A Dejected Cana

The cold night wind carried a few fallen leaves across the empty streets of Magnolia.

In the Fairy Tail guild hall, the wild banquet celebrating the birth of the new S-Class Mage was currently in its most chaotic and frenzied stage.

The rooftop echoed with the sounds of Natsu's fire-breathing explosions and Gray's ice-making cracking, mixed with various off-key songs and the muffled clatter of clinking glasses.

Erza and Mirajane are still arguing over who Jiang Bai should accompany shopping tomorrow.

Jiang Bai, with his hands in his hoodie pockets and yawning, slowly strolled out of the guild's back door, trying to find a quiet place to clear his ears for a moment.

Jiang Bai stopped in his tracks as soon as he turned a street corner.

A lone figure sat on the wooden steps not far ahead.

Cana held a wooden goblet bigger than her head in her hands, her legs dangling casually, and tilted her long neck back as she frantically poured the murky ale into her throat as if it were water.

Jiang Bai sighed, walked over slowly across the pebbles, and plopped down on the empty steps next to Cana.

Hearing the noise, Cana stopped drinking, wiped the wine stains from the corner of her mouth with the back of her hand, turned her head, and her sharp eyes, still slightly drunk, sized up the person who came in.

Why did you come out?

Cana swirled the large wine glass in her hand, a teasing smile playing on her lips, her tone revealing a schadenfreude of someone who thrives on chaos.

"Can't stand the chaotic scene inside anymore? Two such beautiful and capable girls are fighting over you, not everyone gets that kind of treatment."

"What, two aren't enough? Now you've come out to recruit me too, so I can drink with you here?"

With that, Cana shoved the huge wine glass in front of Jiang Bai and raised her eyebrows with a flourish.

Jiang Bai looked at the almost overflowing glass of ale, leaned back in disgust, and waved his hands repeatedly, as if what was being offered to him was not fine wine, but a cup of deadly poison.

"Spare me."

Jiang Bai rubbed his throbbing temples, and an uncontrollable image of a terrifying figure with crimson hair flashed through his mind, causing him to shiver involuntarily.

"I dare not touch this thing again. Last time I just tasted it out of curiosity, Erza appeared out of nowhere and kept nagging me about it for three whole days."

"They keep repeating things in my ear like underage drinking will stunt your growth, damage your nervous system, and affect your magic. It's driving me crazy."

Even Mirajane heard about it and supported Erza, even though she was drinking it herself.

Seeing Jiang Bai's still-shaken expression, Cana couldn't help but chuckle. The gloomy mood she had accumulated from drinking alone dissipated considerably.

"A monster who could even be defeated by the strongest man in the guild is actually afraid of Erza's nagging."

Cana withdrew her hand, tilted her head back and took a big gulp, exhaling a satisfying breath of alcohol, then turned her head to look directly into Jiang Bai's eyes.

"Tell me, why aren't you enjoying the spotlight inside in the middle of the night? What do you want from me?"

Jiang Bai dropped his lazy expression.

He leaned forward slightly, resting his elbows on his knees, his gaze fixed intently on Cana's face, his eyes more serious and sharp than ever before.

"Uncle Gildarts, you must have some special relationship with him, right?"

This statement came without any build-up, like a thunderclap exploding out of nowhere.

Cana's fingers, which were gripping the wine glass, suddenly stiffened.

A look of extreme panic flashed in his eyes. The huge wooden goblet trembled slightly, and a few drops of ale spilled down the rim onto the stone floor, spreading out in a dark stain.

But it was only for a fleeting moment.

Cana struggled to control her facial muscles, forcing out a slightly stiff, dry laugh, deliberately raising her voice and using an exaggerated tone to try and conceal her inner turmoil.

"Huh? What nonsense are you spouting, Jiang Bai!"

Cana turned her head away, no longer looking into Jiang Bai's eyes that seemed to see through everything, and raised her wine glass to her lips again.

"Gildarts is the strongest mage in the guild, a monster even you have to be wary of! What am I, Cana, to you?"

"He's just a kid who can't even get close to the S-Class Exam threshold, and all he does is drink with a bunch of roughnecks in the guild. How could someone like me possibly have anything to do with such a big shot? Did you lose your mind today?"

"That's not a reason."

Jiang Bai's voice wasn't loud, but it carried an undeniable penetrating power, ruthlessly cutting off Cana's escape route.

Cana abruptly stopped moving and bit her lower lip hard.

"Stop pretending, Cana."

Jiang Bai sighed, his gaze remaining calm as he watched the woman before him, who was trying so hard to appear strong.

"Your disguise is actually quite clumsy. Or rather, it's just that those dense idiots in the guild can't see through it."

Cana slowly put down her wine glass, her knuckles turning a glaring bluish-white from the excessive force, and her voice trembled slightly, without her even realizing it.

"Did I... not hide it well enough?"

Cana lowered her head, looking at the murky reflection in the glass, as if questioning herself, or perhaps muttering to herself.

"Even the chairman didn't notice, even that perceptive Mirajane didn't realize it, and... even he himself didn't know. How could you possibly have noticed?"

Jiang Bai held up one finger and pointed to his eye.

"Because of your eyes."

Jiang Bai stated an undeniable fact with a firm and calm tone.

"Every time Gildarts returned to the guild after completing a mission, no matter how chaotic the hall became, no matter how many people cheered for him, your eyes almost never left him."

"That complex look in your eyes, a mixture of admiration, longing, timidity, grievance, and even a hint of resentment, is definitely not the expression an ordinary guild member should have when looking at a senior. The way you hid in the corner watching his back after returning from the assessment today, it was as if the truth was written all over your face."

Cana's body began to tremble violently.

The secret hidden deep in his heart, suppressed for more than a decade, was thus casually peeled back by Jiang Bai, exposed to the air in a bloody manner.

But it was precisely because this was exposed that the urge to confide, which had been bottled up in his chest and was almost bursting his heart, finally found an outlet.

"Okay... you win."

Cana let out a long breath, as if a huge burden had been lifted. She covered her cheeks with her hands, her voice becoming hoarse and thick with nasal tone.

"He... is my father."

The night breeze rustled between the two.

Jiang Bai showed no surprise, simply looking calmly at Cana.

"Since you're father and daughter, and since you're so eager to acknowledge him, why don't you just go up to him and explain things clearly in front of him?"

Jiang Bai frowned, a hint of confusion in his voice, "You've been hiding in a corner secretly watching, how could you possibly see a flower? Or is it just because of that ridiculous reason you just gave that you think you're too weak?"