The Demon Lord's Bride (BL)
Chapter 111: It’s even more annoying when you’re the one being censored

Chapter 111: It’s even more annoying when you’re the one being censored

"Are you angry?" I asked Natha once we were in the Lord’s private quarter.

Immediately after we arrived, he sat me down on the chair in front of the fireplace, and wrapped me in a blanket. It was only then that I realized my hands were cold--well, my entire body, actually. Was it because of that dark space, I wondered.

"Why would I be angry?" Natha tilted his head, but the silver orbs were still cold.

Hmm...there were quite a few reasons I could think of, like I was coming here unannounced, or how my disappearance causing disturbance. Natha must have been trying to find out what happened since Jade appeared without me, which meant he had to abandon his job and--

Snap!

I blinked, and stared at Natha’s fingers in front of me, before shifting my gaze back to the silver orbs. "I’m not angry," Natha said, softening his face with a little smile.

"Then..."

He kneeled in front of the chair, took my hands, clasped them together, and pressed them on his forehead. "What I am now is terrified. I’m truly, truly frightened, sweetheart," he looked up and stared straight at me. "You were gone, and it wasn’t until your familiar told me that I found out. I couldn’t even trace you through the contract."

Ah...so, that hardened and cold eyes were his attempt on suppressing his fear? Now that I looked closer, he was rather pale, and his jaw was clenched. Not that I ever saw him truly angry, but his anger felt more like a cold fury, so his facial expression would instead relax, while his eyes would be filled with extreme coldness.

So yeah...seemed like he was scared and worried about me.

"I’m sorry," I bit my lips and slid down to hug him. Just because I wasn’t worried about myself, didn’t mean others wouldn’t worry too.

"No, it’s not your fault," Natha stroked my hair and back, speaking with his low, soothing voice again. But he didn’t let go of me, just rewrapped me with the fallen blanket, and we stayed there on the soft snow wolf rug in front of the fireplace. "It’s not like you asked to be sucked into a place designed by divine power."

"I truly didn’t," I pursed my lips while resting my head on his shoulder. "I was confused too. I walked so far in the dark without feeling tired. But now..."

Now that I was wrapped in the blanket and safely tucked within Natha’s embrace, I felt the wave of exhaustion come over me. It wasn’t physical exhaustion, but had more to do with my whole existence; my energy, my mana, my mental capacity...they seemed to get sapped by whatever that dark place was. So I wasn’t injured, but I felt like I just climbed a mountain without proper equipment while being chased by a mischievous spirit.

"It’s a normal reaction for mortals who visit a divine abode," Natha explained.

"That dark place was a divine abode?" I murmured drowsily, being soothed by the stroking in my hair and his melodious voice. "So that...thing...what was..."

Again, my tongue couldn’t proceed further, and I sighed. Was this how Natha felt every time people asked about the Egg--Seed?

And then I blinked and lifted my head to stare at him. "Have you... gone to a place like that before?"

"A divine abode, you mean? Why, of course. The King’s Sanctuary is a divine abode,"

Oh...that made sense, since the Demon King was the God’s apostle. Was that why there was a special way to enter the place? Well, unless they were invited by the King, of course, like Natha.

Hmm...if this was a game, or a story where the summoned Hero needed to defeat the Demon King, the story quest would be for the Hero to defeat all seven Demon Lords and obtain their keys to unlock the Sanctuary. And then the final battle would be facing the Demon King, with the true ending being defeating the Demon God, and then--

"You’re distracted again," Natha pinched my chin in the middle of my scenario-making. "You’re really exhausted, huh?"

What did that mean? When I tilted my head with a stupid expression, Natha smiled and pinched my cheek this time. "Your mind always wanders everywhere when you’re tired or drowsy, don’t you know that?"

I did? Whelp--how many times had I done it in the past that Natha could pick that up?

"But I can’t let you sleep just yet," his voice turned stern suddenly, and my flinching back straightened right away.

What? Was he going to scold me? Interrogate me further? When I started to fidget in panic, the door opened and two servants came with food trays in their hands.

"You haven’t eaten anything since breakfast, right? Eat something even if you have no appetite," he stroked my cheek which he pinched earlier, before helping me to my feet. "You can sleep after."

Ugh...it quite sucked that I lost a whole day just like that, but I couldn’t help it when my body wanted to lie down so badly. I even started to feel drowsy. It was good that they prepared mini sandwiches that I could just eat with one hand while lounging on the couch.

