Shane really hadn't expected the name Fairy Tail to carry so much weight with Layla.
He'd assumed that his own guild—famous for noise and collateral damage—was "well-known" only in Magnolia, and that elsewhere they'd be lucky not to be treated as a walking disaster.
Maybe it was Master Makarov's reputation, or prestige left behind by an earlier generation of mages?
Shane thought about it briefly, then stopped. If it brought him convenience, so much the better.
After that, he confirmed a few more details with Layla, then rose to take his leave.
No sooner had he stepped out than Jude came in through the adjoining side room, brows knitted tightly.
"Layla, do you really trust that mysterious young man? I've been asking around these past few days—Duke Everlue doesn't care about the key nearly as much as he claims. Lately he's been throwing banquets almost every night, like he's celebrating something."
Layla looked at her husband, her gaze soft.
She reached out and gently held his tense hand. "Magic reflects the heart. The magic I sensed from that boy was warm and open—without a trace of anything unsettling. That's why I'm willing to trust him."
With his wife putting it that plainly, Jude swallowed the rest of his objections.
He turned away heavily. "My own inquiries suggest Grammi may have gone to the western continent. There isn't much time, but I'll keep trying to reach her."
"Please do, Jude," Layla replied softly.
Though Layla had little hope of retrieving the Aquarius key anymore—and had quietly prepared herself for the worst—seeing her husband working so hard still brought a warm current through her chest, dulling the weight of her grim resolve.
But reality rarely bends to wishful thinking.
Days passed. In the blink of an eye, it was already July.
Jude exhausted every connection he had, and still couldn't reach Grammi, the former maid who held the Aquarius key.
After yet another negative report, Jude sank into a chair, his face full of self-blame and helplessness.
Layla walked to his side and gently rested a hand on his shoulder. There was no discouragement in her voice at all.
"It's all right, Jude. You truly did everything you could. In fact… according to what our ancestors left us, even eleven keys are enough to open the Eclipse Gate."
Jude looked up in shock.
Layla gave him a reassuring smile. "We should invite Shane-san now. It's time for us to depart for the capital and prepare to open the gate."
When a maid went to find Shane, he was in the manor's garden.
Lucy's round eyes were wide as she stared at three small bowls and a red felt ball that kept changing places in Shane's hands. Her little face was filled with disbelief.
"Where did it go?" she asked, utterly fascinated.
Shane grinned, lifted one empty bowl—and immediately drew a squeal of delight from the girl.
He genuinely liked being around a kid like Lucy. Unfortunately—
Levy was young too, but she'd been in the guild longer and had helped him a lot, so it didn't feel right to casually tease her.
Milliana was basically a cat: even younger, with a head full of cats, and not someone you could really "play tricks" with.
Only with Lucy did her pure curiosity and unfiltered admiration feel especially gratifying to Shane.
He thought, if this were Gray or Cana, they'd be mercilessly roasting him for being childish.
But then again—in a world where real magic existed, these little sleight-of-hand tricks really were the kind of thing you used to amuse children.
Just as Lucy let out another delighted gasp over the vanished ball, the maid appeared at just the right moment.
"Shane-san, Layla-sama requests your presence."
"Is it already that time?" Shane calculated. It was July 5th.
He casually put the felt ball in Lucy's hands, ruffled her hair, and followed the maid out.
When he entered Layla's room again, the atmosphere was clearly different.
Jude stood by the window with his back to the door, wrapped in an inescapable gloom. Layla stood beside him, speaking softly as she comforted him.
Didn't their roles reverse? Shane grumbled inwardly. For once, he had the sense not to say it out loud.
When Layla saw him, she paused her soothing words and turned to him.
"We're ready to depart, Shane-san."
Shane didn't ask whether all the keys had been gathered.
Jude's expression said everything.
But if Layla—who cared most about the mission—still looked composed, then Shane trusted her judgment.
"The Eclipse Gate isn't here?" Shane asked, curious.
"No. It's in the capital of Fiore, Crocus," Layla explained. "The Eclipse Gate lies beneath the royal palace, guarded by the Fiore royal family for generations. I've already agreed on the timing with King Toma: the day after tomorrow—July 7th, at midnight—we will open it."
"Understood," Shane nodded.
With no time to waste, they soon boarded a magi-train bound for Crocus.
After more than a day of travel, Shane stepped onto the platform and looked around with interest at the royal capital known as the "Flower Blooming Capital."
It was said to have over a million permanent residents—nearly a tenth of Fiore's entire population.
Compared to quiet Magnolia, Crocus's prosperity felt like a different world.
Everywhere he looked were grand, beautiful buildings. Wide, clean streets swarmed with carriages. Crowds flowed shoulder to shoulder. Even the air vibrated with the noise and vitality unique to a great city.
"Let's go, Shane," Layla's voice came from behind him, pulling him from his reverie. "His Majesty should already be waiting."
They didn't linger. Led by royal attendants, the three headed straight into the heart of the palace.
Passing layers of guards and shadowed corridors, they descended a long flight of stone steps into the underground.
At the bottom, the space opened up.
Two rows of massive stone statues stood facing each other, ancient and imposing, radiating sacred authority as they guarded a corridor leading deeper within.
At the end of that corridor stood a monumental structure, like an old temple—at whose center rested a colossal door.
The door seemed forged from some dark, heavy metal, engraved with intricate, mysterious patterns. Simply standing there, it exuded an ancient, vast power.
"So this is the Eclipse Gate…" Shane murmured, wonder hard to hide in his eyes.
Layla had no attention to spare now. Solemn-faced, she drew out an elegant magical pocket watch and checked the time precisely.
"Two hours left… and then everything will end," she said softly, with a hint of release.
Shane didn't notice the subtle abnormality in her tone—his curiosity was only growing stronger.
With a thought, a red flame quietly lit in his eyes. He wanted to see what this legendary gate of time looked like from the perspective of causality.
"Hm? Fire?" a slightly surprised voice came from a corner.
"Who—?" Shane instinctively turned—
—and heard Layla's polite voice.
"Thank you for this, Your Majesty Toma." Layla inclined her head respectfully.
After her words, a small, middle-aged man in royal robes stepped forward.
Shane compared their heights in his head and realized the king was actually a little shorter than him.
"No need for thanks," King Toma said. His eyes paused briefly on the flame dancing in Shane's gaze, then returned to calm. "I, too, want to know what it looks like when the treasure Fiore has guarded for generations—the Eclipse Gate—finally opens."