Chapter 16. Dance with the Death

"Seems like you have finally grown out of puberty. Keep up, arbiter. Now let's start where we left off," said the vermilion bird as she flung papers across the room.

Once again, Hatsuki felt a cold sensation, but this time, the sound from afar was clear and loud. The spokesperson for a slight second had an ominous gaze, but in a blink of an eye, he had a cheerful smile. 

The paper consisted of all the things they had planned for the Dragon Lord once he woke up. At the very first was the 'Bride arrangement ceremony,' and continuously each of the tasks listed got even worse.

'What even is this?' Hatsuki tried to comprehend the 'purification ritual,' which was listed under the 'multiple dates.'. 

Yuki leaned slightly at Hatsuki's ears and uttered, "Try to keep a neutral face. You won't want to offend the red chicken." 

'But aren't you offending her even more?' Was written all over Hatsuki's face, especially her eyes, which were wide, and her nose, which was scrunched up.

"Now now, lover birds, it's about time you take notice of your surroundings," the black tortoise telepathically spoke to their minds while giving a slight glare to the arbiter but soon turned his eyes towards the red vermilion.

"Ahem, I have an objection, Red Vermillion." The tortoise voiced out, making all focus upon him. 

"What is it then?" the vermillion taunted.

"Are you sure that bringing up the bride arrangement would be good? Since he is coming out of such a long hibernation, won't it be better to have fewer menacing things to deal with at first? Better?" The black tortoise's words brought out plenty of nods from the audience.

"I agree with the old man here. Not because it's a hard task for Azure but because it'll be harder for us. We have been busy with the upcoming peach ceremony, and anything else would just be adding more to workloads." The white tiger had logic in her point. 

"Then what do we do?" 

"Uh…How about a short personal gathering?" 

"How about a short personal gathering?" Hatsuki muttered in a low voice. The entire assembly had gone quiet, letting her speak, but feeling abashed, Hatsuki was quick to end her words. 

"Personal gathering? Would you care to elaborate more, Lady?" The vermilion truly had no filter, especially in contrast to her poised expression.

Hatsuki took a sneak peek at her master, who had a dignified stance, reminding her of the words he spoke: to never lower her head as she was the strongest woman. 

Taking a deep breath, Hatsuki firmly tightened her palms and brought out the businessman smile.

"As it is a great celebration for the dragon lord to appear after long, I believe that he would be somewhat uneasy or unadjusted since many things have eventually changed since the time he left. So, at such times, I believe it would be best to simply make a personal visit to him rather than some fancy banquet or bridal hunt." 

At the end of her words, Hatsuki could feel her chest pound so loud as though it could jump at the table at any moment. Yuki touched her firm fists, which were numb. His cold touch brought a slight shiver, making her sharply turn towards him.

"You did great." He whispered while his thumb gently caressed her hand, which could barely free itself from the fist position. 

Yet even so, her cheeks were puffed up with happiness. A sense of pride on her chest. 

"While that is a good idea, a ceremony would be necessary as even heaven and hell have been waiting for his arrival." The white tiger had a point. The Azure Dragon was an imperial figure, so it wasn't some ordinary thing. 

"We can always push the ceremony date a bit further, I believe. It's not like the peach ceremony after all." The Black Tortoise mediated. 

"But if we proceed with that, then we would need to push behind many rituals as well, which could end up in inauspicious dates," said the Vermillion bird. Her feathers somewhat aroused. 

"Now now, let's not get ahead of ourselves regarding Dragon Lord. His arrival could be delayed as well as rushed, so please refrain from the concrete planning." The Arbiter stepped into the conversation. His soft voice had neither brute force nor unfiltered words.

"Let's take a brief break and resume our meeting since someone is turning carmine," Yuki added even more, making the vermillion furious. 

"Since the Arbiter has commanded, how could we ever deny? Let's have a short break, refresh ourselves, and discuss the topics. From here onwards, even the zodiacs can join." The spokesperson reported, and the meeting came to a pause. 

The Arbiter was quick to stand up while holding Hatsuki's hand and headed out of the hall, followed by the others. In a single second, the golden smoke covered them, and they arrived at a private balcony that was shielded by the dragon lord's magic. 

"Ma—Arbiter, why are we here?" Hatsuki 

"Because those beasts would have cornered you and made you answer everything about us," he replied while running his hand down her hair. Unlike the man in the hall, the Arbiter now felt somewhat sly. It was a part of him that she hadn't seen before.

"...I…I see." She was quick to look away and pause her thoughts.

"Does the vermillion bird resent the dragon lord? The things she had listed were as though…She wished to bully the lord. Though I may be wrong." Yet the list stuck in her mind. It was a sort of sibling rivalry. The list was hilarious, portraying the lord as if he were a pervert, but she knew she couldn't say it out loud. 

"You aren't wrong, though." As soon as Yuki said that, it made Hatsuki raise her expressive eyes that were wide and somewhat nodding, as if he just confirmed her thoughts.

"Since Dragon Lord is highly favored in heaven and hell and even praised by the humans, it created a sort of rivalry among them." It was a brief answer, but she could feel that many things had been left out.

Her eyes squinched and hands folded on her chest," It feels like a revised truth. Just like many of the things you tell me." 

"I only tell you things that you should know for now, or else you'll be dancing with death," said the master while he checked his stopwatch. "It's also time for you to go now." 

"Eh?" A golden smoke formed around her, vanishing Hatsuki from the thin air.