Lucy was overjoyed because she had finally found the opportunity to meet her idol—a moment she had been eagerly anticipating for so long!
She didn't ask her father for help this time, knowing he was occupied with very important matters.
She couldn't trouble him with such a trivial request.
The fact that her father had managed to bring her a signed book by Marco was already enough to delight her.
It was understandable that he didn't have time to take her to meet Marco in person.
Though these were just excuses Lucy made for herself, as long as they helped her cope, it was better than facing the cold, harsh reality.
Carefully squeezing into the event venue, Lucy followed the queue closely.
She had sneaked out all by herself.
There was no other choice—if the household servants caught her, they would surely report to her father and drag her back home.
So, even though sneaking out might cause some trouble for others, Lucy still chose to do it just for the chance to see her idol.
She was quite experienced in this regard.
Every time she visited the Heartfilia Konzern headquarters to see her father, she had sneaked out.
This time, she simply had to repeat the same trick.
This signing event was held in a theater because Marco wasn't just releasing The Great Detective Holmes II—he was also warming up for the upcoming Magnolia Concert.
Thus, while signing books, Marco would also perform a few musical pieces.
This was his way of giving back to his fans.
There was some overlap between his book fans and music enthusiasts, so converting one group into the other was important.
He wanted those who loved his books to listen to his music, and those who loved his music to read his books—doubling the joy.
Marco took this event quite seriously.
He even brought Mira along, as this would be her first public performance of Masayume Chasing.
As a result, many among the attendees were also Mira's fans.
By doing this, Marco was leveraging his own fame to draw attention to the Magnolia Concert, an official event organized by the city government, almost like a music festival.
The Magnolia City Government had invested considerable effort and resources into this, specifically requesting Marco's involvement—and, of course, paying him handsomely.
Marco's efforts to promote the Magnolia Concert weren't entirely selfless.
The better Magnolia developed and the more prosperous it became, the more beneficial it would be for Fairy Tail—at the very least, the rewards for their guild missions would increase accordingly.
Since it was a win-win situation, Marco had no reason to refuse.
His sense of responsibility was strong, and even if it was just for the guild's sake, he would participate.
Besides, it wasn't much trouble anyway.
"Little girl, are you here alone?"
Lucy, nervously waiting in line, was approached by someone.
A girl not even twelve years old stood out quite noticeably among a crowd of adults.
While there were other children in the theater, none as young as her were without parental supervision.
"Yes, i'm alone." Lucy's expression dimmed as she pressed her lips together and answered.
Seeing all the children arriving with their parents, Lucy couldn't help but feel envious.
Yet she knew her father would never bring her here—she didn't even have the chance to ask him, as he hadn't come home for a long time.
Back when her father worked at the Heartfilia Conglomerate headquarters, their distance wasn't too far.
On days he didn't return, she could still sneak out to visit him.
But ever since the southern railway network construction began, her father had rarely worked at the headquarters anymore.
This made it even harder for Lucy to see him—she didn't even know where to look.
"What a brave child."
People in line around her praised Lucy for coming alone.
After all, who would mock her for being pitifully unaccompanied?
"Children should go home early so their parents don't worry."
Some kindly advised, though this only struck Lucy's sore spot.
There were no adults at home worrying about her—the adults in her life didn't even know what she was doing.
Lucy quietly stayed in line, no longer engaging in conversation.
She didn't want to explain her family situation to people who wouldn't understand.
Just as Marco had written in his books, those with different backgrounds and experiences could hardly empathize with each other's pain.
"It's finally starting!"
After some waiting, the signing event officially began.
The long line started moving forward.
Though Lucy was near the front, her height made it impossible to see what was happening ahead—she could only hear the excited screams.
"Marco! Marco!"
"Mirajane!"
Amid the overwhelming cheers for Marco, there were scattered shouts for Mirajane.
This surprised Lucy.
'Mirajane? The Mirajane Strauss who sang Masayume Chasing?'
'Why was she here? Wasn't this the signing event for The Great Detective Holmes II?'
Lucy was full of confusion.
She hadn't known there would be other activities afterward—she thought this was just a simple book signing.
As people ahead of her finished and left one by one, Lucy finally reached the front and saw Marco, the person she had longed to meet.
Marco sat behind a long table, smiling, dressed neatly and simply, exuding a bright and sunny aura—quite different from the eccentric Holmes in his books, though he was just as tall and handsome.
Lucy's gaze shifted slightly, noticing a girl sitting beside Marco—one with white hair tied into a single ponytail.
'That must be Mirajane Strauss, the singer of Masayume Chasing.'
"Did you come here alone?"
Seeing the little blonde girl approach by herself, Marco paused before asking.
He studied her face, already forming a guess in his mind.
"Yes, I came alone."
Struggling a bit to climb onto the chair in front of the table, Lucy looked at Marco and answered honestly.
This was her first time seeing him in person, her first time speaking to him face-to-face.
She was thrilled and overjoyed, recalling the words he had once written to her.
'To Lucy, I hope you can grow up happily and become the person you want to be! — Marco Dreyar.'
Looking at Marco before her, Lucy desperately wanted to say 'I'm sorry' because she hadn't lived up to these expectations he had for her.
During this period, apart from today, she hadn't been happy at all.
And whether she could become the person she wanted to be wasn't something she could definitively say right now.
"It's nice to meet you, Lucy. I must apologize to you."
Just as Lucy's mind was wandering through various thoughts, Marco spoke to her.
Before she could even say 'I'm sorry' it was Marco opposite her who first offered an apology.
"Why are you apologizing to me?" Lucy asked blankly, then suddenly realized something.
