When we kissed, I didn't think of how soft it was when our lips touched, or how warm his hand when our fingers interlaced, or how his nose gently bumped into mine. When we kissed, I thought of the time and counting how many more hours did I have to keep up the appearance. When we kissed, I thought of how those who watched us thought of our marriage. When we kissed, I asked myself; what did he have in mind right now?

Wendy always told me about kissing the person I loved was important. She told me that a kiss wasn't just something I gave easily. It was kind of funny because it almost sounded like she knew it from experience. I told her, though, that I had to do it when marrying him. She got upset afterward.

When he kissed me on the cheek, I couldn't really say that I was caught off-guard. I didn't. I've heard that line countless times from men in Feliose, but I always avoided their kiss. I only let them kiss my hand. For courtesy.

When he kissed me on the cheek, I let him do that. I saw his smirk changed into a smile. And when he walked away after that, there was a lingering feeling on where his lips touched my cheek.

A Tale from Thelua

[9] talk

Lucy woke up with the empty spot beside her. The bedding was cold as though no one ever slept on it. She was almost got used to this sight every morning. It was the sixth time; the sixth time since she was sleeping without her husband. She didn't know, once again, if she should be feeling insulted or not.

Part of her wanted to believe in the paperwork that constantly came. She was once handling paperwork, so, she knew how much trouble it was to go through them one by one. This part of her believed that her husband was simply buried beneath those papers. That way, she could convince herself not to barge into his study and take over his paperwork, and perhaps, if available, raided his bed and sleep there.

The other part of her that wanted to barge into his study, however, was more shocked to the discussion her three personal maids made about her as she bathed. About her sleeping alone, to be precise. While they adored her and took her side, she couldn't help but worrying if this little discussion would turn into another rumor about her. And the idea of meeting the ladies with piercing jealousy on another party was becoming more unbearable. They would think of them being estranged already and pursue him. And then, it would be her part to clean things up.

He should have come at least once in every three nights.

Lucy let herself sunk in the tub before standing abruptly and sighed heavily. She unfolded the towel and wrapped herself with it. The topic of the three maids' conversation had changed, so, it was safe to walk out now.

"Ange, Agne, Millie, today I want to wear the prettiest dress–"

She walked out to the presence of Natsu and his knight, Wendy, and the three maids that were receiving some kind of order from them. She blinked when she heard Wendy screaming and the three maids quickly shielding her and shoving her back into the bathroom. There was a grunt of pain that came from Natsu's knight and the sound of her door closed abruptly.

Today, it seemed, wasn't her lucky day.

After getting dressed, and got scolded by Wendy in the process, she walked out of the room to Natsu standing in front of the room. His knight was nowhere around him.

"If you're looking for Gray, he's currently off running several laps around the training ground," he spoke without her asking. "I can say you gave him quite the scar in his life."

Lucy pinched his arm as he offered his hand to her. "And whose fault was it to barge into a lady's room with no notice?"

"It's also my room."

"Not if you don't bother to sleep in there for six nights in a row," she whispered harshly. "You got it, Natsu? Just come and sleep there once in three nights!"

Their little conversation was cut short as the carriage came and they entered it. "You have to blame the paperwork, then," he replied as he gazed at her. "With all those five-days long of a party, my workload has piled and I'm unable to finish it only in a few days."

Lucy hugged one of the pillows presents and stared back at him. "You should have told me. I can help with it."

"I was going to ask you at first, but I'm afraid that my wife will belittle me and call me incapable."

"I'd rather call you incapable than having rumor featuring us being estranged right after our marriage."

He laughed. "So my wife does care about the rumor circulating around the nobles."

"I suppose it's not bad to have one of us care about such trivial matter," she sighed. "Both of us need to stir those kinds of rumor away, else, I will have the prince from Pemberna hot on my trail again and you will be constantly asked for a dance from the ladies before you can hide."

He didn't reply to her, but she knew he heard it all. The carriage was slow, and Lucy fought the heavy temptation of sleeping. They were on their way to attend the invitation from the Redfox house, the Count of Derner city whose wife had just given birth to their first child. If the count wasn't a good friend of Natsu, Lucy was sure he was going to pass the party. As for her, she was excited to be able to meet the count's wife, who was the author of Estelle and Jules.

Lucy just had to get her sign.

…

Lady Levy Redfox happily signed her copy, much to Lucy's delight. The lady was a petite woman with blue hair that her son inherited from. In contrast, her husband, Count Gajeel, was a huge man with jet black hair and several piercings on his ears. He was almost intimidating if not for his wife's warm welcome.

