The White Cat That Swore Vengeance Was Just Lazing on the Dragon King’s Lap - Volume 8 - Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Crisis in the Nation of the Beast King

Meanwhile, something terrible was happening in the Nation of the Beast King. Among the retainers who came to greet Arman from his trip to the Imperial Nation was the Nation of the Beast King’s Beloved, Celestine.

“Welcome back, Master Arman.”

“Hey, there,” Arman greeted her as usual with a raise of his hand. It wasn’t long before he found the girl he was looking for and rushed toward her. “Oh, Padparadscha!”

The girl with the long, loosely braided hair hanging from either side of her head smiled sweetly and opened her arms to him. “Master Arman.”

His lips curled into a broad grin as he gleefully took her into his embrace. Despite being in front of his other vassals, he showed no sign of caring. He normally had his chest puffed with a haughty demeanor, so to see him with a dopey, lovestruck smile on his face was an instant strikeout for him as the dignified ruler of a whole nation.

Celestine and the other retainers all wore exasperated expressions. Oblivious to their reactions, Arman’s eyes could only see the woman named Padparadscha before him. He was probably able to unwind since she was his most loyal and trusted subject among those present, but the disparity between this and his normal behavior—or rather, the difference in how he treated his other wives versus her—would make any of them go on a jealous rampage if they saw it.

“Have you been doing well while I was away?”

“Yes. The child inside of me is doing fine as well,” Padparadscha said with a big, swollen belly. Anyone could see what her status was from a single glance. “They’re moving around a lot as of late.”

“That’s my child. They’re probably chock-full of energy,” Arman said, staring at her soft smile as she rubbed her belly. The similarly kind smile on his face screamed that he was on top of the world.

Despite Arman having many wives, Padparadscha was the one who had filled the once-vacant role of his main wife and queen. Her eyes went from her own stomach to Arman with a sweet smile, and he couldn’t help but take her into his embrace.

“My wife is just too cute...” Arman said, letting his thoughts leak out loud as he squeezed Padparadscha.

Seeing that the girl seemed to be losing her breath in his arms, Celestine and Padparadscha’s caretakers panicked. They were skilled individuals who were strictly and thoroughly screened to take care of the pregnant queen. Any of them could have easily been chosen to serve as the caretakers of a Beloved.

“Master Arman! If you hug her that hard, you’ll harm the child! Please let go of her!” Celestine warned him, pulling the two apart to save Padparadscha. He looked worriedly at the queen, who was sighing in relief. “Are you all right, Lady Padparadscha?”

“Y-Yes, I am, Lady Beloved. I just found it a tad hard to breathe.”

Celestine turned from Padparadscha to Arman, glaring angrily as she scolded him. “Master Arman! You know that you’re ridiculously strong, so please try to hold back! What if something happens to your wife and child?! She is about to enter her final month, so being overly cautious is a must!”

“Sorry!” Arman replied, flinching at Celestine’s intensity despite his station. When it came to the Nation of the Beast King, where the king had more authority than in the Nation of the Dragon King, the only one who could tell off the Beast King was a Beloved like Celestine.

Rebuking Arman had inevitably turned into Celestine’s role. Despite the fact that he had never been seriously involved with anyone else before, he had been doting on Padparadscha as if he had lost all self-control. And since he would very often dote so much that he couldn’t hold back, he needed someone to stop him.

“Um...Lady Beloved, please don’t scold Master Arman too harshly,” Padparadscha pleaded sympathetically, warming Arman’s heart.

Celestine shot a cold sideways glance at Arman, crossed her arms, and said, “Lady Padparadscha, you mustn’t coddle him. You’re in the midst of an important time, so unless I discipline him, he will end up crushing you and the baby.”

“Celestine, what do you take me for?” Arman asked with a puzzled expression. “As rash as I am, I wouldn’t be that damn thoughtless.”

“I certainly hope not, though I would like to ask what deep thought went into bringing Lady Padparadscha here,” Celestine shot back with an icy stare in his direction.

“Urk...” Arman choked on his words. He had married a multitude of wives ever since ascending the throne as Beast King, but had never decided upon a proper queen.

Despite that, one day, when coming back from a tour, he’d brought Padparadscha back with him and declared on the spot that he would make her his proper queen. The uproar that had ensued had been akin to poking a beehive. Apparently, he had met Padparadscha in the location he toured in and fallen in love with her at first sight.

Celestine had suspected that the tour was taking longer than usual, but after learning that Arman had neglected the tour in favor of courting Padparadscha, she was left exasperated and questioning his actions.

