The White Cat That Swore Vengeance Was Just Lazing on the Dragon King’s Lap - Volume 5 - Chapter SS

Side Story: Jade’s Wedding

Jade awakened to the light of early dawn. It was rare that he would wake up feeling so refreshed, but perhaps that was because today was an auspicious day. He sat up in bed and looked to his side to see Ruri still sleeping soundly. The mere sight of her was enough to bring Jade joy as his lips pushed up into a smile.

“Ruri, it’s morning. Wake up.”

“U-Ungh,” Ruri groaned. She wasn’t going to wake up without a fight.

Jade figured that she hadn’t been able to sleep last night because she was so nervous about today.

Yes, today was the long-awaited day.

“Ruri, today is the wedding. We need to prepare.”

Ruri’s eyes snapped open and she sprung up. “I almost forgot!” she exclaimed as she peeled off the comforter and jumped out of bed.

“Let’s have breakfast for the time being,” Jade suggested. “Today is going to be a busy day, so you need to eat up or you won’t make it through.”

“Ugh... But I’m so nervous that it might not go down.”

“What’s the point in being nervous now? Nothing has even started yet,” Jade pointed out.

“Well, yes, I know that, but...”

Today was Ruri and Jade’s wedding ceremony. It was understandable that Ruri would be too nervous to keep any food down. But since today was going to be busy, if she skipped breakfast now, she might not have time to eat later, which meant breakfast was essential. Jade dragged Ruri off to eat before it was too late.

It felt like everyone in the castle was on the edge of their seat, excited for today’s proceedings. The royal capital was probably in a similar mood; they had even held a pre-wedding celebration the night prior. It was a union between a King and a Beloved, after all. The town likely looked like a festival, with tons of food stalls lining the streets and people celebrating in grand style.

Even Jade was quite ecstatic that this day had finally arrived. He had hoped to have the wedding earlier, but between Agate and the other elders wanting to plan every detail and Ruri’s mother adding her thoughts, the plans had grown more and more meticulous. It became clear that everything was behind schedule. Jade cared more about making Ruri his wife as soon as possible, but he found himself submitting to the intense drive of Agate and the others.

Nevertheless, the big day was finally here. He was being careful not to let anyone see him grinning like a lovesick fool, but a smile would end up appearing anyway. Ruri had said she was nervous, but Jade simply wanted the ceremony to start already. However, there was no need to rush; in a few short hours, his wishes would be granted.

After breakfast, Ruri and Jade went their separate ways to get ready. In general, women took longer to prepare than men, which meant that as soon as they finished eating, a crew of attendants whisked Ruri away.

As Jade was getting dressed, the elders came to check on him. They were choking on their tears, seeing Jade in his full wedding garb.

“At long last, gentlemen, the day is upon us!”

“Oh, how we have longed for this day!”

“My, it seems like an eternity ago that you were burning the portraits of bridal candidates, telling us that you had no need for a queen.”

“Yes, but now we can reminisce on that fondly.”

Jade wearily sighed. “If you’re all going to cry, go someplace else. You’re bringing me down.”

The elders paid no mind to Jade’s brusque words. It was the day that their king was to be wed, so nothing would spoil their mood.

“Everything is in order!”

“We shall make this the best ceremony anyone has ever seen!”

While it was nice of them to put so much effort into the ceremony, Jade was worried that they were spinning their wheels for nothing.

Suited up and ready to go, Jade waited in front of the wedding hall. The attendees were inside, doubtlessly waiting on bated breath for the ceremony to start.

It wasn’t long before Jade saw Ruri, slowly and gracefully walking toward him. She was wearing a lacy, snow-white dress and a mantilla veil that draped down her back. Her cheeks were slightly red, and she was smiling bashfully. The white dress, which she had insisted on for the wedding, fit her extremely well. It gave her an aura of purity and elegance.

Jade found himself transfixed by her beauty, but he quickly came to his senses and offered her his hand. She timidly took it. Jade could tell her from her expression that she was racked with nerves.

“Ruri, deep breaths,” Jade instructed.

Ruri complied and went through a few repetitions of inhaling and exhaling, which helped calm her down slightly.

“Let’s be off,” Jade prompted.

“Yes, let’s!”

The doors slowly opened and the two were ushered inside.

The ceremonial hall used for dragonkin weddings had stained glass windows that sparkled in the sunlight. Guests were seated on either side of the room. A large number of people were in attendance, including Ruri’s parents, several acquaintances, and royal visitors from other kingdoms.

Perhaps intimidated by all the eyes on her, Ruri tightened her grip on Jade’s hand. Jade smiled at her to relieve her tension as he walked slowly down the red carpet in the center of the room, making sure to match Ruri’s pace.

They walked their way to the front of the slightly elevated altar, where Agate was already standing. After much in-fighting among the elder vassals about who would be the one presiding over the ceremony, Agate had taken the honor for himself.

Once they stopped in front of Agate, the wedding was officially underway. Agate proceeded to recite lines at length. Jade wasn’t really listening to him, though, because he was more focused on Ruri, who was standing at his side dressed to the nines.

“Now then, for the exchange of dragonhearts,” Agate said.

Those words brought Jade’s attention back to the proceedings. Agate presented him with the dragonheart, which was sitting atop a pedestal. Jade took the dragonheart and faced Ruri.

“I give this dragonheart to the woman who will become my one-and-only, my mate,” Jade said.

