Chapter 9: The Three Beloveds
Ruri and the others rode in a carriage provided by the welcome party, and it wasn’t long before they made it to the castle. The castle, floating atop a lake, was just as captivating and beautiful as ever. This was Ruri’s second time seeing it, but its beauty moved her no matter how many times she looked at it.
“Those from the Nation of the Beast King and the Imperial Nation arrived not too long ago, so everyone is assembled,” said a man from the welcome party.
“I see. I thought we left early, but I suppose we took too much time,” Jade replied.
As the two men conversed with one another, Ruri stood at the castle’s entrance with her mouth agape. Her eyes were transfixed on a certain something sitting there.
“Kotaro is here...” she murmured.
Yes, there was Kotaro, adorning the entrance. Of course, it wasn’t the current Kotaro. It was the body of a large boar-like magic beast that Kotaro had used before he acquired his current body. It was sitting up straight, looking regal and eye-catching.
“Why is this here?” Ruri asked, confused.
The person from the Nation of the Spirit King explained, “This was left behind by the Spirit of Wind. We struggled with how to dispose of it since, even though it was a magic beast’s body, it was a special body used by the great Spirit of Wind. We couldn’t just dispose of it like any old beast, so we decided to have it stuffed and placed at the entrance for all to see. Of course, we obtained the permission of the great Spirit of Trees.”
“Right. Is that so?” Ruri remarked.
Kotaro had mentioned that he’d left his previous body here since it was dead weight. Ruri had worried that it would end up on a dining table; she never would have expected that she’d see it again, especially stuffed and on display. She had mixed feelings about it, but she decided to accept it since they were taking good care of it as an outdoor art installment.
“You all must be weary after your long trip. I shall lead you to your rooms.”
Since they would be meeting the Spirit King and the people from the other nations tomorrow, they were shown to their rooms so that they could relieve their fatigue.
The room made up for Ruri was actually Jade’s, as if it were a matter of fact. Granted, it wasn’t a problem since they were husband and wife now. Actually, they’d been sleeping in the same room even before they were married.
Nothing had felt strange about it at first since they met when she was masquerading as a cat. But they continued to sleep in the same room even after Jade learned that she was a human—which was odd in retrospect. However, given the fact that no one called it into question, it was probably every vassal’s wish at that point to make Ruri the Dragon Queen—with Ruri being none the wiser.
Though it had all worked out because Ruri had accepted Jade as her mate, what would have happened if she had gone with someone else? Considering how clingy and touchy-feely Jade was now, she was too afraid to even picture it. He would likely make whoever it was disappear—permanently. After all, he was the Dragon King, a man with power and authority in no short supply. He could easily get rid of one person. Surely Ruri wasn’t the only one who was relieved that their love was mutual.
While Ruri was relaxing with Jade, Kotaro and Rin came into the room. They’d apparently gone to say their hellos to the Spirit of Trees.
“Welcome back,” Ruri greeted them.
“Indeed,” replied Kotaro.
Rin added, “Good to be back!”
Kotaro and Rin took the couch across from Ruri and Jade.
“Ruri, it seems I still cannot track down the man you met in the market,” Kotaro reported.
“Not even you can find him, Kotaro?” Ruri asked in astonishment.
“Nope.”
“What the heck?”
The fact that not even Kotaro, a supreme-level spirit, could find him made Ruri all the more curious about who this man was. But then an unpleasant thought crossed her mind.
“You don’t think that Spirit Slayer is in use, do you?” asked Ruri.
“No. If that were the case, either Rin or I would have noticed when we met him. This is a different matter.”
“Then what could it be, I wonder.”
“That I do not know. I will just have to keep looking.”
“Okay.”
Jade, who had been listening to Ruri’s conversation, looked puzzled as he asked, “What are you all talking about?”
“About the man that I met today,” Ruri replied, explaining to Jade how suspicious the young man named Gibeon had been.
“Yes, that sounds suspicious indeed. Come to think of it, that outfit of his looked to be the native garb of the Nation of Iolite.”
“The Nation of Iolite?”
“A land that fell to ruin not too long ago,” Jade explained. “A neighboring nation attacked Iolite and assimilated it into their own, thereby eliminating its name. Judging by his clothes, I would assume that he has close ties to the Nation of Iolite.”
“Huh, you don’t say...”
“But I don’t know exactly what those ties may be,” Jade added.
Ruri turned to Kotaro. “Maybe you should just leave him be?”
