Chapter 2: The Cuddle Ban
On the same day, Ruri was standing in the kitchen—without Jade. They’d been almost inseparable since they wed, so it was an unusual sight. But just because Jade wasn’t by her side, it didn’t mean that she was alone; Kotaro, Rin, and other lesser spirits were surrounding her.
Kotaro and Rin had said that they were unhappy she’d been spending more time with Jade and less with the spirits. They congratulated her on her marriage, but they were still upset. Not even Jade could ignore a massive gang of spirits all asking Ruri to give them attention as well, so he’d had to reluctantly let her go.
Ruri decided to bake cookies for the spirits. It was the first time she’d hung out with them in a long while. Kotaro, Rin, and the others were ecstatic to have Ruri all to themselves. Kotaro, for example, was very excitedly wagging his tail. His canine loyalty was as steadfast as ever. Rin was also jovially flying circles around Ruri.
“It’s been so long since I’ve had your cookies, Ruri,” said Kotaro. The scent coming from the oven made his nose twitch in delight.
“Isn’t that the truth?! Ruri has been spending all her time with the king as of late,” Rin added.
“Hey, listen, I’m sorry. I’m really sorry,” apologized Ruri. “I never thought that Jade-sama would get that clingy.”
“Dragonkin are very possessive of their mates, after all,” stated Rin.
“Yeah, I’ve heard the stories before, but still...”
“Some dragonkin mates can’t handle their spouse’s attachment and end up running away, so you should be careful, Ruri,” Rin explained, clarifying that it wasn’t a concern when both parties were dragonkin.
Ruri knew quite a bit about how attached a dragonkin could get because of the former Dragon King, Quartz. His extraordinary fixation on Seraphie, his mate, would probably be incomprehensible to a human being. It had even driven him to abdicate the throne and wander the world in search of her reincarnation.
“Well, you can warn me to be careful, but I don’t know what to be careful of,” retorted Ruri.
“Just don’t make him jealous,” Rin suggested. “Then again, the king is a rather reasonable dragonkin, so I doubt there’s much to worry about. Besides, we’ll be here for you if things get ugly!”
The other spirits raised their hands in solidarity.
“I’ll help you escape~!”
“Me too!”
“Let’s just beat ’em down!”
“Should we bury them?”
“We’ll beat ’em to a pulp~!”
All of the spirits started happily discussing how they would beat Jade black and blue.
Ruri scrambled to quash their discussion, saying, “I-I appreciate the sentiment, guys, but that won’t be necessary.”
It would be terrible if Jade suffered a surprise attack under Ruri’s nose. The spirits’ loyalty to a Beloved was frightening.
“Ruri~! They’re done~!” called a fire spirit who’d been watching the oven.
“Right! On it!” replied Ruri.
She pulled the sheet pan out of the oven, revealing the beautiful golden brown cookies. They smelled delectable.
“They turned out nice!” Ruri remarked.
“Wow! They’re done!”
“They smell so good!”
“They turned out so well~!”
Ruri moved the cookies from the pan to a plate, making sure to avoid getting burned, and let them cool a little. Then she picked up one and put it in her mouth. It was crispy and had just the right amount of sweetness.
“Mmm~! Oh yeah, nothing beats a cookie fresh out of the oven.”
Rin shouted, “Me too! Me too!”
“I also want one!” exclaimed Kotaro.
Once Ruri gave both Rin and Kotaro a cookie each, they stuffed their cheeks. However, it seemed that one cookie wasn’t nearly enough for Kotaro with his gigantic body. He stared at the pile sitting on the plate with sparkling eyes.
“Wait just a second,” Ruri said, splitting the cookies into shares for Kotaro and Rin. Then she put the rest on a large plate.
The eagle-eyed Rin looked at it, asking, “Ruri, what’s that big pile for?”
“I’m taking that to Lydia’s for a tea party. I haven’t seen her in a while either.”
“Yes, I’m sure Time will be pleased,” Kotaro affirmed. He was interested in how Lydia was doing as well.
