A/N: Chapter 3 peeps! Enjoy!


Chapter 3

Natsu and Lucy wandered aimlessly around the castle, losing sight of Juvia every now and then. She was currently guiding them towards the chambers they would be staying in during the wedding.

Juvia didn't talk to the both of them much, her mind was occupied with thoughts of the prince.

As they walked Natsu and Lucy small-talked about the woman in front of them not quite understanding her.

"This castle is huge, I can't believe you know your way around here." Lucy said amazed. They were currently walking down a hallway that, according to Natsu, looked just like the last one they walked in.

"It's nothing, Juvia knows every corner of this castle, Juvia has always been living in this castle." She said quite emotionless.

"Oh, okay then. Well where is our rooms? We've walked for quite a while." Lucy asked after the rude answer she got before from the girl.

Juvia didn't say anything but kept walking until she stopped in front of a door.

"This will be your room Lucy" Juvia said and gestured to the door in front of them, "And that will be your room Natsu," she continued and pointed to the door next to Lucy's room.

"Juvia will wake you up at 06.00 Am sharp, and take you to the place where the breakfast will be served. The breakfast with the king is being served at 08.30 make sure the prince is ready by then. Juvia will take you to his room after our breakfast. If you have any questions you can ask Juvia. Juvia's room is at the end of this corridor and to the right. Now Juvia will have to leave to help the princess prepare for the dinner tonight."

"Wait, how do we find our way back?" Lucy asked but it was too late, Juvia was already gone.

"What a weird girl." Lucy muttered to herself.

"Hey Luce, why don't we check out our rooms? I bet they are really nice." Natsu asked, almost jumping out of excitement.

"Yeah Lucy, let's do that" Happy said just as eager. Lucy sighed, those two was really something else.

"Fine guys, but remember that we are guests so don't ruin anything okay?" She said and grabbed the door knob.

"Aye Sir!" they answered in unison.

Lucy opened the door and revealed a rather big room. The bed was big enough for two persons. There was a wardrobe, a desk and a bedside table and the view was to die for. You could see the beautiful garden from this room.

The room itself was located at the first floor in the castle a few corridors away from the dining room they attended before.

Lucy dropped her belongings on the floor and made her way to the window to look out, Natsu and Happy was already taking a nap on her bed.

"Hey, let's check out your room too Natsu!" Lucy said as she tore her gaze away from the window. As she turned around she saw the two sleeping on her bed and she was ready to yell at them but figured that they deserved the rest since the trip had been quite hard on them.

Lucy quietly tip-toed towards the door and sneaked out. If she was going to stay here she needed to be able to guide herself around so she decided that she would explore the castle a little and try to find prince Gray so she could help him get ready as-well.


Levy was finally back from her walk in the garden with the prince. She had to admit that he was quite charming but not really her type.

Juvia had joined them walking by the pond and explained that she needed to dress Levy and make her ready for the dinner that was coming up. As Levy and Juvia walked back to her chamber she had noticed the faint blush her friend had gained on her cheeks while talking to the prince. Levy was definitely going to ask her maid about that when she returned with the dress.

Only a second later the blue haired maid walked in with a box. She placed the box on the princess's bed and opened it. Inside was a beautiful orange dress. Levy watched the beautiful fabric and couldn't believe she was wearing a dress that beautiful despite being the princess.

"Oh Juvia, it's beautiful. I can't believe I'm wearing this tonight." Levy said as she held up the dress in front of her.

"Just wait until you see your wedding dress your highness." Juvia said and watched the short princess blush and widen her eyes. Juvia herself was looking rather gloomy and sad, just the thought of watching the prince getting married to someone else was hard for her, even though she didn't even know the prince herself. Something else that was bothering her was that the princess in front of her was marrying the man of her dreams and didn't even want to. Juvia was abruptly taken out of her thoughts as the princess was looking hopefully up at her. Jumping away slightly she asked the princess what she wanted.

"What were you thinking about?" She asked.

"Oh.. ehm.. Nothing your highness." She said with a gentle blush showing on her cheeks. Levy giggled at her answer.

"Well then, why were you blushing so madly before when you talked to me and Gray out in the garden?" Levy asked although she already knew the answer.

Juvia blushed more this time and tried to look at anything but the princess.

"Come on Juvia, please answer!" Levy begged practically bouncing with curiosity.

"J-Juvia wasn't blushing when princess Levy was talking with prince Gr-Gray" Juvia stammered and was only getting redder and redder for every minute.

"Oh my goodness," Levy exclaimed, "You are in love with him! Juvia that is wonderful, it's just like one of my romance novels. Love at first sight!" Levy's smile was now taking up most of her face and her eyes were shining bright.

Juvia sighed and realized she was never going to win an argument with the princess.

"Too bad I'm the one being forced to marry him and not you." Levy sighed sadly. She knew that if there was any chance for her to get out of this mess she would grab the first opportunity she'd get.

