Inside the carriage with her aya, Master Jose and the small girl, Juvia was feeling a little overwhelmed with all that happened. It had been a shock to see people offending her and she was even more shocked when that young woman, Levy as she said, had been there to welcome the people from the March of the Rain.

"Levy-san... Again, Juvia's sorry..." Jose coughed and Juvia quickly corrected herself. Again. She really needed to stop that. "I am sorry that Gajeel-kun did that, he's really not that scary. You know... once you know him."

The blue haired woman still her eyes wide and was still terrified of what happened, despite Juvia's attempts to make her calm down.

"It's alright, Marchioness." She said with a small voice. "It just took me by surprise."

Juvia bit her lower lip and looked at Master Jose for guidance; he shrugged her off but he talked to the girl.

"How long until we get to Avalanche Castle, girl?" He asked, rather rudely, thought Juvia. The petite woman had a big scare back at the Icy Port – she was still shaking and had a small hand on her throat where Gajeel had grabbed her.

"About an hour, sir." Levy said and the carriage fell into silence again.

With hesitation, Juvia let the matter out of her mind and turned to look outside of her tiny window. Besides the carriage, there were some men in white horses, wearing white clothes as well and most of them had the hood over their heads, and she was sure people, from afar, would take a while to see them.

The ones in brown and black horses belonged to the cortege that came with her in the ship from the March. Gajeel was in a black horse and she could see the smoke that came out every time he took a breath. He noticed her looking to him and made a face.

As the wind blew strongly, Juvia couldn't hear what he mumbled to her, but reading his lips she could understand that he said: "It's fucking cold."

Juvia offered him a small smile, apologizing without any words. And Gajeel just rolled his eyes.

Looking beyond the riders, she could see the forest they were passing between. The Pine trees were huge. The ground (and a few branches of the trees) were very white, giving a contrast with the green. She wondered what was like inside the forest and if she would ever get the chance to see it.

The cold wind blew into her face and instead of scaring her, since the unknown waited for her, it sent chills down her spine and it wasn't a bad chill either. It was a chill she only felt a few times in her whole life.

She was excited with what her new life would bring.

#

Avalanche Castle was no small thing.

The Marchioness was stunned when she saw the grayish stones that formed the castle. In her mind, the place she was going to live from now on, it would be a... well, she was not proud to say that she pictured a small iglu made of heavy pieces of ice. Instead, she found a big castle build with rocks, like her own Storm Rock back at the March.

To enter the limits of the castle, they had to pass through a small village that surrounded the place and people would raise their heads as the carriage passed because of the different people riding colorful horses, unlike the white ones that were always found in the guard.

And others, because they wanted to catch a glimpse of the Ame Onna.

Juvia didn't like the nickname very much. It was like it was an implication that she was the one that brought rain to her homeland and that she would do the exact same thing to this place. Even though she knew they said those things because they didn't know better and that they were afraid; it still hurt to be mistaken for someone so gloomy that would seem like there was rain surrounding them.

"We're almost there." The Marchioness heard Levy say with her small voice and Juvia nodded.

She had arrived.

#

"Welcome to Avalance Castle!" Juvia heard as soon as the big door opened, revealing the well illuminated place. From outside, she would never guess that the light was actually getting inside, she didn't see the big windows that were located behind the castle, where the sun shone during the afternoon; and even more shocking: it was warm. She could easily stay there without a coat, like she was.

In her imagination, the castle would be as cold inside as it was outside. And thoughts like that made her feel ignorant.

"Thank you." The Marchioness said and looked to the smiling orange haired man who was coming towards them. "Are you...?"

"The Duke? No." The said man smiled kindly to her. "My name is Loke and I am his personal Guard, and Lieutenant of the Avalanche Castle Guard." The man stepped closer to Juvia and took her hand. He bent over and kissed it slightly, without looking away from her eyes. "And you, my beautiful, are...?"

"Ju-Juvia Lockser." The girl was startled with the man's... advances.

Surprise crossed his handsome features as he stood once again, letting go of her hand and straightening his posture.

"The Marchioness?" He asked. "I thought that..." He looked behind Juvia, where Master Jose, the aya Marge and a hooded Levy were.

"What?" Juvia asked, confused herself.

"My apologies, ma'am." He formally put a hand over his stomach and leaned with respect. "I didn't know that you were the Marchioness. I thought that she was." He pointed to Levy, who was wearing a fine dark blue cape, which belonged to Juvia. The Marchioness felt bad for the young girl and lent her the cape so people couldn't see the bruise on her neck.

While they were exchanging those words, Levy started to leave without them notice.

