Bonus Short Stories

Reap What You Sow

One day, in a rare turn of events, Ruri ran into Joshua. Normally, he was out of the country due to his reconnaissance work, but he’d finally received some time off and was back at the castle.

“Heya, Ruri. How’s the newlywed life treatin’ ya~?” Joshua asked.

“All right, I suppose?” Ruri answered.

“The heck do ya mean ‘all right, I suppose’? Actually, you’re allowed to go wandering around?”

“‘Wandering’? I’m in Sector One.”

Granted, in Ruri’s case, visiting the other sectors would be considered wandering around, but at the moment, she was minding her own business in Sector One, sunbathing with the spirits.

“Things must be rough for His Majesty. He might just keep you confined before long, ya know?” Joshua joked, chuckling.

“Hey, that’s no laughing matter, buster!” Ruri snapped.

Ruri dreaded what would happen if Jade seriously decided to do that. She couldn’t possibly treat it as a mere joke. After all, she knew someone who’d spent her married life almost entirely confined— Seraphie. Admittedly, Seraphie didn’t seem to mind all that much, and she remained lovey-dovey with Quartz to this day.

“It’ll be fine, I tell ya. His Majesty would never keep a Beloved confined. Maybe,” Joshua said, needlessly tacking on that last part. “And down we go.” He grunted as he sat next to Ruri. “So, tell me...how’s it been, for real? Nothing’s been bugging you?”

“Hmm...” Ruri hummed. After she considered it for a bit, her expression turned stern. “Actually, there is something that’s been bugging me.”

“What’s that?”

“Did Jade-sama ever have a girl in the past?”

Joshua almost did a spit take. “W-Well... Who really knows for sure...ya know?” he responded, clearly trying to avoid eye contact.

“What’s with that reaction? Do you know something?” Ruri asked, glaring at Joshua, which only made him avoid her more. “After seeing how much Jade-sama coddles and fawns over me, I was curious if he’d ever done the same thing to other women in the past. I mean, Jade-sama is actually pretty old, isn’t he? He must have had at least one girl he was interested in.”

“You’re his mate now, so does it really matter?”

“It matters to me!” Ruri insisted, grabbing Joshua by his lapels. “Tell me if you know.”

“C’mon, now,” Joshua groaned, looking reluctant, but that just clued Ruri in that he was trying to avoid the subject. He hurriedly added, “Okay, in that case, what about you, Ruri?”

“Me?”

“Did you have a boy you were after in the past?”

“Hmm, well, sorta?” Ruri replied. She thought back, then made a face. “But Asahi always mucked things up for me, so I’ve been dumped plenty of times. I thought I’d never have a boyfriend, much less get married, so long as she was around. God, the amount of times I thought of sneaking up on her and taking her out...”

“W-Wow, that must’ve been rough.”

“Rough isn’t even half of it! Do you know how many times I cried into my pillow because I liked someone, only to have Asahi swoop right in and take them from me? There was even a guy that I’d confessed to. We’d be hitting it off fine, but there was Asahi, coming in to squash my hopes.”

“H-Hold up, Ruri!” Joshua interjected, panicking.

Undeterred, Ruri continued, “It was really all Asahi’s fault. He was totally my type, and if it weren’t for Asahi’s interference, I’d probably be married to him right about now.”

“Ruri? Ruri? Uh, we got trouble...”

“Pardon? What trouble...?” Ruri trailed off as she finally noticed the presence of a third party. “J-Jade-sama... How long have you been there?” she asked, remembering what she’d said a second ago and pulling a face.

Jade, on the other hand, gave her a sweet smile—a creepy sweet smile.

“Are you disappointed?” he asked. “Wish you had the old guy instead of me?”

“No, I wasn’t wishing for that at all!” she said, refuting his question and shaking her head repeatedly.

“Really, now?” Jade asked.

