Enjoy!

Lucy hums in frustration with a hand on her chin in thought, her legs crossed on her bed. It had now been a month since they had gotten married, and their fathers were becoming frustrated with the lack of news about any pregnancy. As Lucy expected, they made herself and Freed get a fertility test. They both came back positive and Freed's father outright asked them if they were even having sex. Freed had assured him that they did on the wedding night and then again when the pregnancy test came back negative. It put his father a bit more at ease but they were running out of time, the issue was that they were completely stumped on how to escape. "This is taking so long." She sighs, bringing her hands down to rest in her lap. She looks to her side at Freed also in thought. "Don't you have some sort of invisibility runes?"

Freed meets her gaze. "I am not certain. I am still new to my magic so I do not know everything about it. I can attack with my pain and fear spell and make a shield of sorts. I'm also in the midst of learning how to create wings with runes."

Her eyes shone in excitement. "Wings? That's so cool! Are there any other physical attributes you can make?"

He gives her a warm smile and grasps her hand. "I don't know. I only have access to one book about rune magic, and the only spell it gives me for physical changes is the wings. I'm sure that there are other books about rune magic, but that will have to wait until we leave."

"Oh!" Lucy grins. She hops up from the bed and makes her way to her desk, pulling open the bottom drawer. She pops the false bottom and pulls out her keys before sitting next to Freed again. "Let's see if Crux knows anything. He's supposed to have all knowledge about Celestial magic and their users, but he's helped me with other things too. Maybe he has some books on runes." She pulls out her key and points it forward and summons her spirit.

Freed hasn't seen this spirit yet. She didn't have very many, so they mostly focused on the golden keys as her training. He got her to push herself to see how long she can keep one out without the spirit using their magic, and her newest record was an hour and twenty-three minutes. With the spirit sparring with Freed, it was thirty-six minutes. And finally, with her sparring with a spirit, it was twenty-two minutes. He loved how happy she looked while talking with her spirits, she had such a kind heart and cared for her spirits more than her own life. He did truly adore her. He really liked her yet he still wasn't able to get a kiss from her yet. He promised her that he would set the mood again, but they were both busy with working or with training.

"Hi, Crux. I was just wondering if you had any knowledge about rune magic?" Lucy smiles.

The spirit hums in thought. "I will have to check for you, Miss Lucy. One moment please."

Freed watched the spirit carefully. He was nervous to see if he really did have anything to help Freed with his magic. He only knew a few spells and wanted to learn more. He frowned when he noticed that the spirit had fallen asleep. He looks over to his still smiling wife. "Lucy? It seems that he has forgotten about your task."

She laughs and shakes her head. "Of course he didn't, that's just how he does his research."

"YAHOO!"

Freed placed a hand on his chest to try and calm his pounding heart. That had scared the daylights out of him. He glanced over and Lucy and saw that she was not effected in the slightest. It kind of hurt his pride a little.

"Were you able to find anything?" The blonde asks hopefully.

The spirit stroked his chin as he hummed once more. "While I do not have any books on runes, there was a previous Celestial mage that was very skilled with them."

"Then, do you know if she had any spells that could turn herself invisible?" She grabbed Freed's hand and gave it a squeeze.

"Runes are not necessarily spells, Miss Lucy. Runes are a very complex magic, but once you master them, you can have them do almost anything." The spirit folded his hands in his lap. "You can write runes to make barriers that can only be entered and exited with certain.. rules, if you must. Runes are about rules, and you may have anyone inside the barrier follow those rules. So, for instance, you're looking to become invisible, correct? If you write those runes in a barrier around someone, you may have them unable to be seen by anyone outside of those runes. Anyone can write them, but it takes a great amount of skill and knowledge to become a mage that only uses runes. To put it simply, you are the rules."

Freed was more than intrigued to find out that he can make runes do almost anything if he wrote them correctly. The book he found said nothing about this, it just gave him some ancient techniques that are not found by normal rune users. "That is magnificent, I had no idea runes could be used like that."

Lucy beamed at the spirit. "Thank you so much for your help, Crux! We'll try and figure it out from here."

The spirit gave her a small nod. "Of course, Miss Lucy. I wish you all the best with your escape." He says before disappearing.

She turns towards Freed. "So, what do you think? Should we make some kind of long invisible barrier to walk through?"

