"This is hideous. Positively ghastly. I refuse to wear such a thing. Absolutely not."

"Oh, but Your Grace, my lovely, beautiful Princess (Y/N), Lord Doffy insists! He truly insists! You must wear this dress!" Doflamingo's advisor, Trebol, clapped his hands together, grinning as the seamstresses forced me to do a spin.

"You can tell your Lord that he has vile taste, then. I look like a pile of folded linen." I did not really care what I looked like, as I was hardly trying to impress anyone, but this dress was a personal attack, if ever I had seen one.

Ruffles and folds, inches of lace and ribbon, and I could hardly take a breath with the tight, boned corset around my middle, cinched to its limit.
"Now now, Your Grace. I must insist that you cut back on this attitude. What harm will one day of this bring, hmm?" Lucci spoke up, though his face told me he thought it was just as horrid as I did.

"I shall garner the reputation Princess of Laundry if I am seen in this. I hate it. This is cruelty of the highest degree." Huffing, but deciding to shut up about the issue, I stomped back towards the privacy panels, nearly dragging the seamstresses along with me.

"May I have a moment with the Princess?" I heard Lucci's request, and everyone in the room hurried off, even Trebol, to my surprise. Everyone except Killer, who remained still as stone by the closed door. "Your Grace, I know this is hard for you, but you really need to-"

"If you are about to say that I need to do my duty, or quit vocalising my turmoil, I swear I will slap you, Lucci. Do not test me right now." Back in my original dress, I stepped out from behind the screen and narrowed my eyes, though the man hardly seemed to care.

"It would not be the first, nor the last time, but that wasn't exactly my point. May I speak, or will I be receiving a slap?" He waited, brow raised, until I motioned for him to continue. "I was going to say that you need to tread with caution. This is not fair on you, I get that, but Lord Donquixote is-"

"I swear, if you say he is crucial for the kingdom, I wi-" My lips zipped shut when Lucci jabbed his finger in my face, my eyes almost crossing from the close proximity.
"Dangerous. Yes, he's a strong ally to have, but first and foremost, he's a dangerous man. Really, Your Grace, is it that difficult to let me finish a sentence? Honestly..."

Sometimes, yes...

Sighing, I knocked his hand away from my face and walked to the window, looking out at the dark clouds making their way towards Marineford.
"I know that. He attempted to take me in the bathroom at the celebratory dinner the other night. Father was not pleased that I ordered Killer between us."

I glanced to the reflection in the glass, seeing Lucci turn to look between Killer and myself.
"I...was not aware of that occurrence..." He murmured, sounding quite displeased by the information. "Your Grace, I apologise. No woman, much less a Princess, should have to experience such a thing.."

Slowly, I allowed my head to loll forward, the glass pane cold against my forehead.
"What are you to be sorry for? You were not the one to choose such a vile devil as my husband. Unless you did have a hand in it...in which case I should request Killer to clean your head from your shoulders."

I was not particularly cruel, but seeing Lucci flinch when Killer made a show of reaching for his blades was rather entertaining. Perhaps I would have laughed if I had been in higher spirits.
"I assure you, Your Grace, I had no part in selecting Lord Donquixote as King Consort. That was entirely your father's doing."

That hardly surprises me.

Finally turning from the window, I looked Lucci up and down. As sharp as he looked at all hours, I knew him, and I could tell that he was telling the truth.
"Tell me, Lucci, is it not tradition for the King Consort to gift his bride with whatever they desire, as their first duty as a royal?"

As I waited for his response, I passed him by, moving closer to Killer. I preferred being near him, even when I was in the presence of people I trusted.
"It is, Your Grace. Did you have something in mind? The rarest of books, perhaps?"

He certainly knew me well, and if I had been blind as I had been mere weeks before, that may have been the correct answer.
"I wish for a sizeable donation to be made to all children who have lost family in the name of the crown, along with their caretakers. Enough to make a difference."

My heart ached, thinking back on our visit to Makino and her ward, and I wanted to do something, anything, to help them. Lucci appeared shocked by my request, though he attempted to hide it.
"That...is such a selfless act, Your Grace. You truly are the kindest of souls. If that is what you desire, then I shall begin preparations immediately, and send Hattori with message to Lord Donquixote."

It was not often that Lucci delivered messages in person. He usually sent his pet pigeon, Hattori, with written word to whomever he wished to communicate. It was odd, but I found it rather endearing.

A knock on the door startled only me, and I spun to stare at the large wooden frame.
"It's Lord Marco, Your Grace. May I enter yoi?" Releasing a breath of relief, I motioned to Killer to open the door, and the blond-tufted Lord entered.

"Phoenix." Lucci muttered his greeting, nothing but contempt in his eyes. Marco's returned expression was hardly any better. They truly were like water and oil together.
"Would it be too much trouble to request you to remove yourself whilst I speak to our dear Princess for a moment? Or would that be too troublesome for you, yoi?"

Rolling his eyes, Lucci bowed politely to me, but his hateful eyes remained on the Lord up until the very moment the door clicked shut. I waited a spell, until I could no longer hear his footsteps in the hall, before I threw myself into Marco's chest, yet again in tears.

