Lucy couldn't hide the astonishment on her face when she beheld the Summer palace. A most magnificent estate, heavily influenced by Verdenshav's culture while also giving off the appearance of something she had seen in the illustrations of fantasy stories. It seemed to somehow glow in light that she imagined was spawned from the meeting of different worlds. In fact, this whole nation seemed to have that kind of glow. This was a realm that she had dreamed of seeing. A realm where you see and learn things that come from all over. It was more than what the young princess could have hoped for.

At last the carriage stopped at the palace front and she and her father were greeted by the prime minister Lahar.

"Ah Sultan Jude." He said with a smile. "I thank you immensely for accepting my invitation."

"And I thank you immensely for inviting us." The sultan replied.

The front castle doors were then opened and Gray began to make his way down the stairs in order to greet the monarchy of Lazan City. He saw the princess first and he could not deny that she was certainly a stunning woman. One dressed in an exotic, jade-green djellaba with her hair perfectly wrapped up and in place by silken scarves, adorned by the finest jewelry. Her stance was one of great respect and pride, of one who had been born and bred in the proper ways of royalty and nobility.

"Allow me to present, his royal highness, Prince Gray of the Verdenshav Kingdom." Lahar spoke.

Gray bowed before the sultan and his daughter.

"Welcome to my humble home." He said politely.

"Prince Gray it is an honor to finally meet you." Jude said. "Allow me to present my daughter, Princess Lucy."

"A pleasure to meet you Prince Gray." The princess said in a respectful tone.

"Likewise." The prince said.

"He is very handsome." Lucy thought. "And there seems to be a trace of humility in him. Quite a rare in someone of his status, I must say."

From the behind the palace doors, Juvia watched them feeling both fear and excitement. She was frightened to see who her rival for the prince's love was yet at the same time she was most eager to see her. Especially after hearing what so many of the servants had to say about her. They all said that she was beautiful, talented, intelligent, just perfect for Gray. And that's what Juvia was afraid of.

But eventually her curiosity got the better of her and she slowly came out from behind the doors, slowly going down the steps to see the princess. Suddenly she became startled upon recognizing that the princess in question was Lucy of all people. So startled that she lost her balance and tumbled down the stairs.

"Oh good lord! Are you alright?" Gray was instantly at Juvia's side, gently helping her up and steadying her. "Are you hurt? Anything broken?"

Juvia shook her head, blushing over her clumsiness.

"You must be careful my dear." Lahar told her. "These old steps can be quite hazardous."

"Who is this?" The sultan asked looking down on Juvia.

"Another guest who will be staying at the palace." Gray explained. "She's the survivor of a shipwreck and she has nowhere to go and no one to take care of her. Until further notice, she's just as welcome here as you and your daughter are."

Because Juvia was dry with hair that was properly groomed instead of mangled and dripping wet, clothed richly, and having a pair of legs in place of a tail, Lucy did not recognize her. Though she did think that there was something familiar about her.

"What's her name?" Lucy asked.

"We don't know." Gray said. "She can't tell us. She can't speak at all. We think she may have lost her voice in the wreck."

"How awful." Lucy said to Juvia sympathetically. "It must've been traumatizing."

Juvia just looked down at her feet. She couldn't make eye contact with the princess because then she might recognize her and expose her as something that wasn't human. Then Gray would never fall in love with her.

"Well no doubt you all are exhausted from the long trip." Lahar said. "We'll show you all to your rooms and have the staff carry your luggage. We've also planned a dinner and a concert in your honor tonight."

"How considerate. We are pleased." Jude said.

Lahar and Gray, with Juvia at his side, politely escorted Lucy, her father, their servants, and Zash into the summer palace and toward the specially prepared guest rooms. Throughout the walk, Lucy couldn't take her eyes off of Juvia, positive that she recognized the mute girl from somewhere but at the moment she found it impossible to put it together in her head. Juvia felt Lucy's gaze studying her and looked back nervously.

"Why do you stare at that girl so strangely?" Jude asked her.

"Oh!" Lucy said, embarrassed and turning to apologize to Juvia. "Forgive me, I didn't mean to stare. My eyes were just wandering. I meant no offense."

Juvia just brushed it off with a nod.

"Think nothing of it." Gray chuckled. "I wouldn't blame anyone for looking at her too long. She is very lovely, isn't she?"

Juvia blushed.

"Yes she certainly is." Zash said looking at her with lust his eyes.

Something about the advisor's tone and stare frightened Juvia, Gray could sense this so he put a protective arm around her and stepped in between the two.

"Zash, right?" Gray said. "I do believe your room is the other way down the hall. Very comfortable sir."

"Why thank you my liege." Zash said before bowing to the sultan and his daughter. "Until tonight my glorious sultan and most radiant princess."

Lucy only glared at him, and when he was gone, she was finally led to her own suite and her father was led to his. For the next few hours, they rested from the trip while servants unpacked their luggage. Later they were escorted into the banquet hall for dinner and Lucy and Gray were sat next to each other. An attempt by Jude and Lahar for the two to start getting to know one another. Unfortunately the conversation was quite awkward.

"So...Um...What do you like to do in your spare time, Lucy?" Gray asked.

"Well I've always had a passion for art." She answered. "Painting is my favorite pass time. The way the colors just come to life on a canvas, it's incredible really. Do you like to paint?"

"Not exactly. I don't really have any eye for art."

"Then what do you do for leisure?"

"I mostly prefer to sail or go down to the beach. You could say my passion is the ocean."

"I can see why. The ocean is very beautiful. Before this trip, I've never seen it before. You're very lucky that you get to travel so often. Tell me, do you ever dream about exploring the world?"

"I'm a sea fairer, I explore the world all the time."

"Really?"