“Really! Really!” Ruri asserted. She was confused as to how a talk about Jade’s history with women turned out like this, but now wasn’t the time to worry about that. “You’re the only one I love, Jade-sama! Right, Joshua?”

“Wait, you’re asking me?!” Joshua questioned, surprised that Ruri threw the ball to him. Nonetheless, he quickly played along and said, “Right! Right! Ruri was just feeling a little jealous about the women in your past, Your Majesty.”

“That’s it. That’s it exactly,” Ruri emphasized.

“I see. In that case...” Jade hoisted Ruri up in his arms. “In that case, I’ll heed your expectations. As your husband, I’ll have to teach you why you, my concerned and beloved wife, are the only one for me.”

(Oh, crap,) Ruri thought, but it was too late.

“Joshua?” Jade called.

“Sire!” Joshua answered, standing at attention.

“Tell Claus that I have some minor business to attend to.”

“Very well, sire!”

“Joshuaaa!” Ruri cried, knowing she was about to be in danger.

Joshua, however, immediately averted his eyes. He had abandoned her.

“You insensitive jerrrrrk!” she hollered.

Ruri’s wail drifted up into the blue sky above as she received a thorough lesson in just how deep Jade’s love was.

Too Tempting for the Eyes

One day, Riccia, who’d moved to town to run her shop, stopped by the castle to spend some time with her daughter—with a ton of outfits in tow.

“What’s up with all these clothes, mom?” Ruri asked.

“I brought them because I hoped you would wear them,” Riccia said while humming and arranging the clothes throughout the room.

“Still, this is a lot...”

“I poached a few seamstresses from the castle. Thanks to them, I’ve been able to produce a steady supply of new creations.”

“You poached them? Is that all right?” Ruri asked, curious if this turn of events had inconvenienced Jade. She would have to check later.

“My current recommendation is this one!” Riccia said, showing off a pair of denim shorts, a common clothing item in Ruri’s world. “I had a hard time trying to replicate denim. This world still doesn’t have any material quite like it, so I had to make it from yarn through trial and error~!”

Apparently, since Riccia was unable to mass produce anything with denim, she was trying to sell shorts in order to save on material.

“Still, my employees aren’t responding positively to the shorts,” Riccia admitted.

“Why not?” Ruri asked.

“Well, you know, the women of this world wear long skirts, right? They don’t seem to have short-legged lower garments that expose their thighs.”

“Now that you mention it, you’re right.”

Even Celestine’s revealing outfit had a skirt that extended past the knees.

“Everyone said that they’re too embarrassed to wear them,” Riccia added, “which is where you come in, Ruri.”

“Me?”

“All you have to do is wear these and go about your life as normal. You’ll garner attention since people will be interested in what a Beloved is wearing.”

“Why don’t you wear them in your shop, then?” asked Ruri.

“Well, because I can’t very well wear what everyone else has been calling embarrassing.”

“But it’s just fine for your daughter?!” Ruri immediately quipped back.

“There, there. Anyway, try them on.”

Ruri reluctantly put the shorts on, only to find that they fit her perfectly. In retrospect, she’d only worn long skirts since she came to this world, so it was a nice change that reminded her of the past.

Just then, the door opened.

“Ruri, do you have a second?” Jade asked, entering the room without knocking. His eyes immediately traveled to Ruri’s exposed thighs. He stood there dumbfounded for a moment until he cried, “Ruri, what are you doing, dressed like that?!”

“They’re my mom’s new clothes,” Ruri explained. “Do these look good on me?”

“Don’t tell me you plan on walking around the castle in that?”

“Do you mean I can’t?”

“Of course I do! If I see you dressed like that, I’ll confine you to your room!”

Ruri turned to Riccia. “Hey, mom, I think it’s still too early to debut these.”

“Seems that way. Well, this is awkward...” Riccia said, trailing off.

After seeing Jade’s reaction, Riccia reluctantly decided to sell her shorts as regular pants.