Chapter 3
Jellal was back in the university gardens, seeing the progress that had been made since his last visit. It had been about three weeks, and he noticed a bunch of the Fairy Tail guild members working on the eastern side and went over to say hi to them and thank them for their hard work.
From around a corner, someone appeared and walked straight into him. They swiftly stepped back and bowed in apology, and he recognised Serana, despite her face being hidden.
"My apologies. Are you alright?" Her tone was concerned and apologetic, and he smiled.
"Sorry, Serana. I'm alright. Are you okay?" When he used her name, she glanced up at him and looked even more sorry for running into him but relaxed a little when she saw his smile.
"I'm okay." She tilted her head to one side as she spoke and smiled back at him.
"How is everyone doing? Is there anything they need?" He asked and looked over to the rest of her group, and they walked together towards them.
Erza was close behind, as well as Coco and some of the people in charge of the project, who took notes and talked amongst themselves while he spoke to the workers and thanked them personally. Since they were working so hard, he wanted to ensure they were well fed and looked after and show appreciation.
The members of Fairy Tail all greeted him happily when they saw him, but were astute enough to refer to him as King, but usually, he was just 'Jellal' when he came to the guild on his own. As he continued talking to them, he checked in to ensure they were being looked after properly. He always ensured that they were fed by one of the various cafes in the area, or the palace cooks made meals for them as they worked. As he hoped, they were all happy and proud of their work.
Coco called to him softly, suggesting that they move on to other areas of the university construction to check on some other sites. He nodded in acknowledgement, but waved goodbye to the workers, thanking them loudly before he left. His eye caught Serana, and he watched as she picked up a large plank of wood, taking it to one of the carpenters.
He hadn't noticed before, probably because she was so close to him previously and he was distracted, but now that she was several metres away, he got a good look at her. She was wearing sturdy boots and denim shorts that only covered a small area of her thighs, and her grey t-shirt had the Fairy Tail symbol across the front. It seemed that she had dressed for comfort, but it had the other effect of showing off toned muscles, and shapely curves that no clothes could hide. Her eyes looked more like pieces of round silver in the sunlight, and her hair was coming loose from her plait, framing her face. As it began to cover her eyes, she raked her fingers through her hair to push it back off her face as she worked.
Distracting him from staring at her like a man starved, he watched her expression. Even though she was smiling, it wasn't quite reaching her eyes and he got the feeling that she was still getting used to everything. It wasn't that she was unhappy, just not quite comfortable yet. He couldn't entirely ignore the feeling that he wanted to get to know her better, almost like he was drawn to her for some unknown reason.
Coco broke him from his ogling by coughing pointedly and he turned back away from Serana and the others in Fairy Tail.
"Shall we?" He said to try and dispel the awkwardness, but it didn't quite work. Coco had clearly noticed how he was watching Serana but was doing her best to seem nonchalant about the whole thing.
They headed towards another part of the construction site, and it took another hour and a half to complete their tour and briefing of the building's progress. At this point, Jellal had forgotten about Serana, being distracted by his work and trying to ensure he carefully thought about any decisions he had to make. There was still a lot of work to be done for the project to be even half complete, but it was a huge undertaking. He was committed to it and willing to put in every effort required for it to succeed. It was ambitious for sure, but the culture and education in the Royal City were important enough for him to put in as many resources as needed.
He continued his work, just as Serana was. She was carrying supplies to the right areas in the garden and was pleased to see how it was all coming together. It was beginning to look beautiful, so much so that the other members of Fairy Tail thought it would be nice to make a garden of their own outside the guild hall since they weren't going anywhere anytime soon. They were all chatting happily about what they could do to make it and what flowers they could plant, and someone even suggested planting some herbs for cooking as well.
Work was almost finished for the day as the sun began to set, and they were all exhausted. Someone brought around some lemonade, which gave them enough energy to tidy up their workstations since they wouldn't be working over the weekend. Since they'd been so busy, Jellal had mentioned when he first arrived that no one was to come on-site over the weekend to continue working. They would take a well-deserved break, and there was supposed to be a storm anyway. There wasn't much they would be able to do while it was storming.
Once they'd tidied everything up, everyone made their way home. Serana had planned to stop by the shops as she needed to purchase a few new clothing items. Fairy Tail had planned to have a party once the construction was finished, but they were invited to the palace's opening ceremony and following party. She didn't have any nice clothing, so she planned to buy a dress to wear since all the girls would be using the opportunity to have some fun dressing up and doing their hair and makeup together. Although she wasn't exactly a girly girl, she did enjoy talking about those sorts of things with the other girls, and it was nice to get some advice and ideas from them about hairstyles and recommendations for clothes.
