Authors Note: Hello there! Thank you for reading, it makes me so incredibly happy to see many people reading and hopefully enjoying my story!

I finished my paper today, yay! All of the stress is finally gone, or will be after I submit it tomorrow! (I even started dreaming about having to write my paper, ugh. I literally had a dream of going on an adventure with the whole Fairy Tail Gang, but then I LEFT bc of the stupid thing D:)

Now I can finally concentrate on the fun writing again! And I promise, I have soooooo many ideas for this story and I will update soon, I know this one is kinda short. I still want to have backup chapters, even though I've already written Chapter 8, lol. Believe me, it's really hard to wait at least some days between updates and not just spam everything :3

Have fun reading!

Chapter 3 - Expectations

Levy barely held herself upright, the startle from finding her host, the KING in such a personal space was still in her bones, and now she held the arm of said king while they walked side by side.
Desperately scrambling to regain her composure and remember her manners, she decided to start a conversation about a topic that had been at the back of her mind the entire time in the garden.

"The castle gardens are really beautiful. And I noticed the rich vegetable garden, do you grow your food here?" she asked and looked up at the man who walked at her side, towering over her.

"Most of it, yes. Of course we can't grow all of the spices and ingredients that are used in the kitchen, but the castle even has a small orchard for growing all kinds of fruit." "Oh, I'm sure that it looks lovely in the spring!" Levy exclaimed and smiled brightly at the thought of beautiful blossoming trees. Gajeel smiled back at her "It does, maybe you visit Farkesi in the spring and can see it. There is also a festival in town, celebrating the arrival of new life after the winter."

Levy's heart started beating faster when the iron king mentioned her visiting again, but decided it couldn't be an invitation. If only she wasn't so damned nervous.

"Oh, so spring is celebrated? I never really experienced cold winters, I'm sure you know how warm Chrate is all year. Spring isn't any different than the other seasons there" she sighed.
Gajeel seemed surprised at her displeasure "You are sad about that? I always thought it must be nice to live in a warm climate. All of the exotic plants, never worrying about being cold. I also know that you don't have windows in the palace, something I found odd, but interesting." He stated. Levy scrunched her face together, thinking for a moment
"Well, it is nice…sometimes. The fact that we only have holes in our walls also means that anything can enter. I know every kind of moth by heart, just because I've seen such an abundant number throughout my life."
Gajeel snickered at that and Levy also let a small giggle escape her lips before she continued.
"But, as for the other things… even exotic plants get boring if you see them daily. The pine trees of Teryas northern forests are far more exotic to me than a waterlily or a palm tree. And I like the constant change, the dance of life, death and rebirth that normal seasons bring. Of course I never experienced much of it, but I read it in many books. It seems so much more…natural than what I'm used to in Chrate and even on Mrithar, which has a different climate altogether. I also like it that people arrange their own life after it, especially farmers. I'm quite fascinated by their abilities of knowing when to sow, groom and harvest, simply because nature demands it that way. It has sort of a comforting certainty to it, nature dictating our lives, the same way it did hundreds of years ago." She ended her explanation, now lost in thought.

Gajeel was impressed by her way of thinking and the deep understanding she had of something so mundane, yet so important. Something she hadn't even witnessed herself, nonetheless. He was about to ask her another question when she spoke up again "Oh no, I hope I didn't bore you, your majesty, I'm very sorry, letting my thoughts run away like that!"
Her head hung low, some stray blue curls falling in front of her eyes, a pitiful picture and so in contrast to the brightness which with she talked before. Something about this made him want to cheer her up, a sudden desire he was so unfamiliar with it almost scared him. War had a certain effect, making the world seem darker and much more unforgiving. Seeing someone so eager to experience this tragic world felt like a breath of fresh air.
"Don't worry, it was nice to talk to you. The change of seasons is such a day-to-day thing that I don't even notice it anymore. Now that I see it from your perspective, I can appreciate it more. Thank you." Gajeel smiled and took Levy's hand from his arm. Remembering the last shred of his manners and grinning inwardly at the thought of having a comeback if Lily ever nagged him about protocol again, he bowed down and placed a brief kiss onto the back of her hand. "I think this is the room we have prepared for you. I look forward to seeing you at dinner this evening."
"Thank you, your majesty, I look forward to dinner as well." Levy curtsied and retreated into her room.