Since Lydia couldn’t leave the pocket space, guests had to go there to see her. There was a limited number of people who could enter that space, though. Kotaro and the other spirits shared a unique spirit-only connection with Lydia, but they couldn’t enter the space that she inhabited. As a result, Lydia was alone. She couldn’t travel freely or meet others like the spirits on the outside, even with that connection. Ruri would ask why that was, but Lydia would only vaguely answer, “That’s just how things work.”
There was a lot that Ruri didn’t know about spirits, even though they were always so close to her. As a human, Ruri couldn’t even begin to understand. The only thing she could do was visit the pocket space on occasion and have tea parties with Lydia. Even if it was something as small and silly as that, it was still enjoyable for Lydia since she was forced to stay there. That was exactly why Ruri felt sorry for not visiting her sooner.
Ruri had prepared the tea and was about to go to Lydia’s place, when Seraphie, Quartz’s mate, suddenly popped up.
“Oh my, what are you doing, Ruri?” she asked.
“Oh, it’s you, Seraphie-san. I was planning to have a tea party with Lydia in the pocket space, so I’m getting ready for it.”
“Oh, that sounds fun. Care if I join you?”
Seraphie was a ghost. Before she died, she’d used sorcery to transfer her soul into a ring so that she could remain in the world of the living—all for Quartz’s sake. Quartz hadn’t known about her plan, though, and had buried the ring along with her remains. Afterward, grave robbers stole the ring, and one of them stored it in his pocket space. Sadly, because of a falling out between the robbers, the owner of the pocket space lost his life. The ring had sat in there for decades, but Seraphie had finally made her way back to Quartz.
Quartz was on a high that could put the happy newlywed Jade to shame. Quartz used to be the embodiment of possessiveness back when Seraphie was still alive, never letting her out in public. Thankfully, he seemed to have relaxed some, because Seraphie could be seen walking around the castle from time to time.
At first, the people in the castle panicked and screamed at the ghost in their midst, but once they learned that it was Quartz’s mate, everyone shed tears of joy. Nowadays, no one was surprised to see Seraphie roaming around.
Seraphie enjoyed strolling around the castle since she hadn’t been able to do so while alive, but she spent most of her time during the day with Quartz. Knowing that, Ruri wondered if it would be okay for her to go somewhere Quartz couldn’t follow, like the pocket space.
“Will Quartz-sama be upset if you go?” Ruri asked.
“He’s helping the king with his duties, so he’ll be fine,” Seraphie replied.
“I don’t mind if you come, but shouldn’t you say something to him first?”
Since Seraphie was a ghost, she could stay in the pocket space without any issues, but if she were to suddenly leave without explanation, Quartz would probably hassle the outside world in general.
Seraphie, however, smiled cheerfully and said, “It’ll be fine. Just fine. I want to move around as I please.”
While she was alive, Seraphie had remained sheltered from the public out of respect for Quartz’s wishes, but now she was enjoying her newfound freedom. It probably gave Quartz a headache, given his stronger-than-usual attachment to her, but it seemed that not even he could restrict Seraphie after she’d been locked in a small pocket space room for decades.
“Well then, I’m ready. Are you?” asked Ruri.
“Yes. We can go at any time,” Seraphie replied.
Ruri asked herself if it would really be okay. She was worried that Quartz would yell at her later. Nonetheless, she opened her pocket space and hopped inside with her tea and cookies.
Ruri’s pocket space was filled with a multitude of items, as always. She’d inherited many of them from Lydia’s previous contract-bearer, the first Dragon King, Weidt. A portrait of him hung on the wall.
Ruri knew that Lydia would tenderly gaze at the portrait. Weidt was very special to Lydia. Even if Ruri wasn’t able to fill that hole, she at least wanted to help Lydia enjoy herself in any way possible.
“Oh, Lydia~! I’m here!” Ruri announced.
Lydia phased into view and smiled in delight.