Normally, accepting a marriage proposal from the Beast King would be a no-brainer, but Padparadscha was a very modest and reserved person and had been put off by how many queens he had and rejected him. Arman’s queens weren’t women that he ushered in of his own volition; they were women who had wished to become his wife out of the pool of women suggested by his retainers while trying to maintain a balance between different tribes and factions in the nation. Arman treated all of his wives equally, but it was an undeniable fact that he was a lusty womanizer.

Celestine had repeatedly admonished him, telling him that if he didn’t get his relationships with women in order, he would lose the trust of whoever he decided was his main object of affection, but he had always turned a deaf ear to the advice. Much to Arman’s chagrin, her worries became a reality.

However, he had finally found true love, so he was not going to gracefully bow out just because he’d been turned down. In the end, he’d won through persistence, and although she had not accepted his marriage proposal, she had somehow allowed him to bring her to the palace.

Arman had explained the situation to Celestine, bemoaning the fact that Padparadscha still did not trust him even though she had agreed to come to the palace. Upon hearing that, Celestine had coldly replied that it was karma for all of his bad deeds up until then. Still, Arman simply couldn’t ignore the woman he had fallen in love with. With Padparadscha having earned a place as Celestine’s caretaker, he had continued to approach her, undeterred, until he’d eventually succeeded in having her agree to his advances. That was one of the few times he had expressed childlike glee. However, it was then that a problem arose.

Arman had naturally intended to make her his proper queen, but more retainers had expressed disapproval than he’d imagined. One of the reasons raised was that Padparadscha was an immigrant. It wouldn’t have been a problem if she’d been an ordinary immigrant, but her being from the neighboring nation, Furgal, was considered a big issue.

The country of Furgal had been created by the siblings of the Beast King and their supporting factions, who had been exiled following their defeat in the strife for the Beast King throne. While they shared the same blood, one was known as a minuscule nation and the other was known as a powerhouse. From the Nation of the Beast King’s perspective, the people of Furgal were lucky they had managed to skate by with exile rather than being permanently purged, but from Furgal’s point of view, the Nation of the Beast King was a hated foe that had run them out of their homeland.

That was why Furgal had repeated skirmishes with the Nation of the Beast King in order to reclaim their land. Because of this history, it was a well-known fact that the Nation of the Beast King and Furgal were on bad terms, and Arman was flooded with dissenting opinions on making Padparadscha his proper queen, since that was where she came from. The situation was so tense between the Nation of the Beast King and Furgal that Arman’s retainers had flat-out decried his actions despite the fact that the Beast King was a figure with a lot of sway in the kingdom. Some had even unjustly suspected Padparadscha of being an assassin from Furgal.

Padparadscha herself had felt in her bones that she wasn’t welcome and expressed a desire to back out of the role because she wasn’t fit for it, which had caused Arman to panic. Unable to watch any more of that, Celestine had decided to persuade the retainers to change their minds. She had asked the spirits to investigate and prove that Padparadscha was not an assassin, explaining how serious Arman was and supporting their relationship. She was skirting the rule that Beloveds were not to get involved in politics, but thanks to her persuasion, Padparadscha had been safely recognized as Arman’s proper queen.

This had naturally led to a formal announcement, but it had also been revealed that Padparadscha was pregnant with child at the same time—Arman’s child, of course. Celestine had scolded him for his lack of planning, getting her pregnant before the official announcement, but since Arman had never had a child before, the retainers had done a complete about-face and become far more welcoming. Celestine had been a tad angry with their good mood, questioning if she had even needed to convince them in the first place given their behavior now.

Arman’s first child could be the next Beast King. Once his many other wives had found out that Padparadscha was pregnant with the potential heir to the throne, they’d grown concerned. They were assertive women who had practically volunteered to marry Arman, strong-willed and often fighting or bickering with each other. Arman used to find it amusing that these women would fight over him, but he knew those strong-willed women wouldn’t pick a fight with Padparadscha while she was pregnant with his child.

Realizing that harm might befall his queen, he regretted not disciplining his wives sooner, but it was too little, too late. At that point, Padparadscha could have been subject to a concentrated barrage of harassment. In fact, it would have been good if it had stopped at only harassment, but there was a real possibility of her and their child meeting their doom if not careful.

