The White Cat That Swore Vengeance Was Just Lazing on the Dragon King’s Lap - Volume 5 - Chapter SS1

Side Story: Honeymoon Trip

It had already been a month since the wedding. Ruri and Jade were smack-dab in the middle of their lovey-dovey honeymoon like a couple of good newlyweds.

Jade had been visibly happy, consistently in a good mood. He wouldn’t let Ruri leave his side during work and wouldn’t allow her to leave any other time either. It was no exaggeration to say that Ruri had spent nearly all of the day by Jade’s side.

Jade was utterly entranced by Ruri. He fed her all of her meals by hand, as a sign of dragonkin love. Everything he did for Ruri was sweet—so sweet that she wanted to scream to the capital, “Yeesh, I’m getting cavities!” It was comparable to a stack of pancakes loaded with tons of whipped cream and jam, with a heaping pile of powdered sugar on top—sweet up the wazoo.

His behavior made her back itch. She was getting more than enough of a reminder about how much dragonkin loved their mates.

Jade was doting on her so much that Ruri couldn’t help but worry that people would gawk at them. But this was apparently the norm for newlywed dragonkin, so no one paid it any mind. Even so, she tried resisting since it felt way too awkward to be so close to him all the time. So far, she hadn’t been successful in escaping. Resigned, she decided to give in to his doting. Besides, there was something else giving Ruri enough problems.

“Ruri, are you bearing children yet?” Agate asked as soon as he and his starry-eyed group of elders walked into the royal office.

Tired of being asked the same question, Ruri replied the same way she had time and time again. “Not yet! You just asked that yesterday!”

“B-but, but~!” stammered Agate.

“You can whine all you want, but it won’t make any difference.”

Her current problems came from these elders. After years of meddling and interfering in Jade’s marital affairs, the elders were sure to mellow out after he got married, right? At least, that’s what Ruri had thought. Instead, they aimed their intensity at Ruri and pestered her about having children. They had only been married for a month. The daily inquiries were becoming an issue.

“I’m sure you two will have a child. And what a beautiful child it will be.”

“We’ll raise them from scratch.”

“Uh, sure, sure. Just try not to take away from the mother’s work, okay?” warned Ruri.

Ruri had been prepared to deal with these busybody fathers-in-law once she married Jade, but they were honestly getting on her last nerve. She didn’t think there was any need to rush to have children when these old men would be running around healthy for another century.

“First off, we’ve only been married for a month. And second, we didn’t spend much time as lovers before we got married, so we’d like to spend some more time in each other’s company. Isn’t that right, Jade-sama?” Ruri asked, looking up at Jade.

He looked back at her with kind eyes and a gentle smile. “That’s right.”

The old codgers were not happy with Jade’s answer.

“Grrrrrrr!”

“We’re not getting any younger! We want to see a child sooner rather than later!”

“I suppose we have no choice but to set the mood so they’ll be in...well, the mood?”

The elders huddled together and started whispering among themselves. Ruri couldn’t hear them, but she hoped that they wouldn’t go butting in where they didn’t belong again.

Meanwhile, Ruri was still confined to Jade’s lap. She thought that she might be getting in the way of his work and tried to get off, but Jade’s arm tightened around her waist once she did.

“Jade-sama, I should get down since I’ll get in your way.”

“You will not,” Jade promptly replied, almost cutting off her sentence in the middle.

That was when someone handed Jade a letter. Ruri stared at him from the side as he scanned it.

Jade’s behavior was probably natural considering they were in the honeymoon phase, but Ruri was a little worried that he might keep her by his side indefinitely. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to be around him, but she didn’t want to stay like this forever. There were things that she wanted to do as well. She wanted to go into town, for one. It didn’t seem likely, though, that Jade would allow any of that right now. This was an issue. Ruri had heard that dragonkin were very possessive, but she wanted some free time to herself. While she couldn’t blame him for getting carried away by the moment, she would need to talk to him if this continued.

