Despite her reluctant tone, Chelsie’s eyes were affectionate.
Ruri’s eyes lit up in an instant. “Chelsie-san! I love you!”
“Okay, okay.” Chelsie replied casually, trying to hide her bashfulness.
Ruri shrugged off the cold response since she understood that well. Chelsie said she’d sent Ruri to the capital because she was a Beloved. It was probably because she thought it would be better for a Beloved to meet the king, but Ruri had also been a tad shocked because it felt like she’d been kicked out. Chelsie welcomed her with open arms when she went to visit, but it made her happy, in the truest sense, that she would allow her to move back home.
Ruri was about to hug Chelsie out of joy, but a furious knocking on the door interrupted them. Rutile shot up from her chair with a stern look.
Quickly opening the door, a panicked court lady quickly stammered, “My apologies! Lady Padparadscha has just gone into labor!”
“Huh?!” Ruri sprang up, startled. “Is she about to give birth?”
“No, Lady Padparadscha is having her first child, so it probably won’t be right away,” Rutile answered.
Ruri had given birth to Citrine in what could only be described as the blink of an eye. Considering how small Citrine had been at birth, that made sense, but Padparadscha’s stomach was as big as Ruri’s vision of a normal pregnant woman, completely different from her own flat stomach. Padparadscha looked far more normal for a pregnant woman from Ruri’s perspective.
“Is their childbirth process the same as humans?” Ruri asked, looking at Rutile for confirmation since she didn’t know how childbirth worked for other demi-humans.
“Yes, dragonkin are a bit special, but other demi-humans and humans are mostly the same,” Rutile replied.
That “bit” part seemed like an understatement, but Ruri let it go. Rutile’s answer overall gave her some slight relief. After all, Ruri had been in terrible condition after giving birth, completely drained of her magical and physical strength and bedridden for a whole week.
However, just because her birth was different from Ruri’s didn’t mean that Padparadscha was out of the woods just yet. Medical care wasn’t as advanced as in Ruri’s world, so Ruri could predict that the rate of deaths during childbirth was higher. There were limits to what medical treatment was capable of.
There was always the dragon’s blood, but that wasn’t supposed to be used on others lightly. It had been used during the invasion of the Nation of the Beast King as a special measure for the allied nation in crisis and for Celestine, a Beloved. While using dragon’s blood for an allied king or Beloved might be approved with little opposition, using it for Padparadscha would be a trickier call.
Even though she was Arman’s main wife, giving too much of it could cause discontent in other nations since dragon’s blood had been used heavily for the Nation of the Beast King already. There were more people who wanted the cure-all dragon’s blood than could be counted on one hand. Many would be willing to pay any price or do anything to obtain it.
That was why they couldn’t play favorites with the Nation of the Beast King, even if it meant that Arman’s main wife or the child in her womb might die. Jade and Euclase had told Ruri something to that effect in advance , since she had previously used dragon’s blood on the soldiers of Furgal who had invaded the Nation of the Beast King. This was to prevent the naive Ruri from showing mercy and suggesting the use of dragon’s blood.
If a Beloved like Ruri wanted it, Kotaro and Rin would pressure Jade and the others to fulfill her wish. Not even the strongest dragonkin could defy supreme-level spirits, which was why they’d given her a reminder beforehand.
Ruri felt guilty about Padparadscha because she wasn’t able to use the dragon’s blood on her as a result of using it to save the Furgal soldiers. However, in the midst of that war, she couldn’t have turned a blind eye to badly hurt people just because they were enemies. That was a testament to her unwavering optimism.
If she was faced with the same situation on repeat, she would still choose to save them each and every time. While she had some regrets, she didn’t think she was wrong. After all, the soldiers were merely following orders from their superiors.
However, Ruri wondered how Padparadscha’s side felt. She might have been considered irredeemable because she helped the very soldiers who had invaded their nation. Padparadscha, Arman, and the other people of the Nation of the Beast King had every right to feel resentment and anger toward Ruri. She knew that if anything happened to Padparadscha, she had to be prepared to take the blame.
In reality, there was no one who could punish or criticize a Beloved’s actions. If anyone could do that, it would be a spirit, but not only did Kotaro and Rin, supreme-level spirits, cherish Ruri the most, but Lydia was also on Ruri’s side, so her resolve to take the blame was ultimately meaningless.
