Chapter 23: Victory Celebration
With the war at an end, the prisoners in custody at the castle returned back to their homeland of Nadasha. There was still an influx of refugees coming into the nation, but it would peter out once the restoration of Nadasha took shape.
One day, after all the post-war cleanup was starting to wrap up, Euclase charged into the royal office. “Today is the celebration! Your Majesty, if you’ll excuse me,” Euclase said as they picked up Ruri, who was in cat form in Jade’s lap, by the scruff of her neck and walked out of the room with her.
“Euclase-san, what are you doing out of nowhere?”
“I said we’re celebrating, did I not? We’re going to publicly reveal your human form at the victory celebration tonight. Otherwise, every worker in the castle will mistake you for an intruder whenever you walk around in human form. Not every person who works here can see your spirit entourage, after all.”
Euclase brought her to a room full of dresses all lined in a row. They were all the dresses Euclase had bought for her when they last went shopping. Ruri had thought she’d never have a chance to wear them, but it seemed that the time had come.
Euclase prompted her to change. Returning to human form, Ruri was about to undress herself in front of the several maids that came to assist her, but then she noticed that Euclase was still in the room. “Eeek! Euclase-san, you can’t be in here! Please, get out!”
“Silence! My heart is that of a pure and chaste maiden. Now quit your complaining and change.”
Ruri wanted to quip back that a “pure and chaste maiden” wouldn’t go to the training ground to see the nude male body—but she kept it to herself. She tried to get them to leave, but she was no match against Euclase, who had the heart of a maiden but the strength of a man.
Once she finished getting dressed and had her hair and makeup done by the maids, Euclase stood before her with an enormous smile. “Ohohoho, I am simply brilliant,” they said, singing their own praises in utter delight.
Ruri wanted to give them a piece of her mind as she watched their boastful display, but the dress Euclase prepared was indeed a stunning selection on their part. Made from a light pink fabric, it had an A-line skirt covered in small lace flowers along with an eye-catchingly big deep-blue ribbon on the back. The hair clip made out of a pink pearl-like stone matched the ensemble and also went well with Ruri’s platinum blonde hair.
Euclase then ran her out of the room, stating that they had their own preparations to tend to, so Ruri headed toward Jade’s office.
As soon as Jade laid eyes on her, he found himself frozen, completely caught off guard.
Jade’s lack of reaction, however, started to worry Ruri. “Does something look off? Euclase-san said it was fantastic, and even I have to admit I think it looks good on me, but maybe...”
“...H-Huh? Uh, no, that’s not what I meant. I was just fascinated by how stunning you look, Ruri,” Jade replied with a smile, having come back to his senses. Ruri’s face flushed, and Jade chuckled and reached for her cheek. “You’re cute as a cat, but I think I prefer this form more. I can better see your expressions.”
Ruri’s heart was sent into a frenzy as she shouted from the corners of her mind, but they were then interrupted by someone conveniently informing them that the preparations for the celebration had been set. Jade clicked his tongue under his breath, but Ruri breathed a sigh of relief, unaware of Jade’s displeasure.
It wasn’t as if Ruri wasn’t used to receiving simple compliments, but Jade’s were bad for her heart and she found herself clueless as to how she should react. She didn’t know whether to be happy or sad that he was treating her the same as when she was a cat, even while in human form. While she was grateful there were no sudden shifts in his behavior, there was a part of her that figured that meant Jade only saw her in one light, which actually disappointed her.
Escorted by Jade, Ruri proceeded to the reception hall where the victory celebration was starting.
The hall itself was huge and could easily hold three hundred people. A chandelier shimmered gorgeously from the ceiling high above as an instrumental accompaniment played down below. From ladies dressed to the nines like Ruri to soldiers immediately identifiable by their uniforms—there were already a ton of people partaking in the victory celebration ceremonies.
Since this celebration was being held in a castle, she imagined a refined party on the upper crust of society filled with posh and sophisticated people exchanging witty banter. In reality, it was a rowdy shindig filled with drinking and singing. There was nary a soul modestly sipping from their glasses. Stalwart soldiers lifted and drank straight from barrels of booze as large as themselves, while those who failed to keep up formed a pile of drunken bodies on the floor. The entire hall was wrapped in the smell of alcohol and boorish laughter. The sights were a far cry from the upper crust and more similar to a downtown pub.