“No. At this point, I will not be satisfied until I find out who he is,” Kotaro replied, showing his stubborn side.
The next day, the kings of the four nations and their Beloveds assembled. Jade escorted Ruri, who was dressed more lavishly than usual, into the room that acted as their meeting place. The other participants were already in attendance.
Once Jade stepped through the door, someone Ruri was familiar with came rushing toward him. It was Celestine, the Beloved of the Nation of the Beast King. “Master Jade!” she called.
Ruri slipped between Celestine and Jade as Celestine tried to cling to Jade’s arm. Ruri held her arms out wide and blocked the way.
Celestine frowned. “Lady Ruri, you’re in the way!”
“Naturally. That is my intention. Jade-sama is my husband now, so I ask that you not get too handsy with him!”
“I still do not accept that as fact!”
“What are you talking about?! You were at the wedding!”
“Aaah, aaah, I can’t hear you!” Celestine said, covering her ears.
“Why are you acting like a child?!”
“I said I don’t accept it and I mean it. That was surely a hallucination. I am all but certain it was.”
“You are being such a sore loser. Why not just give up and face facts already?”
“Never!”
Jade and the Beast King, Arman, could only watch in dismay as Ruri and Celestine bickered. Instead, it was the Imperial Nation’s Emperor, Adularia, who spoke.
“You two there, I know you’re quite chummy with one another, but would you mind taking your seats already?”
“Lady Adularia, we are by no means ‘chummy,’ as you so put it,” Celestine corrected her.
Though Ruri and Celestine were the only ones who didn’t realize it, from an outsider’s perspective, they looked like they were just friendly ribbing each other.
Now that the bickering was finished for the time being, everyone settled into their seats. A silent tug-of-war began between the two ladies over who would sit next to Jade. Without any recourse, they sat in the seats on either side of him, sandwiching him in the middle.
“Now then, let’s begin,” Awain, the Spirit King, said. He signaled for a meal to be carted in.
The food in the Nation of the Spirit King wasn’t as heavily seasoned as the food in the Nation of the Beast King. Here it was lightly seasoned and mainly used broth made from fish and seaweed—things that Ruri was very familiar with.
While this food suited Ruri’s palate more so than the Nation of the Dragon King’s, she thought it might be a little lacking for the Nation of the Beast King’s two representatives. However, when she looked closer, she could see that Celestine and Arman’s food was a darker color than hers, implying that their meals had been tailored to their tastes.
Ruri talked among the others and enjoyed the seafood cuisine, similar to traditional Japanese kaiseki-ryori. The conversation was mostly all small talk about topics that even she, who didn’t have a clue about politics, could follow.
The rulers were more focused on the ship that Jade was so confident in. Awain and Adularia reacted favorably to the prospect of a ship that could travel faster than any before.
Then, as if on cue, Jade began to speak about the topic that had been on his mind.
“The Nation of the Dragon King had three Beloveds—Ruri and two members of her family. The nobles of the Imperial Nation took exception to that, and once Ruri’s grandfather learned of it, he left on a journey so as to mitigate any trouble. He took the supreme-level Spirit of Earth with him.”
Jade shot a stern look at Adularia.
Adularia held her head and let out a deep sigh. “What a fine mess.”
The palpable anguish in the ruler’s voice made Ruri feel she should do some damage control. “Oh, please don’t worry about it. Grandpa isn’t the type of person who stays in one place for very long anyway.”
Adularia shook her head. “No, the blame is squarely on us. I reprimanded the whole lot of those foolish noblemen, but it seems that I was a little too late.”
“As a result of this, our nation has lost one Beloved,” Jade continued. “Although it is not allowed to keep any Beloved against their will, the Imperial Nation’s nobles are clearly to blame here.”
“That’s right. It’s been a headache for me as well. I have more idiots in my court than I ever expected. Believe it or not, that’s them keeping things civil.”
“Which brings me to my point,” Jade said. “Allow me to strike a deal with those fools for the ship.”
Adularia’s eyes widened. “Why?”
“It’s a magic tool that’s a ship. I want them to understand that it is indeed rare and valuable. It’s also something that I can’t easily give away.”
Adularia nodded. His suggestion had confused her at first, but she smirked deviously, quickly picking up on what Jade was implying. “Hmm, now I get it. You’re going to use the ship as bait to silence the nobles. Very well. Our nation’s prestige is on the line. I will pressure them so that they make sure the dealings for this new ship with your nation succeed at any cost.”
