As night fell over Magnolia, the lively atmosphere of the guild began to settle.
People began to leave in waves, heading home to rest.
Wendy and Carla, under Erza's enthusiastic hospitality, temporarily moved into the girls' dormitory at Fairy Hills.
Ankh naturally left the guild as well, but his route was clearly different from his usual path home.
He sensed a disturbance.
"I've told you! Luck that's arranged by others is not happiness at all! I don't want your arranged marriage, and I don't have that kind of money!"
"It's only 100,000 Jewels... How can a Heartfilia not have such a pittance?"
"Move aside!"
Ankh stood in the shadows of a dark alley, silently watching Jude Heartfilia and Lucy argue under a streetlamp.
After being recruited by Frey earlier that day, Jude planned to travel to work at Akane Resort to start his new job.
But his family fortune had collapsed overnight due to the Cureniar family's intervention.
The only money he had left was spent on relocating Lucy's mother's grave to a safe place, and now he was completely penniless.
Tonight, Jude, who had traveled all the way to Magnolia on foot, approached the guild where his daughter was staying, intending to ask Lucy for some travel expenses to get to his new job.
However, having lived the life of a wealthy man for too long, Jude's pride wouldn't let him beg properly.
He went straight to Lucy and demanded 100,000 Jewels outright, as if it were pocket change.
For Lucy, who was struggling to pay her 70,000J rent, this was an enormous sum she couldn't possibly produce at the moment.
So she refused, hurt that he only came for money.
This angered Jude, who had been pressuring his daughter for years.
He couldn't understand why a mage of Fairy Tail didn't even have such a small amount.
This led to a heated argument between father and daughter.
"You haven't changed at all!"
Disappointed beyond words, Lucy, tears welling in her eyes, quickly ran past Jude and fled towards her apartment.
Jude stood frozen under the streetlamp.
He stared at Lucy's retreating figure in the distance, unable to speak for a long time.
His shoulders slumped.
His wrinkled face showed a trace of deep regret. Jude couldn't help but sigh to the empty street.
"It's retribution… I've lost everything… even her respect."
"Part of this situation is because you offended someone, and part of it is purely your own doing."
Ankh's voice suddenly came from the shadows behind him.
Startled, Jude looked up and saw a coldly handsome young man standing there, leaning against the brick wall.
He emanated a faint but unmistakable aura of menace.
"Ankh-san…" Jude's face twisted bitterly.
Of course, he knew who this person was.
The last time Ankh had visited his home, he had blatantly stabbed a knife into Jude's desk, threatening him not to bully Lucy or the guild—a truly terrifying figure.
And now… he was the hidden owner of the company Jude was about to join.
Ankh snorted coldly, stepping into the light. "Don't rush off to Akane Resort just yet. Stay here and resolve your issues before you go."
"Wh-what?" Jude asked in surprise.
"Lucy is a Mage," Ankh stated flatly. "A guild Mage who takes on unstable and dangerous missions. She fights dark guilds and dragons. It's best you two clear the air now. Once she—and you—get busy, there may not be another chance to speak. Do you want your last words to her to be about money?"
Jude remained silent for a long moment. He looked down at his worn shoes.
Then, he spoke in a hoarse voice, "After Layla passed away… our home became like an airtight prison."
"Lucy cried for a long time back then, while I… I threw myself into work every day, half-mad, hoping to forget the pain… hoping to forget Layla's absence."
"I watched as the Heartfilia family flourished under my hands. I wanted to mold Lucy into the perfect lady, just like Layla was. And when a noble family came seeking an alliance through marriage, I was overjoyed, almost obsessive. I thought I was securing her future."
"I thought I had raised Lucy the way Layla would have wanted, that I had secured her happiness, and that I had elevated Layla's Heartfilia family to greater heights. But in reality… in the shadow of that tragedy, Lucy was far stronger than I was."
Jude choked back a sob.
"And the Heartfilia 'home' nearly crumbled under my hands… I drove her away."
