Debut
It takes about two days of travel to reach Dwargon on the new road, which wasn't incredibly fast, and it also wasn't that much faster than riding the Tempest Wolves there the first time, but that wasn't surprising, given their carriages were still being pulled by the same Tempest Wolves. It had smoothed things out a bit which is why it dropped from three days previously to two. Which wasn't that bad at all given it was about six hundred miles between Xiǎo-lóng and Dwargon. And that was one way. That was like- Like the distance between Paris and Barcelona.(1)
Really the road would make things quicker for other people, and make things like carriages more viable.
There's a thought though. She hasn't experienced them herself, but Ema and Diablo had told her at some point just how much of an improvement the shocks Rowena had vaguely told the Dwarves about made for smoothing out the ride and making it more comfortable. Perhaps they could hammer out details a bit more and Kaijin can train a crew on crafting and repairing their kinds of carriages, the kinds with shocks and independently moving wheels that is, and they can offer sales and repairs.
Given how uppity nobles and wealthier merchants can be, there would definitely be a market for it. Depending on labor and materials, she'd prefer to make them cheap enough that even regular people can potentially save up for them since the sort of basic comfort for travel isn't something she feels should be hoarded by the upper-class, but that depends entirely on the cost to make them. She's not going to stiff the wages of the crews Kaijin puts together to make and repair them just to make them more available.
She brushes the thought off as they approach the gates of Dwargon. She'd thought they'd go through the right gate, given it was for nobility and dignitaries, but apparently that was more for envoys and general nobility, not proper royalty like she was now. They were actually opening the main gate for her given her status, even though that was usually reserved for the army.
After they pull up to the gate while its being opened, she isn't even surprised to see Kaijin and the other Dwarves eagerly climbing out of the second wagon, undoubtedly happy as clams at high tide to be home. Even if they've finally definitively answered the question she'd had rattling in her head regarding the fact it was originally supposed to just be her temporarily hiring them to teach the Hobgoblins what they needed to be self-sufficient. They'd made it clear that they were, in fact, moving permanently to Xiǎo-lóng and this was just a visit.
Given he's the captain of the city guard, she's also not surprised to see Kaido there to greet them as she gives one last check of her formal attire -similar to her previous outfit when she initially went out to see what exactly Gazel was coming to Xiǎo-lóng with hundreds of Pegasus Knights for but noticeably different to avoid that dumb high society faux pas of wearing the same outfit remotely close together time wise- and climbs out of her carriage, Diablo exiting first to take her hand and help her down.
As she looks around, both outside and through the widening gap pf the gates, she can't help but think about the fact it hasn't even been a year, being ten months in total since the last time she was in Dwargon. Dwargon itself seems mostly the same, barring the decorations that have been put up for the celebration, but so much has changed for her personally.
Technically, it likely would've been more along the lines of the way this world flaunts status if she showed up with a significantly larger escort/guard then the seven Goblin Riders they had, as well as Ranga and one of his stronger pack mates who managed to evolve into the same Star Wolf he was, but she wasn't much one for wasting resources so she preferred if most of her people stayed home attending to their usual work.
That being said, she did acknowledge it could make them seem weak if that's all she showed up with. Since Kouki had literally tens of thousands of Dragonewts at his disposal, she'd let him add thirty Dragonewts following them from the skies. Not too over the top in her opinion, but probably still on the smaller side for most royal visits like this.
And while she'd initially wanted him to stay home since he'd just returned from Eurazania, she'd let Benimaru join Hakuro and Shuna in one of the two carriages they'd added to the initial two. The original ones had one for herself and her soulmates, and one for the Dwarves, while Mari stayed behind to ‘hold the fort’ as it were.
The second added carriage… Well, after she'd worked out the artificial core for Diablo, Ema, and Mari, she'd made some for the Dryads to transfer to. Combined with wooden bodies made from their former physical tree forms -with their permission of course-, they were no longer bound to the Forest of Jura. She hadn't even had to ask about the excess from building their bodies given just how high quality the wood was. They had donated it to her for whatever use she may find for it themselves unprompted. But with bodies untethered from the Forest of Jura, the second added carriage had Treyni and two of her sisters inside.
That being said, for those knowledgeable about such things, arguably the strongest show of force at her disposal wasn't numbers. It was the Primordial Daemon that had dutifully helped her down the steps of her carriage and was now loyally trailing a couple steps behind her as well as the Near Primordial at his side also following her.
Six of their rather limited number of Hobgoblin Tempest Wolf riders on the ground, two more of the Tempest Wolves more evolved Star Wolves in Ranga and one of the initially excess Wolves from pairing them off with Hobgoblins, thirty Dragonewts(2) escorting them from the skies, three Kijin, and three Dryads for those with just common knowledge. Plus the Black Primordial and one of the Near Primordials for those with more extensive information.
As she listens to Kaijin catch up with his brother, she knows full well that as much as it felt like a waste of resources to bring such an escort, it had definitely been the correct choice, given the murmurs that had been confused when they first pulled in begin to change tone as the Dragonewts come down and land and the other six climb out of their carriages. Shuna and Treyni take the place of her attendants, as that's the capacity they're acting in right now.