“I’m glad we see eye to eye on this matter,” said Jade, he and Adularia grinning slyly at one another.
Seeing that matters were settled, Awain interjected, “But is the Beloved who left going to be all right? They are a human, aren’t they? It would be terrible if something happened to them. Shouldn’t you keep a guard detail on them?”
“Well, you see... Andal is with them, apparently,” Jade said, glancing at Arman.
Andal was not only Claus’s father, but also Arman’s father. That was probably the reason Arman grimaced in disgust when he heard Andal’s name.
“That rotten old man is with him?” Arman asked.
“Oh, well, that explains things. I suppose that’s a good enough reason not to be worried. Andal is a seasoned traveler. He also has the Spirit of Earth with him,” Awain said, convinced that things were fine—contrary to what Arman thought.
“So I see. He’ll be fine because Andal is with him, then,” Adularia surmised.
Once their meal was over, and Ruri was looking forward to dessert, Arman turned his attention to Celestine.
“Celestine,” Arman called.
“Lapis,” Awain said in similar fashion.
The two of them stood from their seats as if they knew what this implied.
Ruri watched in confusion, but Jade filled her in. “Ruri, Awain has prepared after-dinner tea for all of you in another room. You should go there with Celestine and Lapis.”
Ruri immediately picked up on the hint. Awain was saying that the top brass of all the nations were about to start a complex conversation. Meaning that any Beloveds, who were unable to interfere in political affairs, needed to vacate the meeting hall.
“Right, then,” Ruri replied. She copied the other Beloveds and stood up from her seat, following them as they left.
Jade then called out behind the group in a low, threatening tone, “Lapis, if you lay a finger on Ruri... Well, you know the consequences.”
“Um, yes sir!” Lapis replied, nodding repeatedly before rushing out the room in fear. Ruri smiled awkwardly and followed behind him.
In the room they were led to, there were more sweets than they could possibly eat, and once they sat down, tea was served. The tea had a vibrant pink hue, but it tasted like green tea, sending mixed signals to Ruri’s brain. It was delicious, nonetheless. The astringent tea went well with the sugary sweets.
As Ruri got swept up in the sugar rush and munched away, Celestine sharply commented, “You’re going to get fat, you know.”
“Grk!”
Ruri had been with Jade in his office a lot as of late. As a result, she hadn’t gotten much exercise, so she had been worried about the extra weight she’d put on. She shot Celestine a glare, Celestine’s amazing figure catching her eye, before she silently returned to nibbling on her plate of sweets.
“Oh, don’t let it get to you. You should eat whatever you want. Why, eat until you become so unsightly that Master Jade tosses you by the wayside.”
“Jade-sama would never toss me by the wayside because of that!” Ruri confidently declared.
Celestine gave Ruri the once-over and then sighed heavily. “Aah... Why did Master Jade pick this welp of a girl instead of me? I fail to understand.”
“That is so rude! You have some nerve saying that right in front of my face.”
Celestine, for whatever reason, was merciless when it came to Ruri. Part of that might have been because they were romantic rivals, but it also felt as though Celestine was being more herself because they were both Beloveds.
“By the way, are you finished tuning yet?” asked Celestine.
“No, not yet,” replied Ruri.
“I see. Not yet, are you?” Celestine repeated, giving Ruri a suggestive stare.
“W-What is it?” Ruri asked, now on guard.
“Nothing. I was just thinking that maybe I can make something happen before your tuning is complete.”
“You cannot!”
Celestine’s undying love for Jade pushed Ruri past the point of anger and toward a weird form of respect.
As they continued their conversation, a woman came into the room bearing fresh tea. Once Lapis saw her, he knelt in front of her and said, “I’ve fallen in love at first sight. Be my wife.” It was the same old routine. Both Ruri and Celestine just rolled their eyes.
“It makes your head hurt to think that he is a Beloved as well, doesn’t it?” Ruri commented.
“It’s a sickness. An incurable sickness that not even dragon’s blood can help alleviate. Leaving him be is the best option,” replied Celestine.
“Did you fall prey to Lapis once before as well, Celestine-san?”
“Yes, when I first met him. I quickly shot him down by telling him that Master Jade is everything to me.”
“You’re pretty persistent yourself, you know, Celestine-san.”
“Why, yes, of course I am. For there is always that one-in-a-million chance,” Celestine said with a sweet smile, not a hint of resignation.
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