Prologue
In a room in the partially destroyed first sector of the Nation of the Dragon King’s royal castle, the Dragon King, the Beast King, and their respective nation’s Beloveds all sat across from one another, partaking in a meal. The majority of their conversation was occupied by the incident from the other day.
“Sorry that you were wrapped up in this,” said the Dragon King.
“That was quite the ordeal, I’d say,” replied the Beast King.
“Yes, I never would have expected something like that to happen within the castle walls.”
Since someone was targeting Beloveds in other nations, Jade had predicted that the Nation of the Dragon King would be next, but he hadn’t expected it to turn into such a massive situation. Everyone had been on the lookout, but still Ruri was kidnapped right from under them. She was willing to brush the matter off, but Jade and the spirits were extremely torn up about it—especially Kotaro. Both he and Jade seemed to be beating themselves up over it. Also, ever since the incident was resolved, the spirits clung to Ruri’s side and wouldn’t leave. As for Kotaro, he kept up his duty as a faithful guard dog, not leaving the area near Ruri’s feet for anything.
“Ruri, are you okay? I heard you were dropped into the ocean,” asked Arman in concern, apparently having heard the story of Ruri’s ordeal.
“I’m fine. I’m sorry for making you worry.”
Although the incidents caused by the fake Reapers and the followers of the Church of God’s Light had come to a close, the leader of the Church of God’s Light, the mastermind, hadn’t been apprehended as of yet. They had interrogated Noah, the perpetrator, but he seemed to be just a fall man. He wouldn’t divulge a single detail about their organization’s whereabouts.
“Using a kid for their plan is revolting,” Arman commented.
Ruri was in complete agreement and nodded her head vehemently. Noah had complied with this plot, believing in an offer to revive his deceased parents. Ruri could feel nothing but anger toward the act of deceiving a young child to use them as a pawn.
“As much as I would love to apprehend the mastermind, we unfortunately lack information. We don’t even know if the Church of God’s Light’s base is in the Nation of the Dragon King,” Jade explained.
“Considering they’ve been causing trouble in the Nation of the Beast King and Cerulanda too, they might’ve come from another land... They might even be in the Nation of the Beast King for all we know,” Arman added.
“Yes, which is why I ask you to be alert. Ruri will be heading your way, after all.”
With Sector One in disrepair, the castle was going through reconstruction. Not only that, but since a raider had been able to penetrate their defenses, the overall security of Sector One was being overhauled as well. Because of that, security was currently lax from the many people coming in and out. With the memory of Ruri’s assault fresh in his mind, Jade wanted to avoid leaving her someplace poorly guarded, so Ruri was set to go to the Nation of the Beast King per his suggestion—granted, Celestine was the one who had proposed the idea in the first place. While Ruri could have just as easily taken refuge at Chelsie’s house, that idea lost out to the allure of the Nation of the Beast King’s hot springs.
“I appreciate it in advance,” Ruri said, bowing her head to both Arman and Celestine in gratitude for being her caretakers while she visited.
“Just leave it to us. Still, you sure about letting your oh-so-precious jewel go like this?” Arman said with a smarmy grin. He glanced at the necklace on Ruri’s neck, the one with the glass bead encasing Jade’s scale.
Ruri was the only one who was oblivious to what Arman was implying, but she did notice that the look in Celestine’s eyes became slightly more intense upon him saying that.
“It’s only until the castle is repaired. Once it’s done, I’ll come straight over to pick her up,” Jade said, slowly bringing the food on his fork up to Ruri’s mouth. This was common practice from Jade when the two of them were dining alone, but they weren’t alone now—Arman and Celestine were around. Jade seemed completely unaffected and acted like normal. Arman also seemed to pay it no mind as he continued his meal, but Celestine shot a death glare Ruri’s way. Ruri found it harder and harder to open her mouth because of it.
“What’s the matter, Ruri?” Jade asked.
Ruri still hadn’t cleared up the confusion about her not being Jade’s mate, and this was only going to further complicate matters. She wasn’t entirely sure if Jade realized that or not. But seeing as how she wasn’t going to dissuade him from feeding her, she reluctantly opened her mouth and proceeded with the slightly awkward meal.
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