Faced with Erza's sincere concern, Wendy couldn't keep silent anymore.
"I'm not feeling unwell." Wendy answered softly.
Lying was also very difficult for her.
Her whole face turned was red and steam was visibly about to start rising from her head.
"Erza, what's the matter?"
Seeing wendy troubled expression, Marco quickly spoke up to help her out, drawing Erza's attention.
Erza swiftly turned her gaze to Marco.
Her expression was somewhat troubled.
She actually didn't want to bring up those things either, preferring to bury them in her heart.
"You... just mentioned Jellal, right?"
With a troubled look on her face, Erza finally asked this question.
She still cared too much about this matter.
"Yes, what about it?" Marco calmly nodded, giving an affirmative answer.
This made Wendy and Mystogan look at him with shocked expressions.
What happened to keeping Mystogan's secret?
"Erza, do you know Jellal? How do you know him? What's your relationship?"
Under Wendy and Mystogan's shocked gazes, Marco asked with a puzzled look, turning the tables and questioning Erza.
"Jellal is my friend."
Faced with Marco's confusion, Erza hesitated slightly at first, but firmly said the word "friend".
Erza's behavior clearly indicated there was quite a story between her and this "Jellal".
Marco could see it at a glance.
Mystogan was no exception, which made him feel his scalp tingling.
Coincidentally, it wasn't just Erza who knew Jellal.
In fact, Mystogan also knew the Erza of Edolas.
How could things be so coincidental? It was truly a case of fearing what might come.
"Then we must not be talking about the same Jellal. The Jellal we just mentioned is a friend from Mystogan's hometown."
Marco shook his head, saying something that made all three people present pause for a moment.
"Huh?" Erza looked at Mystogan with slight confusion.
This answer was unexpected, and she didn't quite believe it.
"That's right." Mystogan reacted quickly, immediately chiming in to agree.
The blue-haired boy deliberately lowered his voice, keeping his words brief, as even his voice could become a giveaway.
"Mystogan's hometown has a tradition where people must cover their faces when outside, never letting others see them. The Jellal you know isn't like that, right?"
Before Erza could respond, Marco delivered the final blow.
His words cut straight to the point, leaving Erza with no room to argue.
"..."
This made it impossible for Erza who had originally wanted to see Mystogan's face to press further.
She couldn't very well demand that he break tradition.
"That's... not the case..." Erza replied, now beginning to doubt whether she had truly mistaken things.
Mystogan did give her a strangely familiar feeling, but in other ways, there were indeed many differences.
"If there's nothing else, I'll take my leave now."
Seeing that Erza seemed successfully convinced by Marco, Mystogan immediately prepared to leave, deciding to keep his distance from Erza from now on.
'I should leave sooner rather than later. I still have important matters to attend to—I need to stop Anima from harming this world.' Mystogan thought to himself, making a decision.
Unless absolutely necessary, he would avoid returning here often.
"Erza, could you tell us about this Jellal? We don't know much about your past experiences."
Even after Mystogan left, Marco didn't let Erza off the hook.
He pressed on, ready to dig deeper into her past.
It was only because the conversation had reached this point that Marco could smoothly ask.
Normally, he wouldn't pry like this.
Everyone had their own stories and forcing the topic when the mood wasn't right would only make things awkward for everyone.
"There's nothing worth saying. It's all in the past."
However, Erza shook her head and spoke with feigned nonchalance, as if she had long since moved on from the past.
"..."
This time, not just Marco, even Wendy could see through it.
What "it's all in the past" really meant was "it's never truly past."
Erza was clearly deceiving herself.
"Alright, let's not dwell on the past then." Marco nodded without exposing her.
The current Erza was doing much better—far improved from the withdrawn girl who used to crouch alone in corners when she first arrived a year ago.
He had no intention of triggering her trauma
"Now we're your companions, your family. You can always come to me for help. After all, I am older than you so you need to call me big brother." Marco said with a smile, reaching out to ruffle her crimson hair.
For once, Erza didn't swat his hand away.
"Big brother? You're only a few days older than me."
The red-haired girl smiled gently, her tone carrying a hint of playful reproach.
"Speaking of which, isn't Marco's birthday coming up soon?" Gray's head suddenly popped up from behind Erza, joining their conversation.
Among the children present, aside from Marco, Gray was the most senior and knew Marco best.
He even remembered Marco's birthday was around this time.
"Yes, I'm looking forward to your gifts." Marco confirmed with a laugh, then raised an eyebrow, openly hinting for presents.
Their close relationship made such jokes acceptable, and no one took offense.
"Just wait, Marco! I'll find you the coolest gift ever!" Gray clenched his fists excitedly.
Having received many gifts from Marco over the years, he took this task seriously.
Previously, due to his young age and limited funds, his gifts had been cheap.
Now that he'd saved up, he could finally choose something proper.
"Well then, I'll give an even cooler one than yours, stripper!"
Not to be outdone, Natsu immediately challenged Gray, determined to one-up him in this contest.
Though Natsu had only joined Fairy Tail a little over a month ago and hadn't known Marco for long, they'd already bonded well.
Marco was like a little sun, radiating warmth and care that drew all the children to him.
"Don't overspend. The thought counts—like that ice sculpture Gray gave me last year. It's still frozen in my fridge."
Watching Gray and Natsu argue over who could give the "cooler" gift, Marco's eyes crinkled with amusement.
Their sincerity warmed his heart—this was the joy of genuine friendship.
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