Hello, everyone !
I'm back with the second chapter :D
I hope you enjoy reading this chapter as well :D
Disclaimer: I only own this plot
"Hey, slut girl."
Lucy looked up slightly—though she didn't have to because she knew who called her. After all, she was given unique names by each person in her family—and saw Jenny was staring down at her. She was wearing a bright purple dress with splashes of glitters here and there. Big golden necklace adorned her neck and her big earings were dangling. Added with her big white gold bracelet on her hand, Jenny looked blinding under the morning sunlight.
"Father called you." Jenny said. "Honestly, why am I supposed to call this girl anyway. Hurry it up, slut girl."
Jenny then stomped her killer heels away and Lucy stood up from her scrubbing stairs duty. Thank goodness Jenny called her as she was about to be done, or else she wouldn't get any dinner for today. Lucy put away the bucket and the brush and then made her way to the throne room.
She greeted the guards who politely greeted her back—unlike the rest of the family, Lucy and Sting were actually loved by the other residents—and entered the throne room. She bowed down politely.
"Greetings, my king." Lucy said. Being an illegitimate child, she couldn't even call her own father 'Father'. "And greetings to my queen, my princess, and my prince."
"Ew! Look at her ugly dress!" Eve snorted. "Has she taken a bath yet? She stinks!"
"Now, now, behave Eve," Eileen said. "your Father has great news."
"I don't want to see you any longer than this, so let me tell you straightly." Jude sneered. "I'm sending you as our spy to the Dragon Country under the notion of offering a peace treaty with said country through marriage."
Lucy widened her eyes although no-one could see that. She wasn't allowed to raise her head in front of the royal family because she was not considered as one of them. Now that she had done this for quite a few times, her neck had grown accustomed to it. No more stiff neck because she bowed down for far too long.
But did she hear it right? A peace treaty? Marriage?
"Her? Marriage?!" Jenny laughed. "Oh my gosh, this is hilarious! Don't tell me you're sending her as the second prince's wife-to-be, Father!"
"My, you read my thoughts perfectly, Jenny." Jude said while smiling and Jenny laughed harder.
"Serves you right, slut girl!" Jenny said. "I hope you find your happily ever after in that tyranny country!"
Lucy bit her lower lip as to hold her tears inside. She knew she wasn't wanted in this family and that was bad enough for her. Now, she was handed to the country which was ruled by a far crueler king than her father? Worse, she was about to marry the second prince! That playboy and sadistic prince!
How come her life was so cruel?
"You'll leave by tomorrow morning. I'll send Coco with you. Now, listen carefully. You're going there as the second prince's bride-to-be, but you're a spy from this country. I want you to analyze every kind of weaknesses in that kingdom—surely you're smart enough to do that—and report it back to me. They don't know you're an illegitimate child so make sure you behave like a princess. A proper princess." Jude ordered.
At this, Eve laughed hard, followed by Jenny. "Her? A PRINCESS? Oh my god!"
"W—well, at least she could imitate me." Jenny wiped a tear off. "Surely after all these 16 years of being our servant, she could have learned something!"
"Oh dear, an unwanted child like her?" Eileen giggled. "But I do hope she knows how to behave properly like a princess. We can't let her put suspicions on us."
"You heard the queen." Jude said coldly. "If you dare to do anything that put this peace treaty offer in jeopardy, or if you ever turn your back on us, you can say hello to your mother."
Lucy bit her lips harder as her tears were in the verge of spilling.
"Do you understand, you piece of shit!" Jude said while throwing his empty goblet which hit Lucy's head.
"Dear, that's an expensive one!" Eileen protested.
"...Yes, Your Highness." Lucy croaked.
"My god, how come it's so hard for you to just say yes!" Jude huffed. "You're dismissed. Get out of my face."
Lucy bowed down once more and made her way out of the throne room. She smiled and the guards and quickly walked away before they noticed her teary eyes. She ran to her room at the tower—ignoring greetings from the servants she passed—and closed the wooden door. She slumped down on the floor and quietly sobbed.
Why did fate play with her life like this?
"So, Father, I heard the Heartfilia family sent us a peace treaty offer?" Zeref asked while the family was enjoying their breakfast.
"Correct. They asked us to arrange a political marriage with one of their daughters as a sign of peace." Igneel answered.
"And Natsu is our lucky guy." Zeref snickered.
