Bonus 1: Young Emperor's Dilemma!

Four months have passed since the defeat of Mortem. Amber Village had been restored to more or less its former glory, and everything had gotten back on track. Princess Laura was set to get married by the end of this week, and the whole empire was in a complete frenzy. They all wanted to make sure she would have the perfect wedding. Despite her many requests against it.

“Honestly, you all don’t have to do this,” Laura would say.

However, the villagers would not take ‘no’ for an answer. During this time, Emperor Berus had been quite busy with meetings between the other empire’s rulers and more foreign meetings with the human leaders. Both sides bored the young ruler to near death. After each meeting, Berus would often bang his head against the nearest wall for a couple of seconds before heading out. His assistant and personal bodyguard, Cello, would often advise him to not do that.

“But they’re so boring.” He said, tirelessly running his hand through his hair.

Cello snorted. “Still no reason for you to get brain damage, Berus.”

Luckily, Berus had the whole week not to deal with any of those pesky meetings, so the young emperor could focus on getting the last minute preparations done for his foster sister’s wedding. One day, while he was finishing up some paperwork, Cello came into his office.

“Morning, Cello,” Berus greeted.

“Morning,” Cello replied with a yawn. “What’s on the agenda for today?”

Berus took a long stretch in his chair, fixing the eyepatch over his left eye. “My gift for Laura and Anthony should be ready today, so I was going to head out and pick it up.” The young emperor’s gift for them was a decorative sword, made entirely out of gold.

“Great, great. Then what?”

The young emperor cocked his head to the side and asked, “Then what what?”

Cello crossed her arms and sat on the edge of his desk. “I assume you have a plus one you’re bringing to the wedding then?” She asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Plus…one?”

Berus opened the middle drawer on the right side of his desk and pulled out a ‘Weddings For Dummies' book. He flipped through the pages until reaching the guest section of the book, doing a quick scan for the part that mentions a plus one.

“Ah! Here we go,” he said, pressing his finger on the text. “A plus one is a guest invited to an event who is allowed to bring one extra person…often a significant other, date, or friend…”

The color drained from Berus’s face, slowly closing the book. His head creaked as he looked up at Cello, who had a very smug expression. Berus slapped his hands on his head and went into a panic.

“I didn’t know I needed to bring someone!”

Cello laughed, calming down the young emperor. “Relax, Berus,” she said, “finding a date should be easy for someone of your position.”

Berus slammed his hands on the desk and said, “Wait! It said it can be a friend. We’re friends, I can just bring you!” He wiped the sweat from his forehead. “Whoo, and here I thought I’d have to try and find a date.”

“Well, you could just take me. But, what kind of image would that paint?”

“Huh?”

Cello hopped off his desk and continued, “Think about it. Emperor Berus, ruler of the great Amber Empire…in the prime of his youth…dragging his bodyguard as his plus one. So many options, but not one chose him? Tsk tsk tsk, embarrassing.”

Berus’s eyebrows raised, and once again he began to sweat. “Dear God, you’re right…I’ll be a laughing stock!”

Cello chuckled slyly. “You still have till the end of this week, buddy. Don’t worry, I’ll let you find a date.”

Berus cocked a brow and said, “What do you know about getting dates? You never even had the guts to ask Laura out.”

“Hey, I would’ve gotten to it!” Cello barked, then pouted. “If it had not been for stupid Anthony.”

And so, the duo headed out into town, in the hopes of finding Berus a date to Laura’s wedding. The young emperor had jokingly asked Cello if she would want to go. To which she slapped him across the face, and the two continued. They had gone to several homes and shops, asking those who had daughters in the same age group as him. Most of them were former classmates, so he already knew them decently well. However, that did not change the fact that he didn’t find any of them to be a match. Cello suggested that perhaps he was like her and fancied the same sex.

“Noooo, sorry,” Berus replied. “I do like girls, Cello. Just…not these.”

Cello scoffed and said, “Okay, Mr. Picky Pants, at the rate we’re going, we’ll have to head out to the other villages to find you someone.”

“I…just…it’s complicated.”

