He drank almost half of the bottle and the remaining he poured onto his head. The midday heat and the sweats really got to him. He wiped his face with a grey towel.
"General Dreyar, you got a visitor." A cadet came. He looked up to the messenger. The boy then turned his head to his side. A woman with long white hair stood under a shade not far from them. The woman smiled and waved at him when he looked at her. He sighed. He just finished sparred with one of his cadet, and now he got to deal with this witch. He nodded to the cadet and stood up.
He walked up to her. He still got the towel on his head, lightly wiped the sweat that constantly appeared.
"Good day, General," she greeted smilingly.
"Hey." He invited her to sit on one of the benches there. "An odd place to find you here," he said, as they sat.
"I'll be frank." She took a deep breath. "I believed that I owe you an apology," she said, earned her a confused Laxus.
"Care to explain?" Laxus leaned back, placed his arm on the back rest, behind her back.
"I met Erza the other day," she started. He kept quiet, threw his sight toward his cadets practicing with each other. "She told me that..." she paused. "...she located one of our astrayed princess. The one who eloped with her bodyguard." She turned to him, watched his calm face. She tried to search any emotion behind it. "Well, I shouldn't call her princess now, right?" She smiled bitterly, switched her sight to her hands. "She married a man whose not a royal blood. She is no longer a princess, right?"
"I'm not sure where you're heading in this." He took his towel off of his head. "In Erza and Jellal's case, it is much more complicated than that one astrayed princess. That girl didn't have much responsibilities as Erza had. For a royal blood to marry a commoner, there's a lot of things to consider."
She nodded agreeingly. He noticed that she didn't smile as much as he last saw her.
"For me, the best solution for them is to let go. You have tried your best. As her friend and as a princess. Maybe it is time for you to let go as well," he said. He patted on her arm lightly.
"I have been a pain in the ass," she said, and heard him chuckled. "...for you. Asking you to do things you didn't agree. Forcing you to do things you didn't like."
He chuckled more. "Good thing that you realised that. I thought you're here for more schemes. Don't worry. Apology accepted."
He was about to stand up when she grabbed on his arm and forced him back to sit. He raised his brows and sat back. He stared at her.
"There's more," she said. She adjusted her body facing him, her knee touched his. "Turned out there were many couples in this country. The royal blood who married the commoner. And it appeared that they lived happily here. Which was why Lucky and her husband chose to settle down here."
Laxus stared at her. He tried to guess what she was trying to say next. She held his hand tightly.
"It's not just that. This country had been generous and took care of them. There was one person incharged. You're incharged."
Laxus narrowed his eyes. Still unable to find her motive.
"Well, if you want to say thank you, I'd say don't mind. It is my responsibility. It is my job to babysit all of them. Awarded by the late king," he said.
She laughed. He smiled when he saw her laughed. She was a bit tensed when she arrived.
"I had been wondering why was it you who'd been chosen to be incharged of them?" He glanced at her, felt like he got the hint she'd been sending. "So I made some researches." He pulled his hand from her grip and turned his face to the other side. Anywhere but her face.
"There was a reason why the late king chose you. Specifically, the late queen chose you." Laxus wiped his sweat again. He didn't know why was he sweating again. "Would you like to tell me?" She waited for him to answer. "Or I could just tell you," she continued.
He glanced at her and then rested his elbows on his knees.
"Since you already knew, I guess we should just let it go and forget it. We can act like this conversation never happened," he said. Wasn't what she expected. He stood up.
"How do I know what I know and what you know are the same. I might know something, and obviously you know more, and I want to know too." She stood up too, tugged on his purple shirt.
Laxus chuckled. "Mira..." he placed his hands on her shoulders. "...it's not easy. Let it go."
"I have all the time in the world." She was not giving up. He gritted his teeth and took a deep breath.
"How a cup of coffee sounds like?" he asked.
"Sounds very nice," she replied, give him a good smile.
"This way."
XxxxxxXxxxxx
He invited her in. She entered through a small wooden door into a square working area with three-seated table on one side of the room, and on the other side, there was four seatee with a coffee table. He invited her to sit at the coffee table. He closed the door behind him and went to sit next to her.
"How long have you been here?" She tried to strike up a conversation, tried not to show too eager to dig on his secrets.
