sign…" Edam asked as he leisurely put his hand on her forehead to her surprise and noticed that her fever was literally gone by now.
"Hmm good, your fever seems to be gone… umm what should we do now…?" He pondered.
...
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First of all, I would like to thank my friend Star for editing the chappy, if you read this ???? thanks.
And secondly, well.... hope you enjoyed this chap, bye✌