At midnight, in a dim room at the inn where Fairy Tail was staying, Yukino slowly opened her heavy eyes.
"Where am I...?" She looked around in confusion. Faint moonlight streamed in from outside, keeping the room from being completely dark.
Frowning, she tried hard to recall what had happened before she lost consciousness. But after struggling for a while, Yukino realized that her memories stopped back when she was still at Sabertooth's inn. There was nothing after that.
No matter how she tried, she could not remember what followed. She must have passed out then. At that thought, a blush crept over Yukino's slightly pale face, and a sweet, entranced smile curved her lips. She remembered now: she had lost consciousness in the arms of her Dream of Longing.
Remembering how he had snatched her back from Minerva in an instant and gently gathered her into his arms, Yukino's face flushed even deeper with dreamy delight. The sight of him coldly and forcefully sending Minerva—the woman universally acknowledged as the guild's strongest and wisest—flying with a casual blow had shaken her to the core! It had also etched his figure from that moment deep into her heart...
That was strength no one could surpass...
It seemed that was when, overwhelmed by excitement and badly injured, she had finally exhausted both her physical and mental strength and fainted in Lord Achill's arms.
The man she admired above all others had carried her back himself. At the thought, Yukino's eyes grew dazed with bliss.
"So this is a room at Fairy Tail's inn?" Remembering what Lord Achill had said before she passed out, Yukino's heart trembled with excitement. He had personally said he would welcome her into his guild...
"You're awake?"
The sudden voice startled the excited Yukino. Looking toward it,