In an extravagantly decorated dressing room, a noble young lady stood poised with practiced grace.
Lucy Heartfilia stared at her reflection, feeling like a stranger in her own skin.
She had tied her flowing golden hair back in an intricate, rigid style, adorned with an expensive crimson hair ornament that glittered under the chandelier light.
The floor-length, off-shoulder gown she wore was a masterpiece of tailoring—layers of pink and crimson silk that accentuated her elegance and undeniable beauty.
The Lucy at the guild dressed however she pleased, often looking like a wild kid with her side ponytail and short skirts, living without regard for high-society propriety.
But standing here, wearing this formal dress that weighed as much as armor, she resembled a perfect, porcelain princess.
Two maids stood nearby, clasping their hands and watching her with starry eyes.
"Miss Lucy looks absolutely stunning in this dress!" one exclaimed.
"Indeed!" the other chirped. "It fits perfectly, though it seems a bit tight in the waist... but that is the fashion!"
Lucy studied her reflection with a complex expression.
"I'd almost forgotten..." she murmured to herself, her voice barely a whisper. "This is what I used to wear... this is who I used to be."
As she pinched the edge of the expensive silk skirt, her slightly upturned lips gradually straightened into a thin line.
The nostalgia faded, replaced by a cold realization.
The happy days she might have once spent here with her mother and father were gone forever.
...
Minutes later, Lucy stood before the massive oak doors of the master study.
Inside the spacious room, which was large enough to be a library, a man sat behind a sprawling mahogany desk. The surface was scattered with various documents, ledgers, and papers containing detailed information about the Heartfilia family business.
Jude Heartfilia's expression was cold as he silently studied the documents, his pen scratching against the paper.
The sound was the only noise in the oppressive silence.
Knock. Knock.
"It's Lucy, Father," a voice called out from the hallway. "I've returned."
Not a flicker of emotion showed on Jude's stern face.
He didn't stop writing. He merely slightly raised his head toward the door and spoke in a voice that commanded obedience.
"Come in."
The heavy door creaked open, the sound echoing sharply in the large, empty study.
Jude narrowed his eyes as Lucy slowly entered. She walked with the grace of a lady, the hem of her dress rustling against the carpet.
Jude looked her up and down, stating with palpable displeasure, "So, you've finally returned, Lucy."
Lucy's expression remained neutral. She kept her eyes lowered, playing the part of the obedient daughter for just a moment longer.
"Father," she said calmly. "I deeply apologize for leaving home without a word a year ago. I've reflected seriously on that matter."
Jude snorted coldly.
He finally placed his pen down, allowing a faint, triumphant smile to appear on his lips.
"For someone of your wild temperament, that's surprisingly sensible," Jude remarked casually, leaning back in his leather chair.
"I was prepared for you to be difficult."
He stood up and walked to the window, looking out over his vast estate.
"If you had obstinately remained in that barbarian guild," Jude said, his voice dropping to a menacing tone, "I would have had no choice but to use my wealth and power to mercilessly crush that guild completely. Fairy Tail would have been reduced to dust."
At this point, Jude paused.
He turned back to look at Lucy with satisfaction, as if he were admiring a piece of art he had successfully restored.
"It seems you've finally grown up, Lucy," he said. "You should now understand how much trouble your willful actions have caused those around you. The business with Phantom Lord... it was messy, but necessary to retrieve you."
Ignoring Lucy's increasingly somber expression, Jude continued speaking, seemingly to himself.
"You're the young lady of the Heartfilia family. You are different from ordinary people—you belong to a different world! A world of power and prestige."
He walked back to his desk. "Consider yourself fortunate that you've come to understand this before it was too late, Lucy..."
Lucy's cold, complex gaze fixed on the man before her.
But Jude failed to comprehend the fire burning behind his daughter's eyes.
He mistook her silence for submission.
Smiling, Jude dropped the final bombshell.
"The reason I had someone bring you back this time is because an even more fortunate matter has befallen you," he announced. "I've already arranged your marriage to the young heir of the Duke Cureniar family."
The air in the room seemed to freeze.
Lucy smiled.
It was a self-deprecating, bitter smile.
She cast aside the last shred of wishful thinking she had held in her heart—the tiny hope that he might just want his daughter back.
"Yes," she whispered weakly. "I thought it would be something like this."
Jude didn't hear the pain in her voice. He turned to look out the study window again, his hawk-like eyes filled with ambition for the future.
"By establishing marital ties with the Cureniar family, the Heartfilia family's influence will expand significantly," he declared triumphantly. "We will control the railways and the land. This is a marriage that will secure our family's future and fortune for generations!"
Lucy smiled ironically, softly repeating the word that ruled his life.
"Fortune... fortune..."
Jude nodded emphatically. "Of course. And you must bear a son to inherit our Heartfilia family name! That is your duty."
He sat back down and picked up his pen, signaling the end of the conversation.
"That's all I have to say. You may return to your room and prepare for the engagement party."
