Adult-FanFiction.org : Anime

Stellar Mistakes
By : Rhov
Category: +. to F > Fairy Tail
Views: 14748 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail nor do I make money from this fanfic.
Chapter List
- 24
- 25
- 26
Chapter 25
The Lion and the King
They managed to hire a new cast and get studio equipment with the slashed budget. A new date to film was set, along with locations. Lucy was glad to see things moving along smoothly now. She felt like she could focus more, and when they had a Tuesday team meeting, Loke was perfectly professional, as was she. She even let Cana and Levy know, that thing with Loke was over. Although they were both worried, she smiled and assured them, she was okay.
She was going to be okay.
A week later, Team Leo went to the offices of Crocus Metro Government for their last meeting with the city officials before the final competition. Luckily, the meeting went smoothly from start to finish. Lucy's and Gray's practice presentations were nearly perfectly, except Lucy had to figure out how to use the remote control for the projection screen. Natsu used printouts to explain the new time slots, and the officials were glad to see that the commercial would still hit a target audience. Freed had a slide show of graphs as he went through all the detailed expenses, and the officials were impressed that they managed to work with their limited budget. Loke made sure the logistics of the final presentation were in order, including good equipment to show the finalized commercial for the judges, and remote control instructions available ahead of time. They apologized that Lucy got confused and made sure they would have a simple remote on that day.
"Is this everything you will be needing for the presentation, then?" asked one of the staff.
"Yes, thank you," said Loke.
"This is exciting," the young staff worker exclaimed. "This is the first time we've done anything like this."
Lucy felt the energy in them. For these weary city officials, a competition of any sort must be a highlight of their year, and one so important to Fiore's reputation for the whole world was definitely making energy buzz in the Crocus offices.
They were all standing around saying goodbyes when there was a knock at the door.
"Is the meeting over already?"
As a huge man with an impressive mustache walked in, the city liaisons straightened their posture. Loke also stood straighter, but when Lucy glanced over for cues on how to act for this stranger, for a brief moment she saw a severe look on Loke's normally calm face.
Did they know one another? Lucy felt like she had seen this mustachioed man somewhere, maybe on television.
"My king," Loke greeted, and he bowed. The whole team instantly bowed along with him.
Lucy's face was to the ground as her heart began to race. 'Oh crap! That's the king? He's a lot taller than he looks on TV.'
"My old friend," the huge man greeted. "And the rest of you, pleased to meet you. Thank you for coming all this way."
Etiquette now prevailed, and Loke was the only one ranked high enough to speak to someone like him. "Thank you, King, for taking the time to see us. It's an honor."
"The Grand Magic Games will be important not only to Crocus, but to all of Fiore. We've always worked with Sabertooth in the past, but I'm excited to see what Fairy Tail presents to us."
The king had a massive, almost scary smile as he held his hand out to Loke. The ginger Creative Director returned the smile, but there was a stiffness in his handshake.
"So … Loke," he said, completely done with formalities. "About another matter."
Lucy jolted, and so did everyone else, when the king himself called Mr. Leo by his first name.
"When should we hold the engagement ceremony for you and my daughter, Aries?"
Lucy clamped her mouth tightly to keep from shouting, but it seemed Natsu was not so reserved.
"Engagement ceremony?" he burst out.
The king gave a slight grunt. "Ah, sorry to bring this up during a business meeting. It's just, I'm so busy. This is the only moment of free time I have."
Gray was also stunned by the news. "Mr. Leo, are you engaged to the king's daughter?"
They were all staring at Loke, but he did not say anything at all. His face was more stiff than usual, and his eyes gazed coldly at the king.
Lucy looked down at a tablet in her hands. Loke's matchmaking omiai was with…
She remembered what he said once in his car, the only time he talked about it.
"It'd help me get a promotion. It's not a bad arrangement."
Then there was what Natsu and Gray had said at their team outing.