I ate while staring at the dancing flame of the fireplace, and was reminded of that cocoon again; how its light pulsed so that it seemed lime dancing. That voice, although I couldn’t identify its characteristic, there was something that I caught on to because it was something that I knew well; loneliness. How long...had that cocoon stay in the dark all alone? It made me feel rather sorry.

"Natha, didn’t you say I’m alright since the divine power didn’t seem to have any intention of harming me?" I looked at the Demon Lord who stayed there and hand-feed me sometimes. "Are you still afraid despite that?"

Natha paused at my question, and then brought his hand down, along with the sandwich that he held. When he answered me, his voice was filled with caution. "Those who had experienced God’s divine force would be stupid not to afraid. Especially if that power could control their mind."

Natha looked at me, who was staring at him with widened eyes. He gave a soft smile, probably to reassure me, and stroked my hair. "I merely think that if that force could take you between the portals, it might take you whenever and wherever,"

I swallowed the food in my mouth before shuffling to make my body face him on the couch. "Do you know...what it is? What it was that...took me?"

"I don’t know," Natha shook his head and frowned slightly. "But I know it wasn’t Lord An’Hyang."

For you who didn’t know, An’Hyang was the name of the Demon God, or rather, what the demonkin called him. It was an archaic form of demon language that loosely translated as ’He who could not be seen’ or simply; The Unseen. Apparently, it was because he never descended to the realm, and only used the apostle--the Demon King--as a proxy to exercise his power and blessing.

And so, Natha’s conjecture probably derived from this fact; that the Demon God never moved without using his proxy.

"Do you mean, because I wasn’t at the Sanctuary?" I asked to make sure.

Natha smiled and nodded, ruffling my hair as if he was proud of me. "And there was no need for His Majesty to do it that way. He just needed to call us to the Sanctuary if he wanted to talk."

Right, that made sense. After all, Natha was a Demon Lord who was also the King candidate.

"But that means...we have no idea who it was," I sighed, and decided to just resume eating. "Could it be the other two Gods?"

"From your description of the place, it seems unlikely..." Natha muttered in contemplation, looking all serious and sexy while rubbing his chin.

Ugh--damnit Val, just focus on eating, why don’t you?

And yes, I also thought it was unlikely that the Goddess of Nature who liked vibrant things, and the Goddess of Human who was--supposedly--the embodiment of Light and Virtue, would use a dark space as a divine abode.

But then...who?

When I pursed my lips in confusion, Natha chuckled and patted my hair. "Divine power is not an exclusive authority for Gods, you know."

"No?" I exclaimed so fast I almost choked on that last bite.

"No," Natha repeated. "During the reign of the Primordial God, divinity belonged to the three main Gods and their helpers; the divine attendants, also known as Sacred Guardian."

"Sacred Guardian...sounds cool!"

Natha scoffed and flicked my forehead gently. "After the Primordial God vanished, not all of the divine forces followed the three Gods and served them. Some decided to roam around the world, and making sure that the three Gods does not wage war between each other and destroy this world that their Father created."

Ooh...it felt like I discovered another setting for this world. It was never mentioned in the first novel though, so I guessed it was something that would come out in the next book, or the next, if there was any. Who knew--the Hero probably would encounter one of those Sacred Guardians and leaned some ulti from them. Training arc or whatever.

"Wait--so you think it might be one of them that pulled me away to the dark space?"

"Well, we can’t rule out such possibility..."

Natha was making that worried face again, eyes looking down to stare at nothing. I put the sandwich’s plate away and spoke quietly. "If you’re to face one of them...do you think you can win?"

I could see one of his eyes twitch, but his smile stretched into a snarl. "I can," he replied firmly, and confidently, lifting his gaze to stare right into my eyes, as if he was making a promise. "I can, although it won’t be pretty. There will be a lot of casualties and destruction, and I would have to move all the resources that I have, but..." the silver eyes gleamed dangerously, but that didn’t make them any less beautiful. "I can win it for you."

I didn’t like the part about casualties and destruction, but, well...as long as we survived in the end, right?

"There’s no need to be worried, then," I stroked his cheek and grinned.

It was a good thing that I knew whoever pulled me into that space didn’t mean any harm. But it was also a good feeling to know that even if they meant harm, we would be able to face it.

And by the smirk on my Demon Lord’s face, I think he agreed.