It was currently the 14th of July in the year X784.

In the town of Magnolia located in the kingdom of Fiore on the continent of Ishgar, the day was sunny and slightly hot, meaning that it was an overall good summer day. Rays of sunlight sneaked through the thick forest leaves outside of Magnolia, where Natsu's humble home was located. The forest, alive with the sounds of nature, bathed in the warmth of the July sun, provided a scenic yet isolated backdrop to the unfolding story.

Currently, a spiky pink-haired young man with black eyes was sleeping in his hammock in his house that he shared with his adoptive son, a blue cat named Happy, totally unaware yesterday was his 18th birthday.

As he was sleeping, someone knocked on his door, immediately waking him up from his dream. The sudden noise, completely out of place in the tranquil forest morning, made Natsu jump. His initial reaction was a mix of annoyance and confusion: being woken up in such a manner was not how he planned to start his day.

While being annoyed at being woken up so early in the morning, he got dressed and went to open the door.

After opening the door, he saw that a postman was there to deliver a package for him, who then asked for his signature to ensure he had received the package. After that, the postman left, and the young man went to his living room to sit on the couch and opened the package that likely contained a letter, in order to read it.

The title of the first letter was the following:

'To my younger brother Natsu Dragneel'

Natsu was confused at what the writer meant by that, so he continued to read the rest of the letter.

'While I am sure you do not remember me, I can assure you that I am your older brother. My name is Zeref Dragneel. I can prove that I am your brother if you read the rest of the letters. While you were four years old, you were greatly injured in a dragon attack on our home village. However, luckily you were healed on time and thus survived your injuries, sadly our parents did not make it. I knew I could not take care of you at the time due to my own plans, so I gave you up to the kind fire dragon king named Igneel, who needed a student at the time to whom to teach his dragon slayer magic, while I was working on trying to find a way to bring back our dead parents, especially our loving mother.'

'I am sure you are aware of my name Zeref and about my bad reputation as a dark mage. I can assure you that I am him. You see, Natsu, we both are technically over 400 years old. While I am cursed not to age, you, on the other hand, were sent 400 years into the future by a creation of mine called the Eclipse Gate.'

Natsu still did not wish to believe it, so he continued reading.

'Now that the first letter is about to end, what follows this letter is a photo of us as children with our parents. If you see the photo, you might come to believe me'

Natsu then put the first letter away and turned his focus on the picture.

In the picture, there was a young boy around 4 years old with pink hair and black eyes who looked like a younger version of him, a slightly older boy around 7-8 years old who had many similarities to him only with black hair, a beautiful woman with black hair, and a man with pink hair who looked like an older version of him.

Natsu did not know what to think, so he turned to what appeared to be the last letter.

'Happy 18th birthday Natsu. You were born on the 13th of July, 366, so if you exclude the 400 years of the Eclipse Gate, you are now 18 years old. And as a gift to you, I have decided to arrange a marriage for you with one of the most beautiful Alvarez noblewomen your age, her name is Mayumi Saegusa. You see, in the Alvarez empire, I am known as Emperor Spriggan, and as my brother, you are the crown prince. However, after hearing that you have never had a girlfriend in your life for 18 years, I decided to help you out with that, being the good brother I am. I know, I know, the last thing you expected was for your long-lost older brother to pull a move straight out of a romance drama. But trust me, if you are not compatible with the girl at all, you and only you can break off the engagement with her. However, at least give her a chance, from what I heard she is a nice girl. She should arrive in Magnolia sometime around two weeks from now. If you wish, you can sometime in the future come and visit me in Alvarez, as I should stay there most of my time.'

Natsu experienced many emotions while reading the two letters and seeing the picture, most of them were shock. He is technically 418 years old, is a prince of the Alvarez Empire, and is now engaged to a girl due to his older brother.