“Oh, by the way...” Ruri started, as if the word “honeymoon” had reminded her of something important.

“What’s the matter?” asked Jade.

“That’s right, Jade-sama! We haven’t taken a honeymoon trip!”

“Honeymoon trip? What is that?”

Apparently, the idea of a honeymoon trip was a foreign concept in this world.

“Where I’m from, when you get married, you’re supposed to go on a trip afterward.”

“Oh-ho, that’s a concept in your world, eh?” Jade mused. However, he was the king, and a king couldn’t just up and leave on an impromptu getaway. “Hmm, I see. A trip...”

By the manner in which Jade was contemplating the idea, Ruri had the disappointing feeling that it was a no-go.

“I take it that it’s not possible?” Ruri asked.

“No, it’s perfect timing,” Jade replied, tapping on the letter he had been reading.

“Who is that from?”

“It’s from the Spirit King of the Nation of the Spirit King. It’s an invitation addressed to you to visit their castle.”

“Wait, me?”

“The Spirit of Trees residing in the Nation of the Spirit King apparently wishes to see you since you’ve contracted with their brethren.”

“Wow, you don’t say...” Ruri muttered.

“How about a ‘honeymoon trip’ to the Nation of the Spirit King?” Jade suggested.

“Wow, really? You mean we can? That would be great!”

As such, Ruri traveled to the Nation of the Spirit King to see the Spirit of Trees. Though it was a honeymoon trip, the kingdom couldn’t let its ruler and its Beloved go alone, so they naturally sent security detail. In addition, the supreme-level spirits—Kotaro, Rin, Chi, and Heat—said they wanted to see the Spirit of Trees as well. The party ended up being bigger than expected, turning the romantic trip into more of a regular excursion. Nevertheless, they just had to play the hand they were dealt.

The Nation of the Spirit King’s royal castle was a chalk-white structure that floated atop a lake. Behind the castle was the forest where the sacred beasts—one of which Kotaro was using as his host body—dwelled. The white castle reflected dazzlingly on the lake’s surface, giving the structure an even more beautiful luster. On foggy days, it looked almost fantastical. It was also a famous location. Painters flocked there to capture its majesty.

Unfortunately, it was cloudy the day Ruri and Jade arrived, but that didn’t detract from the white structure’s beauty.

“Wow, what a beautiful castle!” Ruri exclaimed. Riding on the back of Jade’s dragon body, Ruri had an unobstructed view of the structure from the sky.

Ruri had tried to ride Kotaro as usual to get to here, but that dragonkin possessiveness flared yet again and Jade adamantly refused to allow her to ride on anyone but himself. She’d had no choice but to ride on Jade. But unlike the soft and fluffy Kotaro, Jade’s draconic skin was hard; her rear end was sore by the time they arrived.

When they landed at the castle, officials of the Nation of the Spirit King, including the Spirit King himself, greeted them. The Spirit King was Awain, the only pure qilin in this world. His eyes were as blue as the ocean’s depths, and his straight, shoulder-length hair was a blueish silver. Although the look in his eyes was sharp and ferocious enough to force you to grovel for forgiveness, his look wasn’t born of anger. That was simply the way he normally looked.

Although Awain wasn’t directing any anger at her, Ruri ended up cowering behind Jade all the same. She had met Awain at the wedding, but one meeting was hardly enough to get used to his face’s destructive power.

“So good of you to come, Jade, Beloved,” Awain greeted.

“Yes, haven’t seen you since the wedding,” Jade replied.

“Good afternoon,” Ruri added.

It wasn’t clear whether Awain was aware of the effect his face had on others, but he didn’t seem too concerned about Ruri’s reaction.

“You must be tired. I’d suggest having a cup of tea and relaxing.”

Jade agreed, saying, “Yes, I’d appreciate it.”