Arguably since their official jobs were as her secretaries, you'd think that role would go to Diablo and Ema. Her people weren't having it though. Apparently they were perfectly fine with them doing that kind of work in Xiǎo-lóng since they were her soulmates and it was what made them happy, but even if they weren't officially married in this life and it wasn't common knowledge at the moment, they refused to let her spouses act in such a manner outside of their borders.
It was beneath them and their station apparently. Which, she supposes she can sort of see where they're coming from, but again, it's not like it's known what they are to her at the moment. It may become known later after they get married, but…
Well, all of it leaves her biting back a lot of sighs. She'd thought things were complicated as a noble, and she'd vaguely been aware of the notion it was worse for royalty, but really. It felt utterly ridiculous at times in all honesty. She seriously didn't get why so many people wanted to be royalty, given the plethora of downsides, which far outweighed the upsides in her opinion. Really, given the aspects most people talk about, the respect, the high life, all those things are obtainable to a lesser degree without being royalty, the only one that seems locked to that specifically is the fact no one can really order you around.
As Kaijin wraps up with Kaido, the captain turns to her. He'd actually glanced over at her as she emerged from her carriage, but she'd waved him off with a smile, more than content to wait for the brothers to catch up. She's taken by surprise when he lifts his arms in the sort of greeting from her life as Calanthe that her people have picked up, “I am glad to see you are well, Lady Rimuru.”
She smiles back, habitually returning the greeting, but just lifting her arms a bit since the clothes she's wearing aren't really made with curtsying in mind, “Thank you Kaido. I'm glad to see you in good health as well. That greeting though…”
The man grins, laughing a little, “Sir Vesta mentioned it to King Gazel in passing during one of their meetings over the communication crystal. Since there isn't any huge cultural meaning to the bowing we usually do in Dwargon, King Gazel insisted Vesta teach a couple people who could pass along the lessons since it does have meaning to you.”
She huffs a small laugh, “Somehow, I'm not surprised.”
That's about when they finish getting the main gates open. Normally, wagons and carriages would be directed to a wider entrance compared to the smaller ones for foot traffic, then be parked to be unloaded. As not only Gazel's own guests as well as a royalty and its guards and entourage though, they're just let in and allowed to proceed towards the palace in their carriages, which they climb back into after they spoke with Kaido and the gates are fully opened.
She's rather glad they're allowed to just ride in the carriages, given between the main gates being opened and the attention grabbing Star Wolves and Dragonewts, they've drawn one hell of a crowd that's gawking at them. It would be unbelievably uncomfortable if they had to walk with so many people staring at them. It technically wouldn't be the first time she's been the center of so much attention, nowhere near actually, but given she doesn't like being the center of so much attention to begin with…
She bites back another sigh. Really, all she'd wanted to do was improve things for the races scattered around the Forest of Jura. Why in the hell did that thrust royalty onto her? She'd never asked to be royalty, she never wanted to be royalty.
Diablo tilts his head at her, “Xiǎolóng? You don't seem particularly happy.”
She waves a hand idly, “Just lamenting the fact I can never seem to do anything without grabbing attention. Really, I'm just trying to help people, why do I have to suffer all the attention?”
He chuckles and Ema giggles before adding, “Because you're extraordinary and the moment you start making moves to help, you start unintentionally showing people that.”
She shakes her head, but before she can deny it, Diablo pipes up, “You can deny it all you want, Love, but that is the answer to your question, whether you want to acknowledge it or not.”
She rolls her eyes as she looks away, “You two are incredibly biased.”
When they reach the palace, Kaido bids his brother goodbye for now and salutes her before handing off their care to Dolph. The man is dressed in a fancy civil officers uniform, which isn't surprising despite the fact he's actually the Captain of the Pegasus Knights, given that's supposed to be a secret group that covertly serves the King.
The man's eyes are as sharp as ever even as he calmly greets her, unsurprisingly using the same sort of greeting Kaido did from her life as Calanthe, given what Kaido said about Vesta passing it along and Gazel ordering it to be used with her. She's probably going to have most if not all of Gazel's men greeting her like that, “It is good to see you again, Lady Rimuru. It pleases me to see you in good health.”
She smiles at him, and though it doesn't feel right given his status, given it’s supposed to be a secret, she doesn't make indication of said status, even though it feels like the fact he's a Knight should make him Sir Dorph. She doesn't want to make things awkward for him though, so she very purposely doesn't call him that, “It is good to see you healthy as well, Dorph. Particularly given the stress Gazel must've caused the Palace Staff with his disappearing act when he came to visit the day after he left with our covenant drawn up and signed.”
Dolph laughs a little helplessly, “Unfortunately, he does that more than we'd all like, but well.” He shrugs, still helpless, “He's the King. We can't exactly tell him what to do or scold him, even if it's for his own safety.” He shakes his head, “In any case, I am meant to guide you to his Majesty, but before that,” He makes a subtle signal with his hands, and both genuine bureaucrats and some Pegasus Knights she recognize come forward, “I'm sure you understand the why's, but may we hold onto your weapons during your visit?”
She nods as she glances at her people, wordlessly making it clear that they need to comply, even though she's already preemptively told them it would likely happen, it's still better to make sure they understand, “Of course Dolph.”
After the weapons are handed over, the Hobgoblins, Dragonewts, as well as the other two Kijin and Dryads are led away to their rooms to change, with just Ema, Diablo, Shuna, and Treyni following her. They aren't part of the group that will be heading to Gazel's receiving room anyhow, and there is that party later they need to change out of their armor for.(3) Their place in the party is a bit of a gray area, given they're technically her guards.
