The next morning, the blonde was woken up with the sunrays burning down on her pale face. It made her groan and turn around in her spot as her eyes popped opened, the feeling of dread and tiredness spreading all over her body.

She didn't come home till late last night. It was probably around one in the morning when she remembered being dropped off back at her apartment by Sting.

Even though she attended the party with Sting, she ended up being with Natsu during most of it. She couldn't even remember being with Sting for more than ten minutes but with Natsu, she remembered dancing with him, eating with him, talking with him, and laughing with him. But it was cut-short around midnight when Sting found her being buddy-buddy with his rosy-haired cousin and grabbed her and stormed off.

She didn't know what kind of rivalry the two had but it seemed like a tug-of-war between the two with her.

Ignoring the feeling of pain in her feet, the blonde pushed herself out of bed and went to go take a soothing bath as she remembered her night with the royalty.

—X—

"Good morning your highness," a maid bowed low towards the pink-haired male who offered a small smile. "what would you like to drink this morning?"

"Just some juice or something, whatever is fine." He murmured as he made his way down the hall. "Bring it to my office, will you?" He asked as the maid agreed and disappeared down in the hall leaving him walking down the hall by himself. Once he made it to his office, he entered and went towards his desk to grab the newspaper that was always on his desk in the mornings. He then sat himself down at the sofa and opened the papers up to read about his land.

Reading wasn't something he enjoyed to do in his free time but knowing that he was going to be future ruler, he had to know what was going on.

Even if it was something boring as the news.

Hearing a knock on the door, the door opened seconds later to have his butler, Happy, walk in with a glass of fresh squeezed orange juice.

"Your highness, I have brought your drink for you."

"Thanks, Happy. You can set it on the table," Natsu murmured making Happy set it down in front of him as he bowed slightly. "thanks."

"Is there anything else your highness would like?"

"I actually do." The pink-haired Prince said as he folded the newspaper back up and place it right next to him on the sofa.

Noticing that the Prince was demanding something, the butler straightened up. "And what is it that you need?"

"For you to stop speaking to me like that." He ordered making Happy make some sort of face. "For god sakes, Happy, you're younger than me by five years and we've been together since the day you were born so treat me more like an older brother rather than someone who's going to rule the country one day." He scowled at his butler who frowned at his command. "I command you to, Happy."

Looking lost for words, the male bowed in an apologetic way. "I—I'm sorry... it's just... I have to. My apologies, your majesty."

"Happy!"

"Of all the things I was told to do, I cannot fulfill that wish."

Letting out a sigh of frustration, the male grumbled under his breath. "Then will you at least speak to me like a big brother when we're alone?"

Cracking a smile, the blue-haired male nodded and agreed making the Prince grin. "Great! Now, you can head out. I'm going to take a walk."

"Would you like me to accompany you?"

"Nah, I'm good. You should go check how Wendy is doing and when I mean is that you should check how her maid is doing. What's her name? Cha—Charlie? Chai?" The Prince spoke, pausing to think of the name of his little Princess' maid as Happy looked slightly irked, biting down on his tongue. "Or maybe I'm just bullshitting and it's something completely different."

"It's Carla." Happy cleared his throat as he corrected the Prince, blushing slightly. "And... I have no reason to go check up on her or Princess Wendy." He said even though he really wanted to go see the beautiful maid who followed the Princess around.

Smirking, the Prince stood up and looked at his butler. "You can't lie to me. I know you."

"Your highne—"

"That's a command, Happy. Go check up on her and Wendy—they're in the guest room, right?"

Hesitating at the command, the butler finally left the room leaving Natsu grinning to himself. "That'll teach him," he muttered to himself as he drowned his glass of fresh squeezed orange juice before placing it back down on the table. "now, time for my walk." he murmured to himself before walking out of his office to go down the corridor.

Going down the stairs of the palace, the male went through rooms and corridors till he had to cross the ball room, the place looking awfully large and isolated all of a sudden.

And to think it held over hundreds of guests just yesterday night.

Now that he thought about it, that beautiful commoner was here, too. The one who he danced with and ate with and spoke with almost the entire night till he stupid jealous cousin came and stormed off with her. It ruined his night but he wasn't in one position to speak about jealousy. He was super jealous that Sting was the one who brought her and Sting found her before he did.

Walking across the large marbled floor, the Prince remembered how the two spoke and dance all that night.

He could feel the warmth of her body against his and it somehow made him smile.

Suddenly, as he was about to head out to the garden, the male's eyes caught something blue and he froze in his spot as he stared at the piece of fabric before making his way over towards it.

As he approached the fabric closer and closer, he realized it was a ribbon that was laying on the ground and he bend down to pick it up, holding it close to his face to examine it.

"Wasn't... wasn't Lucy wearing this last night?" He murmured to himself as he twirled and felt the thing between his fingers as he remembered the blonde wearing this in her golden hair. "How'd this end up here?"

"Your highness!" A maid suddenly came running in making him quickly shove the ribbon in his pocket and turn around. "It is time for breakfast!"

