Side Chapter: Lost in Thought
With the cleanup from the fake Reapers incident coupled with his normal workload, Jade had been busy every day since Ruri left for the Nation of the Beast King. He holed up in his royal office and dealt with the veritable mountains of paperwork stacked on his desk.
To be quite frank, he was fed up with looking at it. And his hand was starting to ache from holding his pen for so long. If he were Joshua, he would have undoubtedly planned an escape route, but he had a serious personality and would never choose to run. He’d definitely had his fill, though.
He suddenly stopped writing, put down his pen, and massaged his temple. His eyes were exhausted from the sheer amount of paperwork he had read through so far.
Claus noticed Jade’s weary display and paused his work as well. “Your Majesty, might I suggest you take a short breather?”
“As much as I’d like to, there’s still work to be done,” Jade said wearily as he looked upon the persistent stacks of documents.
“Yes, but running yourself ragged will do you no good either, Sire. Why not go for a brief stroll? I believe viewing the progress of Sector One will serve as a nice change of pace.”
Frequently checking on the reconstruction efforts in Sector One was a good idea. Jade nodded in agreement. “You’re right. I’ll go see how things are progressing,” he said. He found a good stopping point, placed his pen down, and stood up.
“Enjoy your time out, Sire.”
When Jade arrived at the destroyed sector, workers were removing piles of rubble as others brought in construction materials. Lumber and building stones lay all over. Being as powerful as they were, the dragonkin were most actively carrying in all of the new materials.
Ever since the Nation of the Dragon King was formed, countless kingdoms sent their soldiers to invade and gain control of the nation, but none of them had damaged the castle like this. It was safe to assume that not even the First Dragon King, Weidt, would have ever guessed that a Beloved would cause this much destruction.
However, although Sector One had never been damaged to this degree before, every time the dragonkin had one of their booze-happy “dinner parties,” they would go on a never-ending drunken rampage that would trash parts of the castle. The reason that reconstruction was going so smoothly now was because fixing the castle had become a regular post-party practice.
Because of the restoration, a number of people who normally wouldn’t be allowed access were coming through Sector One. Jade employed so many for the job because he wanted repairs done as quickly as possible. However, in order to prevent infiltrators like the fake Reapers from raiding the castle again, they checked all of the entry routes in detail, renovating any weak spots in the castle’s defense and setting up magic traps in any location that seemed like a possible way in. Such a thorough investigation took time and resources, so construction was proceeding much slower than expected.
Jade couldn’t rush them since this was all to ensure Ruri’s safety, but he was growing impatient, nonetheless. He wanted to see Ruri now. He tried to use his work to distract him from that nearly irresistible urge, but each day it grew stronger than the last.
Once Ruri left, so did his comfort cat. It went without saying, since Ruri was the cat in question, but the loss hit him twice as hard as a result. In his spare moments during work, his hand would naturally travel toward his lap only to pet thin air, reminding him that she was indeed gone. He noticed his subconscious habit and smiled self-deprecatingly at how utterly hopeless he had become.
Jade was burying himself in work not only to get his mind off of things but to assure nothing would stop him from leaving the castle once repairs were done. Waiting for Ruri to return on her own accord was simply out of the question. He intended on going to the Nation of the Beast King to pick her up himself. That was why reconstruction was paramount. Everyone, dragonkin included, was working hard, but Jade could feel his want-to-see-Ruri-itis flaring up. No, in fact, it had long since flared and was in full blaze.
Jade asked the dragonkin acting as foreman, “How are things progressing?”
“Progressing well, Sire. However, we’re also employing all the countermeasures at the same time, so it will still take a while before we’re done.”
“I see.”
Jade thought of hiring more people in order to speed things up, but he worried about carelessly adding more people to the mix. There were already people in this sector who were normally not allowed, but those people were only involved with the reconstruction efforts, not laying the anti-infiltrator traps and other such countermeasures. For those, Jade only employed people he could trust. However, those very countermeasures were taking up the most time.
“Should I assign more workers?” Jade asked.
