Heaven Be Kind

5: Match Made In Heaven

Many years back, scholars of the mortal realm told a story about a Great Demon.

A demon so fierce that her hatred once brought about the end of the world.

The demon made the Devil God seem like an angel in the eyes of mortals.

The Great Demon killed the first race of humans and brought about the Great Divine Dispute.

The story says that the Great Demon was once a powerful god in Fate Heaven that lost their mind when they indulged in Blood Cultivation. Their pain and resentment were so great that the death of one hundred million mortals wasn’t enough. The Great Demon pointed their weapon towards the heavens, seeking to destroy everything Chaos had made but the King of the heavens, also known as the Grand Divine Being intervened and killed the Great Demon with the power of his vermillion gaze.

If there was a being powerful enough to kill the Great Demon, where was he when the Devil God rose and slayed all the gods and brought calamity upon Fate Heaven?

A child would ask the scholar and the scholar would look up to the sky as if searching for answers.

Nobody knows where the Grand Divine went. Many said the death of his love brought about his ruin and silence. The majority were certain he died with the Great Demon.

Every scholar would answer with a smile and a laugh.

No one knows anything or exactly what happened after the Grand Divine Being’s war with the Great Demon. No one even knows the origin of the Devil God.

All that history revealed was that, a long time ago, many people died because of the conflict ongoing in the heavens. A powerful being killed a Great Demon and disappeared, a Devil God took over and brought ruin to all gods, demons and even to the mighty Ieons. All that remained of the mortal realm were the second generation, the royal family and a few treasures and artifacts they used to protect them from the demons.

Ruan Yu climbed the long red-carpeted staircase that opened to the main entrance of the Silk Jade Court with the rest of the guests and presented her wedding plaque to the officer that stood at the entrance. The guard took her golden plaque and used a transparent looking leaf-shaped talisman to confirm the authenticity of the plaque before letting her in.

‘’Thank you,’’ she smiled, maintaining the courtesy of a distinguished young lady while her eyes and senses were sharp for any sign of the divine demon.

She entered the hall with a bunch of lousy and boastful ministers and nobles who tried to form the right connections with the right people and marry one or two of their children off to secure a firmer relationship between them.

Ruan Yu moved, her dark red hanfu trailing behind her as she stepped inside the massive wedding hall which was also the throne room of the Emperor. The further she stepped inside the busy hall, the smaller she felt. The theme of the wedding was dark gold, black and red.

She sat behind a noblewoman who came with so many maids Ruan Yu wondered if she was the empress or if it was just another unnecessary attempt to show off.

‘’Nu Er (my daughter), why don’t you go and sit beside Minister Liang today? Look, he had just taken in a new wife, maybe he would look at you and decide to take another, don’t you think?’’

The girl turned to her mother and eyed her with disgust before standing up to leave. Ruan Yu watched and observed everyone. A lot of people knew each other and many stood up and walked around to get to know more people. She sat by herself with a fancy tea pot and set. Somehow, the emperor even managed to make the tea brewing inside the teapot pour out as liquid gold.

How they managed such a thing and how no one had been rushed to the physician for poisoning still wowed Ruan Yu a lot.

‘’Senior.’’

Ruan Yu blinked and answered the communication talisman one of the slayers in her team had sent to her.

‘’We have recruited more people and the entire capital has been surrounded. Also, all entrances that lead in and out of the capital have been blocked.”

'Good.'

Ruan Yu poured herself a cup of water and took a small sip.

Many more people filled in and filled the seats that were assigned to them. Everyone sat in rows of bronze chairs and golden tables arranged opposite each other and on both sides of the aisle prepared for the bride.

‘Master.’

Maman called through the mind-link they shared as master and disciple.

‘A royal minister in front of you has been staring since you came in.’

Ruan Yu locked eyes with the minister and the man dressed head to toe like a prince smiled.

Ruan Yu didn't smile back but stared back at him the same way. There was a calm and uncomfortable tension between her and the young minister. He looked too young to hold a royal position and Ruan Yu instantly guessed he was probably one of those heirs unfortunate to inherit the burden of their family problems on their shoulder before they even learned how to write. He probably had to write the exam and take on a royal post to keep his family’s noble name and expensive lifestyle.