"I'll be right there," he said making the maid nod and disappear back down the hall leaving the Prince all alone. He pulled the blue ribbon out of his pocket once more and stare down at it for a moment longer before a wide grin spread across his face. "huh... a blue ribbon."

—X—

Strapping on her brown combat boots, the blonde made her way out of her apartment to go and tour the place some more. And, buy some groceries while at it since she didn't really have anything to eat at home. She had a lot of things to unpack and she still has to do a bunch of stuff but touring Magnolia was high on her list and she didn't know why, either.

Maybe it was because Magnolia was such a good place or maybe it was because they had plenty of great stores to see.

She did want to go shopping, it has been a long time.

Walking out her front door, the woman was greeted with the cobblestone street and the stream that ran down her street. Seeing that, she was reminded of Sting whom she met while walking down the pathway, having mixed feelings about the encounter.

Now that she thought about it, she remembered what he said to her last night before he left.

"I don't think this will be the last time seeing you."

What did he mean by that? Was he planning on meeting her again? She wouldn't mind—then, she could head to the Royal Kingdom once more and see Natsu.

As mean and weird as that sounded, she just wanted to see the Prince, again.

He was such a fun person to be around. She wondered how he was doing.

But she knew it was an unlikely chance to see him, again. He was the Prince of the country and last night was just a coincidence. How can a low commoner like her hang out with the Prince, anyways? It was stupid and obnoxious of her to think like that.

Scoffing to herself, she walked down the pathway to the town where she could buy fresh ingredients for tonight's dinner. It reminded her of how she needed to find a job quickly before she ran out of money to buy food and other things with. Maybe she could do some part-timing at a restaurant—she always wanted to try and waitress before.

But as she made her way into the crowded town where food stands stood high, she accidentally bumped into someone making her squeak and fall back but a hand caught her wrist before she did.

She was surprised to be pressed against a hard warm chest. "Geez, you're clumsy!"

"I—I'm sorry!" She squeaked out as she looked up at the male who saved her. "Y—you're—!" She cried out in surprise as the male smirked broadly.

"Laxus! I thought I told you not to wander on your own! What if I lost you?!"

"Whatever. You found me so quit your whining, Freed."

Staring up at the blonde she saw last night, she was amazed on how built and tall this Prince was.

What was with her and meeting royalty?

"You alright, blondie?" His deep gruff voice echoed through her ears making a shiver run up her spine. She quickly pulled away and flushed in embarrassment as she bowed awkwardly.

"I—I apologize your—"

"If you're going to act buddy-buddy with Sting and Natsu, I bet your ass you're going to be buddy-buddy to me as well."

"E—eh?" Lucy looked up in surprise to see the so-called butler, Freed, scowl towards the Prince as Laxus stared down at her.

"Yeah, I saw you last night. Even though I'm better than both of them, I don't want no 'your highness' shit, alright?"

Gawking slightly, the blonde female couldn't help but stare in shock as he smirked down at her. "What? Cat caught yer tongue?"

"Look who it is—ain't it big old Laxus?"

Looking up, the female was once again greeted with another member of royalty as that heavy drinker, Cobra, walked towards the three with his maid right behind him. His dark midnight orbs darted from her pale face to the scowling blonde Prince as a heavy smirk decorated his dark face. "Ain't this Natsu's?"

"Natsu's?" Lucy echoed as Laxus scoffed.

"It was Sting's but now it's mine."

"Sting's? It?" She echoed once more as her eyes darted from the blonde to the maroon-colored Prince who stared each other down.

She could practically see the sparks and lighting fly in-between them as she was caught up right between them all. It made her super uncomfortable and she just wanted to hurry and get her things before she bumped into another one. And it seemed like Laxus seemed a bit jealous over something when in reality, he had nothing to be so jealous about.

"I thought I saw her with Natsu."

"She was with him, too."

"What, she's a bouncer?"

"E—erm... I think I'm going to go, now—"

"Don't you know it's rude to butt-in a conversation with royalty?!" Freed, Laxus' butler, snapped making her jump in her spot and cower slightly as the two males looked her way. "Do you have no manners?!"

"Cool it, Freed." Laxus snapped as he glanced at the male before looking back at Lucy to take a good look at her. It made her shiver in disgust slightly as he grinned. "I could see why Sting and Natsu were fighting about her."

"I don't." Cobra said bluntly as he eyed her up and down before looking away causing Lucy to gawk in offense.

She opened her mouth to snap right back at him but was stopped when somebody behind her bumped into her causing her to jerk forward and fall right in back into Laxus' arm who barked out in laughter.

"Look! She's already falling into my arms!"

"I—it was by accident! Somebody pushed me!" She cried out as she pulled away to whirl around and look. Her eyes widened in size as she realized it was yet another royalty whom she saw that night. "P—Princess Wendy?!"

"S—sorry for bumping into you... I could not see very well." She murmured shyly as her maid rolled her eyes.

Now, she was surrounded by the three and she felt very claustrophobic and uncomfortable, wondering why it was her and not some other person.

What were the chances of her bumping into royalty two days in a row?

