"Waaaaaaahhhhhh!!!!"
Inside the palace chamber, Sandersonia and Marigold cried their hearts out after Kairo removed the brands from their backs.
Even Hancock couldn't hold back her tears.
The three sisters had long believed those marks would follow them for the rest of their lives.
Never in their wildest dreams had they imagined that a traveler they had never met before would completely erase them.
From now on, they no longer needed to live cautiously.
No longer needed to fear that their past would be exposed.
"Mr. Kairo, thank you!!!"
After crying for quite some time, Sandersonia and Marigold suddenly ran over to him and dropped to their knees.
With tears streaming down their faces, they shouted,
"Thank you so much, Mr. Kairo!"
"It's nothing."
Looking at the sisters who were crying tears of joy and even kneeling to thank him, Kairo smiled and waved his hand.
"You can both get up."
"It... it really disappeared?"
"And without leaving a single trace?"
Elder Nyon slowly walked over behind the sisters.
After confirming that the brands had vanished completely without leaving any mark whatsoever, she looked at Kairo curiously.
"Mr. Kairo, if you're capable of removing these brands, then you should know where they came from as well, shouldn't you?"
The moment Elder Nyon spoke, Hancock and her sisters suddenly tensed up.
All three looked nervously at Kairo.
"Lady Gloriosa, that's quite a difficult question."
Looking at the wrinkled and diminutive old woman, Kairo sat down in a nearby chair and casually crossed his legs.
"I'm merely a traveler."
"I've seen and heard many things."
"But to me, none of that is important."
"What matters is that Hancock and her sisters no longer have to live in fear because of those marks."
"Isn't that right, Hancock?"
"If Mr. Kairo wishes to hear it..."
This time, Hancock did not avoid his gaze.
Instead, she looked directly at him.
Although they had only met for the first time today, she no longer felt guarded around him.
Her greatest secret and deepest taboo had already been removed by his hand.
What else was there left to fear?
"I want to hear it! I want to hear it!"
Perona, who had been quietly standing beside Kairo, suddenly raised her hand.
Looking extremely curious, she asked,
"Kairo, what exactly was that brand?"
"Why were Sandersonia and Marigold crying so hard after it disappeared?"
"Well..."
Kairo froze briefly.
Then he reached over and patted Perona's little head.
"That's not something a little girl needs to know."
Clearly fascinated by the topic, Perona puffed out her cheeks and looked at him pitifully.
"But I want to know!"
"Don't worry. If it's a secret, I'll keep it secret!"
"That was the mark of the Celestial Dragons... the Hoof of the Soaring Dragon."
Before Kairo could respond, Hancock suddenly spoke.
However, the moment she started talking, painful memories resurfaced, and her expression immediately darkened.
Sandersonia and Marigold also began trembling slightly after hearing the words "Celestial Dragon."
The fear buried deep in their hearts resurfaced instantly.
"The Hoof of the Soaring Dragon?"
Perona blinked blankly.
Then she turned toward Robin.
"Robin-chan, what's that?"
Robin had recognized the mark the moment Kairo removed it.
She simply hadn't expected the Empress of Amazon Lily to bear such a brand.
Now that Perona had asked, and Kairo hadn't stopped the conversation, she quietly turned toward him.
"Mr. Kairo..."
Kairo naturally understood what Robin meant.
But he had no desire to delve deeper into this matter.
After all, it was a painful past the three sisters didn't want to revisit.
More importantly, the existence of that brand had nothing to do with him anymore.
If it was someone else's painful memory, then it was best left buried.
"The Hoof of the Soaring Dragon is the mark of the Celestial Dragons."
Before Kairo could change the subject, Hancock lowered her head and spoke.
Her fists clenched tightly as she struggled to maintain her composure.
"Once branded with it, it becomes proof that you are a lesser human being."
"A mark that can never be removed."
"In other words..."
"I was once a slave of the Celestial Dragons."
"Snake Princess..."
"Elder Sister!!!"
Neither Elder Nyon nor her two sisters had expected Hancock to reveal the truth herself.
All three stared at her in shock.
After finally speaking the darkest secret she had buried for years, Hancock became visibly nervous.
She raised her eyes and looked at Kairo.
"Mr. Kairo... now that you know..."
"That's enough, Hancock."
Before she could finish, Kairo suddenly stood up.
His expression was serious.
"The brands are gone now."
"So stop living in the past."
"Face the future instead, Hancock."
"As far as I'm concerned, there are no nobles in this world."
"And there are no slaves."
"Remember this."
"You are the Empress of Amazon Lily."
"The most beautiful empress in the world."
"Mr. Kairo..."
Hancock stared blankly as Kairo approached her.
Then, without warning, tears began flowing down her beautiful face.
Silently.
Uncontrollably.
Drop by drop.
Falling to the floor.
"What a warm-hearted man..."
Standing nearby, Elder Nyon let out a long breath as she watched Hancock finally open her heart and cry openly.
Then she looked at Kairo with newfound interest.
"Hm?"
Suddenly, Elder Nyon's eyes narrowed.
Her gaze shifted toward Robin.
At the same time, she recalled the way Perona had called her earlier.
"Robin-chan."
"You..."
After a brief moment of shock, Elder Nyon's eyes widened.
"Nico Robin!!"
Seeing Elder Nyon stare at her in astonishment, Robin smiled politely.
"Hello."
"You really are Nico Robin of Ohara?"
Elder Nyon was genuinely shocked.
She had never imagined that Robin—the so-called Devil Child of Ohara who had been hunted by the World Government since the age of eight—would appear in the Grand Line.
Much less arrive at Amazon Lily alongside a mysterious traveler like Kairo.
As Amazon Lily's wisest and most far-sighted former ruler, Elder Nyon had always possessed keen insight into major events.
What shocked her wasn't Robin's title as the Devil Child.
It was the fact that Robin had survived all the way from West Blue to the Grand Line and was now traveling beside a man she knew absolutely nothing about.
Of course, Elder Nyon held no prejudice against Robin.
Before bringing Hancock and her sisters back to Amazon Lily, she had spent many years living overseas.
She knew the truth about the Ohara Incident.
She also knew that the eight-year-old Nico Robin had never been a demon.
That title was nothing more than a fabricated crime forced upon her by the World Government.
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