He hums in thought and places a hand on his chin. "That may take too long. It takes me a while just to write a shield." He sighs in frustration and tries to wrack his brain for ideas. There must be some way this can be done.

Lucy sees the way his brows furrow and his eyes shut in concentration. She had learned that it meant he was thinking really hard on something, and that if he did it too long he would get a headache. Whenever she saw him deep in thought like this, she always made sure to pay close attention. The first time she saw him think about something too hard and how much it stressed him out, he had gotten a bad migraine. Ever since then, she always made it her priority to help him before he got too frustrated. She waited for his small eyebrow twitch to indicate that he was getting angry before making her move.

She reached forward and started to brush her fingers through his hair, lightly massaging the base of his head on the way down. "You know, it's better to brainstorm with others than to think of everything yourself."

Freed gives a contented sigh as he feels himself relax. "You're right."

"I always am." She chuckles.

He wraps an arm around her waist and pulls her close before falling to lay down on the bed with her. He buries his nose in her hair and smiles. "Perhaps we can leave the thinking for tomorrow. It is late and we must be up early tomorrow for a meeting."

"You mean you have to worry about the stressful client while I stand there and look pretty." She snickers.

The green haired man groans. "Let us switch places for the day. You be the man and I shall be the lady."

"Me be the man huh?" She smirks. "Well now, My Lady, shall I take you to my chambers for.. pfft.. relations?" She says in a deeper voice to try and mimic him.

Freed blushes and pushes the laughing blonde away from him to have her back against the mattress before hovering over her, his hands on either side of her head. "I do not sound like that!"

The look that he gave her only made her laugh harder. "W-What ever could you mean, My Dear? I think my impersonation is of peak accuracy." She grins up up him, continuing her impression of him. "My father? Ah yes, you must mean the man with the stick up his ass. He's down the hall."

"I do not say things like that!" He gives a small laugh. "If you are going to continue to tease me, I will have no choice but to punish you."

Lucy's laughter caught in her throat when suddenly his face was mere inches from hers, his devious eyes glinting. She swallowed and her breath stuttered when she felt his hand slide up her leg until it held her waist. Heat filled her cheeks as she stared into his eyes. What was with the sudden mood change? It sent shivers running up her spine.

He smirked at her before he heard her howl in laughter as his fingers tickled her sides. "You shouldn't tease people so much, it'll end badly for you."

She tried to push him away but her arms felt like jelly. "F-Freed!" She yelled. "No m-more!" She felt tears come to her eyes as she continued to laugh, his other hand trailing to her back to wiggle his fingers there as well.

He pulled his hands away and stared in triumph at his panting wife. "Your position as the man has been revoked, that impression was atrocious."

"You're atrocious!" She pants with a smile on her face. She watched him chuckle and pushed his face away so he climbed off of her. "No more tickling."

"For now." He grins when she throws a pillow at his face.

"So, I was thinking,"

"That's dangerous." Lucy teases from behind her book, snickering when she could practically feel the eye roll.

"Anyways," Freed says, snatching the book from her hand and tossing it on the bed before taking a seat next to her. "I was thinking about what Crux had told us yesterday, and I wanted to try something."

Lucy pouts and reaches for her book, finding her page and popping her bookmark in it. "What did you want to try?"

He reaches forward to grab her hand, his other one pulling out a pen from his pocket. "Please trust me."

"Oh god, don't put it on your dick." Lucy feints disgust.

Freed's face blooms a bright red. "M-My.."

"Dick." Lucy supplies with a grin. She loved teasing him with words she knows he hates to say. "C'mon, Honey, you're a big boy. Say dick."

He shakes his head and takes a breath to cool the heat in his face. "This is serious, Lucy."

Her smile falls and she squeezes his hand. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing is wrong, My Dear. I just need to test something." He clears his throat. He brings the pen to her hand and begins writing in the air just shy of her hand.

Lucy watches in amazement when there is a gentle glow above her hand. She doesn't feel anything other than his own hand grasping hers. She sees how he's so focused on her hand and she can't help but stare. It's not the frustration that he usually focuses on to the point of a headache, but a concentration with a bit of excitement. He had been in his study all day after their meeting, she never bothered to ask what he was doing. She assumed he might be busy with work from his father. She wasn't even able to keep an eye on him because he had closed and locked the door.