She'd been trying to figure out the best way to go about not seeming to show preferential treatment to the Kijin and Dryads. They'd be joining the other guards from Dwargon, which she also wasn't sure about given it still feels like she's showing preferential treatment to the others, but they themselves had laughed it off and assured her they were just happy to have been selected as her guards and be allowed to continue to do that duty at the party.
Technically, the polite thing was to not have the party the same day traveling guests arrive, but that wasn't on Gazel. It was entirely on them putting it off as long as possible while Benimaru rushed back to wait for him. They were actually supposed to arrive yesterday so they'd have a full day to rest before the party, even if the trip was smooth enough that it wasn't a major hassle to go to the party the same day.
It's not even the only party either, tonight's was just more of a debut for Jura-Tempest to the upper-class of Dwargon. Tomorrow there will be another after the official announcement of their covenant. Though it should only be the two, at least for this visit. Who knows for latter ones.
The last time she was in the Palace she was just going from the Dungeon to the court, so she didn't exactly get a chance to get a good look at it. She gazes around idly, taking in the decor mildly. Maybe it was just because Dwargon had a military focus, but while the Palace is certainly beautiful, it's not as extravagant as she'd have expected a Palace to be. Like, she's not gawking, partly because it's not really her style, but also partly because she's seen fancier places.
It's entirely possible it would be taken as an insult if she tried to satiate her curiosity by asking if it was because of the military focus though, even though it is certainly beautiful. So, probably best not to mention that regardless of how carefully she tries to word it to try and make it clear that she does find it beautiful and is just asking due to her curiosity if it's the military thing.
Eventually they arrive at a large extravagant door. Probably due to the fact she was just thinking about it, while it's not out of place, she can't help but notice that it seems to be a bit more grand than the decor she's seen up until now.
One of the guards standing on either side announces clearly but a bit loudly as the doors are opened from inside, “Her Majesty Rimuru, sovereign of the Jura-Tempest Federation!”
A female dwarf attendant walks the last bit up as the guard finishes his announcement, and she'll probably grow accustomed to it in this capacity as well, but it still feels out of place enough that she can't help but note the curtsy style of the greeting from her first life the woman greets her with, “Greetings Queen Rimuru. Follow me, please. King Gazel is waiting for you.”
This is very clearly the hand off of duty in escorting her, given Dolph salutes her, which she quietly nods her temporary farewell and thanks for leading her at, before he plants himself to stand as stiff and still as a statue near the door.
As she enters, she tugs her noble training from previous lives a little firmer to the forefront. She's fairly confident her etiquette is engraved enough that she's reasonably certain that she wouldn't make a fool of herself, it never hurts to be cautious though.
She's sure she'll grow comfortable enough to use just habit at some point, but she'd rather be careful to make sure she's carrying herself with the sort of grace and elegance that someone of her position should have. She'd hate to find out the hard way that between the fact it's been a few decades since she had to conduct herself as a noble consistently and how things are more relaxed with most of the people she interacts with means she's gotten lax about it.
Especially given while she may not desire the title, she is now the Queen of the Jura-Tempest Federation and must not spit on the efforts her people make by representing them poorly. Given that this is going to be her first public appearance as Jura-Tempest's Queen, this first impression -not with Gazel perhaps but in general- is more critical than most.
Given Gazel seems to genuinely consider her a friend despite how short a time they've known each other, undoubtedly quickened by the fact they're both students of Hakuro and the desire it seemed to have instilled in him to be a sort of ‘dojo senpai’ to her. To that extent, while he does stand from his throne to give her the Calanthe world greeting, he sounds genuinely happy and somewhat excited when his deep voice booms out, “How nice to see you again, Rimuru! I hope you're comfortable here.”
She smiles at him warmly even as she returns the greeting since she certainly doesn't hold hostility or ill intentions towards Gazel. She's been doing it for all of them of course, but she feels both fond amusement and helpless exasperation at the fact she hadn't even wanted to impose the etiquette her brain was trying to insist on with her own people, much less Gazel and his people.
Though she hides that latter one since she doesn't want to give Gazel the wrong impression that she hates the fact he was trying to make her feel comfortable or anything. She may not have wanted to impose that etiquette on the people of this world, but it's not like she didn't appreciate that they were genuinely putting effort into trying to be respectful towards her.
She supposes she should do her best to get used to utilizing that particular form of etiquette here as well as in Jura-Tempest, since she sincerely doubts its going away.(4)
As she greets him, she responds, “It's lovely to see you again as well, Gazel. And yes, I'm perfectly comfortable.”
The faint look of concern in his eyes fades at that, “I'm glad! I know you said you were nobility in previous lives, but there's a difference between that and royalty and I must confess I was a tad concerned you may be overwhelmed.”
She thinks over the best way to put this to not insult Gazel even as she takes the offered seat, “Not particularly. I doubt I need to explain to you how things can often grow to be more easily obtained as time progresses and the growing or making of them becomes more common?”
He nods and she continues, “A lot of things that are considered to have the sort of extravagance of higher nobility and royalty here are actually… fairly common in the time period of my previous worlds. For instance, a set of crystal glasses is something you spend a lot of money on here, yes?”