"Define here," he asked back.
Mirajane smiled slightly. "Were you always been this secretive?" she asked.
Laxus chuckled. "I'm not secretive. I was never secretive. I was just..." he paused, tried to find the suitable words.
"Not sharing?" the white-haired woman tried to help.
"Not quite comfortable saying it out loud," he corrected.
"Am I making you uncomfortable right now?" she asked.
"That doesn't matter because you will not let me go until you're satisfied," he said, glanced at her through the corner of his eyes. "Why are you so curious about my country sheltering the royal-commoner couple?" he asked. Before the woman could answer, he leaned closer, smirked and continued, "Are you fallen for a commoner too? Scouting a good place to settle down?"
Mirajane smiled. She didn't answer any of his questions. She just stared at him and smiled. She reached out and took his hand into hers. But before she could say anything, the door was knocked three times and a cadet entered, carrying a tray with two cups of coffee. The boy carefully placed the coffee on the table and immediately dismissed himself. Laxus turned back to Mirajane after the boy closed the door.
"Tell me the whole thing," she said, still holding his hands.
He took a deep breath. He would always fall for that woman's trick.
"First of all, I have to remind you that none of these - things I'm going to tell you - they are not secrets. Just that I really appreciate that if you're not telling anyone about these." Mirajane nodded, agreeing to all his conditions. He took another deep breath.
"I was sixteen when the late queen came and see me at my house. Actually both the late queen and king were there but it was her who talked most of the time. It started as a very simple job. I just need to inform her when there was a couple came into the town. The royals-commoner couple. That's all," he started.
"And then?"
"It was growing into a list. And the list was neverending. Every year, there would be a new couple. And then, I had to cover the other towns as well."
"Why would you do it?"
"I was sixteen, Mira. Trying to find my way in life. Then, there was the queen. At my door step, asking for my help." He laughed. "Growing up, I realised that how stupid I was back then."
"What makes you agree? Just because the late queen came and see you, doesn't mean you cannot refuse her?"
"She was a queen. A fucking queen. And I was nobody. Then she came, expecting something from me." He laughed, which slowly died down. He frowned. "It was..." he paused. Closed his eye and thought. ""Think of it as a way to take care of your people," she said."
"Your people?" Mirajane repeated, sounded a bit confused.
"My people," he adjusted, pointed to himself. "My mother was a commoner. My ..." He cleared his throat. "...my father was...not. I only met him once, when I was little. Then a few times after I became a general," he explained. Something he wasn't proud of.
"Did he know...Did he recognise you?"
He chuckled. "I am a commoner. He is a royal. We are not related."
"Laxus..." She slid her fingers between his. Tightly held them.
"Mira. I am proud with how I lived my life. I came to where I am now with all my hardwork. I had a mother who raised me to be who I am today. For a royal to start living a life as a commoner, with all the hardships, I do agree that they need helps."
"That's why you help them. You understood them."
"I'm not a royal, Mira. How would I understand how greatly their life had changed? But they need to face it."
"Why'd they had to change their lifestyle? They're still royals even if they fell in love with a commoner," she pointed out.
"Why do you think there was a rule that forbid the union between a royal blood people and a commoner?"
"To maintain the purity of the royal blood," she answered quickly. Laxus smirked.
"The social status. So that the royals remain above, and the commoner remains below."
"Then, what's that makes you?"
"A bastard?" Laxus grinned.
The door was knocked three times. Neither of them moved to get the door. However, Laxus turned to the door a few seconds later when nobody entered. He went to open the door. A cadet stood in front of him, said something in a very low voice. Laxus glanced to the woman once before stepped out of the room and closed the door behind him. A few moments later, he came back.
"I have an urgent matter to attend to. I'm afraid that our 'discussion' has to stop here."
"You're going somewhere?" she asked, climbed back to her feet.
"I have to go back to the palace," he replied, took the towel he left on the seatee just now.
"Okay, I'll wait," she replied.
"No, not a chance. I'm not taking you with me." He glanced at what he was wearing. "Oh shit, I got to change first." He grabbed his towel and walked to the door. She followed him to the door.
"I'm coming with you!"
"What?"
"To the palace. I'm coming with you to the palace. Not coming with you to change." She smiled widely.
