The pace where Cudius resided was one of the fi in the House of God. Especially now that Cudius had been "reborn" with a new sense of taste, his life had taken on an air of refined luxury. He was no lohe wasteful Celestial Dragon he had once been.

  In the ter of the hall stood a table carved from the fi mahogany, upon which rested an intricately designed dragon-shaped inse burner. A siick of inse burned slowly within, releasing a faint fragrahat filled the entire room, calming the mind and soothing the soul. This siick of inse could burn for a full day and was worth a staggering 20 million Beri!

  Nearby, a tea set sat oable, simple in appeara steeped iravagahe tea itself was of the highest quality, specially picked from the Kano try. Brewed from the most tender leaves, just one sip left a lingering fragran the mouth. Even whe beside the inse, the subtle st of tea could still be detected.

  Beside the table was a rattan rog chair with a velvet cushion. Cudius lounged half-reed in the chair, holding a history book in his hands a rare and valuable volume that recorded knowledge lost to most of the world. Even if it were pced in the famed Tree of Knowledge on Ohara Isnd, it would be sidered a treasure.

  Yet, Cudius hahe book with indifference. Whenever he found something iing, he simply folded the page's er as a marker. Had he a pen, he might have even scribbled notes directly in the aome. To a schor, his careless treatment of such a precious artifact would have been bsphemy.

  But after a while, Cudius lost i. He closed the book with a sigh, shaking his head in disappoi. "It's all surface-level stuff g any real depth. It seems the history of this world is tightly trolled by the Wover. Even as a Celestial Dragon, I 't easily delve into the truths of the past."

  He tossed the priceless book casually onto the table and picked up a cup of tea, taking a slow sip.

  Cudius had ohought that, as a Celestial Dragon, he would have no trouble unc the mysteries from 800 years ago the secrets buried deep within the Pirate World. However, he had clearly uimated the Wover's stranglehold on suowledge.

  For the past month or so, Cudius had dedicated himself to self-improvement. Every m, he followed the foundation-building exercises Zephyr had taught him. Iernoons, he practiced mastering his Devil Fruit powers, and in the evenings, he immersed himself in reading.

  Despite all his efforts, Cudius had found little to no answers regarding the world's a mysteries. It seemed even the lower-rankiial Dragons, like him, were kept far from the hidden truths of the past.

  By now, it had been more than a month since Zephyr had rescued him from the New World. Just as Cudius had predicted, after Homing annouhat Cudius would not be taking over as the head of the Donquixote family, all internal strife had disappeared.

  In fact, the number of servants around Cudius had mysteriously dwindled. Of course, it wasn't because Cudius had gone on a revenge spree, exeg them all. Rather, they had simply vanished, presumably killed off. Cudius had a strong suspi that La, the new head of the family, was behind it.

  It wasn't hard to uand. La had never inteo kill Cudius. He wasn't a bloodthirsty man. The earlier attempts to remove Cudius from the family's affairs were purely out of y for the Donquixote family's future. But now that Cudius had willingly stepped aside and posed no threat, there was no reason for La to tiargeting him.

  On the trary, La had even go of his way to make amends. Over the past month, he had sent gifts to Cudius every few days, everything from luxury items to personal trainers when he heard that Cudius had started exerg. Cudius accepted the gifts without pint after all, there was no point in holding grudges for his predecessor's foolish mistakes.

  In fact, Cudius had e to view La in a favorable light. After him over the past month and refleg on past events, Cudius realized that La was a smart, calcuted man. He wasn't as ruthless as many other Celestial Dragons. Cudius had even heard rumors that La occasionally freed sves a rare act of kindness among the nobility.

  Ultimately, Cudius had no lingering ill will toward La. The man was simply doing what was necessary to secure the family's future. Iurn, La had pensated Cudius well, and their earlier flicts had faded into distant memories, buried alongside the servants who had once spired against him.

  Cudius didn't see ao dig up the past. He was more than tent to let things remain as they were.

  Setting down his tea, Cudius rose from the rog chair. He reached over and lightly shook a small bell sitting oable, its chime eg softly through the room.

  Moments ter, a beautiful maid in a bd-white uniform ehe room, her head bowed respectfully. Her delicate fad graceful figure made her seem almost unreal. In a soft voice, she asked, "Saint Cudius, what are your orders?"

  Cudius smiled at her and asked casually, "Has Doffy e by today?"

  Retly, Dofmingo had made a habit of visiting Cudius regurly, dragging him along for all sorts of mischief. Cudius had often dismissed his cousin's invitations, using the excuse that he was still rec from his ordeal.

  Today, Cudius found it strahat Dofmingo hadn't shown up to bother him.

  "No, Saint Dofmingo didn't visit today," the maid replied quickly. "I believe he had a disagreement with Saint Homing earlier."

  "Ah, I see. That's not too surprising," Cudius houghtfully.

  Dofmingo was certainly the odd o in his family. His father, Homing, was a kind and simple man too kind, in fact. His mother was simir, and his younger brother, Rosinante, was the perfect image of a noble, a plete trast to Dofmingo's violent and cruel nature. It wasn't unusual for Dofmingo to butt heads with his father, especially since he regurly did things that Homing disapproved of.

  Unlike his family, Dofmingo was notorious for his sadistidencies. He eormenting sves, making them fight to the death in the Colosseum, and often found creative ways to torture anyone who crossed him, including his own servants. No wonder he preferred Cudius's pany. In Dofmingo's mind, his cousin was just as cruel and twisted as he was.

  Notig that Cudius seemed in a good mood, the maid gathered her ce and spoke again, "Yhness, won't you be going for a walk today?"

  Cudius looked at her in surprise. It wasn't often that a maid would dare make such a suggestion. Her boldness stood out something that was incredibly rare amoial Dragon servants, who usually acted more like mindless automatons than people.

  This particur maid had only retly been assigo Cudius after he shot his former butler at the harbor. Uandably, she had been terrified at first, knowing the reputation of Saint Cudius. The rumors surrounding him his tyranny, his uability had made her fear for her life. But over the past month, her perception had ged drastically.

  Cudius wasn't the brutal figure the rumors made him out to be. He wasn't tyrannical, and he wasn't a zy waste like most of the Celestial Dragons. If anything, he seemed... approachable. His demeanor didn't exude the usual arrogance of the nobility. She had begun to see him as a much more reasonable master than she had expected.

  It erhaps because of this growing familiarity that she had dared to ask such a question. But as soon as the words left her mouth, she regretted them, fearing that she had overstepped her boundaries.

  Cudius, however, found her boldness refreshing. He smiled at her, "Nia, don't be so scared. I'm not going to bite you. As for taking a walk..." He gnced out the window at the sky, then shook his head. "No, I think I'll stay in today. Maybe aime."

  The maid, Nia, breathed a quiet sigh of relief. Though Cudius had deed her suggestion, she felt a sense of aplishment like the distaween her and her master had shrunk ever so slightly.

  "From tomorrow, stihese history books. Instead, I want books about the s and cultures of other tries. That's where my i lies now," Cudius said with a smile.

  "Yes, Yhness, I will follow your orders," Nia replied quickly, bowing respectfully.