Hello, everyone !
I'm back with the twenty-first chapter !
I hope you enjoy reading it as usual :D
Disclaimer: I only own this plot
Lucy returned to the mine when the sun was up high and lunch time came. As she was also the railway project's supervisor,—before Natsu took it upon himself to share the job with her—she decided to go back and check things out. Not that she knew what to be checked since she knew how capable Natsu was in his job.
When they returned, lunch was being served. But Lucy's steps stopped when she saw Lisanna was laughing while sitting beside Natsu. Her gaze fell as she couldn't help but admit just how beautiful Lisanna was. She looked like a sweet princess from the fairy tale.
Compared to her, Lisanna was a much better suitor for Natsu.
Meanwhile, Gray gawked at his best-friend. What the heck is that stupid flame-head doing?
Right on then, Natsu's own eyes caught Gray's and the dark blue-haired man became aware of Natsu's boredom flashed in his eyes. Natsu let out a signal begging for help to his personal assistant.
Gray sighed. He pushed Lucy's shoulder gently and made their way to them. He pulled a chair out, allowing Lucy to sit there. Right in front of Natsu and Lisanna.
"Wow, lunch!" Gray eyed the meal, still standing up. "Is this the same camel meat as last time?"
Lisanna laughed. "Silly, Gray! It's beef! I asked the cook to change the meat into beef because obviously it tastes way better than that smelly camel!"
"Pity," Gray sighed again. "I like the camel meat better."
Lisanna scoffed. "You can't be serious."
"I mean it." Gray snickered. "We can eat beef as much as we want back in the Dragon Country, but we can only eat camel meat in this country. Quite the luxury in my opinion."
Lisanna scoffed again. "I can't believe you like that smelly meat."
"Well, since the cook has gone through much trouble to prepare this for us, let's eat then. Natsu, get away from there. I've been eyeing that spot from the beginning." Gray said.
"What—"
"Alright, alright, you stinky ice-butt." Natsu growled but stood up nevertheless.
"Gray!" Lisanna glared.
"What?" Gray shrugged and sat on Natsu's chair. "I don't want to sit there because I can see the sun directly. Besides, Natsu needs to sit there so he could see the mining area clearly instead of facing his back towards it."
Natsu sat down beside Lucy. "Well, yeah, thanks for letting me see the sun clearly, dimwit."
"Your welcome, moron." Gray smirked. "Happy now?"
Natsu smirked back. "Shut up. Let's just eat now."
Lisanna stared at Gray in disbelieve. She already had the thought ever since that sitting position in the carriage this morning, but she knew she wasn't wrong this time.
Gray was trying to separate her and Natsu!
The hell is his problem?!
"You." Lisanna glared at Lucy. "Move."
"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Calm down, Lisanna. You'll blind your eyes if you sit there." Gray said.
"I don't care!" Lisanna spat. "Move. That's my place."
"But you're sitting here!" Gray raised an eyebrow.
"My place is beside Natsu!" Lisanna growled. "So move your butt, witch."
"Whoa, language." Gray muttered.
"I don't give a fuck about that at all!" Lisanna spat. "I can curse at whoever I want to!"
"Lisanna." Natsu glared at his childhood friend. "Watch how you speak and how you behave. You are here in the behalf of the Dragon Country. Don't embarrass us."
"Natsu!"
"I—I can switch places with you, High Court Lady Lisanna Strauss." Lucy offered.
"No." Natsu gripped Lucy's hand firmly. "You're staying where you should be as my betrothed. Beside me."
Lisanna choked. She couldn't believe Natsu had just said that! "Natsu!"
"Okay guys, no fighting." Gray said. "Lisanna, just sit tight and don't make any fuss, alright? Natsu and Lucy are the supervisors of this project and you can't embarrass them."
"Embarrass?" Now Lisanna was so pissed off. "What part of me is embarrassing?!"
"Lisanna, enough." Natsu said sternly which caused his childhood friend to look at him immediately with her teary eyes. Natsu had never used such a stern voice with her before!