Inside, she leaned against the door and let out the breath she'd been holding. Then she finally let herself draw in way too many breaths. "Oh my Oh my Oh my…! What. What…what was that?"

She felt her cheeks heat up first, then her entire body felt like it was on fire, excitement and embarrassment and so many other feelings gnawing at her. The flash of feelings from essentially stumbling over the king, him offering to accompany her, dumping her thoughts about seasonal changes on him and then finally the hand kiss had her head spinning. Decidedly, it wasn't too bad for her first face-to-face conversation with royalty that didn't grow up with her.

To take her mind of tings she decided to start to freshen up before dinner would roll around. While washing herself, she recounted the events of the day, from arriving in Terya, to the reception in Farkesi, to the conversation with her host.

Her host. The Iron king. Of course Levy knew about the rumors. The warrior prince Kurogane, a veteran of the civil war at only 22 years old, violent and dangerous, scaring almost everyone in his castle away from him. And although Lucy had told her that he was better now, she had expected to see a sullen, grim man who could never completely shake his violent demeanor, aged by his anger, cold and unreachable.
Instead, he had been quite pleasant and even welcoming towards her, despite being interrupted by her snooping. Admittedly it had scared her to find him since she couldn't deny that she had been scared by his intimidating appearance at first. The huge claw-like gauntlets, the dark armor, the long black hair, even the piercings, which she knew were quite common around Terya were all very imposing to her. And his build didn't help much. When sitting on the throne, it wasn't very obvious, but as soon as he stood before her, she'd noticed just how massive the man was. Natsu wasn't the definition of scrawny either, the flame emperor was strong and built himself, but even he couldn't hold up to the sheer size of King Redfox.
Although, she noticed that his armor added to his imposing appearance. She hadn't been intimidated when she met him in the gardens, no armor, no gauntlets, not even a crown. Of course he was still a big man, but the simple tunic and cape just gave him the undertone of royal dignity, a more composed look than that of the war-hardened warrior king.
One might even call him attractive. Levy blushed at the thought and faintly slapped her cheeks. Embarrassment at her thoughts crawled up inside her and she scolded herself for even thinking in such a casual manner about the ruler of a country.

Her clothes had been unpacked and she went through them to pick a new dress, wearing the same one for a near 10-hour trip was getting to her. She chose a dark red halter top dress instead of the dark blue one she'd been wearing. It was one of her favorites, comfortable, yet elegant, it hugged her upper body tightly and fell freely down her hips. More fabric layers were added at the hips to give it a more extravagant look without being exhausting to the wearer.
The look was completed with long lace sleeves, which Levy was thankful for, as she wasn't particularly fond of showing off her arms. She decided to do her hair up with a simple clasp and let some strands fall down freely onto her shoulders. She gave herself one last look and smiled. Perfect for a first dinner as the guest of a king.

/

How will our favourite King react to Levy in her smexy dress? I hope I described it somewhat good.

I write with way too much detail, but I just have all these ideas and want to bring them into this world! Thinking about clothes makes me way too excited.

I hope you liked this shorter chapter, If not, tell me why! If yes, tell me why! Tell me the good, the bad and the dirty! (Cookies for anyone recognizing that reference, lol.)

I love reviews so much, it shows me that you guys like my stuff and they always make my day and give me a big smile :)

And on the topic of reviews:

finch6: Glad to hear it! It's so encouraging to receive direct feedback like this :D

Shaidow365: Will do, sargent! Your review is so motivating! I'm really happy you thought the ending was cute, means I'm doing it right ;P

Aaaah, I feel like I found such an amazing community! It's so nice to be able to share something I'm so passionate about!

Have a wonderful day you incredible people :3