"Finished." He sighs happily and pulls away.

She lifted her hand to look at it and gasps when she sees right through it and into the proud eyes of her husband. "You did it. Freed, I can't believe it!"

He brings the pen to her hand once more and erases the runes. "'You are the rules'. What he said stuck to me and I couldn't let it go. It is why I spent so much time in my study today. I was coming up with ways to write the runes. He said we could make an invisible barrier, but that would take far too long. Then I thought about the wings, how it's a physical change. Then it hit me, if I can make wings, what harm is trying to make a physical change for invisibility as well." He feels his chest swell with nothing but joy at how proud she looked. "He said that if I can write it, then I can make my own rules. So that's what I tried; I wrote them on many different objects before trying it on myself."

The blonde beamed before tackling him in a hug. "You're so incredibly smart, I'm so proud!"

Freed smiles as they fall against the bed. "I still have much more work to do, this is just the beginning. However, we are running out of time. Give me just three days."

"Three days? Are you sure that's enough?" She twirls his hair between her fingers.

"I will make it enough."

He would do anything for her. She had stolen his heart and he didn't want it back. He wanted to give her a better life, one that she had always dreamed of. The excitement in her eyes when she saw that her hand was invisible took his breath away. He wanted to protect her smile at all costs, and what better way than to free her from this life. They had the same dream, and he couldn't believe how lucky he had gotten from this arranged marriage. It had never crossed his mind that she would end up being a mage and that they would plan to run off to a guild. He never thought she would be so intelligent and funny and clumsy and beautiful. He never thought he would get the chance to be with someone that was like him.

He never thought that he would fall in love.

What Freed had with Lucy, he only ever dreamt about it. He would dream of a life in a guild, fighting alongside Laxus. His mind would run wild with the thoughts of meeting a strong woman to fight with him, to care for him. Now he finally had it. Not it the sense that he had hoped for, but Lucy was the perfect woman and he doesn't care that their meeting was because of an arranged marriage.

The other night he had a dream that they had a real wedding, their own wedding. He dreamt her with a rounded belly with his child, her raising the little girl to be a happy green haired ball of sunshine. His heart yearned for it, for a real future with this wonderful woman. He wondered if she wanted the same thing. He figured that she did considering how close she was with him. He loved when she played with his hair or massaged his head when he was getting a headache. The feel of her body against his as they slept at night, it was almost unrealistic. Her skin was smooth and she slept so silently. Sometimes he couldn't help himself as he traced patterns over her exposed back, burying his nose in her hair.

She brought him so much comfort, it was almost scary. He had only known this woman for a bit over a month and he had already fallen in love with her. He was scared, yet he couldn't help but also feel allured by her. He was trapped in her web, and he was there to stay.

He had noticed that the longer they were together, the more he opened up. He rarely ever smiled and even less so laughed before he met her. She walked into his life and changed him, and he was happy. Even her occasional usage of colourful words enticed him so much. He wanted to be with her for as long as she would have him.

Lucy knocked on the door of her father-in-law's study and straightened out the imaginary wrinkles in her dress as she waited for his reply. She figured he was going to talk about the pregnancy thing again, that he most likely was telling her that he made another appointment since it would be her two weeks since Freed had claimed that they had sex. She was so over this. She had no idea what he would do when he found out she still wasn't pregnant. Would he get a doctor to physically implant Freed's sperm into her uterus? It sent shivers of disgust rippling through her from just the thought. She wouldn't put it past the old weirdo since he wants a grandson so damn badly.

"Enter." Came a gruff voice.

She took a deep breath before pushing open the doors and making her way inside. She gently shut the doors behind her and took a seat in front of his desk. She waited in silence as he looked through his paperwork. He did this every time and it pissed her off to no end. He was the one to call her in here and yet he's not even prepared. And he did it every time! It was getting ridiculous at this point. There was no way that this man was always doing paperwork and nothing else. He could at least have the decency to give her his attention if he was going to call her in here. It was usually something stupid too. I have scheduled a pregnancy test. Or, I expect you to attend this ball and not speak. The one that got on her nerves the most was; You need to be more ladylike. Ugh! She just wants to take his favourite feather pen and shove it right up his-

"I have scheduled another pregnancy test for you." He says as he places his pen down.