"N—Natsu…"
"I said enough." Natsu repeated, only his tone this time calmed down a bit. "Let's just eat our lunch without anymore commotion. I still need to supervise."
Lisanna gaped at Natsu but then glared so cold at Lucy. "This is all your fault!" she screamed. "You must have bewitched him!"
"Lisanna, enough." Natsu said. "This is not how a noble lady of the Dragon Country should act."
"Besides, an arranged marriage isn't always so bad." Gray added. "Like me and Juvia, or Gajeel and Levy. We all know how an arranged marriage sucks, but we can't say that our parents' choices are always bad either."
"But I don't want to get married to anyone else except Natsu!" Lisanna protested.
"Stop." Natsu sighed. "Lisanna, you've been way too infatuated with that promise."
"Yeah, I agree." Gray added. "I'm pretty sure Natsu promised to marry you back then simply because he didn't know what a marriage means. And you know, maybe Bickslow isn't as bad as you imagined him to be."
"No!" Lisanna slammed the table. "What's with this whole peace treaty offer anyway? Don't you find it strange, Natsu?"
"Stop, Lisanna." Natsu muttered.
"And this whole project thing! Phantom Country is one of Celestial Country's allies, right? So why should we play hide and seek with them? What's with your disguises?!"
"I've told you it's a political thing." Natsu said.
"What kind of a political thing? Explain it to me, Natsu!"
Natsu sighed. "The only one who knows about the offer is the royals of the Celestial Country, okay? We don't know how their allies would react about the offer, so we're hiding it. That's why we're on disguises so when the Phantom Country puts its eyes on us, they would think that the Celestial Country is making a joined project with the Sand Country because Lucy is here. That's also why you shouldn't be here in the first place, Lisanna."
Lisanna opened her mouth to say something, but she didn't know what to say. She glared at Lucy instead. "I knew that peace offer hides something, you witch."
"Okay, okay, now we know the situation." Gray countered. "Let's just eat, okay? I'm starving and we still have a job to do."
"Fine." Lisanna huffed.
They then ate in silence, as Lucy slipped into one of her memories. On the night where she reported back to Jude for the first time. She told him about the postponed marriage, but she said it was a good idea instead for her to learn more about the country without being restricted as Natsu's wife. Seeing how her fath—king—didn't send her any message to cut the bullshit, she assumed that her king was okay with her idea.
That night after she went back from delivering her report, she happened to stumble the royals at the back garden of the palace. Lucy quickly hid behind a dark corner as Zeref's voice reached her ears. She peeked a bit and she also saw Natsu there. Igneel and Mavis were also present.
"Father, what do you think about the peace treaty?" Zeref asked. "Do you think we should just accept it without any precautions? Can we trust Jude?"
"Yes, Father." Mavis added. "Knowing Jude Heartfilia, this peace treaty must have a deeper meaning."
"Or maybe he has a change of heart." Igneel said. He then went into a silence for a few seconds before letting out a sigh. "To be honest, I don't think Jude would offer a peace treaty without any certain meaning."
Lucy's heart thumped. Don't tell her… They… They knew? About the espionage?
"But Jude is a king, nevertheless." Igneel continued. "We've been at war for years and he keeps losing his soldiers and men. Without his people, how could he become a king?"
"Yes, you're right on that one, Father." Mavis said. "But we can't eliminate the possibility of Jude setting an espionage through this offer."
Lucy's heart thumped faster.
No, no, no…
"Mavis-nee, you can't possibly think Lucy as a spy?" Natsu raised an eyebrow.
"Of course not!" Mavis glared at his brother-in-law. "I honestly don't think Lucy as a spy! But maybe without us knowing, Jude could have sent someone else to spy on us!"
"Okay, don't make any assumptions now." Igneel laughed. "I really think the offer as something good. And you all should too."
"Understood, Father." Zeref nodded his head. "And I'm sure Natsu already thinks that."
