Chapter 14: Arrangements Under Ruri’s Nose
Ruri was frustrated that her parents were still missing, and she was growing impatient. She really wanted to go to Yadacain right now and search for them, but she knew that Jade would never give her permission to go off to some completely unknown nation like that. The devil in her mind whispered to her, prodding her to simply go in secret, but Jade had had enough common sense to explicitly warn her against that. Simply waiting kept her on edge, however, and she felt the urge to flee the castle at any moment.
Out of concern for Ruri—or perhaps for their own benefit—Agate and the other elders were attending to her, keeping her busy. They started off by taking her body measurements. As she sat in Jade’s lap, antsy and awaiting news of her parents’ location, she was suddenly hauled off by the scruff of the neck. She was taken to a room where a group of waiting women stripped her off her clothes. Then, as she stood in clueless shock, they started taking her measurements. Once the women finished redressing her, she was taken to another room where a huge assortment of fabric and dresses lined the walls.
“Now, Ruri, which is your favorite fabric?” Agate asked.
“Uh, that aside, would you mind telling me what all this is about?” Ruri asked.
“Why, it’s for the dress you’ll wear at your wedding, of course. How many wardrobe changes will she require for the ceremony? Five, right?” The other elders nodded.
“Five...” she repeated. Were they telling her that she needed to pick at least six outfits? She wasn’t even sure why things had turned out this way to begin with. Ruri hadn’t said one word about marrying Jade yet, so why were the elder vassals going ahead with her wedding arrangements?
“Um, just so you know, I never said anything about getting married. You shouldn’t be going ahead with wedding arrangements! I haven’t even answered Jade-sama yet.”
“Nonsense, Ruri!” Agate replied. “If we wait until after you answer, it’d be too late.”
“Hear, hear. Preparations for the wedding take time, after all. We must prepare everything as absolutely early as possible,” added an elder.
“Um, that’s all well and good if I accept Jade-sama’s feelings, but what if I were to turn him down?” Ruri asked, knowing that a refusal would toss any marriage talk right out the window.
The elders were flabbergasted.
“Egads! Ruri, are you planning on turning him down?!”
“You mustn’t do that! We shall not allow such blasphemy!”
“What, pray tell, is wrong with His Majesty?! There is no finer specimen of a man than His Majesty! There is also no one who cares for you more than he does!”
“Relent and jump into His Majesty’s waiting arms!”
“Hurry and give him your response, now!”
The flock of elders squawked over each other, none of them understanding Ruri’s young, conflicted heart. Even if she were to plead her case, it was doubtful that they would care.
Ruri let out a heavy sigh. “Aah, yes, yes. I understand. Even so, I think just one wardrobe change during the ceremony will be enough. Where I’m from, we typically only do that once—maybe twice at most.”
“Preposterous! That surely isn’t enough! This is His Majesty’s long-awaited wedding ceremony! It must be a grand affair!”
“Okay, but still, five is way too many!” If she kept on changing outfits, she would undoubtedly end up an exhausted mess by the second half of the ceremony.
“Oh, how trite! That simply will not do!”
“Hear, hear! You will have to go through at least three changes for us!”
“Uh, whose wedding is this? This isn’t for you and the other elders, is it, Agate-san?”
“Poppycock, Ruri. Do you realize how much we’ve done in our search for His Majesty’s future bride? This is not only His Majesty’s wedding, but also the fruit of our tears and hard work!”
“Oh how long we have dreamed of this day! Hearing you be so insensitive to our cause makes us weep!”
“I assure you the tears will never stop if you exclude us.”
Ruri alone couldn’t hope to stand up to the pressure the elder vassals projected. They were riding a wave of eager anticipation toward this wedding—more so than Ruri herself. They left Ruri no room to interject despite it technically being her wedding. They would at least listen to her dress requests, but judging by their behavior, they weren’t willing to compromise on the three changes during the ceremony.
“Okay, okay. I understand. But no matter what you all say, I am not backing down on the dress being white, okay?” Ruri said in resignation, reaching out to the fabric.
“You said that white dresses are associated with weddings in your world, yes? Well then, how about a fabric along these lines for your wardrobe change?”
Ruri began to examine the fabrics, prompting Agate and the others to joyfully select their own individual picks for her to choose from.
“This fabric with a lace dress would be nice, wouldn’t it?” suggested one.
“No, no. For that fabric, instead of lace, it must be matching embroidery with His Majesty,” said another.
Yet another asked, “What other color of dress aside from white would you like?”
