Trust

Revelation | 暴露

Okay, calm down. I can still hide somewhere before they come in. They never have to know I was in here. Lucy looked around frantically, seeing if there was anyplace she could blend in with before she managed to escape. However the room was spotless. Nothing was out of place and everything was organized, the only place she could possibly hide in is the massive pile of scrolls scattered around the desk in the room. Even then, they wouldn't be able to fully cover her and she would easily be exposed—

—The door began to open.

Without any time to think, Lucy laid down on the bed she landed on and covered herself in blankets. Like this, there's a slight chance she can remain as a pile of messily placed blankets rather than a person. Hopefully.

Holding her breath, Lucy waited for the person to walk in.

Said person had yet another scroll in their hand—no doubt from the enormous pile—and didn't even notice the strangely shaped blankets, too engrossed in whatever he was reading. In fact, he didn't notice anything was even slightly awry, confident it would be the same as it was when he left it, just as it has been for the years he's been in the room.

He didn't notice the slight movement of the supposedly inanimate blankets as he approached it or the way it tensed when he stopped right in front of it.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity to Lucy and a few mere moments for the room's owner, he sat down right atop all the blankets. And unlike what normally happens when he sits down on his bed, it squeaked. His bed does not squeak, or at least, it's not supposed to.

Drawing his eyes away from the fascinating scroll he was reading, he scanned his eyes across his bed. Now, he noticed how different it looks from the last time he was in here, especially the squeaking pile of blankets.

"How strange," no one should be able to get into his room except for a select few and among those, all know not to mess with the way he arranges things.

Something isn't adding up.

Now with his guard up, he looked cautiously towards the blankets. Hesitatingly, he pulled all of them up at once, receiving a yelp in response. If he didn't think so before, he definitely knew there is so,etching in his bedroom now.

He reached for his sword, fingers itching to grab it at the first sign of hostility the intruder shows. Rather than hostility though, a bob of beautiful, golden blonde popped out from the dark red sheets.

Narrowing his eyes, he let his hand drop. He's only ever met one person with hair that shines like gold, a girl who came out of a flower then vanished shortly after in a glow as blinding as she was. From what he saw during the short stay she was with them, she didn't seem hostile—or anything really, she was nothing but courteous to all of them before... well... disappearing and reappearing in his bedroom. In his bed. Under his covers.

This is getting weird.

Said blonde looked up at him, first with shock, then with recognition, then with shock again.

"I thought you were gone for good, seeing as you disappeared right in front of me." He narrowed his eyes. She seemed to feel at least some kind of regret, if the slight emotion that flashed across her face could be trusted.

"Ah," she said, "I should probably apologize for that. I should've given you a bit of a warning before I disappeared like that." Right, that's what he became curious about almost right after. Once she left in a way he'd never seen before, he started researching what exactly she did to be able to teleport herself like that. As far as he could see, she didn't use rukh like he and his siblings do because there was no one she could get to connect her to another place. They were on a boat in the middle of the ocean with no contact to anyone.

Which means she has a secret of some kind, or a special technique she used. Either way, it made her even more interesting than before. Her appearing in front of him like this is definitely an opportunity he isn't going to miss out on.

"If you are really sorry, there is something you can do to make it up to me." Lucy's face quickly morphed into one of disgust. As she is still in his bed, he quickly realized what his words could have meant to her. "No! Nothing like that," he quickly added. "I'm just curious about how you left the boat and why you're in my bed now." As with everything that interests him, he wants to peel away at all the layers Lucy has around her and delve into her unusual and unknown past and uncover all these little secrets of hers.

Really, he's already gotten the small magi to explain to him about Solomon and the other world, so now he can focus on his current interest: Lucy Heartfilia.

"Ah," she said in understanding, cheeks darkening a bit. "Right, of course you would have questions about that."

"Yes, so if you could, would you explain to me how that was possible? It truly is fascinating."

She paused in thought for a moment (unbeknownst to him, she was mentally communicating with her spirits, asking them for advice), thinking it over.

"Alright," she eventually decided. "Tell me, Prince Kouen, do you believe fairies have tails?"

———
A/N: WHOO, a semi frequent update, let's gooooo. I don't think I'm going to make Lucy reveal everything just yet, heh, but I do think the next chapter will come out some time soon. I already have an idea for it so I just need to type it out. Enjoy!