The Ghost King's KeeperCh97 - Ruzen’s first Official Gathering

Right before lunch time, the official gathering was arranged where officials of high ranks and guests closest to the Kings were invited to attend. The hall that had been previously empty, was now arranged with buffets and lunch arrangement. When the sun fell the strongest, The King and his Keeper stepped out from the back room. The entire gathering, except for a few guests, kneeled on the ground and greeted in harmony. 

“Take your seats,” The King spoke calmly, his hood back on his face, a smoke of shadows curtained his appearance, the glaring afternoon sun getting cut off as the environment froze again, the light in the hall dimming. The King’s presence showed full might as everyone went back to sit on their seats.  fpORve

Ruzen was led to sit on a throne like structure that had been temporarily arranged for him right next to the King’s throne. The blue and black carvings were the right amount of delicate. 

As everyone settled down, The king gestured towards Ruzen, “This is his first official meeting, be mindful of your words when greeting him. We hope everyone is a good teacher for this junior.” 

Chrysanthemum Garden.

“Yes, your majesty!” majority spoke in unison. They all knew when to play around and when not to. 

“Greetings your majesty Mozen,” a tall Ghost who was beyond handsome, stood up from his seat and walked towards the Ghost King, his charming appearance was somewhat extreme, as Ruzen watched on in curiously, a tint of nervousness lingering in his heart.  BH7twS

“Ghost Moulin, We were awaiting your arrival,” Mozen stood up and stretched out his right arm. 

Ghost Moulin nodded, hooking his right arm against Mozen’s, he had been waiting for a few days to get hold of this estranged friend of his, who showed his face only when necessary. Such a big event happened, and even he hadn’t been aware of it until the last moment.  

“The gifts I have prepared were given to Ou’Ni, I hope your Keeper would appreciate them.” 

Mozen nodded, “We will also bring Ruzen with Us to meet your harem, he would be delighted.” 

We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.

Ruzen watched as the two ghosts talked in arms and then separated, the curly haired ghost taking his leave first. Since Ruzen didn’t know whether he should remain seated or stand up, he had awkwardly stood up at first and then sat down later when none of the two ghosts paid him attention, it was embarrassing, but what else could he do. He hoped he would receive some good teaching from his tutor… he had already been informed by his King that he would be tutored in social etiquettes after they go back to the Main castle. 

Ghost Moulin greeted and left, and after him, several other guests came to greet the King. Just like Ghost Moulin, they never looked at Ruzen directly and simply gave him and the King their wishes for better luck and opportunity. 

Ruzen wondered if it was a rule… ah he did recall that long back, Za’Jin had told him something about people not directly staring at a keeper for too long… or something along the lines, so that must be it, a Manjo custom. 

After all the foreign guests left, the officials in blue robes started to greet one by one, bringing in gifts and such for Ruzen, a custom Ruzen supposed. They didn’t mingle with him too much, but kept to a certain distance. Ruzen thought they were kind of afraid of the King and were thoughtful in not pursuing his Keeper straight away. Maybe that was the reason why the King reminded them that this was Ruzen’s first official meet.  iTgZOh

The pile of gift stacked up high as the number of officials dwindled with time. Those that came later were lower in rankings, Ruzen knew because he had remembered some details about them from the King’s teachings just earlier when he had seen the map. The smaller officials who were governing the smaller areas weren’t high in ranking, but they also attended this private meet in order to fulfill a custom and please the King. 

Just when Ruzen thought things would pass on in leisure, a soft looking male suddenly came into view, he was different than usual, he wasn’t that stern but rather strange. Ruzen felt slightly uncomfortable. 

“Your majesty, greetings from Bearer Don’Ho.” He bowed deep and had a small smile on his face. “This Bearer brings a small gift from his region, please accept this humble servant’s gratitude. Keeper Ruzen’s involvement will be beneficial for all of us, this is the least this servant can do.” 

The Ghost King responded in kind, and Ruzen looked on in suspicion. As far as his knowledge went, generally these Bearers were unlike any officials. They partook in a serious range of responsibility, such as handling of matters for the King, executing regulations in the King’s domain, and being the public figure of the King’s commandeer. Then how come this Bearer also governed an area of the Protected Lands? Master He’Da had mentioned in passing that these bearers were King’s men, they didn’t own possessions for they solely lived for the King, their purpose was servitude and handling of external and internal matters for the King. Ou’Ni had been one such Bearer.   nTzQap

Ruzen didn’t know much about this Don’Ho person. He looked like a fraud, but Ruzen wouldn’t know. 

Don’Ho left soon after and the remaining officials greeted the King, they were less flamboyant and more respectful than those before. Soon after everyone left and the hall became empty again.  

“They didn’t eat anything?” Ruzen asked, as he looked at the buffet arranged not far. 

“They will eat when we leave, currently they must be waiting in another hall, generally that other hall is arranged for entertainment purpose.”  mF6Qad

Ruzen got the gist of it, and he didn’t hesitate to tag along his King, taking in the cold smoke shadows lingering around them with fascination. It felt cold to touch, but kind of familiar. “What are these?” he asked, as they both returned to the previous open hall where they slept. It was open, warm and bright, but as soon as the King entered, the area became colder and the light dimmed under the shadow curtain. 

“We don’t like to get too warm, these shadows are our own self, We can manipulate Our form.” 

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Ruzen nodded, earlier, he had noticed that the main castle had been very cold, so even with the presence of a fire hearth, it had remained cold. Maybe the King chose such a place because of his preference to a colder climate. “Do you not like warm weather because of your distaste or because it is harmful to you?” 

“We don’t like warm weather; it is a preference.”  C1YzyW

Ruzen nodded. “But maybe some people will think a warm weather makes you weak… hehehe~” 

The Ghost King sounded amused when he said, “That is even better for Us, We will make use of it as our armor.” 

Ruzen nodded again, feeling giddy as he sat next to the pile of gifts, slightly eager to take a look. He wasn’t hungry so it was better to unpack all the gifts. Thankfully someone brought all the gifts here, or else he would have to wait for the officials to have lunch before he went there to pick gifts. 

“Are we going to do something else today?” He turned to look at the King for his permission, his hand already touching a gift packet.  ms1HE6

The King shook his head, “We have to do something today, We will enquire about your memory issue.” 

Ruzen blinked, right, there was that. “Yes, my King can do that, until then I will just lay around here-” 

“Ruzen can take a look outside, the stalls are still around, there are also staff around so you can directly take someone with you.” 

Ruzen bit his lips, looking down at his hand, he was actually very curious, but the last time he took a walk outside, he met with a bunch of malicious energies. Whenever he went out, he was attacked by something or the other, it made him a little hesitant.  UpzOlH

“Then We will go with you.” 

Ruzen was surprised, “But you need to go out for something right?” 

The Ghost King looked patient, “We can do many things all together, want to see?” 

~ gDa5dY

[A/N – Bonus chapters powered by Robot Butterflies, thank you for always supporting me dear <3 It is very encouraging!!

And yeah! A side project I took up to fulfill my fantasies that cannot be written in GKK – A World Assimilation (new project on CG – @AWA will be announced soon)]