He nods again, looking genuinely curious as to where this is going, and she waves a hand somewhat dismissively, “They're making has become so streamlined that even lower-class, what you'd think of as commoners, can easily afford to buy multiple sets in one go, often on a single paycheck, though that can vary a bit by the quality of them and the country they live in. That extends to a lot of things though.”
She shrugs elegantly, “Custom work is different of course, but by and large there are a lot of things that are considered luxuries here that wouldn't be inherently luxuries there, with the key to whether or not they are being in details like them being custom and often elaborate work. You didn't get a chance to see it yourself since construction hadn't quite completed yet, but with Vesta and all that, have you by chance heard anything of my personal house?”
He nods, “It came up during one of our discussions while waiting for someone to return with some paperwork on my side, yes. From Vesta's description, it's rather beautiful and certainly worthy of a Queen. Why?”
She flashes him a smile, “It helps make my point is all. That building and all its decor wasn't built based on what's expected of royalty. It's a blended reproduction of my homes in my first two lives as nobles, and again, I wasn't royalty there, so that should give you an idea of the difference.”
He blinks rapidly, then laughs heartily, “That it does! For that to be based on the abode of just nobility and not royalty… it certainly does help paint the picture regarding the difference in availability of things there that are seen as significantly more upper-class here. It's quite a relief actually. I was seriously concerned about you feeling overwhelmed by such things. It puts my heart at ease to know you're perfectly familiar and comfortable with them.”
She gives him another smile, “Thank you for your concern Gazel.” Then she shakes her head and moves along, “Anyhow, given this is less of a casual visit but a formal one, and to publicly announce and celebrate our covenant at that, I brought gifts. Though, while I wasn't personally sure about some of them for the same reasons we were just discussing funnily enough, I do hope you understand that they were selected taking into account the difference between the two worlds on the availability of some things?”
Gazel nods his understanding at the last part. He doesn't look surprised given something like that is fairly normal, but he does look curious, probably because the fact she's never had any appearances like this before and Jura-Tempest didn't exist previously so he has no way of gauging the kinds of gifts she'd bring.
She personally feels like she should explain her gifts herself, but apparently it's generally expected that an attendant will step forward and start to explain them when they're brought up, which Shuna does. If you ask her, she feels like it's more because the royals of this world were usually neither the ones to pick nor arrange the gifts. And other than looking over a list to make sure no one had picked anything that may be insulting, they don't actually know what's been picked out. With a possible exception of if they're personally friends or at least on good terms with the other nations leader.
Regardless, she falls silent as Shuna begins to explain the gifts, even as another attendant, this time one of Gazel's, steps forward to accept a written list as Shuna is speaking to look it over carefully. Probably also something that's become a norm because most people also can't be bothered to really pay much attention to the gifts they're receiving. Perhaps listening idly for anything that catches their fancy, but not really paying attention and just letting it flow right out the other ear for anything that doesn't immediately pique their interest.
She waits idly as Shuna explains before beginning to sort out some last minute details with Gazel's attendant about the party tonight.
Once that's done, Gazel smiles at her, but given the greeting is over and it's generally considered polite to let the guests retire to their rooms to rest at least a bit once that's out of the way, she's not surprised when what comes out of his mouth isn't a continuation of conversation, “Those are all quite thoughtful gifts Rimuru. I'm sure I will enjoy them immensely, but please go and rest up, you have had a long journey after all.”
She smiles back as she stands, “I'm glad you've taken a liking to the gifts. I shall see you later, however.”
He nods and they're led out by some other attendants to head to their rooms. The attendants that were leading them deposit them at their rooms, informing them to just ring the bells near the doors if they require anything before heading off.
She sighs as she flops onto the couch in the sitting room of their suite. Diablo leans his forearms against the back of the couch as he gives her an amused look, “What's wrong? You can't be that tired from the travel given how comfortable it was, nor from your meeting with Gazel surely.”
She shakes her head, “No, it's neither of those. It's that party tonight.” She makes a face, “There's bound to be unpleasant people amongst the nobles that will be tiring to deal with.”
He hums in agreement and Ema settles next to her with a huffing laugh, “You aren't wrong there, unfortunately. I suppose maybe it's just because I'm not as comfortable with those kinds of things as you are, but I must admit, I'm not looking forward to the party either, but it's the clothes that really get me.”
Diablo gives an exaggerated sigh, “Tell me about it! It was bad enough I had to put up with those stupid fancy clothes to keep the whimsical and dramatic facade but now I have to genuinely wear fancy clothes!”
She does her best to fight back a smile, but as usual, it's a no go around her soulmates if the feel of her lips are any indication, “It can't be helped Love. You are one of the fiancé's of Jura-Tempest's Queen after all.”
He sighs, “Yeah, I know. Still doesn't mean I like it.”
She gives him a bemused look, then decides to partly needle her husband and partly remind him of his main reasons for going along with things like this, “Would you rather I go alone and potentially get hit on without you there to act as a buffer to preemptively stop it or shut it down if they try anyway?”
His face twitches, “And not get to spend time with me and dance with me?” He wavers, since while he doesn't like all the fancy clothes and noble talk and all that, he doesvery much enjoy both those things, “And also see me in those clothes longer than when I'm getting ready and later getting undressed after I come back and instead getting to discreetly oggle me the entire night and also be smug as all hell knowing I'm on your arm and the only person who has any other claim or dispute to that is our wife?”