She wasn't overjoyed by the idea of shopping and figured it was easier to get it over and done with. Mirajane had offered to go shopping with her, and so had Lucy, but it wasn't her thing to go on big shopping trips. Since she was more of a practical dresser, dressing for looks wasn't something she wanted to do all the time. When she strolled through the street in the shopping area that had clothes, she looked through the windows for a shop that would suit her style. Some were too over the top and dramatic, and some shops just had things that were too pink, frilly and glittery for her liking.
One shop caught her eye on the left, and she stepped inside quietly, trying not to draw too much attention to herself. Most of the clothes there were more of her style, practical and designed for comfort. They all looked nice, though, and a dress caught her eye first, but its soft material drew her in more. She asked the sales assistant to try it on and they helped her get the right size for her. The assistant complimented her choice, saying that she thought it would perfectly suit her body shape and height.
When she tried it on in the changing room and looked in the small mirror, she was pleased with what she saw. It fit her curves nicely, thanks to the soft material, but it wasn't too heavy. It would be comfortable to wear even in the warmer weather they were having now at this time of year. The dress was black, with short sleeves, and a rounded neckline, accentuating her bust. Since the dress wasn't supposed to be worn tight, there was plenty of room for her curves without feeling suffocated. It fell about halfway down her thighs, and she didn't feel too awkward since most of her shorts were the same length.
After a brief nod, she got changed back into her clothes and left the changing room to make her purchase. The sales assistant offered her a discounted drink bottle with a pretty pattern on it, and Serana accepted with a smile and a nod. Her dress and bottle were packed into a bag, and Serana handed over the correct amount of money. She thanked the staff member, who thanked her in return before she left the store to head back towards the guild hall.
Once she'd arrived back at the guild hall, everyone was seated to eat dinner together, talking and laughing. Lucy and Levy called her over to their table, and she grabbed a plate of food before joining them, putting her bag next to her feet.
"Did you go shopping, Serana?" Levy asked before shoving a chunk of potato in her mouth.
"Yeah, I needed an outfit for the university opening ceremony since we've been invited. I don't normally wear dressy clothes." Serana answered with a shrug, then began eating.
"Show us what you got!" Lucy demanded excitedly.
Serana nodded and pulled the bag onto her lap. She took out the dress and let it fall out of the folded form it took in the bag. The girls made sounds of approval and were clearly impressed by her choice.
"That will look so good on you. You'll get a boyfriend in no time wearing that!" Lucy said, nudging Serana encouragingly with her elbow.
"Aha, I don't know about that. I've got no idea how to talk to guys." Serana responded awkwardly, chuckling to try and hide her self-confidence with a sense of humour.
"Haven't you dated anyone before?" Levy asked, seeming surprised at Serana's confession.
"Nothing too serious." She answered, and then Lucy and Levy shared a look that concerned her.
"We'll have to fix that. Hmm, is there anyone in the guild that you like?" Lucy glanced around at the people in the guild hall around them and then back at Serana.
"What about Jett or Droy?" Levy offered, thinking of the first two males she knew personally.
"There's Max and Warren. What about Nab or Elfman?" Lucy suggested and Serana shook her head in answer.
"Macao and Wakaba are too old, and they're both married anyway. Gray is in love with Juvia and Alzack and Bisca are head over heels for each other." Levy rested her chin on her hand, thinking about who else to suggest.
"I'll be fine. I'm in no rush to find a boyfriend or date anyone." Serana appreciated them trying to help, but she was far too awkward and unsure of herself to put herself out there. Things would just happen naturally.
"Well, in that dress, you'll definitely have a lineup of guys and girls after you." Lucy nudged her with her elbow again.
They went back to their meals and continued chatting about this and that while they ate. Lucy was in the same shared room as Serana, and they headed towards their shared room after handing in their plates. Serana put her new dress and drink bottle in the chest that held her belongings at the end of the bed she slept in and pulled out some pyjamas. She headed towards the bathroom where she could clean up and enjoy a hot shower, which soothed her muscles from days of physical labour.
Thankfully they'd get a break from work over the weekend, and she was planning to curl up with a book somewhere in the shade outside and spend the whole weekend reading. There wasn't much else to do since she wasn't hugely social. She was becoming fast friends with everyone in the guild but still enjoyed her time by herself. Reading had always been a favourite pastime and coming to the Royal City had been a blessing with all the great libraries they had here. She'd read books she had never heard of and enjoyed them immensely.
When she had cleaned up, finally feeling more relaxed, she put on her pyjamas, went to her shared room with the other girls, and grabbed her book. The one she was reading was a fantasy tale based around a magic guild, like Earthland Fairy Tail. It told stories of their adventures, defeating incredible creatures and bad guys and saving the day. It was an inspiring tale full of laughter and tears, both happy and sad. She was enjoying the story, and it was almost over, with only about 6 chapters to go. But for now, she was too tired and placed her bookmark in and closed it. She put it down on her bedside table and rolled over.
She was too tired for her brain to keep her awake with chatter and fell asleep within 5 minutes...