"I'm not taking you with me. It's an urgent matter. And it's not concerning you," he said.
"But..."
Laxus already opened the door and showed her the way out.
XxxxxxXxxxxx
The carriage stopped. Laxus jumped out of the carriage and held the door. He helped the white-haired princess out. She smiled at the general before walked ahead of him. Laxus slammed the door while glanced sharply at her.
"Levy-chaaaann." She immediately hugged the queen whose still confused with the unexpected guest.
"Eh, Mira? What are you doing here?" She hugged the older princess back. Still confused. "Eh, General?" She looked at Laxus.
Laxus bowed before his queen. "Good day, my Queen. I need to see His Royal Highness immediately." He fastened his steps past the queen.
She turned around as Mirajane loosened her hug. The white-haired princess went to Erza, who'd been watching them. At the same time, Laxus was joined by the other general, whispered something to each other.
"Why did each of you came back with a princess this time?" Levy asked, almost shouted. Loud enough for the young generals to hear. She turned to her princess friends.
"What are you hiding from me?"
Mirajane just smiled while Erza just stood there crossed her arms over her chest.
XxxxxxXxxxxx
The door creaked opened and the three of them entered together. Gajeel sat on the edge of the table while his two generals stood in front of him. The king looked back at the list one of the generals showed him just now.
"What's in this list again?" he asked.
"Deaths," Laxus answered. "The commoners who married to royal princesses or princes."
"The ones who died were the commoners? What about their spouses?"
"Either they returned to their former life or stay."
"Stay?" Gajeel looked at the list again. "Why would they stay?"
"Most of them chose to stay." Gajeel glanced at the blonde general.
"Why do you have this list?"
Laxus glanced at his friend. "I have a theory." Gajeel waited for more. "Someone might not agree with these whole royals-commoners marriages."
Gajeel put the list down. "One of the royal rules." He sighed. "So, someone really upholds the rule."
"Obsessed," Laxus added.
The door opened again and Lord Loxar appeared. The generals bowed before him. The older man bowed before the king.
"Your Highness." He bowed again, to a corner of the room. The three young men turned to the corner. Levy stood there quietly, pretended to pick a book.
Gajeel went to his wife. "What are you doing here?" He pulled her by her hands which resisted by the little queen.
"What is she doing here again?" Everyone turned to the voice. Natsu just entered the room. "What?"
"He picked me up at my house," Lord Loxar explained.
"Yes, I asked him to fetch Lord Loxar from his house," Laxus supported.
"So, what's the commotions about?" Natsu asked, leaned against a cupboard. The closest to the crowd.
Gajeel pulled Levy with him.
"I received the notes from General Dreyar." Lord Loxar took out the notes from his chest pocket. At the same time, Gajeel forced Levy to sit on the king's chair. "Sit quietly," he warned. Levy pouted. Gajeel leaned against the table, gave his back to his wife.
"This is the list of the deaths of the commoners who married to the royals. And the recent deaths were the couples whose just married less than a year," Lord Loxar explained. His forehead wrinkled. "General, are you sure this happened only in our country?" He looked at the blonde one.
"We're taking the biggest tolls," he answered.
"He theorised that someone is slaughtering people for breaking the royal rules," Gajeel added.
"The rule that forbid a marriage between a royal to a commoner? Made sense." Lord Loxar said.
"Wait, that couldn't be enough a reason for someone to kill other people?" Levy spoke. When every glare suddenly turned to her, she quickly shut her mouth. Bit her lower lip.
"There was a reason why these couples chose this country to settle down." Their attention switched to the old man. "There was a tradition in the royal family. The aim was to build empathy." The old man paused. "However, that tradition ended with your father. He removed it from the royal rules after he got married. It was..." He paused again. Reminiscent the old times. "...every royal child must experience living as a commoner, to build empathy, so he could understand the life of the commoner, and serve the people better."
"I've heard that as a rumour. Never thought it was actually a thing," Natsu said.
"Your father started when he was 7. He came back to the palace when he was 19. Learning his royal way of life."
"He never came back to the palace till he was 19?" Levy asked, looked very surpised.
