The Divine Empress

Chapter 40

A month has passed ever since their victory at the Grand Magic Games and Lucy was as busy as ever as she handled the affairs of Fiore, the Alvarez Empire, the Kou Empire, Sabertooth, and her family. Finally having finished all her work, she was ready to go spend time with her friends and family. 

"Mama, Mama, are you finally done?" Nagi said excitedly, wandering into Lucy's room with sparkling eyes.

Stretching herself, Lucy smiled happily. "That's right, Nagi! Mama's finally done with all the work!" Lucy said as she patted Nagi's head. 

"Does that mean we can go on a picnic today?!" Nagi exclaimed. 

Lucy looked out the window and seeing that there was not a single cloud in the sky, smiled and said, "Sure! Let's invite everyone shall we?" 

"En!" Nagi nodded his head in agreement. 

As Nagi exited the room, Zeref came in, knocking the door. 

"Thanks for your hard work, Lucy," he said with a loving smile. He walked up to Lucy and wrapped an arm around her as he bent down to land a kiss on her cheek. Lucy chuckled in response, looking up at him with the same affectionate face. 

"Thanks for your work, too. The affairs of Alvarez Empire has its own drawbacks," Lucy replied. 

Zeref laughed. "It's nothing compared to what you're going through. After a month of working non-stop, you finally have a break." 

"That's true."

"So you and Nagi were talking about a picnic?" 

Lucy nodded her head. "It's the one I told you about. The family picnic." 

"I remember. But...inviting everyone doesn't seem like a family picnic to me," Zeref said, pouting. "We can just invite the others another time." 

Lucy giggled to herself as she stood up. "Zeref, come here for a second," Lucy said, gesturing him forward to her. 

"Hm? What is it?" Zeref said, leaning in. 

Lucy held him by the shoulder and whispered in his ear sweetly, "Don't worry. I also wish we could go on a date...just the two of us."

Zeref instantly blushed as he backed away from her. Lucy held out a victory sign with a sly smile on her face. "My victory." 

Being at a loss of words, Zeref could only comply with her decision. "Fine..." he murmured, face palming himself. 

Lucy left the room happily as she sang and danced around the room. Zeref looked up from between his palms, staring at the direction in which Lucy had disappeared. His face was still red as he rubbed his ear. Her sweet and alluring voice caused shivers to run down his back. Moreover, the words she whispered to him...

"Ugh..." Zeref moaned, sinking down onto the floor. "...she's way too cute...and beautiful..."

With that, Lucy called everyone down into the living room. The sun hadn't reached its peak yet, signaling that it was still before the afternoon. Wendy, Nagi, Carla, Happy, and Lily all took their seats in the living room space. 

"Lucy-san, is there something that you need?" Wendy said, smiling. 

"Gathering all of us here, is there something happening?" Lily questioned.

Zeref and Lucy looked at one another before Lucy shouted, "We're going on a picnic!" 

"Huh?!" they all said in response, bewildered expressions on their face. 

"Even if you say we're going on a picnic...you should've given us an earlier notice, Lucy," Carla said, sighing. 

Well, seeing that the weather is nice and all and I finally have a break, I thought it would be nice. Besides, Nagi was the one that suggested it. Going on a picnic with everyone sounds like a good idea, no?" Lucy replied.