"By the way, I heard a rumor that someone from Fairy Tail aggressively approached the king in order to set up this competition between agencies."
"So in other words, Mr. Leo, this whole thing was your doing?"
"Between us, do you have some kind of connection with the king?"
Lucy began to piece things together. A connection with the king … the ability to make this competition happen … it was all because he agreed to a matchmaking with the king's daughter. That dainty woman Lucy had seen twice now, with her pure white dress and puffy pink hair, was none other than the princess. The media never talked about her, rarely showed her, so she had not at all looked familiar in casual clothes.
Loke was thinking about marrying into the royal family itself! No wonder he was guaranteed a promotion.
"My king…" Loke bowed, but as his head went down, Lucy saw that he looked exasperated and silently furious. "I apologize, but I can't discuss that right now."
"The presentations are happening soon, right?" the king said casually. "As it happens, my schedule will free up around that time. How about we have the engagement ceremony the day after the presentations?"
It was like he had not even heard what Loke said, that this was not the time to discuss personal issues. Loke's expression grew even more severe.
"That … isn't only up to you and I, your majesty. We have to consider Aries' feelings as well."
"Aries likes you enormously. I understand you've seen each other on a number of occasions."
His words made Lucy's heart sink. She had seen Aries come to see Loke at the office. She had heard the two say that he could not take her out to dinner that time. In other words, they had gone on dates before. Perhaps, as the king said, on numerous occasions. And then there was the last time she saw the lady, how Aries came late at night, apparently to talk to him about the presentation. Days later, the budget was slashed in half.
Had she warned Loke that the city official were about to change the budget? Was he using his correction with the king to get insider information?
"I know Aries very well," said the king. "She would do it tomorrow, if you're amenable."
The team had inched away out of respect. Gray glanced at them and whispered, "Guys, it sounds to me like—" He hesitated to say it.
Natsu, however, dared to say what they all had realized. "—Mr. Leo got us a presentation on the condition that he gets engaged to the king's daughter." His narrow, green eyes slid over to Lucy. He knew about their relationship, and now it came to this.
However, Lucy could not look at him. Her eyes were down at her tablet, but the information on it was blank to her mind. The truth hit her like a punch to the gut.
"Not only that," Freed added in a mere wisp of a breath, "but the king is being pushy. He's testing Mr. Leo, feeling him out about holding the engagement ceremony the day after the presentations. If Mr. Leo says no, the winner of the account will be…"
He didn't even need to say it.
They'd lose.
The conversation between the king and Loke felt so far away, like they had slipped into their own world, a dimension far above theirs.
As Lucy's heart went cold, what came to her mind was what Loke said about his past. He owed a debt to the CEO of Fairy Tail and made a promise to make Fairy Tail number one in Fiore. He got this presentation for himself, to fulfill that promise. He was not doing it for a promotion, for greed and self-interest. It was all for the promise he made to Makarov Dreyar.
Still, it seemed clear that he was proceeding with the omiai with the king's daughter. Promise or no promise, he was seeing her, and he was about to marry her.
What was it all for? For a promotion? To honor a promise he made to Makarov?
Lucy did not know what to believe anymore.
"Well," the king said, jolting her out of spiraling grief. "I'll have my secretary contact you with the details. I expect an answer that will make me happy, old friend."
With that, the king went out the door. The rest of them left in the conference room were silent. Loke stood still, his shoulders stiff and his brow tense.
Gray stepped forward first. "Mr. Leo, was this competition for the account fixed the whole time? All the work we've put into this…"
Loke did not answer. Instead, he slowly turned and looked at all of them. Although he looked calm on the outside, Lucy could see a stiffness to his jaw as he spoke. "I'm sorry that my personal life was brought into this. Let's get back to the office."
With that, he strode out of the room. The rest of the team glanced at each other, but all they could do was follow him. Natsu briefly patted Lucy on the back, and the warmth of his hand was only a mild comfort to the cold hardness of her heart.