Lord Loxar smirked. "He once said,he doubted that there was somewhere in the memory that he once lived a luxurious life. Turned out that he did live that luxurious life when he was little." Everyone kept quiet. Listening to the story-telling session. "He still went back to living the commoner's life every once in a while. That was when he met your mother. Her family was practicing the same thing. When they met, none of them knew that they were from the royal family." It was really quiet. "Both your parents were ready to abandon their royal life to marry the love of their life who they thought were commoners."
"Aaawwww."
All of them turned to Levy. The petite queen shook her head, telling them it wasn't her who broke the silence. Laxus nudged his friend. Jellal rolled his eyes, and then went to look to where they thought the voice came from. Instead of Levy with them, there was two more princesses, hid themselves at the balcony. Laxus sighed as he saw the white-haired princess and her friend followed his bluenette friend in.
"The late queen was a cousin to the royal family from the West country. Apparently, only her family that practiced the norm sending their children into the commoners' life. And, they had stopped practicing it after one of her family died. Which led to your father to remove the practice too."
"So, you are distantly related to Lucy," Mirajane added. "Princess of the West country."
"Why did the death of the family member affected my father's decision?" Gajeel asked.
"Like you said, someone was killing other people who broken that one royal rule," the old man answered. "That family member - the late queen's elder sister - she'd been secretly took care of the forbidden couple going through their life. Psycologically and sometimes, financially."
"That is not right." Lord Loxar turned to Levy. "The killing, i mean."
"Actually..." Erza interrupted, before the old man said anything. "...it was not totally wrong. It was stated in the royal rules that it is forbidden for a royal to marry a commoner. And if they chose to break the rule, anyone, anybody are forbid to help them in anyway."
"Then it was wrong for you to help them build their life here," Mirajane added, specifically to the blonde soldier. No response from him.
"The late queen wasn't really share the same idea. But she was not really broken the rule. Am I right, General?" The old man turned to the blonde.
"Every couple that chose to stay here wasn't helped in any way. They were informed how the life worked around here. And they were reminded that their social statuses had changed and they were - in any way - could not claim it back, unless they split from their commoner spouse. And if they changed their mind and would like to return to their old royal life, we helped them to go back to their families."
"Then, what would be the problem?" Gajeel asked.
"Obsession," Laxus replied short.
"There are people like that?" Levy asked.
"You should be familiar with one," Lord Loxar said to the queen. "One who would always outspoken about upholding the royal rules." Levy gaped. She was very much understood the references but for her, the killing wasn't made sense. "General?" The old man then turned to him.
"Prince Ivan of the East."
"Wait. My brother would never do that." Levy stood up from the chair. "He might be a little ruthless. But he is not that heartless to kill innocent people just for the sake of some sort of royal rules."
"I didn't mean to be rude, Your Highness, but I believe that you didn't even know your brother."
"We're not that close but I don't think he would do that."
"I don't think you knew anything about him. What he would do or wouldn't do."
"And as for an outsider, you think you know him more than me?" She almost climbed on to the table. Gajeel had to go and held her from jumped onto the old man.
"He would abandon the woman he married, the child they had together - "
"You didn't have to go that far." Laxus tried to interrupt.
" - just because he couldn't bear the hardship of living the life of a commoner."
"That is baseless accusation!" She tried to free herself from her husband's grip. "He would not do that!"
"I'm just telling you the truth."
"Don't - "
"Because our General Laxus was the child he abandoned."
"What??" Levy stopped struggling.
"Fuck," the general cursed under his breath.
Levy lost of words. It surprised the two royal siblings as well. All eyes turned to the young soldier. He tried to keep his face straight, caught Mirajane stared at him and quickly averted his eyes away.
"He...what?" Levy still couldn't believe her ears. She fell back onto the chair. "I didn't know that."
"He managed to make his way into the Royal Council and became one of the most influencial members of the council. I hope that I was wrong, but I believe that the death of the late queen and her sister were his doing."
Everyone was quiet. No one had any idea to say, afraid that they might hurt their queen even more.
"We should look into this matter deeper. I suggest that we send someone to look into the death of the late queen's sister. It was all started there." Lord Loxar stood up. He glanced to the queen. "Pray that I was wrong."
Both the generals nodded and bowed when the old man walked past them toward the door. The old man bowed before the royal couple and excused himself.
They stared at each other for a few second. None of which could provide any word.
XxxxxxXxxxxx