As he expected, once Natsu entered the kingdom of Dragnof he was met with looks of fear and revulsion by the people who resided there. Rocks, sticks, and trash were thrown at him but they did no real damage and he simply ignored any act of cruelty that came from the peasants. When he entered at the castle his nose caught hold of a very familiar and unpleasant scent. One that he didn't like at all. He knew it from somewhere but at the moment he couldn't figure out where exactly. However upon reaching the throne room he put the thought out of his head and approached the king and his daughter in a dignified manner.

He bowed before them both and when he lifted his head his eyes were immediately directed toward the princess. She was even more beautiful than he remembered and he hoped with all his heart that she would not be too appalled by his appearance. Her face reflected shock and slight anxiety over the being with a half reptilian physique but there was no revulsion which was a huge relief to him.

"I have come for my companion your majesty." He spoke to the king respectfully.

"Of course."

Jude then ushered for Lucy's maid servant Mirajane to step forth. She walked toward the creature with a small satchel of belongings in her hand, ready to go with Natsu just as Jude had commanded her to do the night before.

"As promised a companion to share your loneliness." Jude said.

But Natsu was not pleased by this. Indeed Mirajane was quite pretty and he could see an incredible kindness in her eyes but he did not like being deceived and lied to. He did not like being taken for a fool. He did not like having promises made to him and then broken.

"With all due respect your majesty." He said. "Do you think I am idiot?"

"Why no. Not at all."

"Do you consider yourself an honest man?"

"I am a king. I must be an honest man."

"Then answer me this, why are attempting to deceive me and break your word?"

"What?"

"You promised me that my companion would be the first person who greeted you upon your arrival home. Yet this woman you have presented to me was not in fact the first person who greeted you."

"Father what is this creature talking about?" Lucy asked.

The king made a look of a astonishment. No, it's not possible. He couldn't have seen that Lucy was the first person who greeted him. He couldn't have.

"On that day I guided you out of the forest you gave me your word that the first person who greeted you at the castle would be my companion and the first person who greeted you was your daughter. I saw her run to you and embrace you before anyone else could reach you. Per our agreement she is the companion you must give me."

"Father you never mentioned that." Lucy said. "Is that true?"

At first Jude became very afraid that Natsu would get angry and viciously attack him for the attempted deceit. But then his fear gave way to arrogance and pride when he remembered that he was now safe inside his own castle.

"Impudent beast!" He bellowed. "As if I would give my daughter to the likes of you!"

"You gave me your word!" Natsu argued. "If you are true king then you will keep your promise."

"How dare you lecture me on what it means to be a good king! You aim too high for one of your standing! Take the servant girl and be satisfied with that!"

"I will not be satisfied with a lie and a broken promise!"

"Guards!"

At once men bearing weapons surrounded Natsu and made aim to either stab or shoot him if the king gave the order for them to do so.

"If you will not accept the reward I offer you then you shall have none at all." Jude said. "Now leave my kingdom immediately or you shall be killed."

"What a cruel and dishonest man you are!" Natsu cried. "When you were lost I gave you shelter and then guided you home, you offered me anything I wished in return and gave your word that I would have what I requested. But now that I have come to collect you break your word and have the audacity to consider yourself a king."

"Hold your insolent tongue or I shall have it cut off!" Jude ordered. "You are trying my patience you horrid creature! Begone! Now!"

Everyone in the throne room expected Natsu to go into a raging fit which would mostly end with him having to be killed for the safety of everyone there. But to their surprise he just looked over at the princess and went away sorrowfully with his head hanging low. Lucy could not help but feel touched by Natsu's gaze on her for she had seen such hurt in his eyes. Hurt that once again he had been treated as if he were less than human. She pitied the poor creature and the way he looked at her stayed with her memory although the night.

"Whatever is the matter my lady?" Her maid Mirajane asked when she noticed how melancholic Lucy appeared as she was brushing her hair by the vanity.

"Did you see the way that creature looked at me Mirajane?" She said. "He looked as if he had just been beaten down by a mob and left for dead."

"A most pitiful thing my lady."

"I feel so sorry for him. Father shouldn't have lied to him like that. It was a very cruel thing to do." She put down her brush and turned to face Mirajane. "Do you think that maybe...Maybe I should have gone with him?"

"Well a promise is a promise. But I do not believe that your father would have allowed you to go with him even if you wanted to."