“No, I don’t believe that will be necessary, Sire. We already have the anti-infiltrator traps set in place. It’d be best if as few people as possible knew of their specifics, for security reasons. We can’t let the number and location of those slip else the Beloved might be assaulted again. As they say, quality over quantity. I believe it’s better to keep things focused to a trustworthy few.”
“You have a point. Hmm, so it’ll still take more time...”
Essentially, Jade would have to wait a while longer in order to see Ruri again. He let out a disappointed sigh, which the dragonkin foreman accurately picked up on and smirked.
“I assume you must be quite lonely without Lady Beloved around, Sire.”
“Yes,” Jade said, honestly confirming the foreman’s assumption.
The dragonkin grinned from ear to ear. “I’ve also heard that you finally gave Lady Beloved your dragonheart.”
Perhaps it was because he was excited about the news himself, but his booming voice traveled through the air, naturally catching the attention of the men around them. They all listened with great interest as they continued to work. Before she left, Ruri was prominently wearing a scale she’d received from Jade around her neck, so the news had already circulated around the castle.
“Seeing you gain a mate, after all this time refusing to marry, is a joyous occasion beyond compare, Your Majesty. And since it’s Lady Beloved as well, everyone is positively thrilled.”
“...I only gave it to her. Ruri herself doesn’t know that it’s a dragonheart, which is why she’s not my mate yet.”
“Heavens! Whatever do you mean? You’ve given her your one and only dragonheart without her knowing?”
“Yes, because I couldn’t go along with her.”
The dragonkin nodded his head. “Yes, yes. I understand. I understand, indeed. We dragonkin can be quite jealous. And no man alive would ever try to approach a woman with a dragonheart around her neck.”
Being in possession of a dragonheart was essentially telling people that you were a dragonkin’s mate. Very few were reckless enough to try to court the mate of a dragonkin, the top of the natural hierarchy, and earn their ire. And if there were, they were either a fool or someone with a death wish.
“With that in mind, tell the others not to raise a fuss when Ruri comes back,” Jade said.
He remembered how happy Ruri had been when she received the scale. She took it believing it was a simple good luck charm, and Jade found himself slightly disappointed she didn’t realize the significance. However, he was also a tad relieved. Just as the dragonkin before him stated, he handed over his one-of-a-kind dragonheart in a snap decision to ward off the advances of any strange men she encountered in the Nation of the Beast King.
He had no regrets in what he did. He was confident he would never meet another girl he would want to give his dragonheart to more than Ruri. If Ruri wouldn’t accept it, then he had no need for it in the first place. The fact he met someone that made him think that way was a miracle in itself. But that and Ruri’s answer were two separate issues. Even though he wanted her to accept it, if she’d known it was a dragonheart when he handed it to her, then she would’ve probably been too conflicted to answer.
For whatever reason, Ruri was under the incorrect assumption that he viewed her as a pet and nothing else. He was getting impatient at how dense she was even though he was giving her all the signs. Ruri was the only one who didn’t know. Someone would surely tell her about dragonhearts as soon as she got to the Nation of the Beast King. That would give Ruri some time to consider her answer. Jade hoped it would be a good answer if at all possible, but he wanted to leave it be until Ruri gave a proper response.
That was Jade’s line of thinking, but the foreman looked rather awkward when Jade asked him to keep quiet.
“That might be quite difficult, Sire.”
“Why’s that?”
“Err, well, the elder members, including Lord Agate, have been hustling and bustling, you see. Word of you finally deciding on a mate is traveling to everyone. That was how I myself came upon this information.”
The picture of the elder vassals dancing in joy popped up in Jade’s mind.
“The news has been spreading so rapidly that practically everyone in the castle knows. While I would love to keep the matter under wraps, I believe it would be wiser to issue a gag order upon the entire castle before Lady Beloved returns.”
Jade felt a headache coming on.
“What are Agate and the others doing right now?”
“They are currently in the queen’s room.”
“The queen’s room? For what reason?”
“Well, I would assume they’re preparing it for when Lady Beloved returns. They have been giving very specific orders for everything from furnishings to sheets. As busy as we all are, they have been persistently annoyi—err, I mean, persistently eager to display their best efforts.”