“Welcome, Ruri. And you too, Seraphie.”
“Thank you for having me, O Spirit of Time,” Seraphie replied, politely bowing to Lydia.
“I made you some cookies,” Ruri said.
She placed the cookies and tea on the table Lydia had set and then took a seat. Lydia and Seraphie followed soon after.
“I haven’t had your cookies in so long!” Lydia said, her eyes lighting up.
Seeing her face, Ruri felt racked with guilt.
“I’m sorry I haven’t stopped by as of late.”
“Tee hee hee. It’s fine. You are a newlywed now. They say that dragonkin are jealous, so I assume the king wouldn’t let you leave his side, yes?”
“More or less.”
“It’s no problem to me if it’s no problem to you. But if that dragonkin clinginess becomes too much to bear, just let me know. I’ll ensure that you can make a getaway,” Lydia said with a very cheeky wink.
Ruri smiled awkwardly, replying, “Rin pretty much said the same thing to me. It’s appreciated, but are dragonkin really so problematic that you need to warn people about them?”
“Of course they are!” confirmed Seraphie, the senior dragonkin mate. “In the beginning, I was elated that such a handsome man passionately confessed to me, and I found myself falling in love not long after. And, well, that isn’t problematic in and of itself, but if I talked to a member of the opposite sex, he would come up and intimidate me with that smile. His harmless looks caught me off guard and, before I knew it, he brought me to the Nation of the Dragon King, married me, and locked me away from people.”
Ruri had heard that Quartz’s confinement had been...thorough.
“Didn’t you resist, Seraphie-san?”
“I did!” Seraphie insisted. “But when he admonished me with that gentle smile, I nodded my head...and let him cajole me into agreeing.” She saw the exasperated look on Ruri’s face and blurted out, “I mean, how was I supposed to resist?! Quartz’s face is exactly my type! You would nod and say ‘yes’ if a face like that asked you for a favor, right? Right?!”
“Aha ha... U-Um, well, Quartz is especially handsome for a dragonkin,” Ruri said. She could understand Seraphie’s feelings since Jade was a good-looking man himself. If someone with his looks were to appear depressed in front of her, she would present her paw pads to him in a heartbeat.
“I suggest that you be careful, Ruri. If you don’t secure your territory while you can, then he’ll encroach on you and eventually shut you in. The dragonkin are extremely obsessive,” Seraphie warned her. Then she added with flushed cheeks, “But, well, their loving nature is one of their good traits.”
Ruri wanted to ask which point she was trying to make.
“Whether you feel love or whether you feel constricted depends on the individual. How about you, Ruri? Are you okay with it?” Seraphie asked.
“Yes. I don’t feel constricted for the time being,” Ruri replied. She was glad to see Jade fully expressing his love.
“That’s good to hear, then. Still, heed my warning. There is one thing that you must adhere to.”
“What is it?” Ruri asked, listening intensely.
“Don’t ever make him jealous. Be careful, especially when talking to the opposite sex. If you so much as try to strike up some friendly conversation, they’ll lock you in the bedroom and won’t let you out until morning.”
“I’ll...be careful.”
Both Ruri and Lydia suspected that Seraphie had been speaking from personal experience given the awfully specific nature of her words.
The three girls chatted idly as they enjoyed their tea and cookies. Being a ghost, Seraphie wasn’t partaking in the refreshments, but she provided the party with plenty to talk about. As a former witch of Yadacain, she talked at length about the country’s history, its witches, and their sorcery—all of which Ruri knew nothing about.
“Apparently, the witches of Yadacain stayed in the Nation of the Dragon King at some point. They used their own brand of magic that didn’t employ the spirits’ power, but people called their sorcery ‘witchcraft’ and feared it, believing that it cursed people. In actuality, cursing people is such an advanced skill that there were hardly any who could do it. Facing persecution for simply being capable of such feats, they drifted over to the Nation of the Dragon King. Relations soured even there, and the witches took to the sea, where they founded the nation we now know as Yadacain. The first queen was quite young, but she was said to possess immense power as a witch. Sadly, she died young due to illness.”