Juvia perked up at that statement, too bad it's not you instead of me. It was perfect, it would definitely work and she needed no more to worry about that love-rival Lucy. Oh how Juvia envied that girl for being maid to the prince, not that she minded Levy, oh no, but being with the prince and doing every thing he asked for. What a dream.

"It's perfect" Juvia said

"I'm sorry what?" Levy asked baffled.

"Juvia has the perfect plan, this way she can be together with prince Gray forever." Juvia squealed out of pure joy.

"Um, sorry but I don't think I'm following. What plan?" Levy asked once again and looked up at the slightly older girl.

"Juvia and my lady will switch places." Juvia explained happily.

Levy stared at the maid dumbfounded. Who would buy that Juvia, her taller, more busty and paler maid was Levy. No way anyone was dumb enough to believe that. Perhaps Natsu, if he was as stupid as the prince described him but definitely not her father and especially not the prince.

"I'm sorry Juvia but I don't think it will work" Levy said sadly.

"Oh but of course it will, princess. Juvia will dress up exactly like you and everyone will believe that Juvia is you while you sneak out and do what ever you want to do and Juvia will be together forever with her prince!" Juvia said as she clasped her hands together and looked dreamily straight ahead.

Giggling slightly at her friends antics she decided to play along just to find out how much thought Juvia had put to this plan.

"Well then, when were you planning on telling him who you are? At the wedding, directly after he falls in love with you or maybe on the ~Honeymoon~?" Levy asked and practically sang the last part.

" H-Ho-Hone-Honeymoon?!" Juvia stuttered, her face matching the color of a tomato and a hand gently touching her lips. Then she realized what the princess had said. She needed to tell him the truth, she wouldn't be able to fool him the rest of their lives. Her shoulders slumped at this realization and she buried her face in her hands. "Juvia didn't think about that."

'Apparently she didn't think about it for long.' Levy thought and looked at Juvia who was about to cry any minute.

"Don't worry about it, Gray doesn't want to marry me anyway so I will definitely help you with him!" She smiled at the now crying girl.

Juvia sniffled a little and dried her tears with the back of her hand. "Princess Levy means that?" She asked her a bit shakily.

"Of course" Levy nodded, "That's what friends are for, isn't it?"

Juvia smiled and was suddenly feeling much better, "Well then," she sniffled and dried her eyes and blew her nose with a tissue the princess had handed her. "Let's get you ready for the dinner."

Juvia looked at the girl standing in the middle of the bedroom. Her clothes were perfect. It was a tight sleeveless orange dress that fitted the princess perfect and highlighted her slender, yet curvy enough, body. The skirt of the dress reached the floor and was split in the middle with white fabric coming out. With the dress there was also a pair of orange sleeves that was tied with white bows just above her elbow.

Levy's hair was hanging loosely around her face with a simple matching hairband holding back her worst curls. On her feet a pair of white heels was placed.

Looking at the mirror Levy gasped, she could hardly recognize herself. This was nothing like the ball dresses she had used before, it was completely different. Looking at her maid who was also joining the dinner but was only wearing a simple blue dress she smiled and nodded, she was for some reason excited.

As Levy and Juvia walked towards the stairs, trying not to fall on their heels, Levy thought about what Juvia had said before. 'Do what ever I want to do?' Levy thought, but what exactly did she want to do? Sure she had told the prince that she wanted to see the world but was she ready for that? All her life she had been stuck behind the walls of the castle, trapped like a bird in a cage only able to see the town from her balcony. But walking around the world, traveling, being free, was a whole lot different than just seeing the town she was supposed to rule one day.

Every morning the first thing she saw was the market, all the people walking around aimlessly shopping or just meeting up with friends. 'Friends' she thought, besides Juvia and some of the guards Levy was pretty lonely, the people working for her was her only friends.

Just before she was too lost in her thoughts she noticed a hand before her and raised her gaze to see the dark-haired prince standing smiling in front of her. Gently she grabbed his hand and was led to the dining table. The room was huge, a shining chandelier was hanging just above the table, otherwise it was empty. The dining room was on most days used for the balls and parties her father would throw.

Levy was seated opposite from the prince, right next to her father who was seated at the short end. Beside Gray his maid Lucy was sitting with the jester Natsu beside her. Juvia sat down next to Levy and was every once in a while stealing glances at the prince. The table was relatively empty considering there was only six people seated at it. Levy was sure that some of the knights and lords of the town was going to join them but was apparently wrong. Since it would only be the three of them, Levy, Gray and the King, Makarov had decided to let the servants join them. Only the one closes to the royalties of course, but still.

As they sat there, small talking, the main course came in. It was a lovely meat soup with bread on the side. Levy was almost drooling just by smelling the dish. Just as she was about to grab a piece of bread she dropped her napkin. Picking it up she accidentally made the waiter standing behind her trip and dropping all of the soup in the knee of the young prince sitting across the quite small table.

