The White Cat That Swore Vengeance Was Just Lazing on the Dragon King’s Lap - Volume 2 - Chapter 19

Chapter 19: Trial Period

“I’ve said it time and time again, but I’m not a cat, I’m a human. Do you understand?”

“Yeah, I understand, I understand,” Jade replied, petting Ruri with a charmed smile.

(You don’t understand at all...!)

Ruri was currently resting on Jade’s lap. Ever since it was revealed that she was human, a combination of hesitation and awkwardness prevented her from getting on Jade’s lap like usual. However, since Jade wasn’t a fan of that decision, he picked her up and put her on his lap in spite of her wishes.

Although she tried to resist, in the end, Euclase told her, “Just sit there or else His Majesty will never get any work done.”

As such, Ruri lived life no differently than when everyone thought she was a cat. Even though her situation became common knowledge among those who worked in the castle, they all continued to look at her like a pet animal—perhaps because Ruri never showed them her human form.

If there was one thing that did change, it would be the way Jade acted and looked at Ruri. It was almost as if something was spurring his overprotectiveness; he coddled her more so than ever before. Ruri had almost always stayed near Jade’s side in the past, but he was keeping her close even more as of late. While that didn’t really bother her all that much, the one thing that did bother her was the expression Jade would give her.

Even now, as Jade was taking a small break from work and she was alone with him, he pulled out a bottle filled with sweets from his drawer. He opened the lid and plucked out a piece of candy, bringing it to Ruri’s mouth. “Here, Ruri,” he offered.

“I-I can eat it on my own,” Ruri said, refusing.

Jade stopped his hand in front of her mouth. From the wordless smile on his face, she sensed he wasn’t going to be pulling it away, so Ruri reluctantly opened her mouth.

The moment the small ball of candy entered Ruri’s mouth, it melted in a matter of seconds, introducing her tastebuds to a taste and texture she’d never experienced before.

“This is delicious!” Ruri exclaimed, impressed.

“A present from my trip to the Nation of the Spirit King. I wasn’t sure about giving it to a cat, but I thought it would be alright since you always eat the same food as us. But I see my worries were needless since you were human this entire time. Care for some more?”

“Yes!” Ruri replied. The delicious candy threw all her shyness out the window, and she had Jade feed her another piece, followed by another.

Ruri had buckled to the candy’s sweet temptation, but when she came back to her senses, she looked up at Jade to see him smiling back at her—a smile that was brimming with love and affection. A smile with a hint of sweetness unlike the kind you would have toward a pet cat. That was the kind of expression Jade would look at her with as of late.

Ruri actually wanted to ask him if he could stop it as she was starting to misinterpret this as him being smitten with her—even though it was obvious he was smitten with her as a pet... At the same time, though Jade had been so persistent with his requests to see her in human form, out of the blue he suddenly stopped asking. It made her suspect his motives.

A few days later, Ruri was about to leave the diner after finishing her part-time shift when someone stopped her.

“Huh? Um, pardon me? Would you mind repeating that again?” she asked the person standing before her, not believing her ears.

“Sure... I said, I’d like to take you out,” answered the dog-eared and dog-tailed beast-man, who seemed to be slightly older than Ruri.

This seemingly fine yet bashful young man who had suddenly stopped her repeated the words he uttered a second ago, confirming that she hadn’t misheard him. However, Ruri didn’t take his words at face value.

“...So, by that, do you mean... you’d like to ‘take me out’ to somewhere specific, or...?” Ruri asked, thinking that this could be the stereotypical kind of miscommunication.

The man flusteredly refuted and corrected himself. “N-No, not that! I meant it as in ‘I like you, and I’d like you to be my girlfriend.’”

That was when Ruri finally realized she was receiving a confession of love.

Some time had passed since she came out about being a human, returned to her everyday life, and resumed work at the diner. According to the young man, he had feelings for Ruri and her energetic work ethic, but he got worried when she stopped showing up for a while. He was probably talking about the period when Nadasha was trying to invade the nation. Apparently, everyone else kept giving him the push, telling him if he was that concerned to just get over with it and confess, which led to today.

Since he was a regular customer, Ruri was acquainted with him and had exchanged words with him on several occasions, so this came as a huge shock to her. It also made her reflect on herself. She saw this person on so many occasions, yet she never picked up on any hints that he felt this way, so she wondered if she was really that dense or not.