Next to the king’s room that Jade occupied was a room with a connected bedroom—the room meant for the queen. It was unoccupied now, but Jade wished for Ruri to move into it sooner or later. Although, it seemed it was sooner rather than later as Agate and the elder vassals were in the middle of some major renovations to the room.
Since Ruri now wore the dragonheart, the elders hastily assumed she was now Jade’s mate. In their elation, they were preparing the room for her return—conveniently while everyone else was busy reconstructing the damaged castle, no less. Honestly speaking, “annoying” described the situation perfectly.
“Sorry for the hassle,” said Jade. “I’ll personally see to Agate and the others.”
“Oh, worry not. I can’t say I don’t understand how they feel,” the dragonkin said with an awkward smile.
Jade then parted ways with him and headed to the queen’s room. There, just as the dragonkin said, Agate and the others were giving orders left and right, remodeling everything.
“What are you all doing?”
“Ooh, Your Majesty! Look at this and tell us your impressions.”
“These colors should please Ruri. Although, perhaps the curtains should be this color instead? What are your thoughts, Sire?”
A couple of the elders asked Jade for his opinion as they happily redecorated the room. Jade simply grimaced. The sentiment was appreciated, but seeing as how Ruri hadn’t given an answer yet, they were simply being a nuisance at the moment.
“I asked you all what you were doing,” Jade repeated.
“As you can see, we are readying the queen’s room,” said one elder.
“We cannot have your new mate in a separate room forever, after all. We must make sure to tidy it up before she makes her return,” said another.
“Oh, yes. When shall the marriage ceremony be? This is matrimony between Dragon King and Beloved. We must make it simply extravagant,” said yet another.
Jade heaved a very exhausted-sounding sigh. “I’m not getting married yet. Nor am I using this room,” he proclaimed.
“Egads! Whatever do you mean, Sire?!”
“You have given her your dragonheart. Is marriage not a given?!” stated an elder as the others stared on in shock.
“I simply gave her my dragonheart. She still hasn’t given me her answer. That’s why Ruri and I aren’t mates. All of you are jumping to conclusions.”
“Egads!!”
“All of our jubilation for naught?!”
“How could this matter become so muddled?!”
The elders yelled and complained, but still nothing was finalized.
“At any rate, you needn’t prepare anything yet. You are interrupting the people that are rebuilding the castle.”
“But, Sire...”
The elders slumped, crestfallen. It seemed the rejection hit them hard—perhaps even more intense than their happiness that the king had found his mate.
However, among the disheartened elders, Agate remained firm. “We mustn’t concede just yet, comrades. If they have not solidified their status, then we must act as the mediators for their relationship and set the mood for romance,” Agate said, his bold words stirring his elder fellows.
“Ooh, that is an option!”
“Hmm, what sort of mood do ladies like, I wonder.”
The elders all clamored among each other, regaining their motivation all at once.
Jade panicked, saying, “Stop, stop. You needn’t do anything.” He didn’t want them to interfere and make matters worse, but none of them were listening to what he was saying. They were all too psyched up.
“Right, time to question some girls and think up some romantic situations!”
“We shall make it come to fruition!”
“We shall not perish till we hold the Sire’s child in our arms!”
“Yeah!” yelled the elderly men as they pumped their fists in unison and rushed out of the room.
Jade was left standing alone, clutching his head. He worried they would get involved where they shouldn’t. This only made the nail-biting terror of waiting for Ruri’s response even worse. Never had the elders’ overzealous actions actually benefited him. How would they answer if those same actions were the reason Ruri turned him down?
“Please, don’t do anything to muck this up...” Jade said to himself. He wanted to stop the stampede of silver-haired snoops, but he was powerless to do so. He could only hope they wouldn’t cause any issues.
“I wonder how Ruri has taken to the news.”
Jade was curious how she reacted to learning that what she held was a dragonheart. He was equal parts excited and terrified of her potential answer. The one thing he knew was that he couldn’t even dream of having a mate other than Ruri.
Hence, Jade silently prayed and waited for the moment of truth.
No Comments Yet
Post a new comment
Register or Login