Lucy first stopped in the restroom while the others continued ahead. When she stepped back out, she was shocked to see the king just down the hall. She lowered her head, but she felt a sudden rush of determination. She ran up to him before even thinking about what she was doing.
"Um, excuse me, your majesty?"
He turned around and looked down at her. He was so tall, so imposing, it forced her to keep her head lowered.
"Oh, you were with my old friend."
"My name is Lucy Heartfilia. I work at Fairy Tail. I'm sorry to bother you, I know you're busy, but … what you said back there—"
"I know who you are, Miss Heartfilia."
His voice was suddenly harsh, and his glaring eyes sent chills down Lucy's spine.
'He knows me? The king knows who I am?'
"You're awfully close with Loke, aren't you?"
Her mouth dropped, and despite herself, she looked up at him in astonishment.
"He's a candidate for my future son-in-law. Of course, I had him looked into," he said, as if this should have been obvious to her. "So, let me guess. You're going to tell me you don't want him to marry my daughter?"
"No," she muttered, but her brain was in shock. The king himself knew about her relationship with Loke! Lucy fisted up her hands and dug down deep to find enough courage to continue. "I don't think that has anything to do with the job. We've been working hard every day on this…"
"They might be unrelated to a little girl like you, but not for me. Loke Leo is the son of the powerful Regulus Clan, an ancient, influential, and rich family whom I would like on my side. More importantly, my daughter likes him. Who are you?" he said, sneering down at her. "You are nothing, some average office worker, no money, no power, no influence, only a little talent in your field. A refined gentleman like him would be wasted on you."
A major clan's son? Loke?
"You said this has nothing to do with the job," the king said coldly, "but there wouldn't even be any presentations if it weren't for this engagement. Whose presentation will win, do you suppose, if Loke defies my wishes?"
Lucy was dumbstruck. "But … we worked hard … it should be based on—"
"You also should be worried about his future," the king cut in. "He would be embarrassing me, the king, if he dared to turn down my daughter's hand. I doubt anyone would touch him after that. Him, Fairy Tail, all of you."
Lucy's fists drew up. He would not only destroy Loke's future, but the entire company with him! "Why are you telling me this?" she asked, her voice frail with rage she knew she could not show, not to this man.
"You might be a worthless, dirty whore, but if you have any sway over him, then I'm afraid you've got to go."
Lucy gasped. Was she being threatened? And to have the king himself call her a whore! She would have normally slapped anyone who would dare call her that, yet she could do nothing against this powerful monarch.
"Try to understand, dear. I can't have him getting serious about you. That'd be a problem for me, and for my daughter."
Why did everyone keep talking like this about her? The king, Natsu … she didn't want to make trouble for Loke. She tried so hard to keep this as just a casual thing, a hookup.
"I'm not serious about him," she insisted, but her voice almost failed her.
"That just shows what sort of uncouth woman you are," he said, sneering down at her. "Even if you're not serious, what about him?"
"Wh-what?" she asked.
The king's phone buzzed. "Ah, another meeting. I'm out of time. Goodbye, Miss Heartfilia. I advise you to stay away from Loke."
He walked off, leaving Lucy in even more chaos than before.
Her phone buzzed, and she saw a text from Natsu. They were at the company shuttle and waiting for her. She forced herself to turn and walk away. Her steps began to speed up, and she had to fight the urge to break into a run and get out of that place before it crushed her.
The massive king looked back as she left and whispered on his phone, "Libra, that Heartfilia girl is much bolder than we thought. I think you need to release that. Yes, right now, before they return to Fairy Tail. By the end of today, she will be forced out of Loke's life for good."
- 24
- 25
- 26
You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.
Report Story

Stellar Mistakes	By : Rhov Category: +. to F > Fairy Tail Views: 14748 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail nor do I make money from this fanfic.

Stellar Mistakes