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Thirty-First Wish:
New Identity

"P-Princess. . . Lisanna . . ."

Natsu couldn't help but stare at her as if in a trance, unable to believe his eyes that the woman of his dreams was actually right in front of his eyes.

"The enemies are already down. Why are you pointing that bow at people who didn't even have weapons? Who would answer properly when you are scaring them with such a weapon?" She spoke in reprimanding tone, her visage full of energy and was like a bright flower in spring.

"They are suspicious people. We are unsure whether they are innocent or not. For all we know, they may be hiding weapons under their sleeves!" Yukino spoke indignantly, her guard still up.

Noticing his change of demeanour, Lucy looked at Natsu then to Lisanna. Remembering the "bet" incident, understanding flashed at her eyes. I see. So she's the princess in Natsu's heart.

Somehow, she felt at a loss after realizing this.

I should have noticed sooner!

She was in a hurry to help that she had forgotten about Natsu's princess. Would he get angry at me? She thought.

But such worries were for naught. Just looking at his expression, it was obvious that he had forgotten about her. Somehow, Lucy felt dissatisfied with that.

Yet who could blame him?

It was the princess he was looking up to for all these years. Being disregarded was a normal reaction for him. He was already blown away at just seeing her.

". . . Then just let him be The Hero"

She remembered Loki's words. Right, this is not my story. For in every Fairy Tale, there would always be the Hero, the Princess, and the genie that helps them to get together. In other cases, it would not be a genie, but either a fairy or god.

This was not her tale.

This was the story about the thief who became a hero in order to save his princess. She was simply assisting him. That's all there is to it.

She smiled.

"Natsu, your princess is here. Now is your time to shine. . ."

She told him softly.

Natsu was startled. But the voice behind him had awakened him and let him gather his thoughts. Lucy smiled widely at him. "The villains are already defeated. Now is the time for the Hero to take the Princess."

"Umm. . . may I ask for your identities, sirs?" Lisanna asked gently.

Upon Lucy's urging, Natsu knelt and introduced himself. "Greetings to you . . . p-princess. I am merely passing by . . ." he tried to explain, but his usual wits had left him. He wasn't sure how to introduce himself. What should he say?

Seeing that Natsu was acting like a scatter-brain, Loki offered to help in explaining. "Paying respect to Princess Lisanna of the Magnolia Kingdom, there is no need for you to be alarmed as we have no ill intentions for coming here. We have come here to look for the thief that stole from us when we came upon your predicament that needed our help."

Natsu looked at him, hiding his disbelief. Whoah, he could make up such a story and lie without even blinking an eye. Then again, he was not one to judge as he was like that too.

Lucy looked horrified at Loki's words. "Hey! Aren't you a celestial? How can you say such a lie just like that!"

Loki glanced at her. His eyes were clearly saying to her 'What lie? We don't have ill intentions towards them. And although we arrived too late, they are indeed in a predicament that needed our help, right?'

Lucy huffed. "Why are you saying that we are looking for a thief when we didn't even have anything stolen from us!?"

Loki just looked ahead, his eyes unreadable.

"Aren't you looking for him? Seeing that he stole you away from us, he's no better than a thief. . ."

His words were muttered very softly to the point it was swallowed by the blowing of the wind, yet one could still hear the hatred in his tone. Lucy almost didn't hear his reply if not for her sharp hearing as a celestial and would have believed it was merely the wind playing tricks on her ear if it wasn't for the flash of hatred in his eyes.

"Loki . . ."

She couldn't help but mutter softly.

"I see! Then you are the ones that saved us?" Lisanna asked as she looked at the unconscious people on the ground. "Then could I know your names? And also, what happened around here?"

Natsu lowered his head, calming down now as he knew what he needed to do. "My name is Natsu Dragneel, dear princess. I am also not that clear about what happened here but they were planning to use some smoke drug to knock out your group, so I decided to give them their own medicine" he said valiantly.

"I see. That makes sense" Yukino nodded, not finding fault in his words. She had fallen unconscious after her vision turned white, and it looked like everyone was knocked out for the same reason too. If a smoke drug was used, then it wouldn't make sense for the enemies to fall for their own trap unless someone else tampered with it.

Lucy felt uncomfortable for making such a lie, but Loki gave her a reassuring glance. Later, he will have these people inhale the drug and tamper with the bandit's memories a bit. In case they investigated about this, they needed to be prepared to not let them see through the lie.

"Then the person beside you is?" Yukino questioned, narrowing her eyes. As an acolyte that was once directly under the High Priestess, she still had the gift of spiritual sensitivity. She could see the aura of people. The air around the person behind Natsu was different from all the people she met, although she couldn't put her finger on what made the difference. His presence was normal, actually there was even a lack of it, but she kept feeling that he was surrounded by power. But that doesn't compare to the young lad with hair touched by Ares.

Now that she looked closely, although the pink-haired lad was in shabby clothing and looked unruly, he actually had a very bright and big aura! Indeed, it was like there was a burning sun behind him, making this person blinding to look at.

Such a person . . . she had never seen one before!

Though in the scriptures she had read, there were mentions of heroes and kings whose auras were as bright as the sun. In legends, it was a sign that they were chosen by the Heavens. She couldn't believe her eyes that she would be able to witness and meet such a person.

She had a gut feeling.

This person . . . his destiny was something that could move both Heaven and Earth. . .

Natsu looked at Loki then said with a deadpan voice, "Don't mind him. He's just my servant."

*Cricket sounds*

Loki's mouth was twitching, vein popping at his temple as he gave a very stiff bow at the two people in front. This bastard! How dare he make a fool of me!? Me? A Celestial, feared by both mortals and spirits, is a 'servant' of whom!?

