Noble [OLD]

Chapter 13: Living a Lie

Sabo's POV

"What's that?" I muttered, looking at the paper before us.

"It looks like a note." The captain stated.

I made my way over to it and picked it up from the ground. As I opened the letter, all there showed as writing.

"Dear Sabo" was written on the top of the page.

As I read that line, I remembered what I had wrote in my past letter.

"Dear Father...As sad as It is to say, the princess and I are not getting along too well. I hope this inconvenience won't be too much to grasp. This also means I failed to keep my promise to the queen. Stelly won't be able to marry the princess of Goa.

Even though we can't be royalty, I think we'll be fine on our own. Why should we risk everything on me getting married? I know you want the best of me, but I think I'll be happy with someone I choose to love. I don't even think I'm ready to get married yet.

So that's my answer, again I'm sorry for the inconvenience, I hope you open up to my suggestion!"

Thinking about it, I started to sweat. There was still the possibility that he wouldn't care.

"Why am I thinking that way?" I thought to myself.

I completely opened the paper, revealing all of the handwriting.

"Dear Sabo...It's extremely unfortunate to hear about this news. I'm sure we can both come to a good conclusion in the end. We cannot tarnish our family's reputation, you know that don't you? Your mother and I love you so much, this is why we have you study.

Sadly, if you can't marry this princess, I'm going to have to let you go."

My eyes widened, I couldn't move an inch.

"What do I mean by that? Well, you do remember what the queen said, right? She stated that she would let Stelly marry her daughter if you weren't apart of the family anymore. I'd love to keep in touch with you, and maybe you could find a beautiful and rich princess on your own. For now though, I'm sorry but this is for everyone."

My dried out tears didn't last long. "What is he saying? Don't tell me he actually..."

"In order to keep the family's name intact, we're gonna have to get rid of you for a little while. It pains me to see you become so carefree again, but a child is a child. You've studied your whole life, and you failed me once again. It seems I can never stray you away from a lowlifes influence."

I fell to the floor, aghast at the words I was reading.

"Goodbye, Sabo. You are no longer my son."

Those words hit like spears through my heart. I've occasionally been hurt for not studying or focusing, but these words outweighed anything I had experienced before. I could be the brother of a famous pirate, and now my parents might not be who I thought they were.

It was like my whole life shattered within ten minutes.

"Sabo?" The captain took a step forward.

"You...you were right..." I spoke quietly.

He stared at me with a concerned look. He got closer to me and knelt down. He lifted my head to reveal my regretful face. I focused my attention rereading the letter over and over again. Repeating the same line in my head.

"Goodbye, Sabo."

I could only sob as I gripped the paper, now slightly damp from the tears.

"You are no longer my son."

The only thing those words could do is scar me. This whole time I thought my family loved me. That they just wanted the best for me. Instead, I've been living in some sort of lie. They would rather have money than call me their own son.

"Why did you have to be right?!" I asked as I cried.

"Hey, kid, calm down!" He put his hand on my cheek and wiped away some tears.

Despite this, I couldn't help but cry more. This was the crushing reality. Ten years of my life was wasted on people who never cared about me.

"HOW?! HOW CAN I CALL DOWN WHEN..." I stopped, once again rereading the letter. "My parents...they never cared.."

The captain lifted his hand off my face. He then embraced me into a hug. No matter what, I just couldn't hug him back. The only thing I could do was bury my face into his chest.

"Why did you...why did you have to be right?" I whispered, still tear filled.

"Kid, I'm so sorry..." He said softly, stroking my hair.

"They never loved me...why-why didn't they love me?" I asked as I started crushing the paper.

The captain remained silent. He had never seen a noble break like this.

He had never seen me break like this.

"Sabo..." he said under his breath.

"I CAN'T- I can't...WHY IS THIS HAPPENING?!" I shouted as my voice became sore.

"Sabo! Calm down!" The captain raised his voice. "Please... I don't want to see you like this."

Once I heard that I stopped speaking. I didn't want to worry him too much about this. Especially since it's not his problem to deal with. Instead I silently cried in his arms.

"Hey! Get some tissues quickly! There should be some in storage!" The captain shouted at the men.

"Captain..." I whispered, still crying.

"Yeah, kid?" He asked with a smile.

I closed my eyes and controlled my breathing. "Thank you."

The only thing he could do is hold me. He kept brushing his hands through my hair and remained silent.

I then hugged him back. I still felt terrible, but it was nice knowing the captain was there.

"That was it. The truth behind my clouded past."

"A sad ignorant kid, living a lie for ten years."