Lucy had witnessed the arrival of "Prince Etherious" but unlike everyone else, who seemed all too eager to fall for his parade and tales of fabulous deeds, she had not yet decided how she felt about this mysterious prince. She had seen countless men make fools of themselves before and was certain that this one was no different. In fact she was tempted to outright refuse the request to meet him, but the last thing she needed right now was her father in another one of his bad moods. So reluctantly, she entered the great hall.

When Natsu saw her he almost fell over himself. She looked as beautiful as he remembered her. More beautiful even.

"Prince Etherious, allow me to present my daughter, Princess Lucy." The sultan introduced.

However the princess refused to even make eye contact with the young man. She just kept looking down at the floor, wanting to get this ridiculous meeting over with. Natsu on the other hand was just trying not to go stupid.

"Your..." He gulped before bowing. "Your majesty, I am Prince Etherious of Khalihan, and I would be delighted to ask for your hand in marriage."

Lucy was already infuriated by him. Already he's asking for her hand, not even making an attempt to get to know her first. There was no chance this man wanted to marry her for love, he was just like all the others, looking for an easy way to gain more power and riches. Didn't any of them have the good sense to at least have one conversation with her first? Ironically, the only prince who ever had that decency was the only one who didn't want to marry her.

"And I would be delighted to refuse." She answered haughtily.

"Lucy!" Her father scolded. "You could at the very least show him some respect. This man has traveled far and wide just to meet you and has brought you the most marvelous gifts."

"I don't care how far he's traveled and I don't care about his gifts, he's just another fraud. Someone who sees me as a prize to be won, which I most certainly am not!"

With that said, she stormed off. At this, Natsu's heart sank. He had been so sure that Lucy would have liked him as a prince. He never thought this would happen.

"I apologize on my daughter's behalf, Prince Etherious." Jude said. "I'm afraid she's very selective when it comes to suitors. Give her a moment or two to cool off. I will then speak to her and we'll sort this thing out at dinner tonight. That is if you will be staying?"

"I will if the prince of Verdenshav will have me." He said turning to Gray.

"I suppose there's no harm in entertaining another guest." Gray responded, still quite suspicious. "I'll have the maids make up a room for you."

"Excellent." Jude said. "Come Zash, it's been a long morning. Perhaps we all need a little down time."

"Yes." The vizier agreed. "I need to do a little thinking."

The sultan and vizier quickly exited the chamber. Once they were gone, Natsu hung his head and slowly slunk to the floor.

"Apologize on her behalf? I think I should be the one to apologize." Natsu said. "Cause it seems that my mere existence has offended her."

For a moment, Gray's suspicion of this "prince" was turned to sympathy upon seeing how downhearted he instantly became from her rejection. It seemed that he really wanted her to like him.

"Don't take it too hard." Gray said to the poor fellow. "She probably would have treated me the same way if I wanted to marry her."

"Huh?" Natsu looked at him confused. "Aren't you courting her too?"

"Not exactly. My people are frightened of reprisals of the great war so they think a marriage between myself and her would help keep the peace and give us extra security in case the other countries attempt to threaten us. And while I understand the reasoning and while the princess is indeed a remarkable woman, I could never marry her. I don't love her."

"Don't love her?" Natsu gasped, positively aghast at the notion. "How could you not love her? How could you not want to marry her? She's the most incredible, magnificent, gorgeous woman in the world. As radiant as the sun and as spirited as a flame."

"As I said, she's a remarkable woman but not the one for me. The woman I love is as lovely as the moon and as deep as an ocean."

"Oh..." Natsu said, finally understanding the situation. "There's somebody else."

"Yes."

"Well if that's the case, then why the attempt at an arranged marriage? Why don't you just marry this other girl?"

"Uh...Well..." Gray blushed nervously. "This is kind of embarrassing and you're probably going to think I'm stupid but...The thing is I don't know who she is."

Natsu gave him a look.

"You're in love with a woman and you don't know who she is?"

"Believe me, I know how that sounds and I've wracked my brain about it countless times but I just can't help it. I don't even know her name and yet I know she's the one for me. And besides, I seriously can't be the only man in the world who's desired a woman with all his being just after only seeing her one time, am I?"

Natsu was about to protest but kept silent upon remembering that he pretty much did the same thing. Of course at least he knew the name of the woman he had fallen for. On the other hand though, maybe he could use this to his advantage.

"It seems a golden opportunity has presented itself to us." The fake prince said.

"What do you mean?" Gray replied.