The two women were currently sitting in a corner next to a window that overlooked a river. Levy was cradling her son and Lucy couldn't help but smiling at how happy the new mother was. Natsu and Gajeel were off somewhere, probably meeting the other gentlemen. It was a good thing for Natsu, Lucy decided. The man certainly needed a push to make some social appearance.

"Your Highness, do you want to try to hold him?" Levy asked as Lucy turned her gaze from the river to the woman across her.

"May I?" She asked, and then, gently receiving the sleeping baby. "He looks like Lord Gajeel," Lucy whispered, noticing the sharp curve of the baby's eyebrow and nose. "I hope he will grow up strong and brave like his father."

"My, such a lovely wish," Levy smiled. "Thank you, Your Highness."

Levy was a gentle woman. Her cute smile was sure what stole her husband's heart, Lucy thought. As the baby in Lucy's arm started to stir, Lucy returned him to his mother who shushed him back to sleep and carefully put him back in the crib next to them. Levy returned to their seat and they continued their conversation.

According to Levy, her marriage with Natsu was something that was blessed by many. Their marriage was the most anticipated event for the people of Thelua. As Feliose and Thelua often had a dispute in the border, most nobility was, at first, opposed to the idea of their marriage, but the king had the matter settled down. Thus, when the ceremony was held, many people wanted to know who their princess was as it was their first chance to see Lucy.

They had just got married for two weeks, and people, according to Levy, was anticipating the announcement of their child. Lucy almost choked when she heard Levy said it. The other woman offered her a sympathetic smile.

"It's not impossible, Lady Levy. But for the meantime, I don't think the idea has crossed Natsu's mind as well," she said. "Both the king and queen never press this matter either as they completely supportive of our choice. I'm going slowly in this and I think Natsu doesn't mind the pace as well."

"Of course. I was just teasing you, Your Highness. You both started as strangers, it's only natural for you to want to take things slowly."

"I'm still on the stage of capturing his heart," Lucy joked, smiling.

"Excuse me, Your Highness, but I believe that you are just every man's first love," Levy frowned. "No man is immune to beauty, Prince Natsu is no exception. It is either he is restraining himself or being utter dense as a rock."

Natsu was not dense, Lucy thought. And he was not restraining himself either. If anything, Lucy was more concerned about what Natsu said the other day. A woman he loved, he said. While Lucy would like to believe that meant he was yet to find a woman to love, another part of her pushed the possibility of the presence of another woman to the surface of her mind.

Lucy wasn't sure if she could say what was on her mind, as it was not the best topic to be discussed with the host of the party during such a joyous occasion. Suddenly, a hand was gently placed on top of her hand. Lucy looked at Levy, whose smile was so reassuring. "Your Highness, if it appeals to you, you can tell me anything," she said, squeezing Lucy's hand. "I swear by the name of Redfox that I will not tell a single soul about this."

Lucy's eyes widened by a fragment, mildly surprised by the vow. She barely said anything hinting the thought she had in her mind and she believed her expression did not give it away. Levy must have had a sharp intuition, and her intuition told Lucy to believe Levy.

"I don't think he is restraining himself, Lady Levy," Lucy whispered. "But I am thinking of the existence of another lady in his mind."

Levy gasped quietly, a hand covering her opened mouth. "Is it something like secretly meeting another lady behind you?"

"No, no. It's not like that. I believe he hardly leaves the palace," Lucy murmured. "But maybe, he has something like… his first love."

"First love…" Levy whispered and brought a hand to her chin, seemingly to be thinking.

First love was a good place to start, Lucy thought. No men who went through childhood without having a few little crushes on ladies around them. Natsu was no exception. Even though he preferred to stay behind the tapestries or engaging in conversation with other gentlemen, he would still have something like childhood crush or first love.

"I am thinking of one person, Your Highness, but I am afraid I cannot reveal her name here as I am not sure if it was true," Levy said quietly, carefully.

Lucy's eyes widened, heart beating faster, she asked, "Will you describe that person to me?"

A grim expression was apparent on Levy's face. Her lips were tightly shut, eyes focused on the clasping hands resting on her lap. A long silence followed before finally, she whispered it.

"Silvery white hair, and bright blue eyes."

Lucy quickly raked through her mind to see if she could remember someone fitting the description. She was too focused as she failed to notice the presence of someone near them. A lady whose hair was like a melted silver and eyes like a glimmering sapphire.