While this meant that Arman needed to take sufficient precautions, that wasn’t enough to ensure that he could protect her. If the worst-case scenario happened, it would be meaningless to regret it after the fact. For that reason, until the baby was born, Padparadscha’s existence was being concealed, and she was to be taken care of at Celestine’s palace—a fact only known by especially trustworthy individuals such as Arman’s retainers, Celestine herself, and both of the girls’ caretakers. Not even the other kings from the Four Great Nations had been informed yet. It wasn’t that he suspected or distrusted Jade and the others, but the fewer people who knew the secret, the better. There was no telling what crack the truth of Padparadscha’s existence could seep out from, after all.

Since Celestine’s palace was filled with devout spirit worshippers, there was nary a soul who went against her wishes, meaning it was far safer than leaving her with Arman. As such, with the birth of their child drawing near in secret, Arman had found a brief period of free time to visit her palace—to meet Padparadscha, of course, and not Celestine.

He now knelt beside Padparadscha, who comfortably sat in an armchair, and softly touched her belly. He looked so dopey and lovestruck that it made one wonder where his Beast King majesty had gone. Feeling his child’s presence as it sporadically moved in its mother’s belly made emotions he never felt before well up inside of him.

“Now I can see why those dragonkins only love one partner,” he admitted with a gentle look in his eyes as he gazed at his wife. He was undoubtedly a womanizer, but he loved Padparadscha so much that he felt he could devote his entire life to her. It was totally different from the feelings he had for his other queens, whom he’d married to fulfill his role as Beast King. The fact that he was so at ease meant that love wasn’t anything to trifle with—a fact that was sinking in for him. Arman had always scoffed at the dragonkin being so obsessed with one person that they would even risk their lives for them, but now he had cast those feelings to the far winds.

“Oh, come now, Master Arman,” Padparadscha said with a giggle. If any of the other queens had seen the look on his face, they would have been burning in jealousy and hostility toward Padparadscha. The decision to leave her in Celestine’s care had been the right one. There was no doubt that blood would have rained otherwise.

In the midst of this serene sight, Celestine interjected, practically rolling her eyes at the display. “Master Arman, it seems the court wants to hold an emergency meeting.”

“Huh? What the hell? They’re using you, a Beloved, as a messenger now? Who do they think they are?” he said, tensing his brow. His response was understandable enough; it was conduct unthinkable for a nation that worshipped Beloveds.

“Who do you think is to blame? They asked me because if they interrupt your private time with Lady Padparadscha, you’ll stare daggers into them and get into a hissy fit.”

Celestine was the one person who wouldn’t incur Arman’s wrath. Or no, perhaps it wasn’t safe to say she was the only one now that Arman had found the love of his life, but since Padparadscha was soft on him due to her docile nature, Celestine was essentially the only one who could make him act without earning his ire.

“It seems to be an emergency, so you should hurry over there.”

He clicked his tongue a bit before reluctantly standing up and stroking Padparadscha’s cheek. “I’ll have this wrapped up and be back in a jiffy.”

“Good luck with work.”

When Arman reached the meeting room, he looked disappointed. Without even hiding his sour mood, he took his seat at the head of the table, joining his main retainers, who were already present.

“What’s this about? I’m busy, you know. If this is something stupid, I’ll bash your heads in.”

One of his followers, dripping in a cold sweat, timidly started to talk. “The neighboring nation of Furgal has started preparing for war and is massing troops along the border.”

The room went abuzz. The unrest spread quickly, as it seemed that many of the retainers hadn’t heard of this news.

Arman, however, wasn’t too surprised. “This isn’t the first time they’ve tried to start a war.”

“This is the first since Lady Beloved’s existence was made public, sir.”

“Is that a fact?” Arman asked, tilting his head.

“Starting a war with our country when we have a Beloved is akin to suicide. I wouldn’t assume that they are that stupid.”

“I see.”

Celestine, the Beloved, was a big deterrent, and ever since her existence had become public knowledge, no other nation had dared start a war with the Nation of the Beast King. However, before that, Furgal had frequently launched wars against them, so Arman’s memory had become fuzzy.

“Why are they trying to go to war now, then?”

“We do not have that much information, but what should we do? They might have already crossed the border.”

“In that case, we’ll send troops too. How many are there?”

“About ten thousand.”

“Then we’ll send thirty thousand,” Arman instructed without a moment’s hesitation and swiftly continued on. “Sheesh, the Imperial Nation was in turmoil, and now us? Do they really think they stand a chance when we have Celestine?”

“They seem to know that it’s impossible, but...” the retainer said as the others smiled wryly. The presence or absence of a Beloved was huge. Not a single person thought that the Nation of the Beast King would lose to them.