"Yes but to be honest, the most thrill I get out of that is just sailing over seas. I don't need much, just a ship soaring over the waves or a warm spot on the sand. And maybe someone to share it with."

"So you actually want to get married?" She asked.

"Well yes. You wouldn't think it, but over the years I have been getting a little lonely."

"Oh trust me I can understand that perfectly well." She chuckled. "But if you want to get married, why have you turned down so many brides? I was told that before me, you had rejected at least twenty maids."

"That's because I don't want to just marry anyone. I want to marry for love like my parents did. I don't want a pretty face and a title, I want a friend that I can really open up to and bond with. Don't you feel the same?"

"Yes I do." She said impressed. "But I'm in no hurry to be wed. There are still so many things I want to do first. I want a chance to follow the wind, to discover something new around the next bend, to sleep under the open sky. Unlike you, I've spent my whole life behind palace walls and I've never had the chance to see anything."

"Sounds frustrating."

"It is."

Juvia couldn't eat a bite of anything at dinner. She was too busy watching Gray and Lucy converse. She couldn't hear what they were saying but she thought that they looked like a beautiful couple. Lucy seemed like a much better fit for him than Juvia ever would be.

"Oh why did it have to be Lucy?" Juvia thought hopelessly. "She's the most perfect princess there is. Any man would fall in love with her at first sight. Gray will probably propose to her at the week's end, maybe even sooner."

After dinner beautiful female servants, dressed in silk stepped forward and sang before the prince and his guests. Gray clapped his hands and smiled at the singers, he always did have a good ear for music despite not being a singer himself. This was great sorrow to Juvia for she knew how much more sweetly she herself could sing once. Until now, she had never been more sorry to have given up her voice.

"What's wrong?" Gray asked noticing the sad expression on her face, but one look in her eyes told him everything he needed to know. "Oh...Well who needs words and singing anyway? A smile says just as much."

Indeed it did, because in that moment, when Juvia smiled, Gray could see all the joy she felt in her heart from hearing him say that.

"You want to know something funny?"

She nodded.

"I'm the prince of a kingdom that lives for music and I can't sing."

"Oh I don't believe that!" The sultan laughed, having overheard the prince. "I've heard cuntless people speak of how both your father and mother had such fine voices. Surely you must be the best singer in your kingdom."

"Oh believe me, I'm not."

"Don't be so modest. Here, why not entertain us with your vocal talents?"

Gray suddenly turned as pale as death.

"With all due respect, I'd rather not."

"But I have spent years hearing about your mother's fantastic singing and always yearned to hear it for myself, but alas, he untimely death prevented that. However you are her son so you must sing as exceptionally as her. Grant me the honor, please?"

"Father I don't think-" Lucy started.

"Hush Lucy." He whispered to her. "I'm trying to make a good impression on your future husband."

Gray continued to protest and Jude continued to insist. Eventually all the other guests were insisting as well, for you see they were not from Verdenshav and did not know about Gray's condition, meaning they believed him to be an excellent singer as well. In the end he hadn o choice but to comply in order to not offend his guests. So reluctantly, he stood up from his seat and walked to the center of the room. The orchestra played music and after one last moment of hesitance, he sang.

From his throat there came a loud and grating crack, almost like a caterwaul. It took everyone by surprise, even the orchestra was so shock that they stopped playing. The mood was shattered. There was a long awkward silence as everyone stared at Gray. Then the silence broke into a fit of hysterical laughter. Jude, Zash, the servants they brought, the female singers, the orchestra players, the other dinner guests, they just laughed and laughed at him. Lucy didn't laugh though, she just remained in quiet horror. Lahar and Ur didn't laugh either, they just tried to hush the crowd.

"Please stop." They pleaded. "Please don't laugh at him."

But their pleas were overshadowed by the laughter. Poor Gray hung his head in shame and backed into the nearest corner, feeling the sting of humiliation. He just wanted to run off and hide, pretend that he didn't exist. Juvia could not bear to see him hurt like this. She suddenly became desperate to do whatever it took to defuse the situation and direct the mockery away from him. Practically jumping from her seat, she ran to take Gray's place at the room center and started to dance.

As mentioned earlier, Juvia didn't know anything about dancing. She had never danced before, she had never taken any lessons, she hardly understood what dancing meant. So she just jumped and kicked, flailing her arms and hands. She was just moving rapidly without thinking  and she finished it off by tripping and falling right in the middle of the floor. In no time at all, everyone who had laughed at Gray was now laughing at her. Which she didn't mind, that was her plan. Although she didn't expect them to start calling her names and insulting her. She thought that they would just laugh but she was wrong. They only just chose to laugh at him because they knew he was a prince.

"What a stupid girl!" One guest laughed.

"Disgraceful!" Another said.

"Just look at those knobbly knees!"

"And that sickly pale skin!"

"What gutter did the prince fish her out of?"

"The question my dear, is why didn't he throw her back?"

As Juvia listened to their cruel words, she felt like she was right back in the sea, being mocked and bullied by her own people. She wasn't naive enough to believe that humans couldn't be just as cruel and that a lot of them wouldn't find her to be strange, but she had hoped that they at least wouldn't be so merciless. She buried her face into her hands and started to silently cry, unable to look up and see Gray mocking her too.

But he did no such thing.

"Alright that's enough!" He declared angrily. "You all can laugh at me all you want but I draw the line at insults toward my guests or my staff! None of you will ever say another unkind word about her again, is that clear?"

Everyone went silent but Gray could tell that they understand his demands.

"Are you alright?" Gray asked kneeling down beside Juvia. She nodded. "Good. Come on, why don't we go get some air?"

Taking her hands into his own, he led her outside on to the balcony, where Juvia would experience one of the most exciting moments in her whole life.