“Well, how about it? Maybe a date or something?” the beast-man asked, rocked by one part hope and one part indecisiveness.

Ruri replied to his offer and hurried off back to the castle.

◆ ◆ ◆ ◆

“Euclase-san, are you here?!” Ruri called as she bolted into Jade’s office to find not only Euclase but the usual members as well. All of their eyes widened at Ruri’s dynamic entrance.

“I’m here. Why are you in such a panic? This is still the office of His Majesty the Dragon King. You should enter with more prudence,” Euclase said.

“Urk... Forgive me, Jade-sama,” Ruri apologized.

Jade simply gave a wry smile and told her not to worry about it. However, only him and Euclase were behaving normally. Claus, Agate, and Finn all seemed confused and stared at Ruri in wonderment.

“Um, pardon me, but...” Claus said to Ruri as if addressing a stranger.

Ruri looked back dumbfounded, answering, “Yes? What is it, Claus-san?”

Looking somewhat surprised for some reason, he looked at Ruri even more curiously. “Might I inquire as to who you are? You seem to be an acquaintance of His Majesty and Euclase...”

It was only then that Ruri realized she was in human form. “Oh! It’s me, Ruri.”

Once she said that, everyone besides Jade and Euclase stared in bug-eyed shock.

“Oh, I see!” said Claus.

“Yes. Be that as it may...” Ruri turned back to Jade and stared straight at him. “...Jade-sama, you weren’t surprised at all when I came in here. Euclase-san aside, since they’ve seen me in human form, no one else knows what I actually look like.”

Ruri’s observation triggered everyone else in the room to look toward Jade as well, and they too noticed his odd lack of reaction.

Thinking of the only possible opportunity he would have, Ruri then asked, “Did you, by any chance, take my bracelet off when I was asleep?”

Jade neither confirmed nor denied it, but he looked off to the side and avoided direct eye contact.

His behavior said everything she needed to hear. She finally figured out why he had stopped his constant badgering.

“Accosting a sleeping maiden is deplorable, Jade-sama!”

“Such slander. I simply removed your bracelet a little; after, I put it back on just as I found it. I needed to know what you looked like in the event something should happen to you, as the person responsible for this kingdom,” Jade said, doubling down on his lie.

He spoke about being “responsible” and whatnot, but his odd glances to the side as he said it squandered the entire spiel. Everyone present knew he was simply acting out of his own interests.

Seeing as how he didn’t want to keep concealing the fact, Jade offered no more rebuttal and let out a single reluctant sigh. “My actions aside, what is with that hair?”

“My hair?”

Every other aide aside from Euclase was clueless, and they looked at Ruri’s brown hair, perplexed.

“Oh, this? This is a wig. My hair color is apparently uncommon, so I wear a wig to disguise myself when I work at the diner,” said Ruri as she took off the wig adorning her head.

As soon as she did, her platinum blonde hair spilled out. Agate, Claus, and Finn’s eyes were glued to it. She then opened her pocket space and tossed the wig into it.

Claus addressed Ruri in a somewhat timid voice. “Ruri, that is quite the unusual hair color indeed, but would that be your natural hair color?”

“Yes, natural as can be,” Ruri replied, tugging on her hair. “See?”

Platinum blonde hair and lapis lazuli eyes—Claus, Agate, and Finn all quickly looked back at Jade.

He nodded slightly with a wry smile. “What we seek is often right under our very noses. It seems we didn’t need Joshua’s help after all.”

Jade’s aides next turned their attention toward Euclase, asking them if they knew about this as well. Euclase simply nodded and said, “I’m sorry about that. I was bound to secrecy. But Joshua is the greatest victim here. After all, he was tasked with running around in search of her.”

“Urk... I see,” Jade replied.

Ruri simply cocked her head, unable to follow their conversation. “See what?”

“You needn’t concern yourself, Ruri. So, what was it that you needed?” Euclase inquired.

“Right! Well, I thought you’d know the latest trends when it came to hairstyles and makeup and whatnot, so I’d like you to teach me some of them.”

“Of course I know, but why the sudden interest?” Euclase questioned.

Ruri giggled suggestively to herself before excitedly replying, “I’ve been asked on a date!”

Euclase was stunned. “By whom?!”