Yet even if no one blamed her, if something happened to Padparadscha, Ruri would end up blaming herself. Although that wasn’t the only reason, Ruri had been pacing around the room ever since hearing the other woman had gone into labor, feeling antsy and worried. She prayed that nothing went wrong with each step.
“Ruri, sit still. Your pacing isn’t going to help a damn thing,” Chelsie advised her. She had no connection to Padparadscha, so she was calmly sitting and sipping tea. In fact, she didn’t even understand why Ruri was so flustered.
“I can’t!”
Admittedly, Ruri had only met Padparadscha a handful of times, but the baby she was carrying was that of a good acquaintance, Arman. Combined with the fact that she was barred from using the dragon’s blood, she couldn’t sit still in her chair.
“Actually, is it still not time? Isn’t she running a little late?” she asked, several hours having passed since the initial news.
“Your panicking won’t help the child come out sooner,” Rutile assured her.
“Great, now you’re saying the same thing as Chelsie-san,” Ruri commented, seeing that Rutile wasn’t looking flustered either. Ruri was the only one restlessly pacing.
“His Majesty has arranged an excellent doctor and midwife for Padparadscha, so everything will be fine. There is nothing that you can do,” Rutile explained.
“Urgh... I know that, but...” Ruri trailed off, wanting to go help even though she’d just get in the way. It was so frustrating not being able to do anything but wait for a report.
“Just leave that girl be. I swear, you’re such a softie, Ruri,” said Rin.
“You’re right, but that is just like Ruri,” Kotaro replied.
“Yes, but she’s not someone Ruri should even worry about. I mean, they’re not particularly close.”
“Hmm, you have a point.”
Ruri frowned as she overheard the two spirits chat. “But I have to worry about her since the Beast King asked us to take care of her. She’s the queen of an entire nation.”
“If that’s your argument, then you are a Beloved, Ruri. And you subjugated me and Kotaro to boot. You’re worth far more than some insignificant queen. If she were the Beloved of the Nation of the Beast King, it’d be understandable.”
“Rin...” Ruri trailed off, awkwardly reeling at Rin’s harsh words.
However, Kotaro and the other spirits nodded in agreement at Rin’s side. She looked at Rutile, hoping the guard would object, but Rutile only smiled wryly.
“Sounds perfectly logical to me,” Chelsie chimed in, falling in line with Rin.
“No one is on my side...” Ruri slumped her shoulders.
Suddenly, the sound of crying could be heard. Ruri rushed toward the basket where Citrine had just woken up, frantically flailing his tiny hands.
“You hungry, Citrine? Just wait a second, okay?” she said, holding out her hand to give him his mana meal.
As she did, the spirits all crowded around them. Even Chelsie rose from her seat to see the event. Citrine only woke up for a short time each day, so if they missed this chance, there was no telling when he would wake up again. Several spirits were snapping pictures with their cameras to capture this precious moment on film.
Riccia had instructed them to make sure to record his growth. Though the lower-level spirits easily lost focus, it was odd that they faithfully obeyed and remembered this specific request. Maybe they were just as eager to see Citrine grow as everyone else.
Riccia planned to eventually compile the records into an album. Ruri looked forward to that as well. She had the idea that these growth records could serve as a textbook for outside races who become dragonkin mothers in the future.
“I wonder if mana tastes good,” Ruri murmured as she watched Citrine accept her mana blissfully, as if savoring a first-rate dessert. “What do you think?”
She looked at Rutile for an answer, and the guard smiled awkwardly. “We can only consume mana as food in the very early stages of life when we’re not able to assume human form, so I don’t think there’s anyone who remembers that time. I’ve forgotten, at least.”
Rutile looked at Chelsie, whose body language told it all—she was in the same boat.
“Dragonkin really are mysterious...”
“Ruri’s mana is sooo yummy!”
“Yup, yup!”
“It’s the best of the Beloveds around!”
“It’s sweet, creamy, and makes you happy!”
The spirits gave her straight answers. Beloveds became Beloveds because they produced mana beloved by the spirits themselves. Attracted by the first-rate mana of Beloveds, spirits gathered and lent them their powers. And apparently, Ruri’s mana was delectable to them. Granted, she didn’t know if that applied to dragonkin as well.
“Oh, he fell asleep again,” Ruri noted.
“Sleeping is a baby’s job, after all,” Rutile replied.
“Yes, that is something humans and dragonkin have in common,” Ruri said with a chuckle. She let go of Citrine’s hand and was about to catch her breath when there was a knock at the door.