[NaLu AU] The Kingdom's Crown

You're Not Alone

We stopped at an old looking farm to camp for the night. Natsu and Haru set up the two tents the young couple owned, while Elie tended to my leg. Happy immediately flew off to look for more fish in the river nearby. It's like no number of fish is enough for him. Haru told us we'd arrive at the town by midday tomorrow if we leave early enough. The thought of a comfortable bed and warm water to bathe in helped me overcome the long suffering I felt while being on the road.

I guess being a Princess and living in a big palace with a luxurious room, with servants waiting on every hour of the day really made me ignorant to what millions of people experience, huh?

"Ouch!" I hiss when Elie rubs some green ointment on my bruise and it seeps slowly into my cut, "What is it? It burns!"

"It's a special cream made out of a special herb that only grows in the depths of Mount Hakobe," She explains to me, "It heals cuts and burns very quickly."

"Mount Hakobe? Isn't that located on the outskirts of the kingdom, not to mention it's really dangerous?"

"Yes, which is why those who sell it only give it away at a high price," She responds and wraps a bandage around my cut after closing the lid of the ointment, "My husband and I had to trade one of our horses to receive just one bottle. Although it was a large price to pay, we knew it was worth it."

"Arigatō, you have no idea how grateful I am for all your help," I tell her truthfully.

"Why of course, we'll do anything to help our Princess," Elie winks at me.

My breath suddenly hitched and I almost dropped the bottle of cream.

"How could I be the Princess?" I laugh, trying to hide my hesitation, "My name is Layla and I'm a normal pheasant traveling along the road."

"You don't fool me, Princess Lucy," She gave out a laugh, "Or Haru. We knew the moment we came upon you, which is one of the reasons why we agreed to give you and your companions a lift."

My mouth opens in shock, "But h-how did you know that?"

"It was quite easy," Elie hitches up her skirt a bit when she sits next to me, "And it's not just because of your dress, it's the way you hold yourself up when you walk and sit."

Her face softens when she sees my terrified expression, "Don't be scared, Your Highness, Haru and I are on your side. Your secret is safe with us, your not alone."

Tears begin to form in my eyes and I lightly brush them aside, "Arigatō..." I whisper quietly, "I'm glad to know that at least someone is on my side."

"Of course we are, Your Highness,"

"Please just call me Lucy."

"Alright then, Lucy it is," Elie pats my shoulder.

We spent the rest of the evening preparing the camp. Natsu and Haru set up some stools around a fire, Natsu using his fire magic to turn it on. I tried to help Ellie cook dinner which wasn't as easy as I thought. I told her about the night of my Father's murder, breaking into tears at the end.

"Oh you poor child," She put down the knife she was using and wrapped her arms around me, "I can't imagine how it is lose so much in one night, but your not alone, Lucy. So cry all you want."

So I did. I leaned against her and cried my heart out. The emotions I've been holding for days bursting out of me.

"Oh, Elie," Tears falling down my face, "I miss him so much and all this change in my life is too much to bare, I don't know if I will be able to move on."

She places a hand on my shoulder, "It takes time to heal from a traumatizing experience so take all the time you need."

"Arigato.." I thank her, wiping my eyes.

"So, now that we finished chopping the vegetables! Let's start cooking the me-."

"Natsu! You weren't supposed to cook all of them!" Happy shouts from his place by the tent, cutting Ellie off.

"I didn't mean too, but I lost control!"

I look up and see Natsu holding a bunch of cooked fish in his hand. A crying Happy was throwing a tantrum on the ground. Natsu was trying to comfort him with apologizing words and pats on the back, but the poor blue cat was really upset.

"Your such a big meanie! Make it raw again!" Happy pounds his paws on the ground.

"I don't think that's possible..."

"Just try, please?"

"Okay, here goes..." He flicks his fingers and fire envelopes the fish, but with no surprise it burned them even more.

"No, that's not raw! You turning them into ashes!"

"Well it was your idea!"

Happy cries, "Well you shouldn't have cooked all of them in the first place!"

"I'm so sorry, buddy! Don't cry! Here I'll go get you some more!" Natsu immediately says, patting his back.

"Well, quite lively bunch of companions you have there," Ellie giggles along with me.

"Yes, its been awhile since I've seen Natsu act this way. He's always been very serious as my guard. But still, it's nice to see it."

"Hmm...I see..." She then turns to me, smirking, "What is the relationship between you two?"

"Huh?" I blush, "What do you mean?"

"I can see the way he looks after you," Ellie chuckles, "Are you sure there is nothing going on?"

"Oh no!" My face turns red, "He's j-just m-my g-guard, t-that's a-all."

She winks, "If you say so."

The red on my face deepens more.

"I'm just teasing you, Lucy," Ellie laughs," If you keep blushing red like that, you'll end up turning into a tomato."

I continue to blush, nervous thoughts running through my head.

As if Natsu and I could ever happen!

But my red face turns into a smile and I begun laughing along with her.

I'm glad I met Elie, she's a kind woman and it's nice to have someone to talk to. I'm sad that we'll have to part ways tomorrow...

I sigh as I continue to finish cutting the fruits, I just hope we'll meet people like her and Haru during the rest of our journey.

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I hope you enjoyed this chapter! I had fun writing it!

Thanks for reading and I'll see you next time!

Stay safe you all! ✌️💖🙏🏻

Date published: March 30, 2020
Word count: 1083