Once, I saw her standing by the window, gazing at the night sky and the lone moon. I never said it, but she was beautiful. She had a beautiful smile whenever our eyes met, she carried herself with elegant manner, she spoke carefully and laughed politely. She was perfect.
I saw her resting her head to the window and closed her eyes. I never said it, but sometimes her eyes were crying, and her smile was sad. Sometimes, I found myself wondering; what kind of grief was behind those gentle expressions? What was it that she needed?
And then, I thought of her words from days ago.
Every time I remembered it, I felt like she vowed to me. Ah, was it all about our marriage? Was it all about our fate? I, too, even if it was left unsaid, will be faithful to you.
To you, and only you.
A Tale from Thelua
[6] perfect
Natsu managed to return to his usual hiding post behind the tapestries after a round of dance and rested his legs on a sofa that his knight had dragged from somewhere. It was the night of the last celebration day and he was already impatient for the guest to retire. Gray was already waiting for him; leaning into the wall, studying the crowds through the tapestries, while Natsu closed his eyes and sighed.
"It looks like your wife is the center of attention again, Natsu," said Gray. "I hope you won't be mad about it, but some of your knights already devoted themselves to her."
"I've heard about it. Well, they should be prepared for the sword drill with me next week."
"Feeling possessive, aren't you?" Gray laughed. "Speaking about possessive, you might want to watch out for Pemberna's prince."
Natsu opened his eyes and scanned the crowds upon hearing the name. "What about him?"
"It does seem like he still has his eyes set on the mistress," he glanced at Natsu, "just like the rumor says."
To that, he found himself muttering, "Rumor, huh?"
Rumor was something he preferred not to hear because, mostly, it was full of misleading information and irrelevant to his duty. But when it served with fact, he knew he couldn't be careless about it. And this one regarding his wife was one that could be one step away from turning into a fact.
"If you have your eyes on him, he has been dancing with her every chance possible."
Natsu opted to rest his eyes again. "If she is aware about it, she knows what she has to do."
He could hear Gray shook his head. "You should do something about it, my lord. A fine woman like her wouldn't dare to refuse any dancing offer, lest she drags you down if it creates rumor and spread," he said. "You are lucky she is very considerate of your status."
Lucky. In the past five days, he had heard more of that word than before. She was beautiful, so he was lucky to be able to marry her. She was smart, so he was lucky to marry a smart woman. He never once denied it, no. But it wasn't correct to direct the word to him.
In all honesty, he thought that she was the lucky one. Born into a good family with the highest title in the country, had a fine look that made half of his knight devoted themselves to her, able to speak fluently regarding political matters. Lucy was the lucky one. A perfect woman, who had the ladies burning with jealousy.
And, luck or not, he would still be married to her even if she wasn't beautiful or smart. Simply because she was the princess of Feliose.
He never did once visit Feliose, but he had heard about her some years ago. Her beauty was the first thing people would describe; long blonde hair with fair skin and the eyes with the color of melted chocolate. He didn't care about it; no, not at all. The fact that she was attending the meeting regarding the dispute between their country was what made him remember her.
A woman, younger than him, was attending the meeting as the delegate from her country. Even Makarov, the king's advisor, was amazed with her talent of speaking politics and dealing it with calm manner. She was no ordinary woman.
"My lord, she is coming here."
Natsu opened his eyes and saw her pushing the tapestries away with blank eyes and lips pursed. From the way she stood, he knew she had no energy left after all the dancing she did. She made her seat next to him, and deliberately stretched in front of him before sighing heavily. He signalled Gray to cover them.
"I thought you like dancing," he said.
"No, I was just keeping up the appearance and being polite," she replied. "It's very fortunate that I didn't get blisters from all those dances with him."
"You really favored him as your dancing partner."
"I hope my lord didn't fail to see that I did this for your sake."
"I'm really honored, my lady."
"You should be."
He felt her head on his shoulder. "You should go and dance, Natsu," she spoke again. "The ladies are all having their jealousy needles piercing on my back, and I have a hard time figuring why."
Natsu blinked at her sarcastic remark, then he peered at her whose eyes were closed and lips pursed. Her innocent act was dropped whenever she was with him. He wondered if she had a switch to turn her into the innocent mode. "Thank you, but I have to decline the offer."
He could feel her laugh; a soft tremble on his shoulder. "And I thought you like having all the attention on you," he added.
"Attention is good, but I feel tired afterwards."
"Of putting up the façade?"
"Of putting up the façade."
"Because you might drag me down if rumor spread?"
She smiled. "So, my lord does care about rumor."
"I don't," he said. "People tend to spread rumors because of their jealousy, and you fulfilled the very qualification of being the subject of one."
When she said nothing, Natsu continued. "After all, you are perfect," he murmured. "I am a good man, and you are a fine woman. You are beautiful and smart. We are married and become quite the noticeable pair. And then, years later, you will be the queen and will rule the country with me."
He gazed at the moon outside. The night looked the same as the one which he saw her in his wake. When he felt the steady breathing, his gaze fell to the sleeping woman leaning against him, and then, he whispered as a small smile cracked on her face.
"And we will live well."
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