As they were shown around the premises, Ruri walked with her mouth agape. The castle was white, inside and out. This much white meant that Awain had some sort of fixation on the shade.

As her heels clacked along the white marble floors, Ruri suddenly felt a gaze on her. She looked around to find a man staring—or rather, glaring—at her with deep blue eyes. His gaze was just as fierce and intense as Awain’s. Ruri had no idea why this mysterious man was staring daggers at her, but she clung to Jade’s arm nonetheless.

“Ruri?” Jade asked, noticing she was acting strange. He traced her line of sight until it reached the pillar, where the scowling man could be seen.

When Awain saw that Jade and Ruri had stopped walking, he naturally stopped as well. He noticed the man they were both staring at and asked him, “What are you doing over there, Lapis?”

Ruri looked confused, so Jade explained, “He’s the Beloved of the Nation of the Spirit King and Awain’s son.”

That made sense, considering that his intense eyes had made her wonder if the two were blood relations.

With all eyes on him, the Nation of the Spirit King’s Beloved, Lapis, marched his way up to Ruri without taking his eyes off of her and suddenly took her right hand. He stared at Ruri with what could easily be mistaken for an antagonistic glare, but before she could imagine what he would say to her, he simply stated, “I’ve fallen for you. Be my bride.”

“Pardon...?”

The air instantly froze over—mainly from where Jade was standing. His face was obscured from view. In the next instant, he used his hand to chop through Lapis’s grip and separate the two. Then he grasped Ruri in his arms.

“With all due respect, she is my mate. You should find someone else.”

“I don’t want to. I want her. She’s mine.”

“Ruri is mine. I would never give her up.”

“You do realize that I’m a Beloved, don’t you? Are you sure you want to say that to m— Gaah!”

Awain put an end to their childish argument by hitting the top of Lapis’s head with his fist.

“Yowch! What’re you doing, old man?!” Lapis complained.

Awain replied, “It’s called educational guidance, my foolish son!”

“Quit butting in. I’ve met my soulmate.”

“You need to stop falling in love at the drop of a hat!”

“I’m serious this time. This meeting is the last one for sure.”

“You said the exact same thing two weeks ago to the new maid, you idiot of a son! ‘Last time,’ indeed! How many ‘soulmates’ must you meet before you’re satisfied?!”

As the father and son bickered with each other, Jade wiped off Ruri’s hand—the one that Lapis had held—with a handkerchief.

The Spirit King’s aide, who watched the seemingly endless father-son spat with disappointment, decided to guide Jade and the others instead. According to him, their bickering was a common occurrence and no one would try to step in and break it up.

The aide showed Ruri and the others to a room where they took a breather with some tea. Once everyone had relaxed, the aide said, “The Spirit of Trees is looking forward to meeting with you. If you’d like, I shall take you to see them.”

“Yes, I would appreciate that,” replied Ruri. Meeting with the Spirit of Trees was her original reason for coming here. Taking Kotaro and the other supreme-level spirits with her, Ruri had the aide show her to where the Spirit of Trees was.

In the center of the castle, there was a large tree with lush, verdant leaves that seemed to cover the sky. That was the Spirit of Trees. This gigantic tree, which had been in place since the founding of the Nation of the Spirit King, towered over the people as if watching over them. It was a sight nothing short of spectacular.

“Amazing...” Ruri uttered, looking up at the tree with a mixture of surprise and excitement.

Just then, an old man with a transparent body appeared from the tree. With his long white beard, he looked like a mountain sage of some kind.

“Good of you to come, Beloved of the Nation of the Dragon King and contract-bearer of my brethren.”

“Erm, might you be the Spirit of Trees?” Ruri asked.

“Indeed I am. Though I believe I invited only you, I see that you’ve brought along quite the entourage,” the Spirit of Trees commented, looking around at Kotaro and the others.

“Oh? And where’s the harm?” said Rin, flying up to him. “It’s not like it’s every day that we have so many of our brethren in one spot.”