His expression turns utterly betrayed at that. Ema starts laughing at that, “By Veldanava Diablo, you look like she just threatened to steal all the most delicious food and leave none for you!”
She huffs out a laugh as her gaze turns to their wife, “Honesty, given the way our husband's brain works, it wouldn't surprise me if he subconsciously thinks of us as the most delectable dishes he has access to, so I may have done just that in a way.”
Diablo looks like he's about to dispute her, then seems to rethink it and closes his mouth as he squints at nothing in particular while reevaluating it. Eventually he lifts his eyebrows briefly as he shrugs his head to the side, “After thinking about it I can neither confirm nor deny that.”
Ema snorts, “Better than what my brain has wondered about every now and then.” At Diablo's questioning look, her wife shrugs, “You're so stabby I've wondered a time or two if your brain got some wires crossed at some point and part of the reason your such a horndog with us is because it's you getting some of your stabby tendencies out of your system.”
Diablo straightens up from his lean quickly, “Rude!”
Ema laughs, “Are you denying it?”
He points at their wife, “I don't like the insinuation that I'm ‘stabbing’ my wives thank you very much!”
Her wife gives him an amused look, “You aren't denying it, and I wasn't saying you'd ever stab us with something sharp.”
Diablo gives her a dirty look, “It's still rude, and I'm not talking to you for at least five minutes.”
Her wife shakes with silent laughter, “Sure you aren't dear.”
She shakes her head in amusement as well, “Love, you seem to be forgetting that there's a vast difference between just quietly enjoying each other's company -maybe because you're both doing your own thing, maybe just because it's a cozy silence and you're just basking in said company- and giving someone the silent treatment. I mean. Have any of us ever lasted giving each other the silent treatment for that long?”
Diablo gives her a dirty look as well, pointing at her, “You're on thin ice and on your way to the silent treatment as well missy!”
Ema snorts again, “He's just mad because the answer is no, no none of us have ever made it to five minutes. Though, you're one to talk given you last the shortest amount of time giving one or both of us the silent treatment.”
She shrugs, “I waited three years just to be able to start a relationship with you two. It's had lasting effects and I'm a very weak women regarding you both. You know this full well.” She lets out a snort of her own, “Even teased me about it before.”
Diablo huffs in annoyance, “And yet, it wasn't until we could threaten to practically melt your brain with pleasure and leave you incapable of going to retrieve work that we sure as hell aren't bringing to you that you started remotely listening to us regarding your workaholic tendencies.”
She looks away sharply, “That's different.”
She may not be looking in their direction, but Multidimensional Perception means she can still see the way Ema rolls her eyes, “It is not different. You're just a weirdo. Weak to us in any way except our care for you.”
She sees Diablo jerk his thumb in Ema's direction with the rest of his hand in a loose fist, “What Ema said.” Then he turns his gaze to their wife to add, “She's absolutely ridiculous sometimes, isn't she?”
She gives him a dirty look, then just to be petty, “I thought you were giving Ema the silent treatment for at least five minutes?”
He waves his hand dismissively, “Semantics. There are more important things. Like sharing the burden of our frustration regarding how resistant you are to us trying to make sure you aren't overworking yourself or being somewhat resistant to us caring for you in general.”
She shakes her head, “Rude traitors who conspire against me.”
Her husband leans over the back of the couch to steal a quick kiss then cheerfully says, “When it comes to caring for you? Yup, traitors all the way Xiǎolóng. Been over this before.”
They continue to chat and joke around until it's time to get ready for the party tonight. Diablo had informed her after she asked how he changed clothes so quickly right after she summoned him given he didn't have the benefit of Azathoth -the Ultimate Skill Gluttony at the time- to store clothes in and pull her little swap trick with. Apparently there was a whole ass spell, Dress Change. It let one change their clothes, swapping whatever they have on at that particular time with something stored in some form of Spatial Storage magic. Which does require knowing both the Spatial Storage magic and the Dress Change spell, but it's certainly handy.
Apparently, most higher Daemons could cast it, and even though she did have Azathoth in this life, there's no guarantee something going wonky in a later life won't complicate her ability to use it to swap clothes, so she'd had Ema teach her the magics required to utilize it.
With her clothes swapping trick and Dress Change though, ‘getting ready’ is more a matter of swapping out their clothes and accessories and just checking themselves over to make sure everything is in place as it's supposed to be.
Her and Ema have vaguely similar dresses, in that they're both black and red with silver embroidery, have sweetheart necklines, and are layered with an upwards arrow cut into them better showing the more subtle and less prominent and dramatic layering other ball gowns can have. That's about where the similarities end though.
Her own dress has hers cut off to the side, not quite directly to her side going down from her hip, but close. It also has a semi-sheer lacing over the bodice that's solid enough that while you can see the red underneath, it's fainter and fairly heavily darkened.
There's also an incredibly intricate and large lace like silver choker. She's not entirely sure what it's called, if the style even has a name, but it covers from about mid-neck to halfway across her shoulders, the bottom curving down rather than going straight across, with the back stretching down even more to connect to the back of her dress in multiple places with delicate chains that extend from the almost lace like design the silver is in. There's a stupidly large -like the size of her thumb large- red gem smack dab in the middle over the hollow of her throat, and she doesn't know what's worse. It's size, or the fact it's actually the smallest of five main gems in the outfit.