“A regular at the diner. A dog demi-human by the name of Jet. He confessed to me today. He asked me out on a date on a ‘trial period.’ I suppose that’s a thing in this world.” Ruri remembered being shocked when he told her it would be a two-week “trial period”—it felt like he was talking about mail-order shipping, not romance.

“...Yes, well, the stronger the mana, the stronger you’re affected by your mana compatibility. Among demi-humans with mana, it’s commonplace to establish a trial period to confirm each other’s compatibility. But that aside, since you’ve accepted his trial period, that must mean you’re smitten enough to accept this man... correct?” Euclase asked hesitantly.

“I can’t say I’m ‘smitten’ yet, per se, but Jet-kun is a good-natured, simple, and honest guy, so he might just make for a good husband in the future!”

“H-Husband...!”

“And since he’s a dog beast-man, the children we’d have will likely be soft, cuddly, and oh so cute!” Ruri replied emphatically.

“Children...?!” Euclase exclaimed, clutching their head.

Ruri had no idea why Euclase was reacting in such a way.

“Ruri, there isn’t any need for you to rush that badly to find someone to marry, is there? You are still young, after all,” Claus said.

Agate added, “Y-Yes, remember, a husband is your partner for life. Would it not be best to slow down, take your time, and think things over? If you meet someone, you meet someone. If you don’t, you don’t. You needn’t force yourself to search. Why not let things run their natural course?”

Both were attempting to get Ruri to reconsider. Although, considering Agate had been trying to hurry Jade off to be wed by pushing boatloads of portraits of marriage candidates this entire time, his words didn’t sound very persuasive.

Finn also joined the fray. “If you’re not exactly smitten with him yet, then why not wait until someone you do like comes to light, just as Claus and Agate have suggested?” he said in a gentle tone as if he were talking to an adolescent.

Euclase vehemently nodded their head in agreement.

“But it’s not unusual for a girl around my age to get married in this world, right? Also, I want to hurry and have a family. A family all my own... A place I can call home...” Ruri trailed off in a melancholy tone, her eyes slightly turned toward the floor.

Seeing her that way, everyone stopped trying to dissuade her. Ruri had been acting chipper and energetic, but once she suddenly remembered the concept of “family,” it filled her with a sense of loneliness. That was likely the reason why she placed an inordinate amount of stock into the idea.

After a short pause drew over the room, Jade suddenly stood up and said, “I’m taking a short break.” He then took Ruri by the hand and walked out of his office with her.

◆ ◆ ◆ ◆

Once Ruri and Jade exited the room, the air among everyone grew thick.

“Perhaps it was a mistake to allow Ruri to keep working at that diner?” questioned Claus.

Finn and Agate remained silent, but the looks in their eyes said that they agreed.

They had just recently learned why Ruri would occasionally go missing for long stints on end. Once the truth was revealed, Claus and the others, including Jade, tried to convince her to quit, but Ruri staunchly refused.

Knowing there was no way to limit a Beloved’s actions, they decided to take a wait-and-see approach. But seeing how things turned out, they should’ve stopped her, even if it meant breaking down in tears to persuade her.

“Our hands were tied,” started Euclase. “Ruri said she wanted to work, so that’s it. And it was your son who set her up with that job in the first place. Besides, no one could have imagined that even if someone fell for Ruri that she’d actually reciprocate!”

Logic prevailed and Claus and the others agreed—in a somewhat reluctant manner. While Ruri worked in disguise, no disguise could hide her natural good looks and her Beloved-grade level of mana. It was only natural that men would show up interested in her. However, they had slightly underestimated the situation, thinking it wouldn’t be a problem even if she were approached by such suitors.

Ruri and Jade had very compatible mana. Jade was likely hesitant in choosing a queen out of consideration for his compatibility to Ruri. Likewise, Ruri was likely being careful about picking a partner out of consideration for Jade. Therefore, it was unlikely someone suitable would show up for quite some time—or so everyone thought.

But much to their chagrin, Ruri was not of their world. It shouldn’t have come to anyone’s surprise that she wouldn’t know that mana compatibility was the most important criteria for a marriage partner. If Ruri were to enter into a romantic relationship with that beast-man, then...

“Heads might just fly...” Euclase deduced.

Jade’s doting nature toward Ruri was beyond normalcy. While they were still not officially “mates,” Jade was starting to show signs that he practically thought of her as such. It was safe to assume that he was furious Ruri had found a man.