“You have a point. How many millennia has it been since this many of us have gathered together, I wonder.”

“Do supreme-level spirits not see each other that often?” Ruri inquired.

“Aye, that’s right. I may stay exclusively in the Nation of the Spirit King, but not many of my other brethren stay in the same place for years on end. Fire and Wind there especially.”

“Heh, wherever there are beautiful women, that is where I’ll be,” Heat said in a haughty tone, though nothing he said was anything to be proud of.

“I was taken aback when I heard that Wind made a contract with a human in spite of his lack of interest in them. But I see he’s changed quite a lot in the short time since I last saw him.”

“Yes, Kotaro has seen the most change,” said Rin.

Kotaro protested, “Well, I don’t think I’ve changed all that much...”

“No, you have,” Rin insisted.

“Oh, yeah, big time,” Chi chimed in.

Though three of his brethren were telling him so, Kotaro didn’t seem too willing to accept it.

“Beloved of the Nation of the Dragon King, are you getting along well with Time?”

“Yes, I think we are, at least.”

“I see. That’s good, then. I was curious about what kind of person you were since you made contracts with two spirits who normally have no ties with humans, but if you’re getting along with both Wind and Time, then that will do. I ask that you continue to take care of my brethren.”

“Oh, no, I am absolutely indebted to all of you,” Ruri said with emotion.

It seemed that the Spirit of Trees was just worried about his brethren. He’d heard that they had made contracts with a human, so he wanted to check what kind of human the contract-bearer was.

The day after they met with the Spirit of Trees, Kotaro and the other supreme-level spirits were still chatting about their first reunion in years.

◆ ◆ ◆ ◆

Ruri was about to go into town with Jade to enjoy their honeymoon, which was the other purpose of their trip. Ruri’s heart was bouncing with joy since a date in town wasn’t something they did—not even back in their own kingdom.

“Are you ready, Ruri?” asked Jade.

“Yes, all set!” she replied.

Just as Ruri was about to take Jade’s outstretched hand so that they could be on their way, her body was suddenly lifted up, and someone took her into their arms.

Ruri blinked, dumbfounded. “Huh...?”

Jade was equally flabbergasted, but he shook it off and quickly tried to reach for Ruri. However, a literal wall of spirits stood in his way.

“No!”

“Nuh-uh!”

“You’re not getting through here!”

“The rest is up to you guys!” said the person.

“No problem!” the spirits replied in unison.

The only one who could control this many spirits was a Beloved, and the only other Beloved here aside from Ruri was Lapis. As Jade tried to get past the wall of spirits, Lapis sprinted off like a jackrabbit. He ran all the way to town, where he finally let Ruri down.

“Jeez, what are you doing?!” Ruri angrily asked.

“All right, where’d you like to go now?”

“Where’d I’d ‘like to go’ nothing! I was about to go out with Jade-sama!”

“Okay, let’s go to my favorite restaurant, then.”

Lapis wasn’t listening at all. Ruri tried to fight back, but he took her by the hand and refused to let her get away. With no other choice, Ruri reluctantly followed him.

Ruri wasn’t sure why this was happening. Up until a second ago, she was giddy about going on a date with Jade, but now instead of being with the person she loved the most, she was with some frumpy-faced cretin. This was the absolute pits.

Though discontent and displeasure were written all over Ruri’s face, Lapis was oblivious to it. It was just the two of them—not a bodyguard in sight. Ruri wondered if it was okay for a Beloved to go out without security, but Lapis walked the crowded streets without a care, as if he had done this a million times. The townspeople weren’t overreacting to seeing Lapis either. They greeted him cheerfully, in fact.

“You don’t come out with bodyguards?” Ruri asked.

“Why would I need those? These are my stomping grounds. No one would dare try to harm me here. And if someone did, the people around here would help me out.”