Natsu glared at his brother. "Are you implying something?"
"No… Of course, it's nothing. I'm implying at nothing." Zeref smirked.
They then entered the castle, leaving Lucy alone. Her knees buckled and she flopped down to the grass. Her body slightly shivered and she closed her eyes. Hearing how much the royals trusted the offer made Lucy's will to protect them grew even stronger.
Above all things, she wouldn't let her tyrant king destroyed the Dragon Country.
"Hey." Natsu touched Lucy's hand softly, pulling her mind back from the memory. Lucy lifted her head and she was met with Natsu's concern eyes. "Are you sick? You're not eating much."
"Oh, I'm fine." Lucy said. She then continued with a quieter voice. "I just sort of miss the camel."
Natsu grinned. "I know, right? I miss that too."
Lucy smiled but then shuddered when she felt Lisanna's cold stare at her. Right. She shouldn't be acting this way with Natsu.
Lucy pulled her hand softly from Natsu's touch as she stood up from her seat. "Excuse me, Your Highness. I'll just… Uhm… I'll just take a fresh air for a moment."
Before Natsu could say anything, Lucy quickly bowed down politely and darted off. Loke who was returning from the palace saw her figure running away but he didn't say anything. Instead, he smiled while looking at flustered Natsu and turned on his heels before the second prince could see him.
Lucy ran away as fast as she could while fighting off the desert wind. She knew she would be lost if she wandered away, so she decided to go back to the palace. She needed some space and some time alone to ease down her painful heart.
But Lucy knew it would raise questions among the palace's servants if they saw her coming back alone. So, Lucy decided to settle down at the castle's back garden. Being in the middle of the desert made Queen Aquarius decided to make her back garden as beautiful as possible. There weren't that many flowers, but the green grass was more than enough for Lucy.
She fell to her knees as she panted.
Just then, someone popped their head from one of the rocks' behind, startling Lucy.
"Mademoiselle."
Lucy gasped as she quickly stood up in alert. She eyed the man who had just spoken to her and felt her knees buckled once more.
"S—Sol-sama…?"
Sol, the right-hand man of King Jose appeared fully from behind of the rock and smiled at Lucy. "I knew it was you when I peeked onto this country a few days back."
Lucy cautiously took a step back and lowered her head. It was a customary for her to never ever lift her head when she was seeing someone from the Celestial Country or its allies. Nobles were emphasized. "What… What are you doing here?"
"Oh, nothing. My king said I should come and hmm… How should I say it? Greet you." Sol said.
Lucy gulped down in fear. Jose Porla had always been a close friend of her king and thus, he knew of her status as an illegitimate child. Sol was aware of it too, since the man was someone Jose trusted so much.
So, Lucy was aware what kind of greeting Sol brought to her.
"I see you have a few interesting youngsters with you." Sol waved his body back and forth. "Who are they, mademoiselle? I'm sure not someone from the Celestial Country."
"T—they are someone from this country." Lucy managed. Her brain spun immediately to think of a lie.
"Never seen them before." Sol blew his fingers. "Who are they?"
"Nobles." Lucy croaked.
"So, is the alliance with the Dragon Country failed?" Sol asked.
"We—we're discussing it."
"I do hope it fails, mademoiselle. Of course you have to guarantee it, don't you think?" Sol smiled. "This country could offer nothing big for the Celestial Country, but still it'll be quite a predicament if the Dragon Country managed to seize it. I'm sure you understand."
"I'm aware." Lucy braved herself to say. Doesn't matter how badly her knees were buckling and how close she was from flopping down to the ground.
"Very good!" Sol clapped his hands. "I'm looking forward to see the real marriage in three years."
Lucy gulped down again. So, Jose had known about it.
"King Jude is not quite pleased with it, but he figures you might be useful in a way during those three years. So, don't let him down. You wouldn't be able to imagine in what ways he could punish you if you disappoint him." Sol smiled.
"I—I understand." Lucy kept her head plastered to the ground.