"You're right but even so I cannot forget those eyes." She explained. "They were not like the eyes of a dragon. They were neither yellow or slitted, they were just like a human's eyes and they were so full of pain. Like he had spent his entire life living in pain. I had never seen such eyes."

"I do not find that very surprising. Truly he must suffer so looking the way he does."

"And there was something about his voice too. Something very familiar. I feel as if I have heard it somewhere before but that's not possible because I have never seen any beast like him in my entire life."

"If I may ask my lady, do you believe that you could be happy living with someone like him?"

"I honestly don't know if I like the idea of living with someone I do not know. I just wish that Father could have handled the situation more kindly."

"I agree."

"I only hope that the poor creature wasn't hurt too deeply by my father's actions."

Alas, poor Natsu was hurt beyond all reason. Human beings had always been cruel to him for how he looked but what King Jude had done was definitely the cruelest of all. In despair sat at the edge of Dragnof staring back at the king's castle, wondering if he would ever experience any true joy. Happy tried to comfort his master and his attempts were greatly appreciated but unfortunately they proved futile.

"It's always the same thing." He sighed bitterly. "I can't seem to get one lousy break. It doesn't matter what good deed I do, people are always going to see me as a freak. I guess my only hope of ever being happy again is to just pray that my sister finishes the scarf."

"I wouldn't say that my boy." A familiar voice said.

Turning to his side he saw the old wise woman Porlyuscia walking toward him.

"What are you doing here?" He asked her.

"I was out gathering herbs when I heard that the king of Dragnof owed a debt to an unusual creature. I deduced it wad you and I happen to know that King Jude does not always make the best decision. That you may end up needing my help so I sought you out. Judging by the disappointment in your voice I was right to. Now tell me all about your encounter with the king."

Natsu did just that. He told her of how he had offered the king shelter and how he had shown the king the way back to Dragnof. He told her of how the king had promised him a companion, the first person who greeted him once he arrived at the castle. He told her that the first person to greet the king was his daughter and how the king tried to deceive him then outright deny him his reward in general.

"My, my, my that is awful." She said. "But lucky for you I have just the solution to your problem. Tomorrow morning go back to the king and humbly request that he keep his promise. If he refuses to do so then make a very special call. Do that and I am certain that the king will have no choice but to honor his word."

"What kind of call?"

She cupped her hands over her mouth and made a call that sounded like various other calls.

"How will that convince the king to allow the princess to be my companion?"

"Just trust me."

Natsu was understandably skeptical but the wise old woman had never steered him wrong before so he took her advice. The next morning he went to the castle again, bowed before the king and the princess again, and again he said to Jude,

"I have come for my companion your majesty."

"Fool! I already told you that you will not have my daughter!" The king said. "Now leave beast or you shall die!"

But Natsu just cupped his hands over his mouth and making the very same call that Porlyuscia had made. At once animals from the forest came running into the castle at all sides. Bears, wolves, mountain lions, wild pigs, hawks, and bees closing in on the dishonest king. The royal guards tried to fight off the animals but there were too many. Jude was completely stiff with fear, petrified that the creatures intended to devour him.

"Stop!" Lucy cried. "Please! Spare my father and I shall go with you."

At once all eyes turned to the princess, completely shocked that she had been the one to speak up.

"My good sir your anger toward my father is completely understandable." She said to Natsu. "But I beg you, please do not harm him. He meant no ill will. He was only thinking of my well being. Nevertheless a promise is a promise so I shall live with you as your companion just as you were promised."

Natsu cautiously stepped up to Lucy but still kept his distance from her.

"Do you sincerely mean what you say?" He asked her.

"Yes sir."

"Even if it means having to look at my hideous face everyday? Do you find me very ugly?"

"No sir. Not so ugly that I would go back on a promise."

Now the king still objected but eventually the pleas with his daughter along with the threat of being torn apart by wild beasts made him comply. Lucy was very brave but also very sad to leave her home and she was very afraid of what the future would hold for her but the night before she left Mirajane had told her,

"Life is like a sea my lady and the sea leads to many places. Maybe the current carrying you will lead to some place better than what you expected."

Lucy embraced her maid servant for her kind words and come the very next day the princess gathered up some of her things, went to greet Natsu at the castle doors, and was lifted up on to Natsu's steed Happy. Then the large blue cat took her and the half dragon man from the kingdom of Dragnof into the forest.