“Yes, that man’s head might fly. Quite literally,” Agate added, causing an awkward silence to befall the room.

Finding the silence unbearable, Euclase barked out, “Finn! Joshua! Summon Joshua! Have him investigate that man at once!”

“R-Right away.”

Claus and Agate proceeded to talk among themselves in a somewhat solemn manner.

“We should take him into protective custody and send him outside the nation if the situation gets dire,” Agate suggested.

Claus replied, “If we’re trying to aid his escape, perhaps we should leave him with the Beast King, since he has the power to oppose His Majesty if need be? No, perhaps the Spirit King is more suited toward mediating this...?”

Agate rebutted with, “Hmm, but one bad move and this might turn into an issue of national priority...”

◆ ◆ ◆ ◆

As the royal office descended into chaos, Jade led Ruri to the garden. There wasn’t a single cloud in the sky as the sun shined bright on the flowers, making them appear to glimmer and sparkle. A comfortable breeze blew between the two, rustling Ruri’s hair.

Jade released Ruri’s hand, walked a short distance away, and transformed into his dragon form. The color of a dragonkin’s dragon form depended on the individual. However, since their bodies would essentially mimic their hair color, it meant that Jade was jet-black as a dragon.

Jade’s scales, glistening in the sunlight, were beautiful enough to make anyone fall in love with them at first sight, leaving no room for doubt that he was the king of all dragonkin.

Considering Ruri had no idea why he transformed into dragon form, she curiously decided to see where all of this was going.

“What is going on, Jade-sama? I see you’ve taken dragon form, but are we going out somewhere?”

“There’s something interesting I want to show you, Ruri,” Jade replied, pointing his gigantic wings upward and flapping them.

“Whoa!”

Jade lifted off of the ground with a huge gust of wind. At the same time, small items began to fall off from Jade’s body. They fluttered around but quickly rained down to the surface. They reflected in the sun, descending down like glittering snowflakes.

“Oh wow, so pretty.” It almost looked like pieces of rainbow sprinkling down from the sky above. Ruri frolicked like a child at the whimsical sight she beheld. “This is incredible! Simply amazing!”

Jade looked on in satisfaction as Ruri smiled in delight.

She had never seen such a beautiful sight before. The glittering rainbow fragments retained their luster even while on the ground, making the flowers of the garden shine beautifully.

She watched as all of them fell. Then she stooped down and picked up one in her hand. “What is this? A... scale?” Ruri asked as she held it up, letting it reflect the light and sparkle.

The transparent and colorless item was in the shape of a scale... but instead of being thin like a fish scale, it had thickness and, at first glance, resembled a gemstone.

Ruri had quickly identified the things that had fallen off of Jade’s body as scales, but she was puzzled at their transparent nature—it was hard to believe they were the same jet-black scales Jade possessed.

“Yes, they’re scales. Dragonkin will periodically grow new scales and shed their old ones. I suppose you could liken it to humans ‘shedding hair.’ The old scales lose their color and are pretty much trash to a dragonkin, but to other races, they are heralded as treasures and sell for a high price. They’re processed into weapons and armor or turned into jewelry, among other things. It’s a way for dragonkin to make pocket money.”

Surprisingly, it wasn’t enough that the Dragon King position could change hands at any time by someone more powerful, it was also a salaried position. Apparently, he would make money by selling his scales.

The stronger the dragonkin, the better the quality and the higher they sold. The scales of dragonkin like Jade or Finn were so popular that people had to be put on a waitlist. They garnered enough that calling it “pocket money” was a misnomer.

“A dragon’s scales sure are pretty. They seem like they’d make for good jewelry.”

“If you like them, then take as many as you’d like.”

“Really? Then, I think I will,” Ruri replied, picking up a few of the scales near her feet.

“Are you sure that’s enough?”

“Yes, thank you very much, Jade-sama.”

“If you want them processed, then take them to the city. There are shops that will do it for you.”

“I’ll do just that. I wonder what I should make out of them.”

As Ruri thought about what to do with the jewel-like scales, another strong gust blew around her, kicking up a dust devil. The glittering scales on the ground piled up and gathered in one spot. Finally, Jade returned back to human form, picked them up, and placed them in a small bag.

“Jade-sama, please show me the next time your scales regrow, okay?”

“Caught your fancy, has it?”

“It has. It’s so beautiful,” Ruri said, this experience making her eagerly await the next time it would happen.