Thanks to that, Ruri’s tense shoulders immediately relaxed. “This sure is something...” Ruri commented, her cheeks stiff from a different kind of pressure in the air.
Jade simply smiled awkwardly as he scanned over the familiar sight unfolding before him. “Dragonkin tend to get fired up and love to party. When other demi-humans get roped into their antics, things end up like this. But today is a good day. There are fewer people here because we still have men out handling the aftermath of the war, which means fewer fights. Normally, they would decimate the castle.” It became somewhat customary on the following day to see the ones recovering from their hangovers mending the damage they did.
“This is a good day...?” Ruri mused.
The second that Ruri walked into this wild ruckus of a party, the booze guzzling came to a halt and everyone looked in surprise at the mysterious young girl holding hands with their ruler, the Dragon King. She had a sacred beast from the Nation of the Spirit King in tow and a tiny magic beast riding on her shoulder. Her uncommonly colored platinum blonde hair and purplish-blue eyes were enough to turn heads, and her appearance perfectly complemented the enchantingly handsome Dragon King as she stood by his side. This girl stood out so much that even the drunkards had their eyes fixed on her.
On the other hand, the same spirits that were always by the white cat Beloved’s side were floating next to this mystery girl. For many of those in attendance, this caused some confusion. However, when they were informed by the people who had seen Ruri in her human form prior to this, it didn’t take long for word to spread that this mystery girl was none other than Ruri.
Despite it being a cocktail party, Ruri and Jade had seats prepared for them, which both of them took. There was also a table prepared for them nearby, which was where Rin could be seen—bringing her head toward a glass of wine twice her size and filled to the brim. Although Rin was merely using the body of a magic beast that resembled a clione, her head split open in clione-like fashion, revealing a host of tiny tendrils wiggling out like Medusa’s hair, which she then stuck into the glass as if they were straws and slurped up the wine.
The shock from witnessing this gruesome sight before was still etched into Ruri’s brain. She wanted to think that the reason Rin’s body was gradually turning a faint shade of red was because she was tipsy from the alcohol and not because the red wine was showing through her skin.
Turning her attention away from Rin, she felt something push up against her lips. When she focused her eyes, she saw that Jade was holding a bite-sized tart against her lips.
“Jade-sama, it’s fine. I can eat it by myself!”
“What? Not a fan of these?” Jade asked as he picked up another sweet and brought it to Ruri’s mouth.
She wanted to object that the choice in sweets wasn’t the issue, but it seemed he liked the act of personally feeding her, and she knew from experience that no amount of persuasion would sway him once he decided on something. She reluctantly opened wide, now convinced that Jade only thought of her as a cat.
Unlike the dissatisfied Ruri, the reaction of the onlookers spelled a different story.
“Ooh! His Majesty is feeding her himself!”
“His Majesty finally has someone.”
“This will put the advisors in a better mood. And to think that the girl he picked was the Beloved. My, what a joyous turn of events!”
Dying of embarrassment and oblivious to the celebrating spectators, it would be a little longer before Ruri learned the true meaning behind Jade’s behavior.
◆ ◆ ◆ ◆
The celebration approached the wee hours of the night yet showed no signs of slowing down. In fact, it only seemed to be getting more intense.
Ruri slipped out of the party hall to take a little break, walking off into the garden with Kotaro and Rin. She breathed a well-deserved sigh and looked up at the millions of glittering stars. As she gazed at the beautiful night sky, she was reminded of her world. She had been holding on to a tiny sliver of hope that analyzing the magic circle that had brought her here would uncover a way for her to return, but she pretty much knew it was impossible. It wasn’t that big of a shock since the spirits had told her it was definitely impossible beforehand, but that wasn’t to say she didn’t feel anything as a result. She was actually pretty sad about now being completely cut off from her original world.
However, what was done was done. She could complain all she wanted, but it wouldn’t change her situation, so it was best to find happiness in this world—that was the sentiment Ruri came to terms with. Given that she was bold and quickly picked herself up after being knocked down, she would probably be just fine living in this world going forward.
Just then, footsteps came from behind. She turned around to find Jade.
“Tired?” he asked.
“Oh, I’m fine,” she replied as she once again looked toward the sky.
After a short stint of silence, Ruri said, “I was just thinking about my world. I’d hoped I could find out a way back there if I investigated Nadasha, but it turned up nothing. I had just started college. I had planned on making friends, getting a boyfriend, and enjoying my college life, but that’s all dead in the water now. Plus, my family is back in my world, and I won’t be able to see them ever again...”