He looked decent. Perhaps the most decent looking human being in this place.

But it wasn't his handsome appearance that got Ruan Yu staring at him that way.

‘Master, he is suspicious. He has on him a talisman that hides one’s true scent and nature.’

'I know.'

Ruan Yu calmly poured herself another cup of water and remained calm in her seat. Everyone was suspicious around her. Every smile and laugh seemed fake. Every word said around her seemed to have a deeper meaning and with every embrace, she expected someone to stab the other from behind.

'Where could you be hiding yourself at?'

“You all have seen him before.”

“He wears a beautiful dress.”

Ruan Yu dropped her cup and her gaze flickered over to the Emperor seated beside his empress and fifty concubines at the farthest end of the room.

Who else in this room wears a beautiful dress if not the emperor?

And as if he heard her thoughts and felt her eyes on him, the emperor removed his eyes from his empress to stare in her direction.

Ruan Yu stared back without fearing anything.

As a demon slayer, if the world becomes a threat to the royal family, you are bound by your oath to the heavens to get rid of the threat to protect the royal family. And vice versa, if the royal family turned out to be demons that threatened the peace of the mortal realm…

Ruan Yu smiled at the emperor and raised her cup towards him in a friendly way before bringing the water close to her lips to drink.

You are to kill without reservations.

If there was anybody she suspected most of being the Great Demon hiding in this room with her, it would surely be the Crown Prince; Mo Li.

Crown Prince Mo Li was not only born on an auspicious date and time of the month. His birth alone caused a lot of commoners to be afflicted with a mysterious form of anxiety. The anxiety was so strange and great that over a thousand commoners and a few royals took their own lives, leaving behind notes of a child rejected by the heavens being reborn again and his birth and existence were going to become the end of the royal family.

No one could really explain why the words left behind by the victims of the mass suicide matched so perfectly and spoke ill of the Crown Prince from birth.

Even though they lived in a spiritual world filled with gods, demons and cultivators, it still didn't give room for nonsense and groundless superstitions or omens.

What even strengthened her suspicion toward the Crown Prince was his bizarre history of young women visiting his chamber and no sign of them returning. It was as if they entered his palace and vanished and the Emperor had condemned and banned any form of investigation into the Crown Prince that had been brought before him for approval over the years.

Ruan Yu observed his attire as he sat beside his father, matching his bored and arrogant look. It was then that Ruan Yu noticed how he never blinked.

“The bride has come!”

Everyone returned to their seats and stared excitedly as the bride moved down the aisle in her Polished Jade wedding dress. A dress that had been worn and passed down by her ancestors. The one her mother wore when she married her father and it was said to be worth more than the Silk Jade Court.

Yan Ke.

Ruan Yu smiled as she remembered a few moments she had shared with the young princess. She was the master of the Red Tower and currently in charge of the welfare and well-being of all demon slayers in the capital.

Ruan Yu had always felt she would have been a better person if she wasn't of royal blood. Behind that fake arrogance and strictness was a girl so sweet and kind to everyone. A girl compassionate toward animals who saw every living thing as her equal and special no matter what.

A girl you could see desired to be loved and love everything freely.

She remembered when the young princess told her she desired to be a Phoenix. A powerful bird that dominated the sky and carried the fire of her rebirth on her wings.

A bird not bound by rules or duties and lived freely.

A divine bird that lived for itself.

It was then surprising when the girl came with a tray filled with golden plaques and gave every demon slayer an invitation to her wedding.

She had not been there when the princess came with her true love to show him off to everyone.

The entire street was overcrowded that day the princess came with her fiancee.

Everyone said they were perfect together, a match made in heaven.

Ruan Yu watched as Yan Ke was led down the aisle and toward where her family sat with only a few who showed they were happy for her.

She was guided on her knees carefully as she bowed before the emperor and the empress. Everyone around her whispered to themselves how beautiful she looked in that wedding dress.

Her brother, the Crown Prince, gave her a strange and unsettling look.

Ruan Yu poured herself another cup of water and drowned it immediately. The minister that had been watching her from the start stood up and excused himself almost immediately after Yan Ke returned to her feet.

The groom entered, and Ruan Yu stood up as well to follow the Divine Demon out of the wedding hall.