The Demon Lord's Bride (BL)
Chapter 102: Having a kid meant they will scream and cry when you go out to play

Chapter 102: Having a kid meant they will scream and cry when you go out to play

*chirp!*

Jade looked at me with teary eyes, looking as if I had betrayed its fragile little heart.

"I’m sorry, but you know I can’t take you yet, right?" I caressed its pretty head, but it only got the little bird chirping harder.

I had asked Natha again, about taking Jade over. It was impossible before since I would have gone for days, but what if it was just a few hours?

"You can’t," the Lord decreed. "It’s not a matter of lacking elemental mana, but that we’re going through a portal."

Natha explained then, that since the portal was inherently a bunch of complicated spells meshed into one, it would affect negatively on Jade’s little body. Before the little bird entered the juvenile state, its inside was still in the state of an unstabilized clump of mana. Taking Jade through a clump of interweaving spells would result in both systems getting overdrive.

So, to prevent both the portal and Jade from...malfunctioning, we couldn’t bring Jade over.

And the little bird was wailing. It wasn’t only because I left again after only a few days, but because this time, Zia would come with us too. So the child felt totally betrayed now, and had refused to look at the succubus since lunch when they found out.

"It’s just a few hours," I tried to soothe the bird again, "I promised I’ll be back before bedtime, and you can sleep with me tonight, okay?"

*chirp?*

"Huh?"

Ignoring Natha’s surprised voice, I patted the little bird, who finally perked up. "Of course, I said I promised, didn’t I?"

*chirp!"

"But..."

"Sush--just this time," I let go of Jade and grabbed Natha’s arm. "Be generous, my Lord."

He narrowed his eyes for a bit, but relented when I slipped my hand into his fingers and grinned. "Hmm...you learn how to control me, now?"

"What are you talking about?" I turned away from him with burned cheeks, intertwining our fingers, and walked into the portal, where Zia had been waiting impatiently.

She did say she didn’t like living in the Lord Castle, but she obviously didn’t mind a few hours of visit for hang out and tea. Especially since she was rather close with Arta.

"Let’s go, let’s go!" she jumped a little in front of the swirling gate.

It was a two-way gate with a single fixed coordinate, so there was no complicated operation needed to activate it. Just activated the formation’s central rune, and the elemental bird would supply the mana needed for the portal operation.

The downside of using a ’live’ fuel, of course, was that we couldn’t abuse the usage frequency, since the birds needed to recharge too. Using it twice a day for two-way trips was okay though, and they could handle double that normally. Just...don’t treat the portal like your normal neighbor door, I guessed?

"Oh," when we were just a step away from the portal, I suddenly remembered. "Now that I think about it, I had no idea where the Lord Castle’s portal is..."

I looked at Natha for an answer, but all he gave me was just a simple "You’ll see," before he pulled me gently inside the portal. Looking back for the last time, I waved at the still-teary Jade who sagged pitifully atop Angwi’s palm, before taking a step inside the swirling gate.

How do I say this?

I didn’t remember ever going to an amusement park, but I spent a lot of time in my ward watching videos about them, and every time I saw the attraction ride in movies, I imagined how that would feel like. Stepping inside the portal felt a bit like what I imagined getting dropped from high altitude at high speed would be like. I wouldn’t say I knew exactly how that felt, but I imagined it felt like that. Actually, didn’t I fall from the height for a like a second last week?

It felt like your heart suddenly lurched and dropped to your stomach. But it only felt like one or two seconds before the feeling was gone. Exactly the time it needed for me to step out of the portal into...the lake?

"Oh?" I exclaimed for a bit in surprise. No, it wasn’t the lake, but the lakeside. I stood blankly for a few seconds to gather my bearing, before turning around to look at my surrounding. "Ah...it’s the garden?"

The garden at the lakeside with the stone pathway to the greenhouse. No wonder I didn’t remember seeing any portal, since my attention was getting sucked by the greenhouse on my previous visit. The portal was caged by thick and tall hedges too, so while the first thing I saw was the lake in front of me, it also felt like we were in a labyrinth if I cast my gaze around.

"Installing the gate indoors would be the safest, but..." Natha explained, leading me away from the gate to give room for Zia. "This place has the densest elemental mana in the castle, so it’s the most suitable."