"It is alright." Juvia smiled softly. "It is nice to meet you, Loke-san."

"Likewise." He offered her a smile.

"Where's the Duke, boy?" Master Jose asked.

Loke turned to the older man, still smiling, but Juvia noticed that behind the glasses he was wearing, he lost the humor. "He's at the office dealing with some arrangements for the wedding. But I will tell him you arrived. And you are...?"

"Jose Porla." He responded narrowing his eyes.

"I'll tell him you're here, Porle." Loke nodded and Juvia knew that he mistaken his name on purpose.

"Porla. La!" Jose said a little bit too angrily.

"Yes. Por-la." The orange haired man tried to suppress a smirk when heard a small giggle from Juvia. "Now, the maids will show your rooms. Marchioness." He bowed to her and smiled to the aya, barely acknowledging Jose while they followed a young woman.

Inside her chest, something happened.

Loke didn't know (or maybe he did), but no one ever had treated her with more respect than Jose and for the first time in her life, she felt like the Marchioness she was.

#

Gray Fullbuster, the Duke of the Ice Lands looked like he was a cold man to whoever didn't know him. People often mistook his attitude with coldness, while he was blunt and clueless about what people might think of him; it wasn't as if he did it on purpose. And his imminent marriage made him even ruder without realize.

What the hell his grandfather was thinking when he set this ridiculous thing up?

'The 31st Duke of the Duchy of Winter is bound to be married to the granddaughter of the 29th Marquess of the March of Rain, when she reaches the age of eighteen.'? He remembered the exact words the official document had, and groaned. The old fart was probably laughing his ass off in the afterlife while Gray was caught between an arranged marriage and running the Duchy that he never intended to inherit in the first place. If there was only someone else of his family that wanted to be a freaking Duke!

"You look excited." The Duke looked away from the window and stared to his long-term friend and personal guard.

"Shut up, Loke." Gray mumbled and the other man laughed.

The contrast between them was so intense, and even so people could see that there was a bond between the two. From one side, Loke was bright with his orange hair and easy personality while Gray had his dark hair and cold attitude towards people.

"I just saw your bride arriving." Loke was wearing the standard dark clothes of the castle's guard and his glasses were covering his brown eyes. He had a sword on his waist and his hand was resting on it without even realize he was doing it. "Why didn't you go to welcome her?"

"It's a damn rule to not see the bride until we're getting married. Probably so the groom can't run away, since there are some precedents." Gray groaned. "There's a ceremony tomorrow to make us engaged and with no way out."

"So, until tomorrow, there's a way to get out of it?" Loke asked interested.

"No." Gray sighed. "My grandfather was specific and since I am the 31st duke and she is the granddaughter of the 29th Marquess, it's done. I can't get out of it." Loke looked to Gray with a knowing look and Gray sighed, understanding full well where he was getting at. "Don't even mention that. It is done. She's here already."

Loke stared to his friend for a few seconds, before saying:

"And why they had this arrangement anyways?" The orange haired man frowned. "I thought that it was messy to marry people that are heirs to a big pieces of land."

"It is." The Duke sighed again. "But apparently, the two old men were friends or something and since their children were already married when they came up with this stupidity, they realized that my grandfather had grandsons, while the Marquess had a granddaughter. So, they made it official." Gray rolled his eyes. "Stupid old men."

"That sucks." Loke nodded. "Especially with a bride like that."

That got the young Duke's attention. He frowned and asked: "Like what?"

"You know..." Loke made a face.

"W-What?" Gray's eyes became huge with the words.

The soldier put a hand on his mouth, as if to prevent himself to puke. "Let me tell you something, pal. Don't be deceived: just because she's from Where The Rain Never Stops, it doesn't mean she takes a bath every day. The smell..." Loke shuddered. "Good luck having a little Duke or Duchess with her."

Gray narrowed his eyes and after some seconds, said: "Liar."

The orange haired man smirked. "Was it too much?"

"Yes." Gray couldn't help but smirk as well. "You should've stopped and let me guess."

"My bad. I was having too much fun with your horrified face." Loke smile was big now and they stayed in silence for some time, before he broke it. "But seriously, man. I saw the Ame Onna."

"Tell me the truth now." Gray sighed, tired. The whole arrangement was making him have a huge headache. "With my luck, I am not expecting her to be beautiful, or anything, not that it matters since I will marry her either way. Is she at least pleasant to talk to?"

"I'll not enter in many details, but I'll tell you that you can do a lot worse than that girl." Loke smirked and Gray looked strangely at him. "Oh, and an old man who came with her wants to talk to you. Porle, or something."