He waved his hand dismissively, treating his own flesh and blood like a subordinate employee.
But at that moment, Lucy didn't move toward the door.
"Father," Lucy's voice rang out, cutting through the air like a blade.
"Don't misunderstand!"
Jude froze, his pen hovering over the paper. He turned to face Lucy.
Her entire demeanor had completely changed. The submissive, quiet girl was gone.
Lucy stared intently at Jude, her brown eyes blazing with a fierce light. She enunciated each word clearly.
"I returned this time to express my determination! Not to submit to you!"
"I admit that leaving home without permission was wrong, because it was no different from running away. I ran from my problems instead of facing them."
Lucy raised her head high, her gaze firm as she rebuked Jude loudly.
"But my future isn't for you to decide!"
Jude blinked, stunned.
"What?"
"My future is mine to decide!" Lucy cried out. "I don't care for any arranged fortune—not marriage, not children, not a future you bought with money! I'll walk my own path, and you have no right to interfere!"
"How dare you—" Jude started to stand up, his face reddening.
"And one more thing!"
Lucy suddenly pointed a finger directly at Jude, her voice gradually turning cold.
"From now on, you are forbidden to lay a finger on Fairy Tail!"
With that, Lucy suddenly raised her hands to her chest. She grabbed the expensive silk of the crimson gown.
RIIIIIIP!
With a violent tearing sound, she ripped the extravagantly beautiful but flimsy dress apart. The expensive fabric fluttered to the floor like dead petals, revealing the simple shirt and shorts she wore beneath.
It was a symbolic shedding of skin.
Just like a young girl discarding her glamorous caged bird existence, she stubbornly rushed toward the simplicity and purity she desired.
Standing in her casual attire, Lucy looked smaller, yet stronger.
Her face grew increasingly impassioned as she shouted.
"If you touch them, both I and the Fairy Tail guild will regard you as an enemy! We will crush you, Father!!"
Jude looked at the resolute young woman before him, his eyes trembling uncontrollably. He felt as if he were looking at a complete stranger.
No—he was looking at Layla.
Lucy's determination, her love for the guild, and her complete rejection of his wealth far exceeded what Jude had imagined.
"If the Phantom Lord incident hadn't happened," Lucy said, her voice softening slightly, tinged with sadness.
"Perhaps... perhaps we could have talked calmly. But now... it's too late."
Lucy turned on her heel and walked toward the door without looking back at Jude.
Yet, as she recalled all the memories she had shared with her parents in this house—the garden, the laughter before her mother died—Lucy felt a sharp pang of sorrow in her heart.
But she had no regrets.
What she wanted wasn't the so-called prestige of the Heartfilia name.
She wanted a place that simply accepted her for who she was, just Lucy.
That place was Fairy Tail.
A home that, in Lucy's eyes, was far warmer and richer than this cold mansion could ever be.
Lucy raised her hand, showing the pink Guild mark on the back of her palm to Jude.
"Goodbye, Father..."
Click.
The door closed.
Jude stared blankly at the wood grain of the door where Lucy had just been. He wanted to go after her. He wanted to shout, to stop his daughter, to command her to return. But for some reason, he couldn't move his legs.
Was it his pitiful pride getting in the way? Or... did he know, deep down, that he had lost the ability to communicate with his daughter years ago?
"Layla..." Jude whispered into the silence. "Lucy is so much like you..."
After a moment of silence, Jude gazed at the empty study. He shook his head, hardening his heart once more.
'No,' he thought.
'She is foolish. Only my way is the correct way. Only this marriage would be the perfect arrangement for her safety and future.'
Dejectedly, Jude returned to his desk, intending to bury himself in work to forget the look in her eyes.
But as he looked down, his pupils suddenly contracted violently!
THUNK!
A gleaming knife was stabbed deep into the mahogany wood of his desk.
It hadn't been there a minute ago.
Beneath the blade, a piece of paper was pinned to the desk.
"What the—?!"
With trembling hands, Jude pulled out the knife and he slowly unfolded the note.
A few striking, jagged lines were written on it in bold ink:
"Until you figure things out, stay away from Lucy. If you send anyone after her again, keep this knife for yourself."
Below the abrupt, terrifying message, someone had brazenly signed his own name.
— Ankh Seram.
Jude's breathing grew rapid.
He slumped back into his chair, the knife clattering from his hand onto the desk. He sat unmoving for a long time.
'To infiltrate this room so easily... to place this here while I was distracted by Lucy... without being detected by a single guard or magic sensor...'
A cold sweat broke out on his forehead.
'What a terrifying man. If he had wanted to kill me, I would be dead already.'
Jude swallowed hard.
The threat was real. Fairy Tail truly was remarkable—and dangerous.
After a long while, Jude finally recovered from the shock.
He turned his chair and gazed out the window at the clear blue sky, watching a single bird fly toward the horizon.
His emotions were complex—fear, anger, but also a strange, grudging respect.
"Lucy..." Jude murmured, closing his eyes.
"You really have found... terrifyingly good companions."