Once Gion disappeared from view, Dofmingo broke the silence. "You're Marine, aren't you?"

  Rosinante froze, then said softly, "You knew all along?"

  "You idiot. Nothing escapes me. How could you possibly think you could hide it from me?" Dofmingo snapped angrily.

  "Then why did you make me one of your top executives?" Rosinante asked in a surprised tone.

  "I was na?ve. I thought you were my brother. What does it matter if you're Marine? After all, I'm CP-X. As long as you didn't act against the Wover, I could tolerate it. But this… this is unfivable! How am I supposed to this up now?!" Dofmingo shouted, his frustration clear.

  "Yes, I'm Marine. But I've never leaked a sihing about you," Rosinante said early. "In fact, Marine doesn't trust me enough to give me any real authority. I'm just a pawn in their political games. You should know better than anyone how suspicious the Wover has always been of you, even with Cousin Cudius proteg you. You trust him more than me. pared to me, he's more like your real brother." Rosinante smiled sadly.

  "That's because my cousin has never betrayed me. You've only disappointed me over and ain!" Dofmingo's voice was thick with bitterness.

  Rosinante fell silent. Their bond as brothers had always been strained. Perhaps, in Dofmingo's eyes, Rosinante had only ever let him down.

  "You're right. Ending this is simple," Rosinante said quietly after a moment. "Just let me die. Pin all the bme ohe Wover won't hold you or Cousin Cudius atable. They'll believe me because of my identity as Marine."

  "You wao kill my own brother?" Dofmingo growled through gritted teeth.

  "You don't have to. Just release your Parasite String, and I'll do it myself," Rosinante replied with a faint smile.

  Dofmingo's anger boiled over. He yanked Rosio the air with his strings and smmed him to the ground.

  "Mr. Corazon!" Law cried out in panic.

  "Shut up! If it weren't for you, I wouldn't—" Dofmingo roared, his voice shaking with rage.

  Law fli the outburst, silenced by fear, but tears streamed down his face as he began to grasp the weight of what was happening.

  "Rosinante, you're my brother. I won't let you take the coward's way out," Dofmingo said coldly. "If you truly want to die, then you'll die by the hands of the brother you've disappointed arayed!"

  Gripping Rosinante by the throat, Dofmingo's fiightened, cutting off his brother's air. Rosiruggled to breathe, but his voice remaieady as he murmured, "Please… take care of Law."

  "Are those your st words?" Dofmingo whispered.

  In the moment, a white thread pierced through Rosinante's chest. Crimson blood staihe snow beh them, the red a sharp trast against the pure white.

  Rosinante felt the st of his strength fading. A faint smile tugged at the ers of his lips as his body weakened. Dofmingo released his grip, and Rosinante slumped forward.

  "I'm sorry, brother," Rosinante whispered, his voice barely audible. "In the end, I made you make this painful choice. I've let you down my whole life. I'm so sorry. But…"

  "Shut up. Stop talking, you damn fool…" Dofmingo's voice trembled as he gently pulled Rosio his arms.

  "If only we had been born into an ordinary family… if we could have lived ordinary lives…" Rosinante's voice trailed off as the light faded from his eyes.

  Dofmingo held his brother's lifeless body, his grip tightening as if refusing to let go. His knees buckled uhe weight, and he colpsed onto the snow, cradling Rosinante in his arms.

  "Even at the end, our paths were different. I think… if we had never left Mariejois, maybe things would've beeer…" Dofmingo's voice cracked as he spoke, tears streaming down his face.

  The infamous pirate, known for his cruelty and ing, now wept openly, all pretense of pone. In that moment, he wasn't a warlord or a criminal. He was just a grieving brother who had lost the only family he had left.

  Law cried untrolbly beside them, clutg Rosinante's body as tears poured from his eyes.

  In the distance, hidden in the snowy woods, Stussy lowered her telescope, her expression plicated.

  She had bee by Cudius to ensure Rosinante's death. Cudius had suspected that Dofmingo might hesitate, uo kill his own brother. If Dofmingo faltered, Stussy repared to finish the job.

  But as she watched Dofmingo make his painful decision, she couldn't help but feel flicted.

  "Maybe, if Rosinante hadn't chosen to trade his life for that boy's, Dofmingo wouldn't have do," Stussy thought to herself.

  "Young Master!" Torrepol and the other officers arrived, their faces filled with .

  They froze at the sight of Dofmingo holding Rosinante's body and the sobbing Trafalgar Law beside him. Even Torrepol, usually so brash, was at a loss for words.

  Dofmingo had stopped g by then. His face was calm, but he still held Rosinante's body tightly. The faint traces of tears on his face were the only evidence of his grief.

  "The Wover has one more debt to settle with us," Dofmingo murmured, his tone filled with quiet hatred.

  He stood slowly, lifting Rosinante's lifeless form in his arms. "Trebol, take Law and leave. Make sure no one sees him."

  "Yes, Young Master," Trebol replied, quickly leading Law away.

  Dofmingo turned and began walking through the snowy ndscape, Rosinante's blood-stained body in his arms. Behind him, a trail of red marked the pure white snow.

  ---

  Marihhly searched Mignon Isnd but found no trace of the Ope-Ope Fruit. Based os from Dofmingo and Gion, they ultimately cluded that the fruit had beeroyed in the explosion.

  The official at was that Rosinante, ag as an undercover Marine, had tried to steal the Ope-Ope Fruit but failed, leading to its destru. Rosinante had died in the process, and Marine's mission was deemed a failure.

  As for Dofmingo, he left Minion Isnd without a word, returning to Dressrosa to bury Rosinante in the flower fields.

  ---

  On the Prometheus, Cudius listened quietly to Stussy's report. When she finished, he said nothing, his expression unreadable.

  "Maybe I made a mistake," Cudius murmured softly, his tone heavy with emotion.

  "Yhness…" Stussy called out gently, worried.

  Cudius shook his head and waved her off. "Don't worry about me. It's nothing," he said quietly.