“I feel bad for the people who were forced to participate, so if you have the leeway, just drive them away from the border.”

“Very well, sire.”

The meeting ended there for the day.

◆ ◆ ◆ ◆

As Arman went about his work as usual, neither caring about nor interested in a war with a very obvious result, one of his retainers ran up to him in a panic.

“Your Majesty, terrible news!”

“What is it?” Arman stopped what he was doing in surprise upon seeing his retainer’s panicked state.

“The troops that we sent to fight Furgal the other day have been wiped out,” the retainer said, out of breath.

“What do you mean?!” Arman asked, unable to wrap his head around it. He slammed his hands on his desk, stood up, and leaned forward. “Our troops lost? Are you sure you’re not mistaken?!”

“I am positive. Our troops were crushed. I heard it straight from the mouth of a soldier who somehow made it back from the battlefield, so it is no lie.”

“What...did you say?” Arman stammered, struggling to produce the words out of sheer shock.

The result should have been a given. Furgal’s ten thousand troops versus the Nation of the Beast King’s thirty thousand... Although Furgal was a nation with a large populace of demi-humans like the Nation of the Beast King, there was so much of a difference in forces that the Nation of the Beast King should have easily won. That was why Arman had taken such a nonchalant stance and had been in the middle of talking about throwing a party to reward the troops after they came back home victorious. Yet that wasn’t the case.

“Quit joking around. How did those Furgal bastards do it?” Arman asked, pale and still in disbelief.

“Well...” the retainer started, “according to intel from the troops, there was a Beloved on the Furgal front lines.”

“What did you say? Which Beloved? The only Beloveds in this world right now should be Celestine, Ruri, Lapis, and the Queen of Yadacain.” There had been one other Beloved in the past, but that person had inflicted harm upon Ruri and incurred Kotaro’s wrath, so he had taken away her power as a Beloved. And now, Beryl and Riccia had been added to the mix from the other world. All together, there were currently six Beloveds in the world.

There was no way that a Beloved of an allied nation would cooperate with Furgal, even the Queen of Yadacain. Not only did she not have diplomatic relations with Furgal, but since Quartz, the previous Dragon King, was in Yadacain, she would never lend a hand to them. And even if she were to lend a hand to Furgal, Jade would have informed Arman, which was why none of this made any sense.

“They said that it was a different Beloved, not from among the current pool,” the retainer explained.

“A different Beloved? I’ve never heard anything about that,” Arman shot back.

“They said it was a young girl with dark hair and dark eyes. When I heard that, I recalled getting word of a few humans suddenly appearing at Furgal’s castle not too long ago. And they said all of them had dark eyes and dark hair.”

“Transmigrators?” Arman wasn’t familiar with the other world, but he knew that Ruri had come from there. He also knew that the two worlds would occasionally link and people would fall into this world. He had initially doubted that such a thing was possible, but the various machines that Ruri’s mother had brought with her couldn’t be found anywhere in this world. Once he had been shown the pictures of the other world in a camera, he was convinced that it was true. The spirits asserting this truth had also been a huge factor. After all, spirits never lied.

“If a Beloved is taking part in the war, then it’s no wonder we lost. Dammit!” Arman said, regretting that he had neglected to gather information, assuming the opposition was too weak to bother with. He scratched his head furiously and then forced himself to calm down. “Where are the Furgal troops moving?”

“They are heading straight for the royal capital. They should reach us in a day or two. Since the spirits are one their side, we haven’t been receiving any intel and didn’t realize they were so close. We assume they plan on keeping that momentum to assault the palace.”

“That’d be a disaster.”

“What do we do, Your Majesty?”

“If we’re up against a Beloved, then no matter how much more mana we have, we’re fighting a losing battle...” Arman said, a shade of despair falling over the room.

That was when Celestine entered without knocking. “Master Arman, I will go to the front line.”

“Are you stupid?! No way would I expose a Beloved to danger.”

“But the only one who can stop a Beloved is another one,” Celestine argued.

Arman’s face contorted in frustration. He knew as well as she did that without her help, they would surely lose. There was no hope of a mortal triumphing over the spirits.

“Master Arman.” Celestine called out his name once more, as if urging him to make a decision.

“But if they’re a higher rank, then you’ll be at risk,” he reminded her. Beloveds had rankings and whoever was beloved more by the spirits was considered superior. If the other Beloved was higher in rank, then the spirits would obey them instead. And if that happened, Celestine would be in danger.