If this were a wedding between two dragonkin, then both of them would have exchanged dragonhearts. But since Ruri was a human, Jade was the only one with a dragonheart to give.

After Ruri received the dragonheart, per the instructions she’d been given before the ceremony, she placed it in her mouth and swallowed it, albeit with some difficulty. Almost immediately, Jade felt his own mana from the dragonheart dissolve completely into Ruri.

With that, their marriage was officially solidified. Slowly but surely, the realization kicked in, and it filled Jade with joy. However, there was still a ceremony to get through, so he controlled himself and straightened his face so he wasn’t grinning at everyone around him.

Normally, a dragonkin wedding ceremony would end here, but they were also going to include the traditions of Ruri’s homeland for this ceremony. Two rings sat on the ring pillow—the same rings that Agate had shown them before.

Ruri had made sure to explain how to exchange rings beforehand. At first, Jade had thought this was a strange custom, but considering that he couldn’t actually exchange dragonhearts with her, he was glad to make a tangible exchange like this.

Jade took Ruri’s ring and slid it on her finger. Ruri took the remaining ring and placed it on Jade’s finger in turn.

The ceremony had concluded. As they left the hall, Ruri looked up at Jade and smiled shyly, saying, “So, that makes me your wife now, right, Jade-sama?”

Ruri’s gestures were so adorable that Jade couldn’t help but take her in his arms. He honestly wanted to go someplace where they could be alone, but they needed to change for the wedding reception.

“Ahem, ahem.” The assistant standing behind Jade cleared their throat, prompting both of them to hurry up.

(Dammit...) Jade spat in his mind, clicking his tongue as he let go of Ruri.

After they changed, they both headed to the reception hall. The reception was basically just a chance to sit down and enjoy a meal in everyone’s company, so it helped put Ruri more at ease. Agate and the others had put a lot of thought into the entertainment, and just as they had confidently boasted, they were able to entertain the guests without a single bored face in sight.

The one thing that wasn’t enjoyable was the number of wardrobe changes that Agate and the others had insisted on. Ruri had said one was enough, and Jade hadn’t thought it necessary, but Ruri had been coerced into agreeing to three whole changes. Considering that they initially wanted five changes, three seemed like a compromise.

By the third change, Ruri was already sick and tired of it. In addition, she grew weary when Agate and the others complained about not getting five changes out of her. Five separate wardrobe changes was nothing to sneeze at.

After the reception, they all moved to a separate hall. The reception was for entertaining the guests from other countries, but this party was for the domestic attendees—out with the elegant yet stern atmosphere and in with the rowdy drinking and singing extravaganza.

With the more relaxed atmosphere, Ruri was finally able to release her tension, and she started smiling in delight.

Since Ruri was the main attraction, everyone around her kept offering her more and more alcohol, which got her tipsy. Jade was also offered alcohol, but in greater supply.

The alcohol started to steadily dwindle. While some were lifting whole barrels of wine to their mouths, drunks were mass-produced by the sip. People were drinking themselves onto a spot across the floor, but everyone was smiling happily.

Then came Celestine.

She was drunk, tottering on her feet and scowling with glassy eyes. Ruri had a bad feeling and, sure enough, Celestine’s eyes locked onto her. She slowly got closer, and before Ruri knew it, Celestine was tugging at her cheeks.

“Vhat are foh doin?!” Ruri asked.

“Face your just punishment for stealing Master Jade away from me, you cur!” She pinned Ruri down and glared at her with intense rage. But in the next moment, her eyes began to water and she moaned, “Why, when I loved Master Jade more than youuuu?!”

It seemed that Celestine still had the habit of being a wreck when she was drunk. Then again, it was only natural that she would want to drink to drown her sorrows. After all, Jade, the man she loved, was now married to someone else.

“Aah. Okay, okay. Celestine-san, you’ve had too much to drink. Here, have some water,” Ruri said, wasting no time to get her a glass.

Just then, someone called out to Ruri in a big bombastic voice. It was Ruri’s mother, Riccia.

“Hey, Ruri! Let’s take a photo for the occasion!”

“You brought a digital camera, mom?”

“Why, yes. And I brought a tripod.”

“Wow, there’s being prepared, and then there’s this...”

While Kohaku was hurriedly setting up the camera, Riccia gathered everyone together.

“Jade-sama, let’s go,” Ruri prompted.

“Sure thing.” Jade didn’t understand what was going on, but he allowed Ruri to pull him over to stand in a row.

“Okay, I’ll be taking the picture now. Don’t move, everyone,” Riccia said as she pressed the shutter. “All right, for the next one, just Ruri and His Majesty.”

This time, only Ruri and Jade remained, huddled close together as they were instructed.

“My, what a beautiful shot,” Riccia commented.

“Show me, show me!” Ruri said. She peered at the digital camera with her mother and squealed. She turned the screen toward Jade so that he could see. “Look, Jade-sama, a beautiful shot.”

Jade was a little concerned that his expression might have been a bit too smiley—almost to the point of looking goofy. However, all he saw on his face was happiness, and no one was going to ridicule him for it. And though it was a delayed reaction, the happy smile he saw on Ruri’s face as well really drove home the fact that the two of them were wed.

Jade could feel the joy slowly rising from within him. Unable to control his welling emotions, he lifted Ruri in his arms.

“Ruri, from now on, we will always be together.”

“Yes, let’s live our lives. Together.”

Jade drew closer to Ruri and softly kissed her on the cheek.