The Divine Empress

Chapter 25

Zeref smiled and each of them went back to their respective seats with the rest of their guilds. They all raised their glasses of wine in front of them. Zeref and Lucy raised theirs'. Everyone in the banquet had wide grins and smiles on their faces as they clanged their glasses with one another and the feast began.

"Hey Lucy," Kouen said holding his wine. "Are you sure you're going to be happy with him?"

Lucy looked at him perplexed but soon nodded her head. "I'm sure." 

Zeref blushed and squeezed Lucy's hand, looking at her. His lips had formed into a wide smile as he heard Lucy's answer. 

"I really can't believe you're going to be that girly-like person's empress," Kouen said stoically, his eyes dead as he saw the flowery and pink atmosphere that had appeared around Zeref. 

"Hey! That's rude!" Zeref heard and replied back.

"It's not too late, you know. To become the official empress of my Kou Empire," Kouen said, ignoring Zeref. 

Lucy looked at him, a calm and unreadable expression on her face. She closed her eyes and shook her head. "I wish to be with Zeref. Throughout these thousand years that I've wandered this Earth, it was Zeref that had always stayed with me and accompanied me. To me, he's someone irreplacable. He's the man I wish to spend the rest of my life with. He's the one I chose to love," Lucy finished with a radiant smile. 

Kouen sighed and smiled knowingly. "I knew you would refuse," he said, drinking his glass wine. "But still...he sure is a girly-boy."

"You want to fight, Kouen?!" Zeref said, a murderous aura coming from him. His eyes had turned red as he clenched his teeth and curled his hands into fists.

"Just what I wanted," Kouen replied with a giant tick mark on his face as he cracked his fists. 

"They sure look like two crazy people. Even their eyes have gone crazy," Nagi commented as he drank his apple juice. 

Lucy laughed hysterically. "Well said, Nagi. Well said!" 

Nagi smiled cutely at his mother as she stroked his head. 

"Lucy~!" Mirajane squealed. "Look here!" 

On instinct, Lucy turned to where the voice had come from and a camera shutter clicked. 

"Mira? What was that for?" Lucy asked, pouting.

"If I asked to take a picture, you probably would've said no so...this is the alternative," Mirajane said, winking. "Besides, it's a waste not to take a picture if you're wearing such elegant and beautiful clothes." 

"That's right, Lucy. You need to take pictures to commemorate the moment," Lisanna jumped in. 

"For once I have to agree with the folks from Fiore," Irene said, nodding her head.

"You're going to make our hard work and effort go to waste if we don't take pictures," Brandish said, standing up. 

Lucy gulped. The sharp stares of the four girls in front of her scared her. Their eyes were shining and by now, she was sweating. If she knew them correctly, this would turn into a picture frenzy party. 

"Now, say cheese!" Mirajane commanded as the camera began clicking away. "Lucy, Nagi! Get in the picture together!" 

As they began dragging Lucy and Nagi down to take pictures with everyone, Kouen and Zeref were still busy fighting. However, Zeref's clothes were rather hard to move in and so he lost balance and tipped over. In a moment, Zeref's lips were on Lucy's cheeks. Both of them widened their eyes in shock as the camera shutter clicked.