Natsu stabbed his steak. "Why does it have to be me?!"
"Well, Zeref is already married, and there's no way Rogue can answer the marriage offer." Igneel scoffed. "You're the perfect and the only candidate, Natsu."
"But I don't want to get married!" Natsu protested. "I thought I've said it loud and clear that I don't want to be like brother!"
"Oh come on, little brother," Zeref nudged Natsu's elbow. "you might like the bride, you know. I heard Jude has a beautiful daughter."
"But she is a spoiled and a snotty brat!" Natsu said. "Father, isn't there any other ways to respond to their offer? Anything except marriage!"
"Natsu, sweetie, don't say something like that." Grandine spoke, trying to use her soft voice to ease her son. "Zeref is right. You might like the bride."
Natsu groaned.
"Natsu, I'm sure you know there's no other way," Igneel said. "so be a man and face it. Think this as a way to help our people. A peace treaty with the Celestial Country means no more wars with them."
"Rogue likes it!" Rogue said. "No more wars, just peace everywhere!"
"See?" Zeref smiled. "Don't you want to grant Rogue's wish?"
"My, I can't wait to see the wedding!" Wendy clasped her hands in excitement.
Natsu groaned once again. With his two favorite little siblings being so happy, how could he turn the offer down?
"Princess, may I come in?"
Lucy wiped her tears and sat up on her mattress. "Come on in, Coco."
The door opened and a cute young girl stepped in. Her brown hair was braided into a tidy fishtail. She was wearing a brown maid outfit and she smiled widely. "I'm here to prepare for your leaving, Princess."
Lucy smiled weakly. "Stop calling me that, Coco. You know I'm not a princess."
Coco closed the door and smiled back. "You are forever will be my princess, Princess. Besides, you are born into the royal family."
"Unwanted." Lucy mumbled.
Coco kept her smile and fished out something from her back. "I brought you a present!"
Lucy raised an eyebrow. Coco took out a white box and handed it over to Lucy. "Open it up, Princess!"
Lucy lifted the lid and gasped upon seeing the beautiful dress inside. She lifted the dress carefully and tears started to pool in her eyes. Never in her entire life had she ever seen a beautiful dress like this. "W—where did you get this?"
"This is actually one of the unwanted dresses which belonged to Jenny-sama. She told us to burn it back then, but I'm so glad they keep it anyway." Coco answered.
"They?"
"Correct, Princess. This is a gift from all of the servants and the guards for you. They will be so lonely without you here, but they wished you happiness." Coco said.
Lucy's eyes dropped. "What kind of happiness can I get in that tyranny country, Coco? Moreover, I am betrothed to a sadistic prince."
"Princess," Coco said while sitting down beside Lucy and touched her hand. "those descriptions may be wrong, don't you think? Our country has always been fighting with them, it is normal for rumors to spread to give rise to hatred. Maybe the real Dragon Country is a warm country and the second prince is very nice."
Lucy chuckled dryly. "What are the chances of me having that kind of luck?"
At this, Coco held Lucy's hands tightly. Lucy tore her gaze away from the dress and looked back at Coco's earnest eyes. "Princess, I'm sure of it. This is the time where you are leaving all of the sorrow."
Lucy's tears started to form once again and she laughed weakly. "How can you be so sure?"
Coco smiled. "Because I have been by your side all this time, Princess. I just know it."
Natsu couldn't sleep. He just stared at the ceilings in silence. He was tired but he wasn't sleepy. No matter how hard Natsu tried to close his eyes and went to sleep, his mind just wouldn't let him do that. His brain kept replaying what his father had said today.
He was getting married and his bride was coming tomorrow.
Man, talked about doing the one thing he hated the most. It wasn't like he didn't want to get married for the rest of his life, it was just he didn't want to do it now. He was still so young, he wanted to enjoy his life more. Now that he was getting married, he would lose all of those chances.
Natsu couldn't understand why the Celestial Country offered a peace treaty all of the sudden. His country had tried to offer a peace treaty two years ago, which the Celestial Country replied with a war the next day. Thankfully, his father had anticipated Jude Heartfilia's rejection and was prepared to battle. The battle lasted for two days and ended when the Celestial Country called back their soldiers as always. So why did they offer the same peace treaty now? And not any peace treaty, they wanted to have a political marriage! Why?
And why must he marry a spoiled princess? Natsu could already imagine his agonizing days with his "wife" by his side. This had to be a joke pranked by fate for his life.
