The Demon's Concubine

Chapter 34

Lucy stretched as she made her to the dining hall, well, one of the dining halls. This castle really was the biggest she'd ever been to, and there seemed to be a dining hall on every floor. 

The rooms were quiet as this was the topmost floor. She, Natsu and Happy were given rooms on the queen's floor, and they're much larger than the boys' old designated rooms, too. 

She'd love to wait and eat breakfast with everyone, but she woke up too early and breakfast doesn't start until another 2 hours. A little cup of orange juice wouldn't hurt anyone. 

Lucy felt an odd sense of liberation as she found her own glass and poured her own juice. Things have been done on her behalf for her whole life, even when she was Natsu's concubine she couldn't do things freely. She was starting to really get behind Mavis' anti-servant policies.

"Good morning." Lucy shrieked and dropped her cup, the glass shattering along the floor. She caught her breath before turning around to see Zeref, the king just as surprised as she was.

"You Dragneels are gonna give me a heart attack." She muttered as she crouched down and began picking up the glass. 

Zeref placed a hand on her shoulder and helped her to stand. "Don't worry about that. Sorry for startling you." 

Lucy was mostly concerned about the wasted juice on the ground. "It's alright... I've just been pretty jumpy lately." She rubbed her arm awkwardly as they just stood in silence. 

"I didn't come home until very late, so I decided not to meet with you and Natsu until after breakfast. I didn't expect you to be up so early, though." 

"Oh, I forgot about that. Natsu's still asleep, though. I was just getting something to drink…" She looked around awkwardly as another wave of silence came. "Should I just get another drink now, or..?"

"Here," Zeref suddenly handed Lucy a book, "I want you to have this." As she looked over the book, Lucy quickly recognized it. It was the book of END. Natsu's book. "I think Natsu would appreciate it if it was in your care."

She nodded, clutching the book close to her chest. "Of course…" 

"I also owe you an apology. When we first met, I used magic to make you unreasonably intimidated by me. That wasn't very fair."

Lucy gaped at him. "Wait… magic? What- why would you do that!?" She was pretty annoyed- that day they first met was so scary! And it had all been a ruse?

"I didn't trust you, sorry. It's just something I do so people take me seriously. I should also apologize for not protecting you while I was in Tartaros. And, I'm sorry about all the drama between your father and me, it's caused a lot of trouble for you."

"Hey, you don't have to keep apologizing," Lucy placed a hand on his shoulder, "It's alright, as long as you learn from your mistakes…" 

Zeref stared at the hand that was touching him before looking back at Lucy, nodding slowly. She took her hand off of him after she realized she'd been touching him for an uncomfortably long amount of time. They stared at each other in silence, and Lucy hoped their conversations wouldn't always be this… awkward. 

"What're we doing up this early?" Mavis entered the room, holding baby August. As she stood next to them, Lucy was thankful for the topic change. 

"Oh, I was just getting something to drink, but…" She trailed off, looking at the mess she made and prompting Mavis to see it too.

"Oh… Don't worry, I'll just…" Mavis looked back and forth between the baby in her arms and the shattered glass before ultimately turning to her husband. "Could you get that up, dear?"