There are two more in even more of that elaborate lace looking silver on some sort of large… thing -she had no clue what it's called if it has a name- attached to mostly the right hip area of her dress spanning about two hands -fingertip to palm end- of distance down and about one and a half wide, though it had delicate chains that dangle in loose curves around the front and pulled taut in a straight shot across her lower back -probably to avoid it laying over her butt- to a significantly smaller clip on her other hip-ish area. It has two of the other gems, the largest and second largest, directly on it and two more dangling from yet more delicate chains.
The layers also have that same semi-sheer overlay, the silver embroidered edges purposely a bit shorter than the layer of red dress underneath to show it. Other than that, the only red shown openly instead of underneath that semi-sheer fabric was the bottom layer of the dress, with it and its smattering of yet more silver embroidery on clear display between the arrow cut into the layers which widens to be a couple feet wide at the bottom.
She'd found out later after she asked where on earth they got such large gems, that part of the request to use some of her personal stocks of precious metals was for things like this, yes, but apparently since she's mostly just been on standby in case she's needed, Mari had helped them trade some for the various gems, like the ones in the dress. She doesn't know what's more ludicrous. The sheer size of the gems, or the fact Garm and Shuna were apparently geniuses given they'd managed to make the whole thing look elegant instead of tacky or gaudy.
While she can understand that they'd gone with silver because it suited the color palette better, she supposes if nothing else, the gems serve the purpose of making it clear it was for that reason and not because she couldn't afford gold or other more expensive metals.
Her wife's dress did have the same color palette and sweetheart neckline, yes, but the arrow cut in the layering going up her dress was centered. They didn't exactly reveal anything they shouldn't, but the layers on Ema's dress looked open given the tailored-to-have-a-wavy-look loose ends. They were draping out of the arrow cut, and even though they did widen somewhat, it wasn't nearly to the extent as her own. It was honestly a little difficult to tell it widens out a little, given what looks like loose also wavy red fabric end sticking out of the middle.
It lacked any of the huge gems and that large silver attachment her own has on her hip, though there was, of course, its own elegant silver embroidery on it as well. Mostly focused on her solid black bodice, though while she didn't have the massive metal attachment, there is a large -and obvious lethally poisonous- flower embroidery on her left hip, which actually extends down to where that layer ends with the silver twisted into delicate tassels that hang down. There was a bit more scattered throughout the dress, and along the bottoms of each of the layers.
She did have her own lace-like choker, but hers was significantly smaller, being more along the size of what one would think of when you said ‘large choker’ given it's only spans from mid-neck down to just above the hollow of her throat, with a significantly smaller gem dangling from a chain down to between her collarbones.
They both had earrings to pair with their dresses of course, though given the difference in their dresses was meant to reflect the differences in their social stature, hers were unsurprisingly larger and more elaborate. The same was true of the hair ornaments pinning their hair back.
As much as she may say Ema and Diablo have the same level of authority she does, and her people would listen to them just as quickly, if she contradicted something one or both of the other two said, they'd do what she said over them in a heartbeat. Strictly speaking, after they got officially married, Ema would be the Crown Princess rather than a Queen, and Diablo would be the Crown Prince.
Her husband was also looking fine as hell in a more formal open trench style coat with silver embroidery both starting from just below the shoulders and going down, as well as around the wrists. Underneath it it's been paired with a red waistcoat with elaborate silver buttons holding it closed and a black shirt underneath that as well.
He had just regular -if tight- formal suit style black pants, though they were of fairly high quality obviously. The tightness was partly so it wouldn't look odd that his formal boots are knee high and have said pants tucked in. They're mostly black, though there are elaborate silver designs going up the front around the holes for the laces, and the gap between them lower down near the front of the ankle shows the fact the tongue of them is red.
Once they're sure they have everything in place, given that they may be able to just magically change clothes, they'd obviously need time if anything needed fixing and for her and Ema's hair and started early enough to have enough time for such possible last minute fixes and the like, they end up spending the remainder of the time they needed to wait speculating on what to expect from the party and Dwargon's nobility.
Eventually though, there's a knock at the door before someone calls through it, “Queen Rimuru, Sir Diablo, and Lady Ema? I'm here to escort you all to the party.”
Diablo opens the door, his more charming business smile firmly in place, “Thank you.” He glances back, but she and Ema are already behind him, “We're ready, so lead on please.”
The attendant that had been sent to escort them stares at her with slightly wide eyes for a moment, which makes her a little concerned that it may be a bit too much. Vesta had okayed it since he was the only one who had interacted in high society in this world, but he'd been a bit open mouthed as well, which had made her a little nervous.
She'd brushed it off, eventually convincing herself that Vesta was just surprised at what they made, given how new Jura-Tempest was and the immediate thought people would likely have about them being ‘underdeveloped’. Given the attendant has probably seen a lot of high society from working in Dwargon's castle though, she finds herself reevaluating that notion.
Just how much had her people gone over the top? She doesn't get a chance to think about it given that all flits through her head rapidly in the brief moment before the attendant shakes her head ever so slightly and snaps out of it as she steps away, “This way please.”