"Please, please, for the love of all that is good, please tell me y..you have found me an escape?!" I bawled, pressing closer when his arms wrapped around my form. Feeling his heavy sigh through his chest, I knew I was not about to get the answer I wanted.

"Your father has the entire army on high alert, Your Grace. The castle, the grounds, the city streets, everywhere is swarming with knights and soldiers. There is no safe way for me to get you out of here yoi..."

I am done for...

Before my legs could give out from under me, Marco lead me to sit upon the velvet lounge chair, and Killer quickly came to my side.
"All you need to do is say the word, Your Grace, and I'll kill them where they stand. I-"

"What good would it do her to lose you? The one who means so much to her?" Marco snapped at him, crouching and taking my hand in his. "There is still time. We may not be able to stop this marriage ceremony, but it is all void unless you share a marital bed. That is something we can stop."

Sniffing back my mucus and tears, I looked at him, searching his eyes for some kind of sign that he was sure of what he was saying.
"H..How can you guarantee that..?" I asked sceptically, shifting closer to Killer once more.

Marco was racking his brain for an answer, his features pinching and his age somewhat showing, for once.
"You...could faint, at the reception dinner?" He did not sound at all sure of himself, and I pulled my hand back to wipe at my eyes.

"Do you really believe that Doflamingo would care for my consciousness or not? Or my father, for that matter?" It pained me to say it, but neither man could refute that truth.
"He drinks. Get the bastard so drunk that he's the one who passes out. Have one of your handmaidens tending to drinks, and ensure he gets the strongest alcohol." Killer suggested, and I tried to gather my thoughts to consider it.

"Maybe...M..Maybe that could work...I know Rebecca's aunt works in the kitchens, so if I can request that of her..." It was as good as we were going to get, without putting anybody at major risk. Without warning, I leapt up and threw my arms around Killer, causing him to stumble back a pace or two. "You truly are a godsend, Killer! It could actually work!"

At least we're trying...

Clearing his throat, Killer let his hands hover over me and allowed me to hug him, and Marco stood himself up, straightening his coat.

"Than that shall be the plan. We...are definitely going to need a lot of alcohol to get that beast of a bastard down for the count, yoi..."

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***ALTERNATIVE POV***

"Hey, you should try this! It's like flying!"

Smirking proudly, I watched my younger brother as he straddled the figure head of the ship, his arms stretched wide whilst the wind whipped at his face, very nearly blowing his straw hat clean off his head.

"Maybe later! When I don't have so much on my mind!" I chuckled, glancing to my side as my blue-haired companion approached, his face donning more stress than it possibly should have.

"How can you be so calm?! There's still so much preparation to be done!" He fretted, his bottom lip looking as though he had been chewing it for a month straight. He likely had been.
"What good would panicking do me, Deuce? I know what is to come, and I'm ready for it. How many men do we have in this fleet again?"

Deuce wanted to slap me silly, I could tell, but he refrained. Taking a deep breath, he closed his eyes to compose himself.
"Sixteen hundred, and a further five hundred to close in from the east and west upon arrival. Still outnumbered by about six to seven hundred, give or take..."

I like those odds.

I was confident. My whole life had lead up to this defining battle. When King Whitebeard had fallen, I had been so young, but ever since that day I had been working towards recovering the crown and freeing the people from Sakazuki's rule.

"Numbers don't mean a thing. One of our men is worth at least fifty of theirs, easily. You worry yourself too much." I laughed aloud, placing my hands on my hips. "So, when do you suppose we'll get there? I'm getting impatient."

I could almost hear the roll of his eyes, but he didn't scold me, as he usually would have.
"If the winds keep blowing in our favour, I would say we shall reach Marineford by midnight tomorrow. Two in the morning, at the latest."

Clapping my hands together drew my brother's attention, and he carelessly bounded back along the neck of the figurehead and onto the deck to approach.
"Did you hear that, Luffy? Midnight tomorrow! You think you can keep up with me?!"

I loved egging the boy on, and seeing his eyes light up with excitement.
"You'll be the one trying to keep up with me! I'll beat, like, a hundred and sixty two more men down than you will!" Before I could one up him and make it a legitimate competition, Deuce cleared his throat to get my attention.

"Should we send word to the Phoenix about our estimated arrival time?" He asked, and I shook my head, temporarily ignoring the way Luffy was bouncing around the deck like a loose rubber ball.
"Too much of a risk, and besides, he has his hands full with that Princess. Oh, you did make sure everyone knows that she's off limits, right? Marco would slay me if anything happened to her."

Nodding, Deuce had already began walking away, wanting to put some distance between us before I caused him to burst a blood vessel.
"Yes, yes, everyone is well aware. Please, don't sit around for too long, you need to actually prepare, properly..."

Sighing, I looked out over the choppy ocean with a smile, the salt spray keeping me refreshed and in high spirits. We were so close that I could almost taste it. Freedom, not only for me, but for the entire realm.

Count your hours, Sakazuki. You haven't many of them left...

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***Next Time: Escape***