"Good night My Lady- Lady Lucy!"

"Good night Mira." I smile towards the snowette as she takes her leave for the night. Taking a minute to relax in bed, I stretch out my limbs as far as they can go before flopping comfortably in the sea of blankets. "What a day." I press my face into the pillows relishing in the smell of lilac with a hint of mint.

The day's events were rewinding in my head, it was like I was watching a bad soap opera. "I can't believe I've made such a fool of myself- what if they tell my parents- oh who am I kidding there is no doubt in my mind that they haven't already heard by now." I groan into one of the pillows, wishing for god to smite me. "I can already say for certain mother's going to be sending a letter-"

I sit up immediately looking to my bedside table. Biting my lip, dread begins to pull in my stomach. "That couldn't be from Mother… could it?" After much effort, I get to my feet. "But if it was from Mother, why wouldn't she just send a letter with Loke… or just send one to the castle for me… she wouldn't go through such trouble to have someone climb the castle walls at night… that'd be ridiculous.." I can feel my heart quicken with each step.

My hands shake as I reach out for it. "Maybe it would be best if I wait until morning… After all, a young lady needs her rest." I retract my hand and rub my shoulders to comfort myself before retreating to my bed. I stop myself for a moment before looking over my shoulder. The letter glares back at me.

"It makes no sense. Who would send me a letter so late at night… and why wouldn't they just send it to me like a normal person? Why go to such trouble to keep it a secret…" I turn again and reach out for the letter, this time plucking it up from the table. It's front is blank and there is no wax on the back to confirm who it's from. It was as if the sender wanted to be left anonymous.

"Who sent you?" I bite my thumb and take a seat on the bed. My hand shakes as I stare down at the envelope. The paper wrinkles in my grip. "I should've asked Mira to make me some tea before bed, at least then I wouldn't be thinking about this letter." I collapse back onto the sheets and flip the letter over and over again. "What if it's from another competitor...it would make sense.. If it's a threat then they wouldn't want it to be sent with their name attached…"

I turn onto my stomach and kick my feet up as I reach for the back of the envelope. "On the other hand… what if it's from the prince... " I laugh to myself for a moment. "Why would the prince send me a letter? He doesn't even know me and I can't forget that the one time we did supposedly meet, I was black out drunk." I drop the letter onto the bed. "I'm being ridiculous, it's just a letter. In it is going to be a piece of paper with some words." I look down at the envelope, my nerves continuing to rise "So then… why am I so anxious..." Sitting up again, I run my fingers through my still drying hair and let out a sigh.

"What if it's from the King… what if he wants me to leave for making such a fool of myself… sure he said it was fine when we spoke earlier… but what if he was just being polite… although that doesn't explain why he would have sent it in secret... Perhaps he's trying to help me keep some form of dignity… If I left of my own accord it would at least save me from the embarrassment of being asked to leave…" I bring my knees up to my face and hug myself.

"Can I even leave on my own accord… what if they have to ask you to leave… or what if this is how they eliminate the rejects from the competition… what if the guards are gonna come barreling through my door in the morning to retrieve me and my belongings-" I look around the room for a moment. "Do I even have any belongings here? I don't remember bringing any luggage."

Taking a calming breath, I retrieve the letter from beside me and hold it out in front of my face. "You're letting your mind get ahead of yourself Lucy. You'll never know if you don't read it." I close my eyes as I open the envelope. "No matter what it says or who it's from, you still had the best time here and met the nicest people."

Opening my eyes, I stare down at the folded paper. Dropping the envelope, I unfold the parchment.

Hey Luigi, Where were you today? I thought for sure you'd come to see me. I wanna know more about that story you were telling me.

Salamander

My brain felt like it was hit by a ton of rocks. Who's Luigi? Rubbing my head in confusion, I simply shake it off and crumple up the note. "Well at least it's not a message from the King to banish me from the kingdom and who signs a note as Salamander? What kind of name is that?" Sighing out my pent up nerves, I stand and gather the remnants of the envelope before throwing it all out in the fireplace. "I need to sleep this day away or else I'm gonna go insane."

But I don't head for the bed, funny enough. Instead I take a seat on the couch, watching the paper slowly turn to ash.

Weird… why do I feel sad that I just burnt that note.

My face had formed into a pout as time moved slowly past me. "Maybe I'll visit Loke tomorrow while I'm here. I miss him." All of the sadness that had enveloped me at that moment then disappeared, leaving only excitement in its wake. "Alright time for bed." And this time I did just that.