Diablo offers her his arm as she exits, and even as she takes his and Ema steps through the door and up to her other side, she offers her own as well. She may not mind in general but she's not fond of the implications of it- that her soulmates were somehow beneath her, but given she was the Queen, it was basically necessary to have her in the middle as the clear 'centerpiece’ of their group. Normally she wouldn't care whether or not she was in the middle, but she hates the implications that she's more important than her soulmates, that they were below her and less important.
There's not a whole lot she can do about it though, and strictly speaking her soulmates don't care in the slightest, but it does bother her, as unchangeable as the situation is.
She tries her best to not think about it too much, not wanting it to sour her mood. She has no clue if she'll get along with any of the Dwargon aristocracy barring Gazel, given she's never met any beyond Vesta and he didn't exactly leave a good impression initially. But even if this party isn't to publicly celebrate the covenant between Dwargon and Jura-Tempest, she's going to do her damndest to enjoy it and the rare opportunity it presents to see her soulmates dressed up so finely.
Well, rare up until now. She's not exactly attached to high life parties, noble or not, but given her position, while she highly doubts it'll become frequent, she may just get the delight of seeing her soulmates so dressed up a bit more frequently. And getting to dance with them a little more formally. She has nothing against other kinds of dancing, those are delightful in their own way, but maybe it was just because of her being a noble twice that's left her with something of a soft spot having excuses to dance like that with her soulmates.
She's rather neutral regarding the parties specifically, but there's just something so very lovely about her soulmates all dressed up and dancing with her formally, surrounded by a beautifully decorated venue. Though, admittedly, she has an even softer spot for the times she's managed to get them to a high end modern restaurant aimed towards romantic nights and their delicate lighting.
In those cases, she knows full well her soulmates were just lovingly indulging her since they aren't much fans of fancy stuff in general, but that's totally fair. She certainly indulges them all the time herself. That's part of love. Indulging your partner or partners for things you may not personally enjoy just to see them happy, and it's not like she demands it or requests it frequently or anything.
She supposes that's one of the things she'd miss if they genuinely had a nice quiet normal life. She had missed it for the short stint before, when she was Satomi she'll admit.
She'd never slip up per say to begin with, but definitely not with Diablo right there to potentially decide she needs another refresher on paying attention to potential threats. However, she supposes she did a better job distracting herself then she realized, getting lost in memories of her soulmates all dressed up and dancing with her, given while she was obviously paying attention to her surroundings and the data Multidimensional Perception was giving her, she wasn't consciously expecting it when they find themselves in front of what she can tell from what Multidimensional Perception is telling her about the other side is the ballroom door.
They are, of course, announced as they enter, and she can see many Dwarves staring at them, some in curiosity, some in calculation, some in pure disdain, and some just neutrally. If she'd just been basing it off of how Vesta initially acted, which she wasn't obviously, it would be a far better reception then she could've expected.
There is something of a stir at Ema being called her fiancé as well, undoubtedly something to do with same sex couples probably being more quiet hidden lovers given the expectation for nobles of any stature to produce heirs, but she doesn't really care.
Gazel, who had been making his way towards them, patiently and politely waits for the guard to finish announcing them before calling out rather cheerfully, “Rimuru! You look quite lovely. And so does your fiancé Ema here. Your tailors did a fine job with Diablo's clothing as well, I must say.”
She smiles at him, “Thank you Gazel. Your smith's did quite a good job making formal ceremonial armor that's still usable from what I can see, and your tailors certainly did fine work pairing with it.”
He grins back, “Thank you. Come though, there's some people I think you'd get along with rather well!”
He leads her off joyfully and he isn't wrong, the people he introduces her to are certainly more the sort she'd get along well with. Given this is meant to be a debut though, it's not very surprising that they and Gazel eventually drift off and are replaced by others, before the cycle repeats as she meets a good chunk of the Dwargon aristocracy. She'd already expected that some people's prejudices and the like would prevent others from approaching, so she's not even surprised that her idly tracking of people with Multidimensional Perception makes it clear she certainly hasn't met all the aristocracy that's in attendance.
Though they dance around the topic somewhat, more than a couple seem to be surprised at the fact she and Gazel have a good enough relationship to drop formalities between themselves. Even if they obviously don't owe them loyalty or anything, usually royalty still greets one another with their titles after all.
Not that she's just standing around talking with them. Diablo and Ema draw her away to dance periodically, which is as lovely as she'd thought it would be.
She's idly deflecting some questions trying to get a clearer answer on why they'd built a road between Xiǎo-lóng and Dwargon when they grab some more drinks from some of the staff circulating. They haven't been drinking heavily or anything mind, it's just that the glasses of wine they'd been sipping on over an extended period had been emptied and taken away a while ago.