Natsu was clearly getting back at him for laughing at the fact that an arrow almost hit his head. Worst thing was that he couldn't refute or retaliate because he needed to cooperate with this farce!

Lisanna looked confused. The pink haired lad was dressed poorly while the man beside him was wearing fine clothing. Shouldn't it be the other way around? But when she looked at Yukino, understanding seemed to flash into her eyes. She looked at Natsu with some regard as if discovering something.

Yukino also disregarded the dubious points in his words. Although their image was in contrast of the status they were claiming, the aura they were emitting was undeniable.

She put down her crossbow. "I am sorry for my disrespectful behavior earlier. If it isn't a trouble for you, would you accompany us back to the castle? We would like to properly thank you." I have to let Mavis-sama have a look to him.

"Oh there is no need. It is a gentleman's duty to help anyone in need" Natsu flashed a toothy grin. Though in reality, he was too nervous. He didn't expect to meet the princess. He, at least, wanted the princess to see him wearing good clothes!

But Lisanna had other ideas. "Oh I insist! Please come with us or it will be too discourteous of me to just let my savior go like that! Just say the word, and we will give it to you! If you refuse, I will lose face and I'm afraid that I'll be called an ungrateful princess"

Then can I ask for your hand?

Natsu swallowed back those words. "Well, if you insist. . ."

He wasn't the one that saved her. Even so . . . I'll gladly accept this opportunity. Even if I have to become someone I'm not and claim your efforts for myself, I will get what I wanted.

He also wanted to be with the princess even for a bit longer.

If he had to pretend to be someone else, he would gladly take this fake identity.

. o .

The sun finally peeked out from the clouds that began to clear up. A grand carriage of white and blue was returning to the castle.

"Ne ne, what do you think of him, Yukino?"

Lisanna asked, peeking behind the curtain at the pink haired lad riding the horse. If possible, she would have like to invite him inside the carriage but that would be too bold and unladylike of her. To invite a man she just met to her own carriage, even if he did save her life, she would be thought as "too easy". He might even think that she was shameless!

Yukino was being careful with her assessment. That pink haired lad was quite suspicious, although she doesn't sense anything bad from him. But he was definitely strange. Still, his blinding aura earlier had picked her interest and wanted to know more about him.

"Well, he is interesting" she replied as she sipped her tea.

Lisanna beamed. "Isn't he? Don't you think he's just like me? When we were younger, didn't we always switch our clothes so that I can sneak out of the castle and visit the villages?" she thought back to their memories with fondness.

Yukino's mouth twitched. She remembered those times. On their first meeting, the princess was so happy to the point she was beaming with light. She thought it was strange to be that happy at meeting a stranger. Later that day, she figured out why.

It turns out that the princess loves going outside and explore. However, she was a princess. Hence, she was forbidden to do so. There were always guards on her room and the maids would always quickly report if they find out that the princess was missing. It was definitely impossible for the princess to sneak out with that kind of security. Yukino's existence was like the heaven-sent gift for the troubled princess. Thus, it was the beginning of her life as a body-double.

Being forced to wear the princess's gowns and dresses of silk, sleep in a large comfortable bed, and eat delicious food, Yukino lived her days in the castle in terror and despair.

Even now, she would shudder just thinking what would happen if other people found out about it.

Lisanna coughed, knowing what her friend was thinking. "Anyway, do we really have to return to the castle so fast? I finally got permission to go out. . ."

Yukino looked at her sternly. "Princess, do you really need to ask? After what happened today, did you really think I'm going to let you risk your safety?"

Lisanna crossed her arms. "I finally can get outside. Ah!" An idea popped into her mind. "What about –"

"No."

She pouted. "I haven't even said anything yet!"

"I cannot act as you this time. Princess Mira and General Erza will come to see you once they heard this incident."

"Then –"

"Only an idiot will not report this, princess. This concerns your safety!"

Lisanna could only look down and sigh in disappointment.

"Just as when I finally get the chance to go outside, this happened. The castle is so monotonous and boring. There's nothing to do beside dressing up and continuous show of etiquette and grace. . ."

"Well, you can also read books at the library, play music, recite poems, learn embroidery, or host tea parties" Yukino offered, but her friend grimaced at that. "Only my sister would enjoy those!"

Yukino just quietly seeped her tea in response. Princess, it's not just your sister. That's what every noble lady does. It's you who is the strange one here.

Lisanna sighed. "The palace is so stifling for me. Sometimes, I envy those commoners who are free to travel around and play as they like. I wish I can be just like them too. . ."

Lucy was flying outside the carriage when she heard this. Stopping at her tracks, she stared at the carriage where the white haired princess was.

"I see . . . so she is just like me too. . ."

Hearing the princess's story, she found some rapport with her. She can empathize with the feelings of being caged and unable to do what other people do. She stared up at the sky. But unlike the princess, she doesn't have anything in particular that she wanted to do. She just wanted to fulfil her promise with him.

She looked at Natsu, remembering the tales of Heroes she had read. An unusual thought popped into her head. Maybe, just maybe, she would want to try the role of one of the characters and make her own tale?

How nice would it be to have a Hero of my own?

In the end, that was just a passing thought.

A thief that wishes to become a Hero . . .

A princess that longs to become free like a commoner . . .

A "genie" that wants to become a princess in the tales. . .

As such, the three began on their journey back to their destiny.

. . . * . . .

End of Chapter

The Hero, the Princess and the Genie, with the characters assembled, a new chapter of their tale begins!

Thank you for everyone who favorite and followed this story!

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