“I see,” Jade said, placing his hand on Ruri’s head to comfort her. “This might anger you to hear me say this, but I’m glad you came to this world. Thanks to those events transpiring, I was able to meet you. If you no longer have a home to return to, you can consider this place a home to call your own.”
“Thank you so much, Jade-sama. I am sad, but I’m also glad. Whether I can return or not, I would end up parting ways with everyone I met in this world, and if that meant I’d no longer be able to see you as well, then I’m extremely uncertain which world I would choose. Which is a good reason to give up choosing one over the other and put my mind at ease.”
She had a place where she belonged here. That was her one saving grace. If she didn’t have anyone to rely on, Ruri would undoubtedly have fallen into despair.
“...Or, at least, I think so. I know that is the right call, but I have to say it. Why is it I could come from over there, yet I can’t go back from here?!” Ruri launched her rage-filled question into the sky like a spoiled child. She couldn’t think of any other way to relieve this frustration but to yell.
Rin, on the other hand, was the picture of serenity. “There’s no use crying over spilled milk. That is just how things are. This is something not even the spirits can do anything about. Why not just think of this as you coming here to get married or something?”
“Married... I mean, I do want to get married eventually... So you’re saying I should just think of this as me coming to marry from somewhere far overseas...? Considering that I might have the chance to have fluffy children of my very own, that might not be such a bad idea. But it’d be nice if we could at least contact one another...”
“Why, I can deliver messages for you, if you’d like.”
The moment Ruri heard Rin’s reply, she turned her head at breakneck speed and looked at her. “Wait, you can?!” she asked, snatching Rin, who was fluttering overhead, with an iron grip and bringing her in front of her face. Her expression was rife with desperation, and the look in her eyes was both intense and terrifying...
“I can, I can! But before I do anything, let me go. I can’t... breathe...!” Rin escaped from Ruri’s clutches and settled herself on top of Kotaro. She let out a sigh of relief before continuing, “Paths to your world from here open in irregular intervals. They can open up anywhere and at any time. But generally, they aren’t big enough for humans to travel through. If you were wondering, the ‘summoning’ that Nadasha employed was a matter of designating a path in this world as a gateway, widening the hole, and dropping people through it. That path is a one-way road from the other side. As long as you have a physical body, that won’t change. However, we don’t have physical bodies like people do.”
“Then you mean a spirit could...”
“Yes, as long as a path is open, we can travel to and fro. Which includes going to your world and delivering verbal messages back and forth.”
The news that she could at least get in contact with people on the other side flipped Ruri’s frown upside down.
However, Jade interjected. “But Ruri’s parents are human, aren’t they? Unless they have enough mana to see spirits, I would assume you wouldn’t be able to relay anything to them.”
“In my current form, I can be seen by those with scant mana, can I not?”
Jade nodded in comprehension. If she acquired a body after she went over to the other side, she could communicate with humans. “The rest depends on if Ruri’s parents are willing to believe. In their world, what we know as spirits and magic aren’t commonplace, correct?”
“I believe my parents will be fine on that front,” Ruri said with confidence. Her parents had nerves of steel. She was sure they’d accept even a far-fetched story about her being summoned to a different world. Plus, she had recently learned the truth. If her mother was able to see spirits, she most likely already knew that Ruri had been summoned off.
“Okay then, do you mind? Could you tell my parents that I’m safe? And I’d appreciate it if you could ask how things are going over there, if possible.”
“Of course, no problem.”
“In that case,” Kotaro said, joining in, “we’d best be off quickly. The path that the priests opened in Nadasha should still be around.”
“But I thought you destroyed that magic circle, Kotaro,” Ruri asked.
“That magic circle was simply to widen the path and pin down the entrance. I destroyed it so that no people could fall through, but it still has a small connection with the other side. We can pass through it before it shuts completely. However, since it’s not clear when it will close, we must make haste, Rin.”
“Understood.”
Kotaro and Rin laid their bodies down and escaped from them as balls of light that then took off into the skies.
“Safe travels!” Ruri called.
The balls of light swiveled around as if bidding their goodbyes before flying off toward the direction of Nadasha.
“This is great news, Ruri,” Jade said.
“Yes, it is.”
Jade gently stroked Ruri’s head as she gazed off into the sky while Kotaro and Rin disappeared into the distance.
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