The White Cat That Swore Vengeance Was Just Lazing on the Dragon King’s Lap - Volume 3 - Chapter 6

Chapter 6: Beloved of Cerulanda

It was morning, and Ruri had awoken from her slumber—only to realize that she wasn’t in her regular room in the castle. She paused, confused, but it wasn’t long before she remembered.

“Aah, right. I came to Chelsie-san’s house.”

Ruri had been at Chelsie’s since yesterday. Although the trip from the royal castle to here would have taken several days if Ruri flew via her own powers, riding on Kotaro, the Spirit of Wind, cut the trip down to a few hours. So, Ruri and the spirits took a visit back to their home away from home.

Ruri sat up, causing Kotaro, who was sprawled across the bed, and Rin, who was sleeping on a bed of Kotaro’s fluffy white fur, to stir and awake.

“You’re up, Ruri?” asked Kotaro.

“G’morning, Ruri,” greeted Rin.

“Good morning.”

Sleeping in the same room as Kotaro was a slightly novel change of pace since he was never able to enter the house before due to his old body being far too big.

“Phew. Alright, let’s go get breakfast ready,” Ruri said. She changed out of her pajamas and went downstairs to the kitchen while humming a tune.

Today was going to be her first trip into town with Chelsie in quite a while.

◆ ◆ ◆ ◆

Meanwhile, back at the royal capital, the king and his aides were fretting over a note they’d received from the nation known as Cerulanda.

“And we can’t turn it down?” asked Jade.

“Your Majesty, I mirror your sentiments exactly, but this is not a request from Cerulanda—this is a request from the Beloved. I believe we cannot refuse it,” replied Euclase. The expression on their face was filled with as much desire to turn this request down as Jade.

“What a bother,” Jade said wholeheartedly with a disdainful tone, one which resonated through his aides.

The note from Cerulanda was asking the Nation of the Dragon King to keep their Beloved. A raider had infiltrated their royal castle the other day and threw a dagger that stabbed the Beloved in the chest. Fortunately, the Beloved always wore her corset tighter than necessary, and it acted as enough of a shield to keep the dagger from reaching her heart, preventing a fatal wound.

Be that as it may, those were all Cerulanda’s problems. As for why the Beloved wanted to come to the Nation of the Dragon King, it was because though she made it out safely, she was fearful whether she would be attacked once more since her assailant wasn’t caught.

That was when a worker in the castle told her about the Nations of the Dragon King and Beast King. They told her that both nations were leagues bigger than Cerulanda and under the protection of their mighty kings. They assured her that their nations would never allow a raider to infiltrate their castles like with her incident.

This casual chat with the worker sparked the Beloved’s insistence to go to one of those safer nations. While the upper brass of Cerulanda tried desperately to persuade her that their nation was just as safe, the Beloved was afraid after narrowly avoiding death once already. She threatened them all by saying she “wasn’t accountable for what happened to Cerulanda” if they didn’t comply with her wishes.

Even so, Cerulanda was more than reluctant to let their Beloved go outside. After all, their prized Beloved could be snatched away by another nation if they weren’t careful enough. Fortunately, the Nations of the Beast King and Dragon King both had Beloveds of their own; they probably wouldn’t want another one on their hands. The Nation of the Beast King was mostly desert land with soil that was far from what one would consider “bountiful.” It was ill-suited for the benefits a Beloved would bring, so Cerulanda felt they would have no reason to tempt another Beloved to their nation. In contrast, the Nation of the Dragon King had bountiful soil suitable for life even before their Beloved showed up. A reason for this was that dragonkin already had superior-grade mana, and out of any other race around, they were the most proficient with communicating their thoughts to the spirits. The top brass of Cerulanda thought that, while they would naturally be pleased to have another Beloved, since they were such a bountiful nation on their own accord, the chances of them stealing a Beloved was slim. Cerulanda had previously sent a letter to the Nation of the Dragon King at the request of the Beloved, who wanted to go there to take in the attractions. They were also known to be very helpful as a nation. Hence, Cerulanda inquired about possibly taking care of their Beloved until they captured the raider assailant.

Cerulanda had also considered asking the Nation of the Spirit King. They were in the same boat as the others in that they didn’t want to add any more Beloveds, so they’d be unlikely to snatch their Beloved away. But they were also further away from Cerulanda, and they didn’t really have an outstanding relationship with the nation. It wasn’t as if they shared a great relationship with the Nation of the Dragon King either, but they were physically closer to them as opposed to the Nation of the Spirit King. And it wasn’t as if the two nations didn’t share any kind of working relationship in the past, so Cerulanda picked the Nation of the Dragon King instead.

Normally, the Nation of the Dragon King would have rejected a request from any nation that had no affiliation with them and wasn’t an allied nation, such as Cerulanda, a nation with small presence. Their previous request for their Beloved to go sightseeing hadn’t gone through. However, it seemed that Cerulanda’s Beloved was desperate this time around, and there was the possibility of their rage falling upon the Nation of the Dragon King—a slight threat that was also included in the request. A Beloved’s authority was universal across all nations. Even a powerhouse nation such as the Nation of the Dragon King couldn’t flatly refuse.

“I cannot believe that this letter arrived just after Ruri went to Ms. Chelsie’s house. Shall we write a letter for Ruri to return, Your Majesty?” Euclase asked, holding their temple in frustration over the abysmal timing of this situation.

“No. In fact, tell Ruri to stay at Chelsie’s place. We can’t allow her to encounter the Beloved of Cerulanda.”

“Ah, yes, that is an issue as well, isn’t it?” Agate, who was also in attendance, sighed as if he just remembered that fact.

