From Rags to Royalty [Jellal x Erza]

Say My Name

The Next Day . . .

It was noon, the hour of twelve, and Natsu is pacing back and forth in the entryway of the Fernandes Mansion.

He's waiting for Jellal to come home.

Erza has been locked in her room for hours, refusing to open the door for anyone. She wants to be alone and although she has not uttered a word since the phone call, she doesn't have to say anything anymore.

Her expression says it all.

The front door finally opens and Jellal walks in. Immediately, Natsu is in front of the Prince.

"Jellal, what did you do!?" He shouts frantically.

"What is the matter with you?" Jellal furrows his eyebrows together, creeped out by his friend's behavior.

"Answer me!" Natsu shouts, ignoring the blue haired male's question. "What did you say to Erza on the phone!?"

"Erza? What do you mean? Erza never called me."

"Yes, she did. Yesterday after she finally woke up."

Jellal stares at his friend with a slight scowl. A few seconds later realization settles on his facial expression.

"Th-That person that never said anything?" He stutters, breaking out in a sweat. "That was Erza?"

"Yeah." Natsu nods. "She must've heard something because I found her on the floor. She fell off of the bed . . . . and she was crying."

"Wha-" Jellal's eyes go wide. "Where is she?"

"In her room."

Without saying another word, Jellal speed walks up the stairs and down the hallway toward Erza's room.

KNOCK. KNOCK.

"Erza?" He calls. After waiting for a few minutes, he knocks again. "Erza, i-it's me, Jellal."

Not a sound. Not even a creek of the bed.

"Tell me something, Jellal." Natsu says in a low voice so that Erza doesn't hear. He's leaning against the wall with his arms folded over his chest; apparently, he followed Jellal upstairs. "What were you doing when she called you?"

Jellal stares intently at the door before answering, "I was . . . I was about to give Lucy a massage." He pauses before continuing, "I stepped away from the bed when my phone rang and while I was on the phone, Lucy was telling me to hurry up."

"She must've heard Lucy in the background and gotten the wrong idea." Natsu grumbles.

Jellal sighs and releases the tension in his shoulders, making them slump forward.

"You've got to fix this." Natsu says, slightly glaring at Jellal. "And then I'm gonna punch you in the face for making Erza cry."

Natsu walks off without saying another word.

Thanks, Natsu. Jellal smiles to himself before gathering up his confidence. He knocks on the door again.

"Erza, please open the door."

Sadly, there is still no respond. So, he attempts to force his way in. Forgive me, Erza. He makes a quick trip to his office and retrieves keys that go to every single room in the mansion.

Then he unlocks the door to Erza's room.

"I'm coming in." He announces, poking his head into the room.

The room was dark, pitch black, even though it wasn't night time yet. The window curtains had been closed and the atmosphere of the room was depressing.

Jellal saw a figure lying on the bed and he heard music playing softly.

🎵Don't try to change it now, saying you gotta bounce
When two seconds ago, you just got in the house
It's hard to believe that you are at home by yourself
When I just heard the voice, heard the voice of someone else🎵

Jellal gasps softly. That song sounds familiar. He says in his head. "E-Erza . ." He continued to ease his way into the room. Soon he was fully in the room, but before he could completely close the door, a cold monotone voice spoke up.

"Please leave."

The music had stopped and it was completely silent in the room.

"Erza, I-"

"Can I tell you something before you leave?" Erza interrupts him, her voice low and cold.

"S-Sure." Jellal stutters nervously, flinching at Erza's menacing aura. "I-If you must."

"I have an answer for you - to the question that you asked me yesterday. You wanted to know how I feel about you, right? To be honest, I wasn't entirely sure how I felt about you. I was sure that I didn't posses any romantic feelings for you whatsoever. But then I called your cell phone. When I heard Lucy's voice in the background, my heart dropped and it felt like I had been stabbed in the chest. I couldn't breath. That's when I realized that I do love you. I love you so much that it hurt to think about you with somone else. And then I remembered what you said during your press conference. You said you loved me and that you wanted to marry me. I thought you were different - that you weren't like the stereotypical Prince, but I'm not going to a sucker in this three-way scandal. I know I'm not royalty and you need someone who is, so marry Lucy and leave me be. You don't need to pretend to be my friend."

Jellal stands there shocked by Erza's words. "E-Erza . . ." He was completely speechless and slightly hurt by her words. He would have been more hurt and felt guilty if everything she said was true.

But it wasn't.

Jellal sighs lightly. "Erza, if you think something's happening with me and Lucy, then you're wrong." Flipping the light switch, he turns on the light.

Erza groans, rolling her eyes, but she is interrupted. "Jellal,-"

"Marry me."