The people of the Nation of the Spirit King were very religious, like the Nation of the Beast King’s people. But instead of revering spirits as gods, the people here loved the spirits with a sense of familiarity, and they treated their Beloveds as well as they would their own family. Lapis being the son of the Spirit King, a wise and lauded ruler, probably also played a large part.

As they walked through the town, Ruri grew a little envious of the goodwill she felt from the townspeople. She wished she could be like this in the city of the Nation of the Dragon King. She was immensely frustrated with Lapis, but she reconsidered, thinking that he might not be such a bad person if this many townsfolk liked him.

Forced to change her initial plans from a lovey-dovey, sightseeing date with Jade, Ruri walked around the city. But just when it seemed like they would be leaving, she felt a chill run down her spine. Lapis felt the same chill and stopped dead in his tracks.

“Well, aren’t you having fun?” said a voice packed with rage, as if echoing from the very bowels of hell.

Ruri and Lapis both slowly turned around, their faces pale.

Ruri gasped. Staring at the both of them with a sharp look—one that rivaled Awain’s—stood Jade with his feet firmly planted and his hands on his hips.

Jade grabbed Lapis by the head with so much force that you could almost hear a cracking sound.

“Eep!” Lapis looked like a timid frog trapped in front of a leering snake. His face went deathly pale.

“I told you. I told you that Ruri is my mate. But it seems you’d like a one-on-one lesson about how immoral it is for someone to make a pass at a male dragonkin’s mate.”

Lapis’s legs were quaking like a frightened fawn’s.

“Come, we’re going back. I would most likely end up killing you if I went any further, so enjoy being raked across the coals by Awain,” Jade said as he dragged the scared Lapis back with them to the castle.

Awain was standing in wait, and as soon as they returned, he clocked his son right across the head.

“You foolish excuse for an offspring!”

“Gaah!”

Awain proceeded to give him a lengthy and stern talking-to.

Jade also ended up scolding Ruri. He said that she could have escaped if she’d felt like it. She defended herself by saying that theory and actually having a stranger lead you everywhere by the hand were two different stories.

Ruri averted her gaze from Jade and noticed that the Spirit of Light, who had said she’d be staying behind in the Nation of the Dragon King to take care of business, was also there. When Ruri asked why she was here, she said that she had finished her business and had come to see the Spirit of Trees herself.

While Ruri conversed with the Spirit of Light, Lapis shoved Awain away in the middle of his fatherly lecture. As Awain stewed in anger and confusion, Lapis walked up to the Spirit of Light, took her hand, and said, “I’ve fallen for you. Be my bride.”

Just then, Awain’s fist came crashing down on his head once again.

Ruri and Jade couldn’t help but be shocked and disappointed. What was even the point of all the fuss he caused today? They could have done without any of this. 

“I finally have a trip with you and look what happens,” Jade vented, frustrated by the unnecessary interruption.

Ruri hadn’t expected this to happen either. It was their first time out on the town in a long while, but this had squandered the entire day for them.

“Well, we can always try again tomorrow,” Ruri offered, taking his hand.

Jade’s temper finally petered out, and his expression began to soften. “That’s right. And I swear I won’t let anyone get in our way tomorrow.”

“Why don’t we just go by ourselves while we’re at it? When I was in town today, it seemed safe enough for two Beloveds to be out on their own, so I don’t think we need a procession of bodyguards around if you’re there, Jade-sama.”

“Just the two of us, huh? I see. A leisurely stroll without worrying about threats around us...just the two of us...”

“Yes! Then it would make it feel more like a date! I learned a lot of good eateries today, so I’ll show you tomorrow,” Ruri said, trying to contain her excitement.

“I’m not exactly thrilled that you learned them from another man, but oh well. I suppose I’ll keep my hopes up.”

“Of course! Just leave it to me!”

The two of them leaned close and smiled at each other. Tenderness filled the air around them. They’d had their fair share of problems along the way, but it looked like they would be able to enjoy their initial plan of a lovey-dovey honeymoon trip after all.