"You are expected to marry a princess when you love another woman. But I want to marry this princess and obviously I will need some help impressing her. So maybe we can both help each other out?"

"Hmm..." Gray thought for a moment. "Alright you have my attention, what do you propose?"

"You and her may not be in love but you seem to be friends. Tell me how I can win her heart and if I can pull it off then you won't have to marry her."

"Not a bad idea. One problem though."

"What?"

"I'm not sure if I trust you yet. As I mentioned earlier, I've never heard of you or your kingdom."

"I told you why that was."

"Doesn't mean you told me the truth."

"Are you calling me a liar?"

"No. But I'm also not calling you an honest man. Not yet anyway. As much as I don't want to marry the princess, I will not play a part in her being seduced by a fraud. Now I don't know for certain that you are one. For all I know, what you've said could be the God's honest truth and once I'm convinced of that, you can consider me an ally. However, at this moment I'm not convinced."

"So what are you saying?"

"I'll consider your offer and I'll be watching you closely. The evidence should present itself soon enough, and for your sake, it better be in your favor."

"Are you threatening me?"

"No I'm just warning you. The penalty for impersonating royalty is death or life in prison, and that applies to every country. Including here."

"But this nation isn't even governed by a monarchy."

"True but this nation has trade routes with countries that are governed by monarchies and the last thing they want is to offend their clients by excusing someone who makes a mockery of their ways."

Finally Natsu's love-sickness had cleared, if only momentarily and allowed the weight of reality to hit him. He was so sure that with all the riches and spectacles Gildarts had given him, no one would suspect that he wasn't a real live prince. But this guy wasn't so easily fooled and it made Natsu wonder, how many others would get suspicious of him too? And how long would it be before some one caught on to his charade and outed him?

And what would Lucy think of him then?

...

Lucy didn't mean to get so upset right away but it was so frustrating that she could hardly stand it. First her father sets her up for an arranged marriage and at the same time another suitor shows up to ask for her hand? Can't she have some room to breathe? Can't she escape the pressure to marry for at least one day?

She decided to take out her anger and frustration through art. After taking a few deep breaths, Lucy began to out her art supplies which she packed for the trip. She set up her easel, placed a new and blank canvas on to it, opened her collection of water-color paints, grabbed her brush, and started to create. She decided to paint the ocean which she had sailed across on to reach this land, for it had been the very first time she had ever seen it. She painted greenish-blue waves and white foam rising up and going down, moving like the great winds of the dessert which she had been so accustomed too.

"And just what do you think you're doing?!"

Her artistic vision was suddenly halted by the familiar but oh so irritating voice of the palace guards that had been sent to protect her and her father.

"Oh what is it now?" She thought.

Lucy put down her brush and slowly opened to the door to her just a crack. She saw the guard shouting at a girl, the mute girl who had been staying here as a guest as well. Though her father and her own servants seemed to keep forgetting that important detail.

"How dare you attempt to enter the princesses chambers!" The man practically roared in her face. "No one is permitted to enter without permission!"

The girl shook her head rapidly and tried to present something to him but he swatted it out of her hand. She drew back, clutching her hand in pain. The item was sent flying at Lucy's feet and she picked it up. She recognized it as one of her bracelets, she must've dropped it at some point and the girl found it.

"Why don't you speak?!" The guard demanded to know. "Speak you little fool!"

"She cannot speak!" Lucy spoke up defensively. "And for your information, the only attempt she was making was to return something that rightfully belongs to me. An attempt that you apprehended."

The guard froze in both shock and humiliation.

"Princess Lucy, I was only-"

"Quiet! You've done enough!"

She turned her attention to the girl and her demeanor became more gentle.

"Are you alright?"

The girl nodded.

"I'm so sorry for this. Rest assured, I'll make sure that you are never treated like that again. Also thank you very much for returning my bracelet to me."

The mute girl smiled and nodded. Lucy then noticed the heart-shaped pearl that hung from her neck.

"I've seen that pendent somewhere before."

Her eyes slowly moved from the pendent and to her face. Finally the princess was getting a good look at this girl and that along with the necklace caused an instant recognition.

"Juvia?" She said. "Juvia is that you?"

Juvia panicked. She ran away.

"Wait!"

"Shall I go after her your highness?" The guard asked.

"No. Leave her be. You've done enough."

But Lucy's curiosity was now greatly piqued. What was Juvia doing here? And why did she have legs? And how come she couldn't speak?

Truly this would be a most interesting stay at the Magnolia Nation.

Okay now we're shifting gears. Getting back to Erza and Wendy's story, but soon it will all come together. Stick around.