"And not everyone can access this place too?" I added my conjecture, and he answered me with an affirmative pinch on my cheek.

"Oh, this place did not exist on my last visit..." was the first thing Zia said after she stepped out of the gate. "I bet you made this for Val, huh, Lord Cousin?"

"Of course," Natha answered without hesitation. Somehow he could make it seem like he was telling an irrefutable fact rather than bragging. How weird--must be the effect of that gorgeous face and imposing aura. "How do you feel, sweetheart?"

Oh, right. We were supposed to test the gate effect on my body. Personally though...

"Fine...I guessed?" I tilted my head, scanning my own system to see if my organs and circuits got haywire again. Thankfully, it didn’t seem so. Since I already used my body to look around, my motoric function seemed to be fine too. "It just feels like my heart dropped for a second when I stepped through the gate."

It felt different than Natha’s teleportation--perhaps because I wasn’t being enveloped by his arms and his wings. With Natha’s teleportation, I actually felt like we were moving somewhere, like I was spinning through space once. With the gate, it just felt like I was entering the next room--but with two seconds of thrill.

"Your heart...dropped?" Natha paused his step and looked at me with a frown, the hand holding mine was tightening. I realized then, that my careless description might sound horrid in others’ ears.

"Oh, it’s not in a bad way," I hurriedly responded with a follow-up. "It just felt like when my body dropped from the height--oh..."

There really were no bounds to my stupidity. If Natha only paused in slight concern before, now he was frozen. The frown had gone from his face, but the hardened silver orbs were like icicles now. The fingers intertwined with mine were getting colder, but it wasn’t because I felt afraid of him.

The fear...it was from the demon himself. It was Natha that was scared right now.

"Natha, I--"

I didn’t know what to say, truly. It was my stupidity, my carelessness, that stemmed from my own selfish act in the past. I couldn’t just say that I did not expect Natha would have this strong of a reaction to something that I did without thinking that time. In the first place, it was selfish of me to assume that this demon, who said he loved...me--or the original owner of this body--would be fine seeing me trying to fall down in the middle of what was supposed to be a romantic dance.

I just mistakenly thought that he handled everything relaxedly, just because he acted like nothing happened in the morning.

I just mistakenly thought I had little influence on this demon, just because I thought it wasn’t really me that he was seeing.

How absurd. How ridiculously selfish of me. Whether or not it was me or Valmeier that he saw, I was the one who stood in front of him, interacted with him, fell with him and received his feelings. It was me who could shape our relationship and responded to his shower of affection.

Thus, it was also me who could break his heart.

"I’m sorry," I gripped his hand tight and looked straight into those cold eyes. "It won’t happen again."

I wasn’t sure if he understood what I mean by that, but it was alright. I just wanted him to see that I was totally fine, so I resolutely looked into his eyes--or rather, I let him look inside me. See...I was fine. Even though I still had these negative feelings floating about, they would no longer make me despair.

And it was good enough, surely?

Slowly, the ice in his eyes was melting, as if it was getting showered by the sunlight up above. I could feel the cold receding from his fingers, and when he caressed my cheek, I swore I felt a hint of warmth there.

"I’ll hold you to that," he said, quietly, in a rather vulnerable tone. I truly realized at that time how much I must have scared him the night I let go of his hand and cried wordlessly like a madman. How much it affected him, that it even showed up like a trauma.

I bit my lips for a second at how that fact got me shuddered...in thrill? In dread? I had no idea. All I knew was that I wanted to kiss him right then, and so I did, because he told me I should be greedy. Just a light one, pressing my lips on his for a few seconds before retreating--because that was how long it took me to feel the burn in my cheek.

He just stood there with raised brows and a rather blank look, as I fidgeted slightly in embarrassment.

"Hey, I’m not sure what drama you are enacting here, but..." Zia’s voice dryly cut the rather clumsy atmosphere between me and Natha. "Can you, like...do it when you’re alone? Maybe respect my single life for a bit?"

Oh, bless this juvenile succubus. As I see Natha finally crack a slight smile, I let out a laugh.

Oh, it kind of felt good, realizing that I had that much influence...power...over someone. It felt terribly selfish but also...wonderful.

It made me feel like I was properly becoming the bride of the Demon Lord.