“Oh, but that’s not accurate,” Lydia interjected.
“Huh?” murmured Seraphie.
“Yadacain’s first queen didn’t die of illness. She was murdered.”
“She was?”
“Yes. I would know since Weidt was friends with her. When he heard she was dead, Weidt flew off in a rage and stormed to Yadacain.”
“Did he know who killed her?” Ruri questioned, resting her chin in her hand.
“The next in line to be queen.”
“Whoa, wasn’t that pretty dangerous?” Ruri asked, realizing that the Dragon King storming into a nation like that was likely to kick-start a war.
“They ended up driving Weidt out. He came to me to grumble and complain about it.”
“Why would the successor do something like that, though?” Seraphie questioned. She was curious about this new piece of her homeland’s history, especially since it differed from what she always knew.
“Spirit Slayer started it all. A witch created the Spirit Slayer magic, but the first queen realized its dangers and wouldn’t allow them to use it. The witch didn’t like that decision and killed the first queen, becoming the queen herself. That’s about it.”
“Oh wow...” Ruri disinterestedly hummed as she stuffed her face with cookies.
“You may think this doesn’t pertain to you, Ruri, but she has a link to you too,” Lydia stated.
“How so?”
“The bracelet you use to turn into a cat. The first queen made it and gave it to Weidt. It’s been assisting you a great deal thus far, hasn’t it?”
“Yeah, it has, actually,” Ruri replied. She couldn’t count the number of times that the magic bracelet had helped her out or how many cuddle-starved dragonkin it had comforted.
Seraphie commented, “That cat-transforming bracelet of yours is truly something amazing, Ruri. I don’t remember or know anyone who has been able to create a magic tool that can transform one so perfectly.”
A magic tool was an item that contained the magical power of mana. Seraphie explained that there were two types of magic tools: ones that utilized the user’s own mana to activate and ones that used a solidified stone of mana called a magic stone.
“And it’s even more difficult to make something with a semipermanent effect like your bracelet.”
The raiders who attacked Ruri before had a bracelet that turned people into rats, but it had a limited number of uses. Humans without mana could use it, but it would become useless once the mana in the magic stone was consumed. Seraphie admitted that she could, in theory, create one herself.
There were supposedly only a handful who could make a bracelet with unlimited usage like Ruri’s. Ruri’s bracelet would activate as long as the user had mana. If someone without mana were to wear it, it would be just a normal bracelet. But as long as they had mana to power it, the bracelet could be used forever. It was difficult to make because of that, and Seraphie’s attempts to explain the process sounded like gibberish to Ruri.
“Would it be hard for even you to craft one, Seraphie-san?” Ruri asked.
Seraphie was a skilled witch, powerful enough to seal her own soul into a ring.
Be that as it may, Seraphie replied, “Hmm. That might be a little much for me. I think I could only just make one if I copied yours.”
“Wouldn’t it explode in popularity if you sold it?”
In this world—especially in the Nation of the Dragon King where humans and demi-humans coexisted without discrimination—there were plenty of humans who wished to change into animals, and demi-humans who wanted to turn into other races. Ruri would sometimes overhear the dragonkin who worked at the castle wishing they could be cats or admiring fluffier demi-humans.
Ruri and Seraphie looked at each other and grinned deviously.
“We might be able to make a ton of money,” Seraphie concluded.
Ruri thought for a moment and said, “Should we sell them to the dragonkin first?”
That was when Seraphie realized there was a problem.
“Aah, we can’t, though.”
“Why can’t we?” asked Ruri.
“We don’t have any magic stones. If it were a simple magic tool, then you wouldn’t need a stone to act as a conduit for the magic. But when it comes to advanced magic like shapeshifting, I won’t be able to do it myself unless I use magic stones.”
“You can make simple ones without them?”