The wrinkly old men conversed among each other like a gaggle of chatty young women. It was very clear that they were far more into this than Ruri, their supposed bride-to-be. Ruri simply did as she was told, pressing the fabrics and dresses up against her body to see how they looked.
If Euclase were present, they would be squealing with excitement along with the old men, but they were unfortunately busy preparing for the forthcoming tournament. That made Ruri wonder if the elder vassals didn’t need to be working themselves. They were, for all intents and purposes, vassals to the king, meaning they should have tons to do. Was the reason Jade and the other aides were so busy because of the strain caused by the elders not working? What did they plan to do if Jade lost the upcoming tournament and ceased to be king? Any need for a grand wedding would be entirely lost. Then again, their confidence likely stemmed from the fact that no one expected Jade to lose.
“Hmm, dress selection is important, but you’ll need some jewelry to go with it.”
“Right, and you’ll also need jewelry for the wardrobe changes as well.”
“Once we decide on the color of the fabric, we’ll have to craft something to match it.”
Ruri sensed that Agate and the others were getting out of control and interjected, “Wait, are you going to make jewelry for each dress? I’ll just use one set for all of them.”
“Balderdash, we must pay attention to every detail.”
“Aye, there will be no cut corners on our watch!”
“But the money...” Ruri started.
Agate and the others were very particular about every facet of the wedding, including the clothes, so the costs were sure to add up. Add multiple matching jewelry sets on top of that and the total would be enough to turn anyone pale.
“If you’re concerned about the costs, then you needn’t be, Ruri. Due to His Majesty and your own rather reserved lifestyles despite being in the highest positions in the land, we have quite the excess left in the budget. We have plenty allotted for the both of you.”
“I must say, while I applaud refraining from frivolously spending taxpayer money, the money won’t circulate back to the taxpayers if you simply let it accumulate. Why, using it will give birth to jobs and new expenditures.”
“Yes... I apologize for that.” That all made sense to Ruri, but she still found it hard to use money she hadn’t earned on her own. No matter how many blessings she brought to the land due to her status as a Beloved, she didn’t feel like she’d done anything.
“We will use the abundant funds to the fullest and make sure to throw a wedding that will go down in this great land’s history!” Agate declared.
“Yeaaaah!” the elders hollered in unison.
Ruri honestly couldn’t keep up with their enthusiasm. She wasn’t sure what a wedding to go down in history would even entail. A nice, normal wedding would do for her—emphasis on normal. However, the pack of elderly men, all fired up and willing to stake their lives on the arrangements, wouldn’t hear any of that. She desperately hoped for someone who could stop them, but she unfortunately didn’t see that happening.
Ruri couldn’t help but fear what kind of wedding they would make this into. After all, she hadn’t even said that she would marry yet...
◆ ◆ ◆ ◆
Ruri felt tired and limp after finally escaping the elder’s clutches. In the end, their opinions and requests were so at odds with one another that they couldn’t even settle on fabric for the dress. The heated dispute had gotten so out of hand that Ruri had been able to sneak out. She was sure that this would happen all over again, though, if she became Jade’s mate. The thought of this repeating itself was disheartening, to say the least.
How was she supposed to cure this mental and physical fatigue? While she could laze about on Jade’s lap, Jade had been trying to actively woo her as of late, so she didn’t want to be alone with him too often. It wasn’t because she didn’t like it, but it sent her pulse so high that her heart couldn’t take it.
She decided to take a dip in the hot spring. She’d introduced Chelsie to the spring as soon as they’d arrived in the Nation of the Dragon King, but somewhat as expected, Chelsie had been less than impressed. She’d said she couldn’t comprehend why one would waste time bathing in a hot spring when cleaning yourself with magic was easier and faster.
Hot springs weren’t only for cleaning oneself, however. They also had the power to heal weary minds and bodies. She’d tried desperately to explain this to Chelsie, but it hadn’t resonated with her. The other dragonkin had reacted in a similar way, with a few exceptions. Jade hadn’t objected because Ruri had a vested interest in it, but he wasn’t actively involving himself either. The only people who had shown positive reactions were women interested in beauty care and Quartz.
Of course, Ruri had known that would be the result. The fact that the bathhouse she built in Chelsie’s yard had gone unused was all the proof she needed. Even so, it broke her heart to see Chelsie so flatly disregard the hot spring she’d toiled to create. However, as an odd consolation, her grandfather, Beryl, had loved the hot spring. He went every day and made friends with a few of the regulars.