Wine certainly existed in this world, it was more other kinds of alcohol like whiskeys and rums and the like that she was introducing to it. She feels a mental nudge from Ema, <I think you've spoiled us a bit with the alcohols Jura-Tempest has been making. This is quite fine wine compared to what I've had over the millennium here, but… Well, in all honesty, it falls a bit flat compared to things like the Lambas fruit wine, much less the Lambas fruit and Insectar honey wine you had a small test made of amongst some others.>
She holds back a snort of amusement, <I must confess, I was just thinking the same thing myself.>
Diablo sighs a little over the connection, <Tell me about it.>
She has to bite back more amusement, <Oh don't pout you two. Gazel was totally in charge of this party, but given tomorrow's is after the announcement of our covenant its more of a joint venture, and Jura-Tempest was in charge of the alcohols for that dinner and party.>
Her attention is pulled from their telepathic conversation as Treyni, who had been drawn away at most half an hour prior, returns. She gives her a silent questioning look but Treyni just smiles reassuringly to let her know it was nothing that can't be discussed later if it's important at all and she turns away. Gazel, who'd come back about ten minutes previously, tilts his head, “Rimuru, I have been wondering…” She turns to him in curiosity, “How exactly is a Dryad of the Forest of Jura outside of said forest? I did ask Kaijin and the others, but they weren't totally sure themselves…”
She smiles and waves it off idly, “Oh that. I never got around to mentioning it to Kaijin and the others so they wouldn't know, but I was studying the Cores of Spirits. Managed to create an artificial one they could transfer themselves into, at which point it just needed to be placed in an artificial body. Created theirs with the wood of their former tree bodies. With their permission of course. And no, Treyni doesn't look the way she does due to any craftsmanship on my part. The artificial body just sort of took on her form after she was placed in it. It untethered them from the forest though.”
Gazel raises his eyebrows at her, “Did you now? An artificial core, now there's an idea. Do you think it's useful in other manners?”
She hums, “Depends on what you want to consider a different use. If you draw the line at transferring Dryads specifically to a permanent mobile body, then absolutely. You've already seen another application.”
Gazel looks surprised, “Have I?”
She waves her hand idly at Diablo and Ema, “You undoubtedly know Daemons don't have physical forms?” She shrugs elegantly, “Magisteel skeleton, highly magically saturated thread woven into the skin and all that, and artificial Cores.”
One of the Dwarves that was in their little cluster of people currently barks a laugh, “I told Brom it couldn't be Dead Birthday! If nothing else, you have three Daemons from what I've heard even if there are only two here that you'd have needed to give bodies to. Something of that magnitude wouldn't have been missed.”
She blinks rapidly, then glances at Ema, “Dead Birthday?”
Her wife grimaces, “Spell that uses a few thousand dead to provide a body to a spiritual being like a Daemon. For the three of us, you'd have needed around ten thousand each due to our power being over a sort of maximum threshold it can require.”
Her face twists with disgust, “What a barbaric magic.”
Diablo nods, “Indeed it is. It can theoretically trigger accidentally if someone were to try to summon Daemons with a lot of bodies as their offering, but usually it's done manually.”
She shakes her head, turning back to the original person who spoke, “No though, I didn't use that. I crafted those bodies myself. Much like with Treyni, I just had to give it the vague shape and their magic did the rest on getting their appearance when they took the bodies as their own.”
Someone else gives them an uncertain look, but given what they say, they're probably just uncertain about being allowed to ask, "What sort of thread is the skin and all that made out of for curiosity's sake. If it's alright to ask that is. Is it something more special like magisteel, or?”
She shakes her head, “Oh no. Well, it's not inherently special I should say. It's a mixture of the threads produced with the Steel Thread and Sticky Thread Skills. The only thing that may be special about them is the fact they're steeped in… quite a lot of magic to bring them up to a level to handle who they're meant to become the flesh for.”
They tilt their head, “That sounds rather labor intensive.”
She laughs, “Oh, not particularly. It wasn't incredibly difficult to make the first, and once I had that, I have a Skill that lets me use raw materials and duplicate the end result of a craft at any point after I analyze at least one in the past, so…”
She gives another elegant shrug, a little uncertain about the fact a couple others look a bit scared. Diablo sends a burst of laughter over their soul corridor, <Oh Xiǎolóng. You basically just told them you could make a body for any Daemon you wanted at the drop of a hat. And that it certainly isn't limited to Daemons since you used a similar method for the Dryads. It's not surprising they may be a little scared. Especially since they don't really have a firm grasp on your character and that it's not really a threat unless they start something.>
She bites back the urge to sigh. She can certainly see where they're coming from, but really, if she was the sort of threat that would turn that into some sort of problem, do they really think Gazel would be on such good terms with her? The only explanation for both of those being true at the same time was if it was more of a loss prevention thing, making friends with the threat so it doesn't target them. And maybe Gazel might do something like that if it was a large enough threat, but given his personality, it would have to be quite the hefty one to make him not try to fight against it.
Do they have so little faith in Gazel?
She's probably not the only one thinking something similar, given the ever so faint frown Gazel tries to hide behind the rim of his wine glass.
Apparently wanting to change the subject, Gazel turns his attention to her, “Speaking of inquiries. We detected a sudden spike in what Jaine identified as Charybdis’ magicules. Is the seal on it weakening? Vesta didn't really have information either.”
She shakes her head, “Not exactly. Someone released it and tried to use it against Jura-Tempest, but it was dealt with fairly quickly. Didn't see much point telling Vesta to pass it along since it wasn't a problem.”
He looks like he wants to ask so many questions, but he accepts that as the answer and leaves it there for now. Undoubtedly, he's going to absolutely grill her later, but it's not like she was hiding it or anything. She just hadn't seen any point to bringing it up given how easily it was dealt with and the fact it's now firmly inside of her Imaginary Space so it theoretically should never be a problem again.
She brushes it off. That's something to discuss with Gazel later. She'd rather just enjoy the party with her soulmates for the time being.