Lucy was very happy, because she had finally found an opportunity, an opportunity to meet her idol. She had been looking forward to it for a long time!
Lucy did not go to ask her father again, because she knew her father was doing something very important. She could not trouble him over such a small matter.
Being able to get an autographed book from Moen from her father already made her very happy. Not having time to take her to meet Moen was also understandable.
Although these were all excuses Lucy made for herself, as long as she could convince herself, it was better than facing the cold reality.
Carefully squeezing into the event venue, Lucy tightly followed the queue forward. She had snuck out by herself.
There was no helping it, if she were caught by the servants at home, they would definitely tell her father and take her back home.
So, although sneaking out would cause some trouble for others, in order to meet her idol once, Lucy still chose to sneak out.
For this kind of thing, Lucy was already quite skilled. Every time she came to the Heartfilia Conglomerate headquarters to find her father, she had snuck out, so this time she just needed to repeat the same trick.
This signing event was being held in a theater, because this time Moen was not only releasing Great Detective Folmos II, but was also warming up for the upcoming "Magnolia Concert."
So, while conducting the signing, Moen would also perform a few pieces.
This could also be considered a way of giving back to fans. His book fans and music fans had some overlap, and converting the two between each other was also important.
Let those who liked reading his books go listen to his music, and let those who liked listening to his music go read his books—double the happiness directly.
Moen actually attached quite a bit of importance to this event. He even brought Mira along. This would be Mira's first time publicly performing Masayume Chasing, so among the people who came today, quite a few were also Mira's fans.
By doing this, Moen was using his own popularity to bring traffic to Magnolia. This "Magnolia Concert" was officially organized by the city government, with the intention of turning it into something like a music festival.
The Magnolia city government had put in quite a bit of effort for this and invested heavily, specifically requesting Moen's help. Of course, they also paid quite a lot.
Moen put in the effort to bring traffic to the "Magnolia Concert," and he himself did not lose out either. The better Magnolia developed and the more prosperous it became, the better it would be for "Fairy Tail." At the very least, the rewards for the jobs they received would also rise accordingly.
For something that benefited everyone, Moen naturally had no reason to refuse. His sense of responsibility was quite strong—even for the sake of the guild, he would come. In any case, it wasn't too troublesome.
"Little girl, did you come alone?"
Lucy was nervously lining up when someone beside her spoke to her.
A little girl not even twelve years old stood out quite a bit among a group of adults. It wasn't that there were no children in the theater, but children her age all had parents accompanying them. Someone like her who came alone was indeed rare.
"Mm, I came alone."
Lucy's expression dimmed. She pursed her lips and answered.
Seeing that those children had all come with their parents, Lucy naturally felt envious. But she knew her father would not bring her. She didn't even have the chance to tell him, her father had not returned home for a long time.
In the past, when her father worked at the Heartfilia Conglomerate headquarters, because the distance wasn't too far, when he didn't return home, she could often sneak over to find him.
But ever since the construction of the southern railway network began, her father had rarely worked at the Heartfilia Conglomerate headquarters.
This undoubtedly made it even harder for Lucy to see her father. Even if she wanted to find him, she didn't know where to go.
"What a brave child."
People around in the line spoke up to praise Lucy for coming alone. There was no way they could mock her for being pitiful for coming alone.
"Children should go home earlier, so the adults at home don't worry."
Some also kindly advised her, but this directly touched Lucy's sore spot. In her home, there were no adults worrying about her. The adults in her home didn't even know what she had gone out to do.
Lucy quietly lined up and stopped talking to the others. She didn't want to explain more to people who didn't understand her family situation. Just like what was written in Moen's book, people with different backgrounds, upbringings, and experiences found it difficult to empathize with each other's pain.
"It's finally starting!"
After waiting for a while, the signing event officially began.
The long line began to move forward. Lucy was actually quite near the front, but because of her height, she couldn't see what was happening ahead. She could only hear the cheers coming from the front.
"Moen! Moen!"
"Mira!"
Among the many shouts for Moen, there were also scattered calls for Mira.
This made Lucy somewhat surprised. Mira? Was it that Mira who sang Masayume Chasing, Mirajane Strauss?
Why was she here? Wasn't this the signing event for Great Detective Folmos II?
Lucy was full of confusion, because she didn't know there were other activities afterward. She thought this was just a simple signing event.
As the people ahead completed their signings and left one by one, Lucy finally arrived at the front of the crowd and saw Moen, whom she had always hoped to meet.
Moen sat behind a long table, with a smile on his face, dressed neatly and simply. His whole body exuded a bright and cheerful aura, very different from the rather eccentric Folmos in the book. Of course, being tall and handsome was the same.
Lucy's gaze shifted, noticing that beside Moen sat a girl, a girl with white hair tied into a ponytail. This should be the one who sang Masayume Chasing, Mirajane Strauss.
"Did you come here by yourself?"
Seeing the blonde little girl walk up alone, Moen was momentarily stunned, then spoke. As he examined the child's face, he had already basically made a judgment in his heart.
"Mm, I came by myself."
Standing in front of the table, somewhat struggling to sit on the chair, Lucy looked at Moen and answered seriously. Meeting Moen for the first time, speaking face-to-face with him for the first time, Lucy was very excited and happy. In her heart, she thought of the words Moen had written to her before.
"To Lucy, I hope you can grow up happily, and I hope you can become the person you want to be! —Moen Dreyar."
Looking at Moen in front of her, Lucy really wanted to say "sorry," because she had not lived up to those expectations Moen had for her.
During this period of time, aside from today, she had not been happy, and whether she could become the person she wanted to be was not something she could decide right now.