Beryl had also hit it off with Chi since he meshed with Chi’s open-minded personality. So much so that Chi had canceled his contract with Ruri and made a new one with Beryl, saying, “This guy seems more interesting!” It was a typical Chi move—not an ounce of hesitation, guided purely by mood and instinct. As a result, he now followed Beryl around.
Beryl had made friends with the other dragonkin soldiers as well. As soon as Ruri showed him the training grounds, he’d excitedly declared, “Ooh, me too!” He then began challenging the training soldiers, and Ruri rushed to try and stop him. There was no way he could fight with the battle-crazed dragonkin. There was a reason why their training grounds were separate from the other soldiers, and it was because they couldn’t keep up with their strength.
However, Beryl had put his superhuman physical abilities on display. Perhaps it was because of his strong mana, or because his mana was strengthening his body, but he came close to matching the dragonkin soldiers in bare-handed combat. The soldiers were initially surprised, but they soon cheered and let out a chorus of “me next” as they lined up to square off against him. He’d brilliantly shattered the common belief that a human couldn’t go one-on-one with a dragonkin for even five minutes.
When Beryl had told Ruri about him charging through a hail of bullets while deflecting them during his soldier days, she’d always wondered if such a human could even exist. But it looked like his tales weren’t so tall after all. Now, training with the soldiers every morning was part of his daily routine.
“I wonder what I should do...” Ruri muttered, trying to come up with something to ease her fatigue.
“Do what?” asked a spirit.
“What’s the matter, Ruri?” asked another.
All of the spirits floating around her cocked their heads in confusion. Just seeing their deviously cute behavior was enough to comfort her heart.
“I don’t know whether to go see Jade or to go to the hot spring.”
“In that case, let’s go sunbathe in the garden!”
“Yeah, let’s!”
“Sunbathe, huh? I guess I have been so busy as of late that I haven’t had any time to do that. I should invite Kotaro and Rin too.”
“The two of them are already in the garden.”
Neither Kotaro nor Rin were by Ruri’s side at the moment. Kotaro still had a barrier in place around her, so she wouldn’t be in danger, but Kotaro and Rin had probably gone to the garden because they’d wanted a quiet place to concentrate. Both of them had been searching for ways to see inside of Yadacain in hopes of finding Ruri’s parents. Since Yadacain was an island nation, Rin, the Spirit of Water, had attempted to peek in from the sea, but the Spirit Slayer had disturbed her vision.
Both Kotaro and Rin had been trying their best to make sure Ruri rested easy, but she felt sorry that they were working around the clock. “Those two need a break themselves,” Ruri said, making her way to the garden.
Along the way, she spotted Chelsie, Quartz, and Andal all having tea on the terrace. Quartz and Andal had both been kings at one time, so they were already familiar with each other. Chelsie had also served as one of Quartz’s aides for a time. It had been quite a long time since she’d retired, when Claus became a full-fledged aid, but she was still surprised by Quartz and Andal’s unexpected connection.
Chelsie’s face looked content and mellow as she conversed with her old acquaintances. She seemed to be enjoying herself, so Ruri quietly walked past so as to not disturb them.
When she arrived in the garden, she found Kotaro furrowing his brow.
“Hey, Kotaro, are you still looking for mom and dad?”
“Oh, it’s you, Ruri. Yes, I’m trying my best to look for them, but I’m sorry,” Kotaro said dejectedly, his tail drooping.
“You don’t have to apologize. Thank you,” Ruri replied, petting his head in reassurance.
It seemed that Rin hadn’t had any luck either, which was trying her patience. “Ugh, blast this cheeky magic. How utterly frustrating!”
“It’d be quicker if I just went there directly, to be honest,” Kotaro commented.
Indeed. Kotaro had proposed going to the island directly since it was blocked from his vision, but Jade had suggested he not. If a large wolf like Kotaro moved around Yadacain, he would naturally stick out like a sore thumb. And if it turned into a commotion, it would interfere with Joshua’s undercover reconnaissance. Jade wouldn’t allow that to expose Joshua’s team to any potential danger.
Ruri didn’t want to put Joshua and his men in danger either, so she’d decided to wait for their contact instead. However, they hadn’t responded back at all. She knew it was hard to establish correspondence on an isolated island in the middle of the sea, but even the team’s regularly scheduled correspondence was late. That made her doubly worried—not just for her parents’ safety, but for Joshua’s as well.
Ruri let out a big sigh. “Hurry up and contact us, Joshua,” she muttered aloud. She put on her bracelet, turned into a cat, jumped onto Kotaro, and used his fluffy body as a bed while she stared at the clouds in the sky.
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