A few days had passed since Ruri returned, and time rolled by so peacefully that everything that transpired in the Imperial Nation seemed like it had never happened.
The first thing that Ruri decided to do was have a tea party with Lydia. Ruri had actually wanted to go into the imperial capital and buy some local sweets for them to eat together, but the trip hadn’t provided an opportunity for a casual sightseeing romp through the capital, so it ended in a bust.
It was right after the entire debacle went down, so even if she had been allowed to go out and about, she wouldn’t have been able to enjoy the experience. The war over the throne was on the cusp of breaking down the government, and it seemed a bad idea to venture out into the nation until things had calmed down. Jade probably wouldn’t have allowed her anyway, seeing as how much of a fiasco it would have been if Ruri had gotten involved in their affairs. Neither wanted any more bloodshed if they could help it.
With that in mind, Ruri figured it had been enough time, so she decided to go into the capital to buy some snacks. She tried to leave the castle, but Jade wouldn’t give her permission. She knew that the dragonkin had a habit of wanting their mates within eyeshot at all times, but she saw no harm in stepping out for a second. Jade, however, was jealous after finding out that Gibeon had tagged along on her last trip into the capital when it was supposed to be just her and Rutile. His narrow-minded reason for not letting her go was because he didn’t want Gibeon sneaking off with her again.
Ruri very well couldn’t ignore Jade’s pettiness and leave anyway, but fearing the consequences of showing up to a tea party empty-handed, she reluctantly had the castle cooks prepare a large selection of snacks, which she took with her into the pocket space.
Inside, Ruri placed the snacks on a nearby table and started preparing the tea. That was when Lydia appeared out of nowhere.
“Welcome, Ruri,” Lydia said with a cheery smile, happy that Ruri had come to hold a tea party just as she’d promised.
“Unfortunately, Seraphie-san is off with Quartz-sama in Yadacain, so it’ll just be us today,” Ruri informed her.
“I see. But a tea party for two is still plenty exciting. When is Seraphie due back?”
“Hmm, they didn’t tell me when, but I’m guessing it’ll be a while.”
“Oh, well, I can’t wait to hear how it went when she comes back.”
Lydia excitedly sat down in her chair, and Ruri placed a cup of piping hot tea in front of her.
“Heh heh, it smells great.”
“I couldn’t go out and buy any snacks in the Imperial Nation, but I did get some tea leaves in the imperial palace. It has a slightly different aroma from the tea in this nation, but it’s delicious, so I wanted you to try it.”
“Thank you.” With a sweet smile, Lydia took a sip. Her smile widened. “It is delicious.”
“I’m glad to hear that you like it,” Ruri said, taking her seat and beginning their private party.
Their conversation naturally funneled into what had happened in the Imperial Nation.
“It seems you got yourself wrapped up in another fine mess, Ruri,” Lydia pointed out.
“Well, ha ha ha...”
The sacred beast kidnapping in the Nation of the Spirit King, this murder and attempted murder in the Imperial Nation—if one looked back, they would find a litany of other issues that Ruri had been embroiled in. Ruri could only laugh about it.
“But that’s not all my fault, you know?” she said.
“Be that as it may, I can’t help but feel that you easily attract trouble.”
“Well, I can’t deny that...”
“This is a double warning, what with your penchant for trouble, but I advise you to stay away from the Imperial Nation for some time.”
“Are things that bad?” Ruri asked.
“I’m not too familiar with human matters, but the spirits outside have been talking. They say the nation is heading in a bad direction. The spirits see a lot of things, so their hunches are usually right. I would be careful.”
“Okay, I will.”
“If a Beloved like you got wrapped up in their affairs, it would make the spirits go berserk. Wind would quite literally cause a storm.”
Ruri could just picture Kotaro snapping with Rin by his side, egging him on.
“Don’t underestimate a supreme-level spirit,” Lydia warned. “One could destroy a whole kingdom in the span of three minutes if they felt so inclined.”
“Three minutes? There’s cup ramen that takes longer.” Ruri said.
She was again reminded that supreme-level spirits were indeed dangerous beings. It also made her wonder how in the world Riccia had spooked the supreme-level Spirit of Fire into submission.
“Well, I think I’ll be all right, considering I’ll be taking it easy in the castle for a while. Jade-sama won’t let me go outside, anyway,” Ruri explained.
Jade had promised to go around the city with her when he finished work, but when she peeked into his office a few seconds ago, she’d seen a mountain of paperwork on his desk that looked unlikely to decrease any time soon. Considering that Jade couldn’t go anywhere until all of his work was finished, it would likely be a while before they could go out.
“Oh yeah,” Ruri said, remembering something she had to tell Lydia. “Quartz-sama asked me to place the blood I put in here the other day and the blood from the fourth prince’s pocket space in his own space for research purposes.”
The blood of the insect researcher that Ruri had collected from the doctor in the Imperial Nation had been stored in Ruri’s space, and Quartz had requested that she collect the blood that the fourth prince had stashed away. Knowing that Ruri could step into other people’s pocket spaces, Quartz had asked her to place both vials in his own space because he wanted to use it in his tachyotoxian medicine research. Pearl was used to handling the extremely toxic blood, so no one was opposed to the idea of it being used to study a cure.
“I see. Okay, then. I just need to put it in Quartz’s space, right?” Lydia asked.
“Yep, if you could. It’d be an invasion of privacy to go into a still-living person’s room, so I probably shouldn’t go in,” Ruri stated, curious about the contents of Quartz’s pocket space but also dreading the consequences of venturing in. “Ah, but Seraphie-san can also go into Quartz-sama’s room, so we could have our three-person tea party after all.”
“Oh, that is true.”
“I’ll ask Quartz-sama if we can use his room when I get back outside.”
“Yes, good idea. The more the merrier,” Lydia said with a delighted smile.
Her plan set, Ruri decided to work on writing a letter right away.