43. A Nosy Kid

Their business in Hargeon Town is finally finished after 3 days. Layla has found a good shipping company that gives them good terms and prices. It's a new company, after all, that's why it's cheaper and Layla is lucky to be the first who finds this company.

They return to Heartfilia Konzern using the train again. Nothing bad is happening to them on this trip, which is good. But Alex can't show off his skills because everything is too peaceful.

Everything goes normally in the family and Alex's status has become Young Miss Lucy's bodyguard now. Though in reality, he is just tasked to be her playmate because there's no children her age other than him here.

By being with Lucy all the time, Alex finally knows how Lucy gets her personality in the series. He was always curious how she can be so different from her parents in terms of personalities.

Turns out it's because of the servants. Her parents are always busy with business, so she often does everything alone or with the servants and it influences her personality.

Unlike the noble-like Jude and Layla, the servants are surely more rowdy. Jude and Layla are mostly calm and always keep their manners. It's because they are merchants and used to deal with nobles, so they can't act impolitely.

But they don't want to force their daughter to be like them, especially when she is still just a child. So they let her do anything she wishes and they are actually very happy seeing her become a very cheerful girl.

Still, Alex thinks Lucy's personality is just too different from her parents. Even if she is influenced by the servants, he thinks that her parents should still influence her more because she really looks up to them.

Then one night, Jude tells Alex something unexpected when he is drunk. He asks Alex to accompany him when he drinks on the weekend. It's his usual activity every sunday night and he often asks Alex to accompany him even though Alex can't drink alcohol yet.

Anyway, Alex asks Jude how Lucy's personality can be so different from both he and Layla. It makes Jude laugh loudly, which confuses Alex because it shouldn't be that funny even though it's not something serious either.

"Well, little Alex, that's actually wrong, you know. While it's true that her personality is different from mine, it's actually the same as her mother. When I first met Layla, she was exactly the same as Lucy. She was very cheerful, free-spirited, and sometimes acted dumb even though she was smart. It was because she became a merchant that she became like now. We often need to deal with nobles, so we learned manners. Then after becoming a mother, she promised to be a good example for her daughter by being very well-mannered. But it seems Lucy still inherits her younger self's personalities. It's good though because children are supposed to be happy and cheerful like that."

Alex is actually more surprised by Jude now. He can't believe this is the same man who becomes a workaholic and neglects his daughter after his wife's death. Right now, he is just a kind and loving father.

'The death of someone you love can really change you.' This is what Alex thinks when he compares the current Jude and the future Jude who neglects Lucy until she decides to run away from home.

But it seems like this is his true self. After all, when Lucy disappeared during the S-Class exam because of Acnologia's attack, Jude believed that she was still alive even though people said she had died and he kept sending her gifts on her birthday.

Though in the series, Lucy thought that her father never loved her while he clearly loves her now. Well, he never shows affection to Lucy and just watches her from the side. He almost never plays with her too, it's always her mother who's with her.

So it's not strange for her to think her father doesn't love her in the future, especially when he becomes very cold to her after Layla's death. He even tried to force her to marry someone and hired Phantom Lord to attack Fairy Tail to take Lucy back home for the arranged marriage.

"Hey, old man, do you love your daughter?"

"What kind of stupid question is that? Of course, I love her."

"Then show her. Play with her or take her somewhere fun. She often looks at your office but doesn't dare to come because she doesn't want to disturb you, you know."

"Really? Sigh, but I have too much work and I don't know what to do with her."

"I know work is important, but you'll only have little time with your daughter. Before you know it, she will be an adult and be someone's wife."

"Hmm? Kid, do you like my daughter?" Jude looks at Alex suspiciously because of his last words.

"Me? Well, I like her but as a little sister. I just said that because I want you to spend time with her, geez. It's not that I want to marry her in the future."

"So you think my daughter is not worthy to be your wife? Is that it?"

"Huh? I didn't say that. What the hell are you saying?"

"So you really want to marry her."

"ARGH! ENOUGH! I DON'T HAVE TIME FOR THIS SHIT." Alex walks away while stomping his feet and grumbling.

Jude understands what Alex means, but it's just hard for him to do it. He just doesn't know how to show affection to his daughter. Maybe he just keeps working because that's the only thing he can do well.

Anyway, Alex doesn't expect Jude to change his behavior immediately. He just wants the man to think about it more deeply while he has the chance to. It was heartbreaking when Lucy realized her father's love only when it was too late and he died, after all.

A month passes with Jude still doing nothing. It makes Alex think that this guy actually just doesn't have guts. But maybe it's more complicated than he thinks, so he leaves it be.

But then on the weekend, Jude suddenly takes his wife and daughter for a trip to an amusement park. It's Layla who tells Lucy about the trip though because Jude doesn't know how to say it himself, making Alex give him the bombastic side eyes.

Still, it's a good improvement because at least now they have a complete family trip. After all, it's always Layla and Lucy as Jude always stays at home to work.

Lucy seems very excited to have a trip with her parents, which makes the servants very happy too. They want to take Alex with them, but he strictly refuses because it's their family time.

In the end, only the 3 of them go to the park while Alex stays to guard the mansion, or at least that's how it should be. Alex just can't remove the feelings that Lucy will always attract trouble as her main character's trait.

Nothing happened last time, but he still can't be sure now, so he follows them secretly. He knows that Layla has contracted Cancer again now, so they should be fine handling most problems, but it still worries him.

Alex follows them very secretly to avoid ruining their holiday. He uses Shukaku Sand Eye to monitor them from his hiding spot far away from them. This ability is really good to spy on people, but he needs to be hidden because his appearance as the humanoid Shukaku will attract too much attention.

Well, it seems he was just worrying too much. There really are many dangers on Earth Land, but they are not everywhere. Most towns and cities are actually safe, especially the big ones because they are protected well.

But it's never hurt to be careful of all the possibilities. After all, even Gray's homeland was just a peaceful town too. But then Deliora suddenly attacked and destroyed it, so there's nothing wrong with being careful in this world.

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Ch. 93: A New Mira