"How do you know my name is Lucy?!"
Staring at Marco who had already guessed her identity, Lucy's face was full of confusion.
This was clearly an unexpected turn of events she hadn't anticipated.
"Of course I can tell. I've been meeting with your father Jude quite frequently recently—how could I not recognize his daughter? Your hair and facial similarities made it easy to identify you. I assume I'm not mistaken?" Marco explained with a smile.
He was somewhat taking advantage of her innocence here—in truth, Lucy didn't resemble Jude that much physically, and it wouldn't have been so simple to guess based on looks alone.
But Marco had indeed recognized Lucy by her appearance—just not her current one.
He was recognizing her based on how she would look in the future.
Although this little Lucy was much more youthful compared to the grown-up Lucy who had time-traveled before, her facial features were still instantly recognizable.
It had to be said—aside from her undeveloped body, there wasn't much difference between young Lucy and her older self.
"Is... is that so?" Lucy looked completely bewildered, but she was thoroughly convinced by Marco's explanation.
Mainly because she trusted him too much—she didn't think Marco had any reason to lie to her.
Plus, his reasoning did sound quite plausible.
After all, no one usually said she looked nothing like Jude.
"Because of the southern railway project, you must have seen very little of Mr. Jude recently, right? I bear some responsibility for that. Since I've been pushing hard for faster progress on the railway construction, Mr. Jude has been extremely busy, constantly working on the front lines in the south." Marco smiled as he apologized to Lucy.
He'd known beforehand that Jude tended to neglect his daughter, and during this period, Jude had barely returned home at all—clearly leaving Lucy to grow up lonely.
Faced with Marco's apology, Lucy froze momentarily.
She hadn't expected Marco to apologize for something like this.
"You don't need to apologize for that. Actually, I'm already used to it..."
Lucy quickly explained, not feeling that Marco had done anything wrong.
Mainly because she believed even if Marco hadn't pushed for it, her father would still have ended up the same way.
No one knows a father like his daughter—about this, Lucy was quite confident.
Though she wished she didn't have to possess this particular kind of confidence.
"Well... Mr. Jude is indeed very dutiful and hardworking at his job..."
With Lucy saying this much, Marco naturally couldn't argue further.
But his sympathy for this poor child grew even stronger in his heart.
Jude was very diligent and responsible, but he had clearly forgotten his duties as a father.
"Let's not talk about that. Don't rush off later—stay and wait for us. Out of responsibility to a friend, I should keep an eye on you for Mr. Jude."
Marco waved his hand dismissively and smiled at Lucy, deliberately steering the conversation away from the previous topic and inviting her to stay instead.
The fact that Lucy had sneaked out to attend his book signing suggested she was a devoted fan.
By inviting her to join him and his team, Marco hoped it would cheer her up a little.
"Really? I can stay?!"
Just as expected, Lucy's eyes lit up the moment she heard Marco's words.
As a fan, of course she wanted to stay—mostly because she didn't want to miss the chance to talk to Marco longer.
She had so many questions about The Great Detective Holmes she wanted to ask.
"Of course. There's actually a small concert later."
Before Marco could respond, Mira, who had been quietly observing Lucy since her arrival, spoke up.
She had figured it out—this Lucy was the daughter of Jude from the Heartfilia conglomerate.
A genuine young lady, no doubt.
She wondered how she compared to the one who had recently joined their guild.
Hisui's public identity was that of a wealthy heiress after all, she never lacked for money and could spend plenty of time studying and training.
An ordinary family background wouldn't allow for that.
But no one knew that Hisui was actually the king's daughter.
"Oh, I see! Thank you. You're Mirajane, right?"
After Mirajane's explanation, Lucy nodded seriously, then asked for her name.
Lucy hadn't paid much attention to Mirajane before, only knowing that she had risen to fame thanks to Marco's song Masayume Chasing.
But after her sudden popularity, Mirajane hadn't sought the spotlight much, keeping a low profile.
She only sang a few more of Marco's works, as if content to be his exclusive singer—nothing else seemed to matter to her.
"Mira, thanks for helping out here. Why don't you take Lucy around for a bit? I'll probably be busy for a while longer."
Seeing Mira and Lucy chatting, Marco turned to Mira with a smile.
She had been sitting beside him earlier, assisting with small tasks like handing out books, paper, and pens—nothing particularly exciting.
It'd be better to let her show Lucy around instead.
"...Fine."
Faced with Marco's suggestion, Mirajane pursed her lips but ultimately agreed.
She actually enjoyed sitting beside Marco and helping out—she didn't find it boring at all.
If given the choice, she'd much rather stay with him.
But Lucy's status was different.
Marco had always placed great importance on Jude's projects, and Mira knew that.
So she needed to help Marco look after Lucy—to take care of Jude Heartfilia's daughter.
"Come on, I'll show you around. I need to prepare for the performance anyway."
Mirajane stood up and said to Lucy that she was going to take her to tour the theater backstage while also doing a final rehearsal of the song she would perform later.
After all, this was her first public performance, and even someone as fearless as Mira couldn't help feeling a little nervous at this moment.
"Alright, thank you, Miss Mirajane."
Lucy responded, picking up the signed copy of The Great Detective Holmes II that Marco had just autographed for her.
She obediently stood up and followed Mirajane.
Although she still had many things she wanted to say to her idol Marco, she knew her special treatment had already been generous enough.
If she continued monopolizing Marco's time, the other fans would probably explode.
In fact, her current privileges had already sparked some murmurs.
Everyone had clearly noticed how differently Marco treated her, and now Mirajane was even taking her directly to the theater backstage.