Chapter 15: Portrait
“The Reapers?” Ruri lifted her tiny cat head as she laid curled up on Jade’s lap and inquisitively repeated the words in Joshua’s report. “What’s that supposed to be?”
“The Reapers are a guild of assassins,” answered Joshua. “Sex, age, origins—all unknown. They take on any request so long as you pay them. And they never fail a job they take on. They say it’s a sure death if they ever target you, which is how they gained the moniker ‘Reapers.’ Rumors have come out that these ‘Reapers’ are currently in the Nation of the Dragon King.”
A question popped into Ruri’s head. “How do you know they’re these ‘Reapers’ if you don’t know their sex or age?” Ruri asked, noticing the contradiction in his statement.
Joshua gulped, stumbling over his words. “Err, well, when you put it that way, I guess not, but...”
As Ruri looked at Joshua with a doubtful gaze, Jade’s hand fell upon her head and gave her a few good pats. “Well, they’re only rumors, after all. Still, it never hurts to be careful. They still haven’t found the assailant in Cerulanda, so we can’t say for sure that the Reapers aren’t involved at this point. Ruri, do me a favor and refrain from going into town.”
“Aww, but I planned to go into town today.”
“Yes, but...”
“Kotaro and Rin had their hearts set on it so much that it’d be a headache to tell them we’re not going now.”
Whether he pictured the two spirits objecting in his head or not, Jade thought it over for a bit before compromising. “Fine, just for today. Joshua, keep your ears peeled to the streets and collect what you can. I’m hoping that I’m just being paranoid, but you never know...”
“Very well,” Joshua said before exiting the office.
As if swapping places with him, a soldier entered and stated, “Your Majesty, preparations are in order.”
“Right, then,” Jade said. He lifted Ruri up, stood, and then headed out of the office.
“Jade-sama, where are we going? He said something about preparations being in order? I have plans to go to the city, though.”
“I’ve prepared a painter. He’s going to paint a portrait of the both of us. You can go to the city afterward.”
“Huh?! I understand the need for you, but why me?” Ruri said, eyes wide.
“Because you are the first Beloved this nation has had in a very long time. There is a lot of demand from people who want a glimpse of you, but people in other towns don’t have the same chance to see you as those living in the royal capital. It’s not even guaranteed that residents of the capital can get a glimpse themselves. That’s why I plan to have a portrait drawn and sold. And I’ll be in it with you since I have the chance.”
“You’re charging for it...?”
“It takes manpower to mass produce anything. Paint and paper cost money, after all. Naturally, I plan to make them affordable enough for anyone to buy.”
Ruri was doubtful that anyone would actually spend their hard-earned money on a portrait of herself, but she remembered the times she went shopping in the city prior and people flooded the stores, trying to get their hands on whatever Ruri bought. It was still hard to wrap her head around the fact that everyone idolized her, but Ruri accepted the fact that Beloveds were just that revered to the people of this world.
“Are they going to be drawing me in cat or human form for this portrait?”
“Human form, of course.”
After Jade removed her bracelet for her, they both headed toward the room set up for the painting.
“Ooh, I never would have dreamed of being entrusted with the great task of painting a portrait of our Lady Beloved! Rest assured, I will capture every single detail of your charm and beauty on the canvas!” said the hyped-up painter.
After exchanging greetings, she sat in the seat prepared for her while Jade stood next to her. There Ruri sat still for ten minutes... twenty minutes... Her face was steadily starting to cramp up.
“Jade-sama, do I have to keep this pose?”
“Yes, until he’s done painting.”
The painter was moving his hand like his life depended on it, but it was probably going to take a while before he was done. But exactly how long was a while going to be...? Ruri honestly found it unbearable. Plus it was going to make her late for her plans in town. At her wit’s end, she stood up from her seat.
“Lady Beloved, please don’t move, now~” instructed the painter, but Ruri disobeyed, stuck her hand into her pocket space, and pulled out her smartphone. She then handed it over to a spirit that knew how to use it.
Since the phone was charged by the power of her lightning spirit companion, it was coursing with magical energy, making it fair game for spirits to touch. Luckily enough, the spirits that came with her from her world knew how to use devices, so Ruri instructed the spirit, “Use this to take a photo, okay?”
“Okie dokie!” replied the spirit without a second thought, pointing the phone toward her.
Ruri once again took her seat, faced straight ahead, and told a very confused Jade, “Jade-sama, front and center.”
“Alright, here we go! Say cheese!” the spirit said, taking the photo.
Once she heard the shutter sound from her phone, Ruri once again stood up and checked the photo. “Okay, perfect. Thanks for that,” Ruri thanked the spirit.
As Ruri checked the photo, Jade peeked at the screen from the side. “Oho, incredible. Is this magic from your world, Ruri?”
“Something similar, yes.” Even if Ruri tried to explain the concept of “science,” she herself couldn’t accurately do so, and Jade probably wouldn’t entirely comprehend it anyway. She decided to leave it at “similar” and nothing else.
Keeping the screen on the photo, she showed the phone to the painter.
“Ooh, this painting looks as if I’m staring at the real thing. Magnificent. How did you go about this, might I ask?”
“Specifics can wait. Can you paint while looking at this?”
“Yes, I certainly can. In fact, a pair of constantly still models makes it easier to paint.”
“Then, if you’d please?” Ruri said, passing the phone over to the painter and turning back to Jade. “Okay, now I don’t have to keep myself still, yes?”
Jade smiled wryly, answering, “Apparently not. Seems we have time now, so I’ll go back to work until the painting is done. I assume you’re going into town?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Take care of yourself down there.”
