"Today, Kei woke up early again. He's always so diligent every day. So amazing!"
Juvia scribbled in her little notebook as she watched Kei walk out of the inn and start exercising.
After jotting down her notes, she put away her notebook and quickly caught up with Kei, who was already on his morning run.
"Lord Kei, can I join you for your run?"
"Sure, but only go as far as you can handle. If you feel like you can't keep going, take a break and rest."
"Don't worry. Even though I'm a girl, I'm pretty confident in myself."
Seeing how gentle Kei was, Juvia felt even happier. The two of them began running together.
Thirty minutes later.
"Huff… huff…"
"Juvia, if you're tired, just find a place to rest. You don't have to push yourself to keep running with me."
"No, I-I'm fine! Juvia can keep going!"
Juvia looked at Kei, who was running steadily without even breaking a sweat. She couldn't help but admire how strong he was.
No wonder he possessed such incredible strength!
An hour later.
"Kei… Lord Kei… When will we reach our destination?"
Juvia was at her limit. With each breath, she felt like knives were scraping her throat, and her every step left sweat pouring down.
"Destination? There's no destination. We're just running around the Royal City until my body feels warmed up."
"Back then, running like this was a good way to train my body. But now, it's just a way to warm up a little."
Juvia looked at Kei, who sounded slightly regretful. She was amazed that such intense exercise was only considered a warm-up for him!
What kind of training would his real exercises be like?
Could this be the price one had to pay to become stronger?
After an hour and a half.
Juvia finally couldn't keep going. Her vision went dark, her legs gave out, and she nearly collapsed, but Kei reached out and supported her.
He guided Juvia to a bench to sit down.
"I told you not to push yourself. Training is a gradual process, and you've been pushing yourself too hard."
"Sorry, Lord Kei, for causing you trouble."
Juvia felt a bit disappointed in herself. She was just too weak. Even though she wanted to exercise with him, she only ended up being a burden.
"Don't feel so down. Here, have some water and rest for a bit."
Kei went to get a bottle of water and handed it to Juvia. "You rest here. I'm going to run a few more laps and buy breakfast. We'll head back to the inn once I'm done."
"Okay."
Juvia held the water Kei gave her and nodded obediently. Watching him leave, her heart felt warm.
The sky, which had been cloudy before, was now bright and clear. The girl once known as the Rain Woman hadn't summoned rain for a long time.
…
After Kei ran a few more laps, the two of them returned to the inn. By then, Wendy had just woken up.
The three of them, along with Charle, sat down and had breakfast together.
"You two can wander around the city today. I've got some things to take care of, so I won't be able to join you."
After finishing his meal, Kei quickly slipped away, leaving the girls wondering where he was going.
Juvia and Wendy sat together, and the conversation naturally drifted to Kei's past.
"Wendy, what was Lord Kei like before?"
Juvia asked hesitantly, feeling a little embarrassed. She wondered if it was okay to ask such a personal question, but her curiosity was too strong.
"Hmm… What was Onii-chan like before?"
Wendy held Charle in her arms, a thoughtful expression appearing on her face. After a while, she spoke.
"Onii-chan wasn't much different from how he is now."
"He worked hard every day, learned everything quickly, and was incredibly strong. He's always been the brother I look up to."
"Oh, right! Back then, Grandeeney was still around. She often took us flying through the sky. I was always so scared and clung to her back."
"But Onii-chan would always stand tall, facing the fierce winds with an excited expression, as if he'd found something fun to play with."
During that time, Kei had discovered a new training method. High-speed flight at high altitudes was incredibly effective for his training.
"I see… Lord Kei has always been so excellent, even since he was little."
Juvia secretly wrote down everything Wendy said in her little notebook. Then, she continued asking, "What kind of food does Lord Kei like to eat?"
"What kind of food? Hmm… I don't know. Onii-chan eats everything—meat, plants, fruits."
"He even eats bitter vegetables without hesitation!"
Wendy was still a bit of a picky eater, like a child who hated bitter green peppers and disliked vegetables.
'Not picky with food.'
Juvia noted this down as well, thinking about how she could freely cook anything in the future.
She couldn't help but imagine a future where they were living together.
"Darling, I made something for you to eat. Try it and see if it's good."
"It's delicious. Anything you make is delicious."
"Juvia, Juvia?"
Lost in her own fantasy where she and Kei were gazing deeply into each other's eyes, Juvia was suddenly brought back to reality when Wendy, holding Charle, called out to her.
She quickly snapped back and saw Wendy staring at her with a puzzled expression.
"N-Nothing. It's nothing."
…
Meanwhile, Kei had left the inn and quietly sneaked into the palace. The guards were nothing more than lifeless mannequins in his eyes, completely useless.
"Eclipse Gate, where could it be?"
Kei wandered through the palace. As expected, the grand and majestic palace made searching for anything quite a hassle.
After searching for a while, he finally found the Eclipse Gate deep within the palace.
"To open the Eclipse Gate, a large amount of magic power is required. I can handle that part myself."
With multiple Dragon Powers at his disposal, along with his already massive energy reserves, what would take others years to achieve, he could accomplish within a week.
His solution? Grind! When his energy ran out, he would eat flames, air, or even chunks of iron to replenish his magic.
Just keep grinding!
"But opening the gate also requires the Celestial Spirit Keys of the Zodiac. That's going to be a bit of a problem to collect."
"Oh well, I'll just take my time."
The Celestial Spirit Keys of the Zodiac randomly appeared across the world, held by different individuals. Kei had no idea who possessed them in this era.
When he thought about it, Lucy being able to collect so many Zodiac Keys in the future was truly a stroke of fate!
After examining the Eclipse Gate for a while and pouring some magic power into it, Kei quietly returned to the inn.
"Lunch is ready."
"Lord Kei, I found a wonderful shop! Would you like to go explore it with me this afternoon?"
"Sorry, Juvia. I've got some things to do this afternoon, so I can't join you. But you and Wendy can go."
"Oh… then I'll go with Wendy."
Juvia felt incredibly disappointed.
"Today, I asked Lord Kei out for a date, but he was too busy to accept. I wasn't rejected, he's just really busy."
She wrote down her feelings in her diary once again.
(End of Chapter)
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