"Very good! Then I shall return for now. But don't forget, my eyes are always on you, mademoiselle. Have a pleasant job!" Sol said and left.
Lucy's knees couldn't handle it anymore and she fell on to the ground. Her body shivered out of fear. To think Phantom Country would send someone this fast to check on her…
No, calm down., Lucy's brain ordered. They haven't realized your plan at all. You can do this.
Lucy took a deep breath for a couple of times to calm herself down. Yes, she could do this. No matter how, she would protect the Dragon Country.
"So, Jose is sniffing around."
Lucy's breath hitched as she recognized Loke's voice from behind, but she didn't dare to turn her head. Seeing him would only make her remembered Hibiki, and that was the last thing she wanted to experience today.
Loke made his way to her and Lucy flinched. She had to run, but her feet failed her. She had to scream, but her voice left her already. Damn it, she had to do something but her courage flew off somewhere!
Loke grabbed Lucy's hand and forced her to turn her head and faced him. He put a finger under her chin, leveling his eyes with her own shivering eyes. Loke smirked. "No one is here at this kind of time, princess. Should we have some fun? And I'm sure the second prince won't be here because by this time, he would have been preoccupied with his supervising job."
"G—get away." Lucy croaked.
Loke chuckled and licked his lips as he dipped down to Lucy's neck and breathed her scent. Lucy closed her eyes and screamed Natsu's name loudly in her heart. Her hands were shivering badly but Loke got a good strong grip on both of them.
"N—no."
"Sshh, let's just enjoy this." Loke whispered as he gave Lucy's neck a long lick. "I'm pretty sure doing it at the outside tastes better than doing it behind the doors."
What Hibiki did to her rushed back into her mind. Lucy shivered in fear, remembering how Hibiki also did this to her outside. The only difference was that Loke was doing it on daylight.
"No, s—stop." Lucy tried to kick Loke away, but he placed his own knees between her.
Loke hovered above Lucy as he forcefully pushed her down to the ground. Lucy closed her eyes tight and Loke chuckled. He then released his grip on her hands and lifted his body.
Lucy cracked an eye open and saw Loke was smirking at her. She quickly pulled her body away from him and stayed away as far as her feet could take her.
"I won't touch you here." Loke promised. "I can't risk what I have, you know that. If the second prince is aware, then I'm doomed."
Lucy stared at Loke in silence, fear was still filling her eyes.
"Let's make a deal, shall we? You won't tell Natsu or anyone else about this, and I won't tell a soul about you meeting King Jose's right hand man either." Loke said.
Hearing that, Lucy's heart thumped even faster as a new wave of fear struck her. A memory came back to her, making her shivering went a degree worse.
Loke noticed the fear which was filling Lucy's eyes, but he clearly didn't care. He stood up and winked at Lucy. "Well then, since you're not saying anything, I assume the deal is locked. Now, I'll take you back to the mine."
Lucy tried to stand up but her feet faltered and she fell onto the ground once more. She shuddered as she felt like Sol's eyes were on her.
"What's wrong, princess?" Loke raised an eyebrow. "Did I scare you way too much?"
"Lucy!" Just then, Gray appeared. He decided to chase after her after Natsu asked him to take care of her. He thought Lucy wouldn't dare to wander away in a country she had never known of before, so he went back to the castle. But man, Lucy sure could run away fast. "Are you okay?"
"Lord Gray." Loke bowed down.
Gray ignored Loke's greeting and made his way to Lucy. He crouched beside her. "Hey, are you okay? Why are you sweating so bad? And your hands are so cold."
"Perhaps Princess Lucy still has a bit difficulty in adapting with our country's harsh climate." Loke offered. "You should head to your room and get some rest, Princess."
"I—I'm fine." Lucy croaked. "I'm fine."
"No, you clearly aren't." Gray said. "I'll take you back to you room."
Gray helped Lucy to stand up but a second later, she fainted on his arms.
Huft, this is the longest chapter so far !
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