The Duchess - Gruvia

Chapter 06

Gray felt suffocated with the formal clothes he was wearing. Dammit, he was a man who was raised in the cold, what the hell his counselors were thinking when they said that he needed to wear three layers of clothing? Seriously, he could go out without a shirt on and be fine with it.

But no, he was getting married.

Okay, people called engagement, but he didn't buy it; they were going to sign a paper and they were going to live together as husband and wife, so it was a marriage.

A full marriage.

The Duke groaned and took of his outside coat so he could breathe easier. He was going to get married to a woman he never saw in his life and he was going to go to the end with it! Gray snorted. Maybe he was a little bit crazy after all. Maybe he shouldn't be the Duke because he was insane. Good plan!

Yeah, he scoffed, as if there were someone else to take the Duchy from him.

No, not anymore. The lands were his and his only. And with the lands, the people who lived there were also his responsibility and he had a duty to the King and to his family to be the best caretaker as possible to the precious gifts his grandfather left for him.

He snorted again. The old man sure wasn't too fond of him, at first only letting Gray live in the Castle because he couldn't have the people thinking he didn't care about his own grandson. People said the Duke loved his daughter too much and couldn't bear seeing Gray all the time as a reminder she was gone. They weren't the best of friends but Gray had learned a lot from the old man and they made their peace when his time came. Wanting or not, Gray, after quite a mess, was nominated the next Duke, much to his despair, since he grew up away from Avalanche Castle until he lost his parents.

Everything was freaking scary when he first came to that place, and yet, at that point of his life he couldn't see himself doing nothing other than be the Duke. Gray Fullbuster was a man of word, and he swore to be the Duke until the day he died and if he needed to marry a complete stranger to continue to be one, so be it.

Sighing, Gray turned around in direction of the door when he heard a knock.

"Come in." He straightened himself and put his icy façade.

The first thing he saw was the pink hair and he relaxed when he took a look at the person who just entered the room.

"Hey, Icy Brain." The man greeted, entering the room without any shyness. "Loke said it is time for you to take your ass to the chapel. The priest and the judge are waiting."

"Crap." Gray didn't even remember to fight the pink haired man as he always did out of instinct. He was getting married! The man that promised himself that would never do that. But then, he became a Duke and everything changed. "Crap, Natsu. I'm getting married to someone I never met before."

"That sucks." The other man nodded while reaching for the table where Gray's breakfast was intact and putting a pancake inside his mouth. "If you don't want to, don't marry her." Natsu said with his mouth full.

"I can't. My grandfather made it official. The family's honor is at stake." Gray said grabbing his coat.

"That complicates things." The pink haired man shrugged. If anyone knew about honor, was Natsu Dragneel. His foster father, Igneel was a knight for the King and he taught everything about the court to his son: he taught about fighting, about proper manners (that Natsu barely used) and mostly important he taught the boy about always fulfill his promises and about his honor; until the day he died protecting the King.