By Zephyria 
Three days before the wedding, I had to stay in the Ruby Palace according to custom.
Because of this, I could no longer sleep in the same bed as Ruben. No, that’s not right. Actually, it was remarkable of those around me to have tolerated sleeping in the same bed until now. Sierren’s law, which prevented cohabitation beforehand, was right and just. Even though I had resolved to be careful of my conduct many times, it was never easy when Ruben lay beside me.
Now, if Ruben didn’t speak before I fell asleep, I felt a sense of disappointment. Ruben, exhausted by fatigue, was so pitiable and endearing, like a butterfly with wet wings, that I constantly wanted to stroke him. Every time the child breathed in shallow gasps, I felt an urge to burrow into his embrace, growing restless. I couldn’t believe I was acting so lewdly.
It was because the reins I had held tightly had loosened.
Ruben was going to be mine now…
Mine.
The more I thought about it, the more wondrous it felt. Ruben, a black-haired, melancholic beauty whose earlobe’s downy hair shone like a jewel, whose Adam’s apple and chest were full. The more I thought of Ruben, whose appearance seemed as if all the love and ideals I knew had been poured into him and reshaped, the more my chest felt tightly constricted.
The fate that allowed us to meet only after crossing worlds felt all the more special. I had heard that people often felt sad before marriage, with talk of marriage blues, but it seemed unrelated to me.
Did Ruben think this way too? What if regret arose late…
The attendant, who had been guiding me three steps ahead, quietly bowed and continued his explanation.
“…Each building has three bedrooms. They can be used to host distinguished guests, but we have designated a primary bedroom for His Majesty the King Consort, which he will mainly use. Please let us know which one you prefer, and we will prepare it accordingly.”
“Prepare it?”
“Yes. For example, if the weather is cold, we will pre-heat the room, or if it’s hot, we will prepare ice water.”
“Hmm… Then I’ll take this one.”
“Yes. I will remember it.”
Perhaps I’ll sleep here for these three days.
The Ruby Palace was composed of four main buildings and three towers. Even after spending half a day being shown around by various attendants, there were still many rooms I didn’t know. I only managed to glimpse the attic where Lucilla had taken her mother-in-law.
After the wedding, I would wake up, eat, and sleep in the Crystal Palace again, wouldn’t I? Although I didn’t voice it out of consideration for the attendant’s efforts, I wasn’t particularly interested. I was merely worried that Ruben, who had been summoned to the Sapphire Palace, might argue with his mother-in-law again.
But no matter how busy I was, I could see Ruben again at dinnertime. Even without asking in detail what he did each day, it was simply pleasant and satisfying to sit across from him.
❖ ❖ ❖
Two days before the wedding.
When Oasis arrived, I was in the martial arts training ground below Ruben’s office.
“Yaaaaaah!”
Oasis, who had burst out of a portal without warning, leaped into my arms, but I dodged. However, the creature clung to me tenaciously, hugging me tightly and shaking me back and forth. It was fortunate that Ruben had been summoned to the Sapphire Palace again, leaving no one to look down on me, or I might have heard unnecessary remarks.
Nadi, who walked out of the portal afterward, bowed his head with a sheepish expression. His rugged appearance and thick, dense beard remained the same, but it was evident he had made an effort to groom himself.
The portal closed immediately after him, which I found slightly odd.
“What about the others?”
“You’re looking for someone else right after arriving? That’s disappointing.”
“No, well…”
“Spiritus left immediately after opening the door to see Gano. He’ll likely come with him?”
“Here?”
“I don’t know about that.”
Oasis, who had replied indifferently, began patting my shoulders and back again, hopping excitedly. I thought he was still the most restless among the gods, just as he had always been.
“Hey, I recognized you from the first time I saw you. So you came as a god, huh?”
“What? You didn’t recognize me at all.”
“I’m telling you, no. I thought it was strange that your memories seemed intact, but the soul fragment was so vivid and bright. That’s why I struggled for over ten years, holding onto that tiny Jeongyeon, and kept it safe! It was so difficult! I truly cherished it.”
A soul fragment has no eyes or ears. I had no way of knowing, before or after, how much this insolent fellow had cherished my soul fragment. I could only laugh in disbelief.
Blocking Oasis, who was wagging his tail like a dog greeting an old friend, I turned to Nadi.
“By the way, I didn’t expect you to walk here. I heard you became a Mermaid.”
“Ah… That…”
It turned out Nadish Haisan had also been trapped in the same place as Peng Joo-hyuk’s complete memories.
Oasis was originally a Mermaid from another world.