“I will. I’ll be fine with Kotaro and the spirits around,” Ruri assured him.
With that out of the way, it wasn’t long before Ruri was in town and walking the streets with Kotaro, Rin, and Chi in tow. In similar fashion to before, the shopkeepers in the area were busy trying to attract her into their establishments.
As she went around, focusing on places she’d never visited before, she stumbled upon Amarna’s stall again.
“Hello and welcome, Lady Beloved!”
“Good afternoon.”
Her shop’s selection had switched from good luck charms to scented pouches, like the one she gave Ruri last time. However, despite the change in stock, it seemed that her “Beloved-approved” sales tactics remained the exact same.
“Tee hee hee, I have you to thank for my excellent sales, Lady Beloved.”
“Hahah... You don’t say...”
Amarna was as shrewd a salesperson as ever. Judging by her expression, she had been selling a lot of her stock. It was a plain old scent pouch, but a Beloved’s influence proved to be incredible once again.
As Ruri was taken aback from the fact that these scent pouches were being sold at such a high price and actually selling, a boy with a pair of fluffy ears and a tail came to buy one.
“Hey, aren’t you the skewer stand owner’s...”
“Oh! It’s you, Ms. Beloved. You remembered who I am?”
“Don’t tell me you’re here to buy these, are you?”
“Yup! You use them yourself, don’tcha?”
“I, well, um...” Ruri indistinctly hemmed and hawed, seeing as how she’d received one as a gift but hadn’t actually used it. She eventually admitted, “I have one, but I haven’t used it yet, y’see.”
Amarna replied in a sad tone, “Aww, what? Please don’t let it go to waste. Use it!”
“Really? Then, let’s use them tonight. They’re supposed to let out a good smell when you’re going to sleep,” the boy explained.
Ruri nodded. “Right. I suppose I will use mine tonight, then. You put it under your pillow, if I remember right?”
“Yup, that’s how it works!”
The two of them smiled at one another. The boy’s innocent smile was absolutely adorable and comforting, making her wish that she had a little brother in the same vein.
“By the way, what’s your name?”
“My name is Noah.”
“I see, Noah-kun.”
After some light banter, Noah saw the spirits floating next to Ruri and asked, “Hey, Ms. Beloved? Do the spirits always stay by your side?”
“Well, for the most part they do.”
“Aww, but what do ya do when you wanna be alone? The spirits are cute, but aren’t there times you’d find it annoying with them always being there?” Noah asked, proving that children can be just as cruel as they say.
His words cut the spirits next to her deep, making them ask with teary eyes, “Huh? We’re annoying?”
Even Kotaro seemed to be shocked, asking, “Do you find me... annoying, Ruri?”
Ruri scrambled to deny the idea, covering for the spirits. “I’ve never thought any of them were annoying. Everyone keeps me well in mind and will let me be on my own when I want to be alone. They know when to stay away, when I’m in the office with Jade-sama or at night when I’m sleeping, so it’s not as if they’re with me the entire day.”
“That makes sense. You wouldn’t be able to sleep if all of them were around you at night. Do spirits sleep and stuff?”
“There are some that sleep, but I don’t think they need it.”
In the middle of their conversation, a man approached Ruri. “Well, if it isn’t you, Lady Beloved of the Nation of the Dragon King. What a pleasant surprise.”
“Hello there,” Ruri greeted back, almost wincing from the call as she wondered why this person was even here. While she managed to keep herself under control, the question “Why?” still remained in her head. “What are you doing here?”
“Running an errand for my mistress,” he replied.
“Oh, I see...”
His mistress was Azelda. He was the son of a Cerulandian marquis—the same who had accompanied Azelda to this kingdom.
After the fight that broke out between Ruri and Azelda the other day, he came to Ruri to apologize on Azelda’s behalf. They’d met each other a few times after that, but Ruri was simply not keen on the marquis’s son at all.
“How are you enjoying life here in the Nation of the Dragon King? Hopefully, everything is to your convenience?” he asked.
“Yes, everyone treats me very well...”
“That is wonderful to hear. However, I am to assume that dragonkin would find it quite difficult to understand a human Beloved such as yourself, milady. Should anything ever arise, you can always confide in me, as we are fellow humans, whenever you so desire.”
“Yes, thank you for the reassuring offer...”
“Alas, I must depart. Till we meet again,” the marquis’s son said with a bow, taking his leave.
Ruri held back as she watched him walk completely away, at which point she let out a sigh of relief. Every time they would meet, he would always talk about how “he could understand her better than dragonkin, as a fellow human himself,” or something to that effect. Ruri wasn’t sure if he was concerned out of genuine good will or if he was trying to implicate something. Since his remarks certainly seemed to suggest that he didn’t think fondly of dragonkin, Ruri was constantly lost as to how she should reply, leading to her distaste for the gentleman.
“Ms. Beloved? You okay?”
“Oh. Yeah, it’s nothing.”
“I need to get going, okay?” Noah announced.
“Yup, see you later, Noah-kun.”
“See ya later, Ms. Beloved!”
Ruri watched as Noah waved goodbye and walked off, and then she went around town for a little while longer until she figured the painting was done.
Once Ruri returned to the castle, she laid eyes on the portrait. It was everything you would expect from a painter invited to paint a Beloved. Ruri couldn’t deny that she felt he made her look somewhat more beautiful than she really was, but the piece was beautifully done. Jade also seemed to be satisfied with the results.
Afterward, that painting would go on to be mass-produced and sold in town. However, it would end up selling out in a matter of no time, leading to the hire of even more painters for the production line.
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