“It’s better than doing nothing, isn’t it? I simply cannot sit idly by while this nation is decimated,” Celestine said, her eyes steely.

Being forced to make a decision as king, Arman desperately tried to come up with another plan, but nothing came to mind. Upon considering that the Furgal troops were approaching even as they spoke, he had no time to waver. It was a painful decision for both Arman and the Nation of the Beast King.

“Fine...but if they’re higher rank, then I’m bringing you right back,” he relented.

“Of course.”

“Just in case, make preparations to extract Celestine and Padparadscha,” Arman ordered his retainers.

“Sire!” they replied, then burst into movement in a hectic rush.

Less than two days later, the Furgal troops had formed outside of the royal capital’s walls. Among them were dark-haired individuals who stuck out like sore thumbs with several spirits attending them. It seemed to be a young man and woman.

“Hey! No one told me there were two Beloveds,” Arman said, unable to stay still while danger was afoot, looking down at the situation from above. He had heard about a Beloved but received no information that there were two.

“Please calm down, Master Arman. This is not all that strange. Lady Ruri’s family has two Beloveds as well,” Celestine reminded him.

“Ugh...well, you’re not wrong,” he reluctantly agreed, unable to claim that it was unprecedented in light of Ruri’s family. That said, he had never heard of three generations of Beloveds before, so Ruri’s family was definitely unusual no matter how you sliced it.

Amid this tense touch-and-go situation where combat could break out at any time, the two presumed Beloveds stepped forward.

“Evil beasts tyrants who control this land, drop your arms and surrender now. Do that and we will not do anything bad to you!” one said.

“We do not want any pointless bloodshed. If you do as we say, we will speak to the higher-ups to forgive your past atrocities,” said the other.

Arman, Celestine, and the other soldiers all looked at each other, unable to hide their confusion. They had no idea what the strangers were talking about.

“Tyrants?! This land has always belonged to the Nation of the Beast King! You are the ones invading us, so cease this and leave now!” Arman shouted in a booming voice.

“It seems that it’s difficult for beasts to understand human speech,” said the young man.

“And here we were trying to show you mercy, you ingrates!” the young girl cried.

The dark-haired duo were saying whatever they wanted, unfiltered.

“You’re the ones trying to spark a war, and you call us ingrates?” Arman replied, exasperated and at a loss.

As Celestine stood next to him, a thought suddenly popped into her mind. “If those two are transmigrators, there is a chance that the people of Furgal have given them false information. I seem to recall there being a previous incident with the person who came with Lady Ruri becoming the ‘Priestess Princess’ and being fed lies in a similar fashion to help spearhead a war.”

“That’s true. You’ve got a point,” Arman said, recalling that incident as well. It had been a situation that had later made the kings of the Alliance of Four Nations tremble in fear at the idea that Ruri might have waged war with the Nation of the Dragon King. But thanks to Ruri’s calm and rational mind, she hadn’t participated in the war. In fact, she had been exiled to the forest instead, where she had been taken in by Chelsie. It was a good story in retrospect, but at the time, it had been a terrifying incident that could have resulted in the downfall of the Nation of the Dragon King.

While Arman and Celestine conversed, the dark-haired duo prattled on incessantly. They were kicking up a fuss, convinced that the Nation of the Beast King was evil, like they were a couple of heroes who had come to vanquish some insidious demon king.

“It’s almost like they’ve been brainwashed,” noted Celestine.

“There’s no ‘almost.’ That’s exactly what happened. Furgal probably took advantage of their ignorance and spun a story that worked in their favor. I wouldn’t put it past them,” Arman replied, his loathing for Furgal permeating each and every word.

“Prepare for battle!” cried the Furgal troops as they finally started to move their troops forward to engage. “We are counting on you, Lord and Lady Beloveds!”

Upon hearing that from the troops, the dark-haired duo looked forlorn.

“I wish we could have settled this without fighting,” the girl said.

“They leave us with no choice. This is our mission,” the boy answered, putting his hand on her shoulder.

Their exchange felt like two actors on a stage, making Arman and Celestine question their grip on reality.

“Everyone, please go forth,” the dark-haired girl said, clasping her hands together as though in prayer. The spirits that were around her started to make their way forward.

“They’re coming, Celestine,” said Arman nervously.

“Yes.” Celestine’s face tensed as she gazed at the spirits making their move.

Hoping that she could avoid the worst-case scenario, she took a step forward. And then...