He, too, knew little about human life. Although he had grown fond of humans on this land, humans, who died and were reborn so quickly, bored Oasis.
Oasis raised one soul he found most beautiful among those born on this land, separately. Whenever that person seemed close to death, he added whatever he could grasp. Sometimes it was just a mana clump, sometimes a Spirit, and more rarely, the soul of an offering made to him.
Because of this, Nadish was patched together more than any other human. His body was half-rotted, and his soul was full of gaps. Still, he clung to life by sheer Divine Power.
And then, that incident occurred.
The secret warehouse the Ninth God had secretly prepared behind the world was a place where all sorts of souls were temporarily stored. Souls whose bodies were still alive could maintain their complete form. However, souls that no longer had a body to return to would scatter or attach themselves to other fragmented souls.
Nadi could no longer bear his increasingly swelling soul. Therefore, he mentally redrew the form of the strongest person he knew. Naturally, he gained fins and a tail, and as he endured time in that state, I arrived and defeated the Ninth God. At the same time, the place where he was shattered, and he fell into the middle of the Saras River.
After reuniting with Oasis, Nadi finished recounting how Oasis, who had lived as a Mermaid, had taught him how to hide his fins and walk on two legs, allowing him to pass as a human. He bowed his head again in gratitude.
Oasis, who had been adding interjections from the side, chattered in an excited voice.
“Since I didn’t attach them with my power, but they stuck together on their own, they seem more solid? Tightly? They attached well. My insides have become a bit noisy, but it turned out great! This is all thanks to you, too, man.”
“I… I saw you fighting. That’s why I really wanted to thank you. Thanks to you, I think I can stay in this world for another three to four hundred years, so please take good care of me from now on. And congratulations on your wedding.”
“…Ah, yes. Thank you for the congratulations.”
“And, ta-da!”
Oasis pulled something out of his embrace and thrust it forward. A Makrir, smaller than my palm, sat on his hand, nodding its head.
“The second one was also sad about missing the wedding, so I cut off a bit of its eye and brought it. I’m going to sit it on my shoulder and watch together.”
“…Cut off its eye?”
“Uh-huh, it’s fine. It attaches well wherever it’s grafted… It was originally a cactus. If I detach it for a moment to watch the wedding and return it, it’ll go back to normal.”
My mind conjured images filled with blood, but the god and his disciple remained unfazed. I just nodded dumbly.
Although there was a designated residence, I hesitated to let this one roam freely in the world, so I politely asked.
“There are still two days until the ceremony, but would you like me to prepare a room?”
“No? I came to the city after a long time, I want to have fun! I’ll find my way, so just give me the wedding invitation. Spiritus told me to make sure I bring it. They said there would be another identity check at the entrance of the venue, right?”
“…Yes. Please follow me.”
I led him to the study without protest.
It was fortunate that the Ruby Palace came with my own personal study. Ruben’s study had too many private items to let just anyone in. Especially Oasis, who would often drag the original sofa over to stand on it to look at books placed on high shelves, making it even more so.
Nadish followed Oasis, who was rummaging through everything like a three-year-old child, and tried to stop him.
Watching this scene, I skillfully wrote the invitation wording, now quite adept, and added an octagonal symbol indicating a distinguished guest requiring caution, lest the knights accidentally cause a major incident.
“What is this scribble?”
“It’s a seating marker. We’ve prepared a special front row for you, as you’re coming.”
I lied brazenly and then smiled faintly. I wondered if I had caught this from Ruben.
A strong person never boasts of their strength, and an honest person doesn’t repeatedly claim their honesty. And Ruben was very good at lying.
His promise not to lie to me meant only that he wouldn’t deliberately fabricate and deceive me; it didn’t mean he would stop me from being fooled on my own.
So what if it’s like that? This, too, is part of the flavor of life.
I considered handing over the invitations for the other gods as well, but, feeling uneasy, I decided to give the rest to the First Goddess. Oasis, having received his invitation, gleefully grabbed Nadi’s hand and ran off, only to dash back into the Imperial Palace a moment later.
Even without explicitly revealing Oasis’s identity, no Sword Master felt any dissonance from his strange abilities and aura. Furthermore, Spiritus and Gano Paquin had already stayed in this Imperial Palace for extended periods.
The Imperial Knights, who couldn’t stop the arrogant Oasis and yet couldn’t let him in, looked flustered as they hurried in after them, making me feel quite embarrassed.
“Jeongyeon! I need clothes, too!”
“…”
“Nadi’s, too!”
Should I have prepared divine attire in advance?
I wished Spiritus would return quickly and take care of these two.