"Hey, it's like a family reunion up here." Laxus noted making Cobra and Wendy glance his way before looking back at the blonde commoner who was feeling slightly flustered and highly uncomfortable.

Every time she wanted to run away, one after another, a new royalty member would come and stop her.

"What are you two doing here?" Wendy spoke up to her older members, blinking innocently as the two exchanged glances. "Are you guys buying groceries as well?"

"Why the hell are you buying groceries when the castle is full of shit?"

"Cobra!" The Prince's maid scowled as the Prince shrugged, looking at the Princess.

"Are you buying apples?"

"H—how did you—?"

"Wendy, everyone knows you buy apples and feed the horses. It's no secret." Laxus answered for Cobra making her gasp and flush in embarrassment, hanging her head.

"I—I didn't think anyone knew..."

"Hey, hey—aren't they royalty?"

"Where? Who?"

"Them! The blonde hunk and the dashing male with the maroon hair! Oh, I think the blue-haired girl is, too! But who the hell is that blonde female?"

Looking around nervously, Lucy realized that they were gaining attention making her chew on her bottom lip. "Erm... I think—I, uh, I think we're gaining a bit of attention... are you guys allowed outside?" She asked making the three look at her as the murmurs got louder and a crowd started to form. "I think you guys should go—"

"What's going on! Is the circus in town or something?! What's with the crowd?!" A new booming voice shouted as a familiar blonde Prince came walking through the crowd, a wide grin plastered on his face. "Oh, I was right. The circus is in town."

"What did you say?!" Laxus growled as Cobra shot him a look. "You lookin' for a fight?"

"Oh, Lucy is here, too? Hey!" Sting shouted gleefully as he put his arm around her shoulders and grinned. "I knew we will be seeing each other, again."

"S—Sting..."

"What's going on?"

"We're causing a scene!" Lucy hissed making the blonde look around blinking before shrugging. "Do you not even care?!"

"Nope! What's going on, family! How are you?! Family hug!" Sting shouted as he raised his arms high to capture the three in his arms but only ended up hugging Wendy as the other two males scooted out of the picture. "Laxus! Cobra! I said—!"

"Fuck you and your family hug."

"You touch me and I'll kill you."

"Geez, who peed in your chili, today?" He guffawed obnoxiously, laughing at his own joke making Lucy just stare.

She was wrong. Natsu wasn't the only one who was different—they all were in their own way. It made her go into shock on how weird the royalty family were acting—weren't they all supposed to be sophisticated and civil? Wendy was acting like it but the males were acting a bit too obnoxious.

"I wish Natsu and Rogue were here, as well! Would have been a great experience!"

"Nobody wants them here but you."

"I bet Lucy does! Hey Lucy, you want to come back to the castle with us?!"

"Sting-Kun, I don't think—"

"It's okay, Lector. C'mon! I'll treat you to dinner!" He shouted happily as he grabbed the female by the wrist to start dragging her the direction of where he came from. He ignored the shouts of disagreement that came from his butler and the other royalty as he brought the blonde towards the limousine he came to town in.

Lucy was just too baffled to say anything, allowing the blonde to take her to the castle yet, again.

—X—

"Natsu, you should really take a rest. You have been working all day—are you sure you do not want me to bring you anything?"

"I'm good, Happy. Thanks, though. I just really gotta finish this," he murmured as he stared down at paperwork, a sigh flying out of his lips. "why don't you go and eat some food? I'll be down soon." He promised making Happy sigh as well and shake his head. "What? Don't want to without me? Well, we have been eating all of our meals together since we were young." He grinned happily making Happy smile back as well.

Finally throwing down his pen and leaning back against his chair, Natsu decided to finally take a break. "Fine, okay, I think I deserve a break after all."

"They have fish today!" Happy said happily making Natsu grin even wider. "I heard it was fresh caught just today!"

"That's the best! We gotta hurry and get there, Happy!"

"Y—your highness, please do not run—!" Happy shouted as the pink-haired Prince dashed out of the place like a five year old ready to eat dessert. It resulted on Happy shouted for him and him laughing loudly as he ran down the large long halls.

But it turned out bad as he slammed into somebody right as he turned the corner, a squeak and a yelp flying and bouncing off the walls.

Trying to shake the feeling of dizziness and pain away, Natsu carefully opened his eyes to groan out and look down as he felt some kind of warmth against his lower body. His eyes widen when his eyes met wide chocolate brown ones, his jaw dropping in surprise.

"What the... Lucy?"

"Natsu..."

notes: okay, really, i am back from the dead (again) and i want to apologize greatly cause i've been super busy cause of school and i just don't have time... i apologize a million times, pls don't kill mwah. i'll try and continue to update more frequently but ehh, i don't know if i can with school and football...
notes2: so my crush kissed me today and he, and i quote, said; "today is officially the best day of my life" and i just askhdlkdfj. he's probably the main reason why i updated today... i'm super happy.
notes3: i have pictures tomorrow and i always look super fat and ugly in my photos...
notes4: leave a review for royalty