As they strolled around, Berus’s gaze shifted to his far right. Sitting cross-legged near the village’s fountain was a beautiful young girl, about the same age as him, lightly dipping a brush into a small glass jar of ink. She had short, pointed ears atop her black hair. Her long hair had been tied into a bun with two bangs at the side of her face. The ends of her black fur were covered in a dusty brown, she had white rings around the middle of her forearms, and her eyes were dark brown. She wore a blue sleeveless, apron-like dress with thin straps, over a white shirt. Her name was Ruby, a Tasmanian Devil experiment. However, despite the idea of Tasmanian Devils having fierce and aggressive personalities, Ruby was quite shy, keeping to herself.

Berus was unable to move his gaze from the beauty and ran into a lamppost. He fell back, rubbing his head as he lay on the ground.

“Berus!” Cello exclaimed, helping Berus up. “You gotta watch where you’re going. What happened?”

“I just remembered, there’s one more person here we can try.”

The two headed to the village’s meat shop. Berus and Cello stood outside the entrance for a few minutes, the young emperor looking quite nervous to enter.

“Look, maybe we don’t have to do this. I mean afterall, who cares if-”

Cello rolled her eyes, and before Berus could finish his sentence, she kicked him inside the shop. He stumbled inside, and at the front counter was Ruby’s mother, who was doing some light cleaning. She looked up and gave a smile.

“Good afternoon, Emperor Berus,” she greeted, her voice was loud but sweet. “What can I help you with?”

Berus didn’t respond right away, having to gulp down his nerves. He straightened up, clearing his throat, and said, “Daughter.”

Ruby’s mother looked at Berus with a blank expression. “Hm?”

“Sorry, I wish to speak with your daughter. It is an important matter, very important. Yeah.”

Ruby’s mother nodded and said, “Certainly. Ruby! Come down, Emperor Berus wants to speak with you!”

She called out for her daughter, and a few moments later, the sound of footsteps started coming from the stairs in the back of the shop. Ruby walked over, wearing the same clothes as earlier.

She stood by her mother and asked, “Yes, mother?” Her voice is soft and quiet. That’s when her attention shifted to Berus, and her eyes widened.

“Uh, hello, Ruby,” Berus said, stammering his words. “I wish to speak with you in private…if-if that’s alright?"

Ruby glanced at her mother, who nodded in approval, and the young girl nodded back. “Okay,” she replied.

The two headed outside the shop, Cello waiting against the wall of the building.

“What did you want to talk about, Emperor Berus?” Ruby cooed.

Berus’s face blushed a light red. “I…well…you know…now, you don’t have to say yes if you don’t want to…but um…yeah…”

Seeing that Berus wouldn’t be able to ask, Cello covered his mouth and talked for him. “Miss Ruby, Emperor Berus here wants to ask if you would be willing to join him as his date to Princess Laura’s wedding?”

Ruby’s face flushed red in an instant, and she began stammering like Berus. “E-Emperor Berus…i-is this true?”

Still with Cello’s hand over his mouth, Berus rapidly nodded.

After thinking about it for a few seconds, Ruby said, “N-no.” She sped off inside and slammed the door on the two.

“Oof, tough luck,” Cello said, removing her hand from Berus’s mouth.

“Gah! What am I going to do now!” Berus exclaimed.

“Calm down, Berus. You’ve still got plenty of other options.”

Berus turned to her and snapped back, “I don’t want anyone else, I want her!” He quickly covered his mouth.

Cello was speechless for a moment, but then a wide grin began to stretch across her face. “Do you have a crush?”

Berus darted his eyes from side to side. “So what?” he said, removing his hands and putting them back.

“Awwwww, that’s so cute!” Cello started laughing. “Why didn’t you say something beforehand?”

Berus put his hands down and scoffed. “Well, it’s not like it matters now. Let’s just go home and try some other time again during the week.”

The two headed back to the mansion, and for the next few days, Berus did not bother trying to go out and find a date. Instead, burying himself in work. On the day before the wedding, Berus had gone out to fetch his present. While he was away, Ruby had stopped by the mansion and knocked on the door. One of the housekeepers opened it, and Ruby asked where Berus was. Cello was walking down the stairs when she heard the young girl and quickly made her way over to the door. She politely pushed the housekeeper away.