There was an unspoken agreement to never let two Beloveds from different nations meet in the nation in which one of them resided. There were different classes of Beloveds, and the strength of their powers varied based on the person. Their strength was measured by how much they were liked by the spirits, so if two Beloveds confronted one another, it would be a matter of who the spirits sided with. If two Beloveds were to know each others’ powers through meeting one another, and there was an off-chance that a fledgling nation were to have a strong Beloved, then they would be capable of making unreasonable demands out of even the mightiest of nations by brandishing their Beloved’s power. If one were to do that, it would inevitably attract criticism from nations without a Beloved of their own.

It was easy to tell a nation not to do it, but it was probably difficult for them to keep holding back—having the ingredients to make a major nation give in to your demands only to let them go unused. There would be those who’d give into the temptation despite knowing it was the improper thing to do. In which case, not only were Beloveds barred from meeting one another, but their power was not to be used in cross-nation politics from the very start.

This was a rule set in place ever since the four major nations of the world joined their alliance. For nations in possession of a Beloved, it eliminated the concern of being led astray by their own Beloved’s power. And even for those without a Beloved, it kept another Beloved from edging into their livelihoods. It was a rule that benefited everyone, so the surrounding nations came to an unspoken consensus to emulate that model.

However, among the four major nations, the Nation of the Dragon King included, this became a firm rule. If problems were to ever arise among Beloveds hailing from one of the four nations, then the supreme-level spirit of the Nation of the Spirit King, the Spirit of Trees, would act as an intermediary to end the dispute.

“In that case, I shall tell Ruri to make the most out of her stay and give Ms. Chelsie a brief summary of the situation,” Euclase suggested.

“Right. That’s for the best. Claus, prepare to welcome the Beloved of Cerulanda post haste. Finn, since the raider has yet to be apprehended, I want you to overhaul our security.”

“I shall see to it,” replied Claus.

“Yes, Sire!” replied Finn.

◆ ◆ ◆ ◆

After much preparation, the Beloved from Cerulanda came to stay in the Nation of the Dragon King temporarily until the raider was caught. That being said, she came with a massive amount of luggage—enough to make one question if she intended on moving here instead. It would’ve been fine if she came with just guards and servants to tend to her needs, but she also ended up bringing an entourage of men along with her.

Of course, seeing the Beloved arrive with a gang of men made Euclase, the welcoming committee, smile just a little wider. However, they were the chancellor of this nation. They quickly straightened out their face and regained their composure.

From Euclase’s perspective, the Beloved of Cerulanda seemed to be a normal girl just like any other. She had common attributes—brown hair and reddish-brown eyes. However, the spirits around her proved that she was, in fact, not a normal girl.

Euclase was familiar with the Beloveds of both the Nation of the Spirit King and Beast King and knew those two and Ruri were armed with general knowledge, but the Beloved that stood before Euclase now wasn’t necessarily the same. Plus, according to Joshua’s report, this Beloved was extremely spoiled in Cerulanda, which put the entire Nation of the Dragon King’s top brass, including Euclase, on edge as to how she would respond.

“Greetings, and welcome to our humble nation, O Lady Beloved. Unfortunately, the king is en route to the Nation of the Beast King and could not be with us, but he instructed us to ensure that you have a comfortable stay, so please inform us if anything should arise,” Euclase said in an overly polite tone.

If Ruri were to see Euclase’s reception, she would likely raise an objection right then and there in regard to the very clear difference in how Euclase treated her. However, this was the general reception toward Beloveds. The reason all the soldiers and Euclase were so relaxed around Ruri was because they initially thought she was a cat. The fact that she took Ewan’s lashing out in stride when she first arrived at the castle, and even forgave him for it, played a huge part as well. Those who saw that discerned that Ruri wouldn’t get angry over small things and decided that they could interact with her in a casual manner. In a certain sense, thanks to Ewan being a “victim,” no one gave Ruri any sort of elaborate treatment, which was a godsend as far as Ruri was concerned.

In response to Euclase’s polite reception, the Beloved of Cerulanda smiled like it was second nature and replied as if in her own nation. “Alright, then show me to my room.”

Euclase’s brows twitched, but they kept their smile and showed everyone from Cerulanda to their rooms.

After confirming that the Beloved had entered her room, Euclase breathed a sigh, worried about the future. “She may also be a Beloved, but she is nothing like Ruri at all,” Euclase commented as all the officials and soldiers around them sighed deeply as well.

It wasn’t a very long walk from where they greeted the Beloved to her room, but requests kept coming one after another along the way. From the firmness of the beds to the material of the sheets, from foods she liked, foods she disliked, the color of the curtains, and even the placement of the furniture—she designated everything in excruciating detail.

Euclase led her to a different room for the time being and ensured her that her preparations would be in order shortly, but the Nation of the Dragon King was going to be spending out of pocket to get all of that done out of hospitality. It made Euclase wonder if she knew that would be the case already...

Another problem was that everyone, including her followers, weren’t rebuking the Beloved for her behavior. In fact, they were implicitly telling Euclase to hurry up with the preparations. It made Euclase want to tell them several times that this was the Nation of the Dragon King, not Cerulanda. While it was expected that the Beloved’s behavior would be accepted even in a foreign land because of who she was, her followers were demanding equal treatment as well. Euclase’s annoyance was reaching its peak.

Everyone else aside from the Beloved was affiliated with Cerulanda, with her extra entourage not even being invited. There was no real reason for Euclase and the others to show as much modesty as they would toward the Beloved, but no one dared to point that fact out around the Beloved herself for fear of what would happen.

All this comparison with someone else made everyone reaffirm how easy it was to deal with and get along with Ruri. Ruri was going to be at Chelsie’s house for a while, but they were already starting to miss her being around.

“We’ve got one bumpy road ahead of us,” Euclase commented. It was only the first day they were left in charge of the nation because Jade was visiting the nation of the Beast King, but they were already nerve-wracked.