"-these cards that are being passed out are what the Crown Prince Natsu likes about each of you. I can promise you nothing but good fortune if you use it to your advantage. Or perhaps you believe yourself to be confident in your ability to win the prince's heart over without such help. If so then you can always just crumple it up or you could even tell everyone here about your advantage."

'Man this sucks. Not only do I have to sit here and listen to this guy, who obviously likes to hear himself talk, talk, but I didn't even get to see Loke today. That was one of the reasons as to why I took part in this stupid competition. I just want to hang out with my brother. I never get to see him nowadays. So lame.'

A sigh leaves the blonde's mouth as she places her card in her dress pocket. She then reaches for her glass and takes a large sip. She paused for a moment thinking about the taste.

'This is wine isn't it?' She looked at the red liquid for a moment suspiciously. 'Something doesn't taste right.' She brought it to her lips again, taking another sip. The flavor was murky. As if it was tampered with. She brought a hand to her head suddenly feeling very light headed. 'Why do I feel so strange? Where am I?'

"My Lady are you alright?" A servant boy had approached the blonde. He had noticed a slight change in her demeanor.

"I-I'm f-FiNe~" The words came out jumbled and terribly loud. "JuS neEd to liE doWn-" The blonde laid her head on the table just barely missing her bowl of soup. There were a few gasps as well as some giggles from the other members at the table. The servant boy forced himself to only focus on the poor girl in front of him.

"Allow me to escort you back to your room." There was a grunt somewhere in the dining room that seemed to discourage the action but it was cut short by the obnoxious response from the blonde. "SURE! J-jUs leT me StaNd-" The servant boy nearly jumped at the drunk's sudden movement. He already knew she was too drunk to walk on her own. With a small smile he held her up and helped the poor girl out into the hallway.

"You're not very good at holding your liquor, I'm guessing." He tried his best to make conversation. The blonde weakly looked up into his onyx eyes. But her gaze immediately shifted to his hair. "PiNk?" She asked. He shushed her with a small laugh. "It's actually salmon."

The drunk merely nodded. "WhAt's yer nAme?" The alcohol burnt his nose. "My name is Na-" He stopped himself before looking off to the side as if deep in thought. The blonde, as exhausted as she was, didn't notice. "You can call me Salamander." He finally said. She smiled in response. "SAlamANdEr? LiKE a LiZArd?" She giggled for a moment. A small blush pulled on the pinkette's face. "Oh yeah, well… what's your name then?"

The drunk paused in her laughter before staring up at the boy. "L-LuIcgiy." Salamander paused in his step as he looked at the girl very perplexed. "Luigi?" The blonde merely puffed out her cheeks before responding again with a name that made just as much sense as the first. Shaking his head, he laughed at her antics before fixing his hold on her waist. He then moved her arm over his shoulder to keep her from falling face first onto the floor beneath them.

"Luigi it is then." They continued their walk in silence for a few moments before the blonde started mumbling. "What was that?" The girl looked up at Salamander for a moment before laughing. He glared down at her, poking her face. "It's rude to laugh at someone you know."

"I'm soRry buT you loOK likE thAt gUy in thAt onE bOok. He waS a fiRe wiZArd." This caught the boy's attention. "A fire wizard?"

The blonde only smiled and nodded, laughing again. "What's so funny now?" He deadpanned. "YoU looK LiKE a chILd wHen yOU PoUT LikE daT."

"Says the drunk." He mutters in return. The girl only laughs some more. "I'm nOT DRU-" A hiccup cut her off. Salamander found it difficult not to laugh with her.

By the time they had gotten to her room, Luigi was almost passed out in Salamander's arms. She was at this point muttering profanities under her breath and then giggling about them. Salamander was almost giggling too, until the door slammed open and Mira saw Luigi's state.

"Prince-" Salamander cut her off immediately. "So what do you think of the castle Luigi?"

"Luigi? Don't you mean-" Mira didn't get to correct the name as the blonde started gushing out a few sentences on how the castle looked like it was on steroids and yes there were colorful words in those sentences. Mira covered her mouth with a large blush on her face.

"Take care of her, Mira." He gave a dopey grin to the snowette before handing the blonde over to her. Mira never had a chance to respond as Salamander had already began his retreat back to the dining hall. "Man, the rest of the meal is going to be so boring." Those were the last words the blonde could hear before being led to the best bed in existence.

I awoke with a start. A blush covered my face, and my heart was pounding in my ears.

"I remember…"

Hope you guys enjoyed and stay healthy!