“I’ll take it from here, thank you,” Cello said, resting an arm against the doorframe. “What can I help you with?”

“Oh, umm…is Emperor Berus around?”

Cello shook her head and said, “You just missed him; he left a few minutes ago.”

Ruby lowered her head. “I see.”

“Might I ask what you needed to see him for? I’ll tell him for you.”

Ruby blushed; she twirled one of her bangs. “Well…I wanted to tell him that…I actually do want to be his…you know, date.”

Cello grinned from ear to ear, and her eyes lit up, but she quickly contained herself and raised a brow. “What changed your mind?”

“I-I-I was nervous! It was so sudden…I just kinda blurted out an answer. The truth is, I really like Berus. He’s always been so nice and funny, a-and he compliments my art so much. No one besides my parents ever really does that.”

Cello bit her tongue to repress her giddiness, taking a deep breath before responding. “That’s very nice. I’ll be sure to tell him you’ve changed your mind.”

She went to close the doors, but Ruby held one. “Please don’t tell him that other stuff!” she pleaded. “I would die of embarrassment if he knew.”

Cello chuckled and gave her a wink. “Your secret’s safe with me?”

After Ruby left, Cello waited with overwhelming joy to tell Berus the news. Once he got back, she explained to him what happened. He spat out his juice, nearly choking after what she told him. And so, the fateful day came for Laura and Anthony to be wed. Cello was Laura’s maid of honor, while Berus was Anthony’s best man. Laura had asked Armin in advance if he could walk her down the aisle, given how she had no living relative who could do so. Armin agreed and was more than ecstatic because it gave him practice for when he would have to walk his own daughter down. They had the wedding out by the ocean, and nearly all of the empire had crowded to see this wondrous event.

It rained that day

But that did not stop the bride and groom, not even for a second. In fact, Laura welcomed the rain, twisting a usually thought bad omen as a sign that her parents, both adopted and biological, were crying tears of joy on this day. Once they shared their first kiss as newlyweds, everyone rushed back to the village, drenched in rain, ready for the feast. Luckily, Anthony had told Berus about the chance of rain, so at the last minute, the young emperor set up a massive canopy around the entire village. While the party went on, Berus sat with Ruby and the two engaged in small talk.

“Pretty good wedding, huh?” Berus said, laughing before shaking himself off.

Ruby giggled as she was hit by some of the water. “Yeah, I was afraid lightning might’ve struck.”

She picked up a spoon, ready to eat, but stopped and turned to Berus. “Why did you choose me?” She asked.

Berus’s eyebrows raised, his face turning a light red. He chuckled embarrassedly and said, “I…I just like you a little, that’s all.”

Ruby let out a small gasp, her eyes lighting up. “Y-y-y-y-y-y-ou d-d-d-do?”

Berus smiled and nodded. “Yeah,” he replied. “I know you’re quiet and keep your distance from people, but when you do speak, you’re so kind and smart. And art is so beautiful and elegant with your brush strokes. I…”

Berus would’ve kept going, but when he glanced at Ruby, he noticed she had her face in the bowl of stew. “R-Ruby!” He yelped, lifting her out and cleaning her beet-red face with a napkin.

The young girl had fainted, overwhelmed with emotion, while Berus praised her. As Ruby started to regain consciousness, her eyes met with Berus’s, their faces rather close. She passed out once more, and Berus panically tried shaking her awake.

Cello managed to drag Laura and Anthony with her and show the two something great. The three stopped and found Berus and Ruby talking after managing to wake her up again. Cello smiled smugly, while Anthony didn’t think much of it. But Laura gasped in awe, her eyes bulging with insurmountable joy.

“Oh. My. God,” She enunciated every word. “They are so cute! I have to go bother them!” She was ready to sprint towards their table, but Cello held her back in time.

“Easy! Easy!” Cello said, straining to hold Laura back. “They are a little awkward with each other, and Ruby’s super shy.”

“That just makes them even cuter!”

It took the combined effort of Anthony and Cello to hold back the princess. After she managed to calm down, they decided to let them be, but Laura would keep a close eye on them with the utmost giddiness.