“Yes. I mean, if I had the power and wisdom of the first queen, who made your bracelet, I might be able to create bracelets without magic stones, but I certainly can’t do it on my own. I collected some in Yadacain, but you won’t find many just lying around...”
Seraphie let her eyes wander around the room until she spotted something and gasped.
“Oh!”
Ruri followed her gaze to a mountain of gemstones on the floor. She didn’t know what kind of gemstones they were, but there were plenty of them littering the room. She’d inherited them from Weidt. They were so clear, sparkly, and beautiful that she’d gathered them all in one place. The resulting pile was well over Ruri’s height.
“Those are magic stones,” Lydia stated.
“Huh?! Are you serious?!”
“Yes. I guess they really were just lying around. How convenient.”
According to Seraphie, magic stones took years to form, and only in places with a large concentration of natural mana. Finding those places was by no means an easy task.
Lydia knew the reason Weidt had owned so many, so she explained, “Magic stones used to be so abundant in Yadacain that you could find them strewn all over. Weidt used to pick them up and collect them. However, the Spirit Slayer absorbed the mana in the earth, causing their numbers to dwindle. Now that Spirit Slayer has been wiped from Yadacain, I would imagine that magic stones will gradually start to multiply.”
“Spirit Slayer really doesn’t do any good, does it?” Ruri commented.
“When you put it that way, I feel somewhat guilty,” Seraphie replied. She was from Yadacain and had benefited from Spirit Slayer up until Quartz took her away. She probably felt conflicted in more ways than one, but she perked up and said, “Still, I can create as many bracelets as I please with these!”
“Lydia, can we use them?” Yuri asked.
“I don’t mind. Everything you see here belongs to you, Ruri. Use anything as you see fit. Magic stones are nothing more than junk to people who don’t know how to use them, anyway.”
Weidt had enjoyed collecting all of the stones, but he’d left them in storage since he hadn’t known how to use them.
“In that case, I’ll help myself,” Ruri said.
“Tee hee hee. With this many stones, we can easily become billionaires,” Seraphie declared. She couldn’t stop smiling.
Her mind filled with the prospect of rolling in oodles and oodles of cash, Ruri exclaimed, “Yes, and I’ll help too!”
“Ruri, shouldn’t you be keeping by the king’s side instead of doing that? You haven’t finished tuning the dragonheart yet, right?” Lydia prodded.
Ruri’s cheeks instantly heated up. “H-H-H-How do you know that?!” she asked, panicking.
Lydia cocked her head, her expression blank. “Did I say something to disturb you? I know looks can deceive, but I am a spirit. I can find out something as simple as that without asking. After all, I can sense a different mana inside of you.”
“O-Oh, really?”
“The sooner you tune up, the better. The human body is weak. You’ll be tougher once you’re tuned, which will be a relief for me too.”
Lydia had said that as if it were nothing, but in order to tune the dragonheart, Ruri had to kiss Jade. The very thought of it turned Ruri’s cheeks positively red.
“Oh my, you’re not ready yet, Ruri?” asked Seraphie, the experienced spouse among them. “Well, I guess that makes sense seeing as how it takes time with humans. It took quite a while for me too. But even though it did strengthen my body, I died of illness,” she said with a cheerful chuckle. There wasn’t an iota of doom or gloom in her voice; she was an extremely bright and cheery ghost.
Since Seraphie was more experienced, Ruri asked her, “Um, so, Seraphie-san... When you were tuning, did you also, well, you know...”
“Are you asking if I kissed?” Seraphie said without hesitation.
“Um, yes...”
Seraphie nodded. “It was a shock to me too when I first heard it. I never would’ve thought that kissing was necessary for the synchronization process.”
“Personally, I don’t know if I’ll be able to handle it...” Ruri said. The whole process made her want to die of embarrassment.
“You just have to bear with it,” Seraphie said with a look of calm resignation that Ruri couldn’t help but admire. “There’s no other way, from what I’ve been told. I was embarrassed half to death too, but I stuck with it. That is the fate of dragonkin spouses.”