A scream was heard and Lucy stood up immediately trying to wipe away the soup from the prince. Levy peeked up over the edge of the table, looking embarrassed at the people staring at her.

"Sorry." She squeaked.

The rest of them was just looking at her, bewildered and quiet until laughter was heard.

"That probably made you melt Ice-brain" Natsu laughed while holding on to his stomach.

This made Levy even more embarrassed and she quickly rose to her feet and rushed towards her room. Struggling a bit in the stairs with her heels she somehow managed to get to the second floor where her room was located.

"YOU IDIOT!" Lucy screamed at the poor jester who was looking confused at the stairs where the princess had disappeared. "You can't just say things like that Natsu, this isn't at home. We're at another castle and you just embarrassed the princess. How dense can you be?!" She continued and then turned to the king and prince. "I am so sorry for how Natsu behaved, I will take the Prince to his room and help him. I hope the princess isn't to upset." She said and bowed to the king as she then led Gray to his chamber.

Juvia got up to and was ready to leave for the princess's side when the king stopped her.

"Leave her alone a little Juvia, it's been a quite stressful day for her." The king said and then made himself ready to also leave. "I will be heading off to bed, I hope the two if you can enjoy the rest of the dinner alone." he said and walked away up the stairs.

Juvia and Natsu stared at each other and started slowly eat from the food on the table. The waiters who had fixed the mess where Gray had been seated was already gone. As Juvia tasted the food she noticed and tail just above the table. The tip was white and the rest blue. Suddenly a cat head plopped up and a blue cat with a green little scarf wrapped around its neck started eating from the food.

"This is really good food, to bad there aren't any fish." The cat then said before continuing eating.

Natsu didn't seem to bother but Juvia was quite shocked. She hadn't seen a cat that could talk in a long time. The last time was when she was visiting a friend who happened to own a cat similar to this one except the color. That cat was black with bear-looking ears. Shifting her gaze to the pink haired boy eating as much as he could she wondered why he didn't leave when the rest of his friends did.

"You okay there?" Natsu suddenly asked her.

Juvia snapped out of the thoughts and looked at the boy. He had stuffed his mouth with bread and was looking concerned at her.

"Pardon?" She asked.

"I said, are you okay? You look a bit down!" Natsu said again after he had swallowed the bread.

"Y..yes, Juvia is fine. Juvia is just worried about the princess." She answered a bit embarrassed for not hearing the first time.

"Hmpf, then go see her." He said and continued with his food.

"Wha..? But the king told Juvia she should let the princess be, Juvia can't disobey the king like that." She said aghast about what the fire-eater had suggested.

"Why not? You're her friend right?" Natsu said.

'Her friend?! Is Juvia her friend? No! Juvia is just the maid. But still?!' Juvia pondered at the thought of her and Levy being friends. Sure they had practically lived together their whole life but still. Making a decision she rose from the table, thanked Natsu for the company and walked towards the stairs.

As she stood outside the princess's door she heard a few frustrated sighs and outburst, not very loud, but nevertheless words a princess shouldn't use.

Juvia gently knocked on the door and waited for the princess to open. A muffled come in was heard and Juvia opened the door. Inside the princess was sitting by her desk looking out through the window. Juvia walked closer and tapped the princess on her shoulder. Startled by the touch she turned around and saw her maid.

"Is Juvia your friend?" the maid asked.

Levy didn't quite understand why Juvia would ask such a thing.

"What do you mean Juvia?" Levy asked her and looked quite baffled.

"Do you consider Juvia your friend? Are Juvia and the princess friends?" Juvia asked once again and tried not to create any tears.

"What a silly question Juvia, of course we are friends! Why wouldn't we be?" Levy asked and smiled slightly.

Juvia sighed in relief, she didn't know herself why she had asked, it just seemed important. She thought back at what Natsu had told her when they were seated by the table after everyone had left. Yes, Levy was Juvia's friend and maybe the jester had been right.

Levy then sighed and Juvia tore her gaze from the outside view to look at the seated princess.

"I can't believe I managed to make the waiter drop all that soup in the knee of prince Gray." she said, "It was so embarrassing, what will I do tomorrow?"

"Juvia believes that the princess should go to bed and just apologize in the morning, Juvia is sure prince Gray will understand that it just was an accident." Her maid said kindly and guided the princess to her bed.

When Levy was lying comfortable Juvia turned out the lights and walked towards the door. Just as she was about to walk out Levy's voice was heard.

"Why did you ask me if we were friends Juvia?" She asked her

"Juvia just wanted to make sure, that's all." Juvia answered simply and turned towards the princess.

Levy smiled and nodded before saying goodnight and burying herself in the pillows and under the blankets.

"Goodnight, my friend." Juvia said and closed the door. With a smile she walked back to her own room.