As Jude knelt before Ankh on the cobblestones, covering his face and weeping uncontrollably, Ankh couldn't help but sigh inwardly.
'Truly,' Ankh thought, 'the man chosen by such a wise and outstanding Celestial Spirit Mage like Layla couldn't have been entirely lacking in merit.'
Layla had profoundly influenced Lucy, and she had also shaped her husband.
As Jude said, Layla's death had driven him to obsession, altering how he treated his family and fueling his desperate desire for everything to align with his vision of "the best."
Meanwhile, Lucy, far more resilient than Jude had imagined, broke free from his plans and became the person Layla truly wanted her to be—free.
Ankh refrained from further commentary on their family affairs.
Instead, he reached into his pocket and handed Jude a slip of paper.
On it was Lucy's home address.
"Telling me this is useless," Ankh said sternly. "Speak properly with your daughter instead. Set aside your male chauvinism and your pride. Spend more time with her—for her sake and yours."
"No matter how good a pillar is, no single one can support an entire house alone. Lucy needs her family's support, and so do you."
Jude's trembling hand accepted the note.
He stared at the address written on it for a long time without speaking.
Lucy's home...
After climbing to his feet, dusting off his knees, he walked toward the direction of Lucy's apartment with slow but determined steps.
Ankh suddenly spoke up quietly from behind:
"Oh, one more thing. I've arranged for Natsu and Gray.... to protect Lucy tonight."
"If you dare to scold Lucy in front of them like you did earlier..."
Ankh trailed off there, letting the threat hang.
Though it felt somewhat like interfering in family matters, just this once would be fine.
Ankh was genuinely worried that old Jude, with his lack of financial sense and temper, might bully Lucy again.
Jude didn't turn around, but nodded in response.
A faint, grateful smile gradually appeared on his weathered face.
Indeed, just as expected of our child... she has good friends.
Arranged fortune isn't true happiness.
'Lucy, you've truly found your own luck after all...'
...
A short while later, at Lucy's doorstep.
"STOP RIGHT THERE!"
On the left stood Natsu, veins bulging on his face.
Flames were erupting from his head as he postured threateningly.
Happy on his shoulder mirrored his intimidating stance with a fish bone.
The pair looked ready to charge forward and throw punches at any moment.
On the right stood Gray, shirtless as usual, emitting icy cold air. One hand rested on the other's palm, cracking his knuckles.
His cold face was tightly drawn as he glared displeased at the man across from them.
Standing opposite the Fairy Tail version of "Door Guardians," Jude bowed deeply.
"Please," Jude pleaded, lowering his head. "I want to see Lucy."
Natsu shouted angrily at him, sparks flying: "Are you kidding?! Lucy just came back crying! She was sobbing! And you dare show your face here?!"
Gray understood that a father wanting to see his daughter was natural, so he was slightly calmer than Natsu.
Only slightly.
"If Lucy wanted to see you, she would have come out already," Gray said coldly. "Besides, as the mastermind who hired Phantom Lord to attack our guild and hurt our friends, the only reason we haven't beaten you to a pulp is out of respect for Lucy. Leave now, or we won't hesitate to get rough!"
Despite their words and magic pressure, Jude still didn't leave.
He continued his bowed request, humble and desperate.
"I'm not here to borrow money, and I don't dare ask for forgiveness from my daughter or any of you. I just want to see her! Please!"
"You really are stubborn..."
The impatient ice and fire Door Guardians rolled up their sleeves, preparing to bundle Jude up and throw him out into the river.
Click.
The door behind them suddenly opened.
"Father."
Jude struggled free from the ice and fire duo's restraint and looked toward Lucy, who had run out the door, her eyes red.
"Lucy..."
...
Not far away, in the river channel.
Ankh sat quietly in a small boat, watching as a spectator for a while.
Seeing the father and daughter finally talking, he breathed a sigh of relief.
'Life is about subtraction,' Ankh mused, looking at the moon's reflection in the water.
'Some meals become fewer with each one eaten, and some people become fewer with each meeting.'
'So, if you have something to say, say more of it while you can.'