There it is. Lucy had to fight the urge to not roll her eyes. "Yes, Sir."

"It will be tomorrow afternoon. I expect positive results this time." He folds his hands on the table.

"I will try to not disappoint this time, Sir." She gives a small bow in her seat.

"Bringing the next heir into this world is a great honour, Lucy. I am expecting nothing else than a boy." He sniffs.

She bit her tongue hard enough to taste blood. An honour? And honour would be to throat punch you. She thought sourly. She took a breath and gave a nod. "Of course, Sir. I would want nothing more than to bring an intelligent and loyal son into this family. He will surely make an excellent heir."

Frederick seemed pleased by her statement. "That is exactly correct. I will be severely disappointed if it is anything else." He then lets out a small chuckle. "Your father must have been distraught when he found out that his wife had given birth to a girl." He shakes his head. "How troublesome, my wife was strong enough to give birth to two boys, while his wife could only give birth to one girl and no sons. Then she went and died of a sickness and he could no longer try for children. The fool, I don't see why he didn't just remarry."

The stab to Lucy's chest was more intense than anything. Did he really just say all of that to her? Did he really laugh about it? He called her mother weak, told her she was useless for anything other than producing children, and then shit all over her father. She dug her nails deep into her palms and held back the fury and the tears. She needed to be patient, if she acted now, their plan would be ruined. She watched as he dismissed her with a wave and she stood, gave a stiff bow, and left. As soon as the doors closed behind her, she shut her eyes.

She felt herself trembling in both anger and sadness. How could someone be so cruel? He was more disgusting than she thought. She opened her hands and stared down at the blood covering her palms. Twice. He made her mad enough twice to where she made herself bleed. She choked back a sob and swiftly made her way down the hall towards her bedroom. She stared at her hands the whole way, watching as more of the crimson liquid seeped from the wounds and dropped onto the carpet. Good thing it was a red carpet, she silently joked.

She thanked any god that was watching over her when she saw that the door was slightly opened. She was glad she wouldn't have to cover the handle in her blood. She pushed it open with her hip and dashed to the bathroom. She hissed when she grabbed the handle too tightly and twisted, only for it to stay in place.

"Freed!" She called, knocking on the door. "P-Please, I need inside!" Her eyes burned with unshed tears and she tried to swallow the lump in her throat. She heard frantic rustling behind the door before it swung open to reveal her concerned husband in a towel, his hair dripping wet.

"Lucy?" He frowned when the first of her tears fell. "What's wrong?" He saw that she was holding her hands out and gasped at the sight of her bloodied hands. "My goodness, your hands!" He quickly lead her inside and sat her on the toilet. He opened the cupboard so quickly he thought he was going to rip it off its hinges. He pulled out the first aid kit and a cloth. Wetting the cloth in the sink, he brought it over to start gently washing her hands. His heart ached as he heard her sniffle. "Please tell me what happened."

She hiccuped and her head dropped in defeat. "Y-Your father said some terrible th-things. He said I was o-only good for giving birth, he called my m-mom weak, and then-"

"Shh," Freed used his free hand to brush her hair behind her ear. He figured she had gotten angry, she had a bad habit of silently hurting herself to calm herself down in front of noblemen. "You know that none of that is true, My Dear. You are more than just some woman that is only good for producing babies. You are so strong and intelligent, you're quick witted and brave. You are an amazing woman, Lucy. I would never change anything about you. And we both know that your mother was far from weak. You told me about what an amazing mage she was. My father is... full of shit."

Lucy's eyes widened and she stared at him in surprise. "D-Did you just say shit?" She couldn't help but let out a small laugh. She watched as he finished bandaging her hands and sniffled. "Thank you, Freed."

"Anything for you, My Dear." He gave her a gentle smile and kissed her hands.

"He arranged another pregnancy test for me tomorrow. I don't know what we're going to do. There's no way he'd trust us again after a second negative test." She sighed.

Freed cupped her cheeks and placed a kiss to her forehead. "Well then we're in luck. I have finished my project."

Her eyes widen once more and she stares in disbelief. "Y-You mean.."

"We leave tonight."

Oooo! The time has finally come! The grand escape will be held next chapter!

Drop a review, My Dear~