"I'm very happy to meet you, Lucy. I must apologize to you."
Just as Lucy was thinking about all sorts of things, Moen spoke to her. Before Lucy could even say "sorry," Moen, who was sitting opposite her, apologized first.
"Why are you apologizing to me?"
Lucy asked blankly, then suddenly reacted.
"Why do you know my name?!"
Looking at Moen, who had already guessed her identity, Lucy was full of confusion. This was clearly something she had not expected.
"Of course I can tell. I've been meeting your father, Mr. Jude, quite often recently. How could I not recognize his daughter? Your golden hair and the resemblance in your face are enough for me to make that judgment. It seems I didn't mistake you, right?"
Moen smiled as he explained. He was being a bit unfair here, Lucy didn't actually resemble Jude that much, and it wasn't something that could be easily judged just by appearance.
But Moen really did recognize Lucy based on her appearance, just that he was relying on Lucy's future appearance.
Although the current young Lucy was indeed much more childish compared to the "older Lucy" who had once traveled through time, her appearance was still recognizable at a glance.
It had to be said, aside from her body not having started to develop yet, Lucy didn't look very different between childhood and adulthood.
"I-Is that so?"
Little Lucy looked confused, but she really was bluffed by Moen's words.
Mainly because she trusted Moen too much. She didn't think he had any reason to lie to her, and the explanation actually sounded quite reasonable. After all, no one usually said that she didn't resemble Jude at all.
"Because of the railway construction in the south, Lucy must not have seen Mr. Jude much recently, right? I bear some responsibility for this matter. Because I've been urging the progress of the railway construction, Mr. Jude has been so busy and has been staying on the front lines in the south."
Moen spoke with a smile, expressing his apology to Lucy. He had already known that Jude tended to neglect his daughter, and during this period, Jude had hardly returned home at all. Clearly, Lucy had been growing up alone.
Faced with Moen's apology, Lucy couldn't help but be stunned. She hadn't expected Moen to apologize for this.
"You don't need to apologize. Actually, I'm already used to it…"
Lucy immediately explained. She didn't think there was anything wrong with what Moen had done. Mainly, she felt that even if Moen hadn't urged him, her father would still be the same.
No one knew a father better than his daughter. In this matter, Lucy was quite confident, though she would rather not have this strange confidence.
"Uh… Mr. Jude really is very dedicated and serious about his work…"
Since Lucy had already said so, Moen naturally couldn't refute her, but the sympathy he felt for this pitiful child deepened a bit more.
Jude was indeed dedicated, but he had clearly forgotten his responsibility as a father.
"Let's not talk about this. Don't rush to leave later—stay and join us. Based on the principle of being responsible to a friend, I have to help Mr. Jude keep an eye on you."
Moen waved his hand and said with a smile, directly skipping the previous topic and instead inviting Lucy to stay.
Since Lucy was willing to sneak out to attend his new book signing event, she must be a loyal fan. Inviting her to stay with their group should make her a bit happier.
"Really?!"
Sure enough, after hearing Moen's words, Lucy's eyes lit up instantly.
As a fan, she naturally wanted to stay. More importantly, she didn't want to give up the opportunity to talk more with Moen. She had many questions about Great Detective Folmos.
"Of course. There will be a small concert later anyway."
Before Moen could respond, the girl who had been observing from the side ever since Lucy appeared spoke up, Mirajane Strauss. She had already understood that this Lucy was the daughter of Jude from the Heartfilia Conglomerate. Clearly, she was a genuine young lady of a wealthy family. It just wasn't clear how she compared to the one who had recently joined the guild.
Princess Hisui's public identity was that of a wealthy young lady. After all, she did not lack money and could spend large amounts of time learning and training. An ordinary family background wouldn't be enough. It was just that no one knew she was actually the king's daughter.
"I see. Thank you. You are Miss Mirajane, right?"
After hearing Mirajane's explanation, Lucy nodded seriously, then asked her name. Lucy hadn't paid much attention to Mirajane before, only knowing that she became famous because of Moen's song Masayume Chasing.
But after becoming popular, Mirajane did not appear in public much and remained very low-key. She only continued to sing a few of Moen's works, seemingly just wanting to be his exclusive singer, not caring much about anything else.
"Mira, thanks for helping here. Take Lucy to look around. I'll probably still be busy here for a while."
Seeing Mira and Lucy chatting, Moen turned his head and said with a smile. Mira had been sitting beside him helping—passing books, paper, pens, and so on. The work wasn't very interesting, so it would be better for her to accompany Lucy instead.
"…Alright."
Faced with Moen's arrangement, Mirajane pouted, but still agreed in the end. She actually found it quite interesting to sit beside Moen and help, not boring at all. Compared to that, she would rather stay here with him.
However, Lucy's identity was somewhat special. Mira knew that Moen attached great importance to Jude's project, so she needed to help Moen take care of Lucy properly—the daughter of Jude Heartfilia.
"Let's go. I'll take you around. I also need to prepare the songs for the performance."
Mirajane stood up and said to Lucy. She planned to take Lucy around backstage, and also do some final practice for the songs she would perform later. After all, this was her first public performance. Even with her fearless personality, she couldn't help but feel a bit nervous.
"Okay, thank you, Miss Mirajane."
Lucy responded, picking up the signed copy of Great Detective Folmos II that Moen had just finished, and obediently followed Mirajane.
Although she still had many things she wanted to say to her idol Moen, she knew that her treatment was already special enough. If she continued to occupy Moen's time without leaving, the other fans would probably explode.
In fact, her special treatment had already sparked some discussion. Everyone had clearly noticed that Moen treated her differently, and Mirajane even directly took her backstage with her.
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