Ruri was already making a lot of concessions, so to speak. “Just who does kissing to tune this thing really benefit?!” she retorted.
“Aha ha ha... Well, it did put Quartz in a good mood. Still, you’ll just have to concede on this.”
“Unghh...”
As Ruri and Seraphie talked at length about the synchronization process, Lydia timidly interjected, “Erm... You don’t need to kiss to tune a dragonheart.”
“Huh...?!”
“Huh?!”
Both Ruri and Seraphie loudly gasped and turned toward Lydia.
“You tune a dragonheart by simply transferring mana to the person. All you need to do is touch any spot on their body.”
“Huh? Does that mean...?” Ruri started.
“Simply holding hands would suffice,” Lydia confirmed.
“Say what?!” Ruri exclaimed.
“Excuse me?!” Seraphie hollered.
They were both stunned.
“But Jade-sama said it was necessary!”
“And Quartz said that as well!”
“M-Maybe the two of you were tricked, then?”
A single emotion started to bubble up from deep inside both women—anger.
“Seraphie-san!”
“Right behind you, Ruri!”
The two looked at one another, opened up an exit from the pocket space, and started walking toward it.
“Lydia, I’ll see you later. Some minor business just popped up,” Ruri called over her shoulder.
Seraphie added, “Thank you for having us, O Spirit of Time.”
“Oh dear,” Lydia said to herself with a wry smile as she watched them leave her behind.
◆ ◆ ◆ ◆
Ruri ran as fast as she could, Seraphie right by her side, from the pocket space to the royal office. She knocked on the door with enough force to break it down before she entered. There she found Jade, looking back at her with wide eyes. As luck would have it, Quartz was also there.
“What’s wrong, Ruri? You look angry for some reason,” Jade questioned.
Ruri stood in front of Jade, flashed him a scary smile, and asked, “Jade-sama, you can tune a dragonheart by just holding hands, can’t you?!”
Seraphie then pressed Quartz, saying, “The Spirit of Time told us. You said that kissing was necessary for the tuning, didn’t you? So that means you tricked me?!”
Jade and Quartz remained silent for a second before they averted their eyes and clicked their tongues.
“Tch, the secret’s out,” Jade murmured.
“She should have minded her own business,” Quartz whispered.
Despite their mumbling, Ruri and Seraphie heard them loud and clear.
“Jade-samaaaa!”
“Quarrrrtz!”
The two ladies were seething, and the men were beginning to panic.
“No, wait, Ruri. I was just, you see... Um, well...”
“Calm down, Seraphie. I did it out of love.”
As the two of them tried to worm their way out of this situation, Ruri and Seraphie turned their backs to them.
“R-Ruri?”
“Seraphie?”
They reached out, only to grab nothing but air.
“Jade-sama, I’m imposing a cuddle ban for the time being!” Ruri declared.
Jade’s jaw almost fell off his face. “No, please hold on. Anything but that...”
Cuddling cured what ailed Jade the most, and there was no greater form of penance he could endure than having that taken away from him.
Ruri, however, barked, “No! I won’t turn into a cat in front of you anymore because of your lies, Jade-sama!”
“And as for you, Quartz, I’m not going to show myself to you for a while,” Seraphie asserted.
Quartz was also panicking. “What are you saying, Seraphie?!” he cried.
“I’m saying that this is the most effective punishment for you.”
“Wait. Hold on, please!” Quartz screamed, running toward Seraphie, but Seraphie turned transparent until she eventually melted into thin air.
She most likely went back inside the ring that housed her soul. Quartz had the ring in his possession, but there was nothing he could do now that Seraphie had retreated.
“Seraphie! Seraphie!” Quartz desperately yelled at the ring. Deafening silence was the only response he got.
“Jade-sama, Quartz-sama, you two need to think about what you’ve done!” Ruri yelled as a parting remark before exiting the office.
No Comments Yet
Post a new comment
Register or Login