Everyone knew about the Heartfilia royal family. One of the noble family who once sided with the Heartfilia—the Redfox—chose to run away and settled down in the Dragon Country. Within two years of their residency, fueled by their business in weaponry forging, they became one of the noble families who supported the Dragneel. From their confession, it was found out that Jude Heartfilia ruled his country with fear and cruelty. His queen was as power-hungry as he is and his two children were so spoiled. His people were suffering but all Jude cared was his own self. He conquered other countries and robbed their treasures if his own people could not provide him enough. Natsu was so sick when he heard it, but Igneel ordered to stay put. He didn't want to have any unnecessary war with the Heartfilia.
Now, he had to marry Jude's spoiled daughter, Jenny Heartfilia. How cruel can fate be?
"Lucy-nee, don't go!"
Lucy smiled and crouched down to level her eyes with a blue pair of eyes. "Hey, don't cry," Lucy wiped a tear with her thumb. "you can always visit me."
"You're lying!" Sting sniffled. "Father would never let me visit you!"
"Hey, don't say that." Lucy smiled. "If you be a good boy, I'm sure you're allowed to visit me."
Tears ran down on Sting's cheeks and he threw himself to hug his step-sister. "Don't go! Please don't go, Lucy-nee! Don't leave me!"
Lucy bit her lower lips to hold off her tears and took a deep breath. She hugged her little brother tight and ruffled his blond hair. "I promise I will come to visit you sometimes. Don't cry, okay Sting? You're a big boy already."
"You're lying!" Sting said. "Father would never allow you to see me!"
"Hey," Lucy patted his back. "we can meet at the border, right? You can ask Lily to come with you for safety."
Sting sniffled and pulled back slightly. "Are you sure?" he sobbed.
"Of course." Lucy smiled. "Here, I'll give you this bell. If you ever wanted to see me, ring this bell when you are at the border. I will hear it, no matter how far I am, and I will come to see you."
Sting swung the bell lightly and it jiggled. "Okay." he said weakly. "Promise me you'll come when I ring the bell."
"Cross my heart."
Sting hugged his sister tight once more. "I'm going to miss you badly."
"I'm going to miss you too, Sting." Lucy hugged back. "Stay healthy and be a good boy, okay? You have to be strong to lead our people."
"I will." Sting rubbed his teary eyes.
Lucy smiled then stood up and looked at a bulky young man beside Sting. "Lily, please take care of him for me."
Pantherlily bowed down. "Your wish is my command, Princess."
Lucy smiled and ruffled Sting's hair once again. "I'll see you sometime soon, Sting."
Sting nodded his little head. "Be safe, Lucy-nee. If your husband ever treated you badly, just tell me! I'll beat him!"
Lucy laughed. "Okay, my little knight."
"Princess, it's time." Coco said.
Lucy sighed then gave one last look at Sting before entering the carriage, followed by Coco. The coachman then snapped the reins and the horse started carrying the carriage away. Lucy looked at Sting from inside the carriage and then sighed when she couldn't see him anymore.
Lucy was surprised when Sting suddenly ran to her and told her not to go. She knew her family wouldn't want to see her off, so she was surprised to see Sting. Sting wasn't there in the throne room yesterday when their father told her about the arranged marriage, so Lucy wondered how Sting found out. Maybe he accidentally heard it from Jenny or Eve when they mocked her.
Sting was the only reason Lucy smiled for her existence. He loved her genuinely, though he didn't know she wasn't his pure-blood sister. All Sting knew was that his family treated Lucy badly although he didn't know why. But Lucy was the only one who was there with him. She was the one who took care of him, played with him, told him bedtime stories, and protected him. Sting may had a complete family, but all he took as his real family was Lucy only. They had been so close since he was born, and it pained Lucy's heart to see his tears.
Coco squeezed her hand for assurement and Lucy smiled. She was inwardly grateful for Coco and Lily's existence. The two of them—along with all the servants, the guards, and the people—were the only ones who recognized her as a princess, despite her mother was a maid. They were always there, treating her the best as they could whenever possible. For them, Lucy was the real embodiment of a princess.
Lucy sighed. Now that she was getting further away from the castle, it meant that she was getting closer to the Dragneel castle.
Her new most likely nightmare.
Done !
Yayy, I'm so happy I can write another chapter :D
So, what do you think ?
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