The Demon Lord's Bride (BL)
Chapter 119: Just tell me straight my Lord, you’re a protagonist, aren’t you?

Chapter 119: Just tell me straight my Lord, you’re a protagonist, aren’t you?

"Looks like you’re having fun today,"

I was laying on my stomach on the bed, waiting for dinner, humming to myself while reviewing the notes I made during my ’study on Demon Lord’ session this afternoon. I didn’t even realize Natha was already back until he sat beside me and stroked my back.

"Welcome back," I giggled and lifted my notebook. "I resumed my investigation on you!"

"Oh, good job," he leaned down and kissed my crown, eyes peeking into the notebook while at it. "You got the general things, I see."

"Well, I got it from the school book, so of course it’s going to be general," I shrugged.

With his chin, Natha pointed toward the table in my little bedroom reading corner then, the one under the window. "That’s why you have a bunch of academy textbooks here?"

Lesta didn’t manage to find any parenting books in the library, although he told me he’d try to procure one. What he brought instead were books on familiar and beast taming for beginners--meaning for adolescents. Lesta added some schoolbooks that contained more general studies, from geography to the socio-economic condition of the demon realm.

"Eruha told me to look at them when I have the chance, before our next lesson,"

"Is he teaching you demonese or grooming you to be a ruler?" Natha muttered and chuckled, before looking back at my notes. "You’re getting good at the letters too."

"I practice diligently, you know!"

"I can see that,"

He proceeded to stroke my back again, and I tilted my head so I could see his face better. "Natha..."

"Hmm?"

"Can I ask you something?"

He paused for a second before resuming his stroke on my back. His lips stretched into a smile as he ask; "Is this about my father?"

I sat up immediately, blinking in surprise. "H-how do you know? Did you sense my--"

"No," he chuckled, patting my cheek gently to calm me down. "But I did read your notes."

Oh! Oh, how foolish of me. I looked down at my note; at the bold, underlined ’Natha’s Father’ and ’traitor’ with a huge question mark below the section of his adolescent era. There was even a teeny tiny note on the border: ’Should I ask?’.

I gave him a wry grin and carefully asked. "Is that alright? It’s not mentioned in the book, but I read it in your journal..."

"Sure," Natha leaned back on the bedpost and crossed his arms. "It’s not something that affects me anymore, since I’ve done my payback, but..."

"...but?"

He stared at my worried but curious face with a smile that went from soft to mischievous, while turning his face sideways. "This bard requires an advance payment, Young Master."

I blinked at his playful tone and curled eyes. It took me five seconds before realizing what he meant and leaned forward to peck his cheek as payment. "Would that be enough, Mister Bard?

"Mm, I shall take it since this is my first service, but I will expect more for my future performance," he whispered mischievously before pulling me into his lap, and I leaned back against his chest while listening to his story.

Natha was born into the Ra clan, the most influential family in the realm of lust. Apparently, this clan was a merger of three families of three races; Spectres, Nightmares, and the lust demon--Incubi and Succubi. The founders did the merging to contend for the Lord’s position against other clans--or in other words; to snatch the Key of Lust.

After they managed to do it, the Lord’s position fell to the Spectres, because they were the strongest. Nightmares were too few and rare, and their members were only about ten percent of the total force. The lust demons, although had the most number of demons, most of them were not of pure blood due to their culture of interracial mixing. As far as authority goes, the Spectres had the upper hand.

"We didn’t really mind it, though. Nightmare and lust demon wasn’t really ambitious in nature after all," Natha shrugged, while I wondered what this all had to do with the story. "So we were all living in harmony, until a problem arose."

"What problem?"

Natha looked down and with a smirk, announced in a nonchalant tone. "Me. Because I was born."

I blinked and parted my lips in surprise, brain whirring in motion. But in my position, leaning on his chest and looking up, I could see the exquisite pattern on his neck clearly, and the answer came to me immediately. So I replied while holding my breath. "Because of your alpha seed?"

"Yes,"

There were realms that employ special methods in choosing their Lords, like how the realm of greed chose the wealthiest one, the realm of wrath chose their Lord through the martial tournament, or the realm of pride which tested their Lord candidates with extensive theoretical examination. But there were also regions that had no special method in choosing their Lord; anyone who held the Key would be crowned Lord. The realm of lust was one of those.

Because of this, the Ra clan managed to hold the Lord position, with the Spectres family as the holder of the Key. Despite this, there was one thing that the clan had failed to produce; a King Candidate. There were already nine Demon Kings in history, but none of them came from the realm of lust. The Spectres had been trying various methods, including careful scrutinization to keep their bloodline pure. And yet, after more than a millennium, the awaited alpha seed showed up in another family.

Natha’s birth was causing distress among the elders of the clan, because it was a direct threat to the Spectre’s authority. And his father knew it. The joy of having a child after so many years of waiting became a dread after the elders ordered him to kill baby Natha.

"What?!" I almost jumped off his lap, but Natha held my chest back, so all I could do was look up with a deep frown and clenching fists. "Wait--did they call your father traitor because he refused to kill his own son?!"

"Haha, of course not," Natha answered with a chuckle, caressing my hair as if trying to calm me down. Why was he calming ME down? Why did he laugh?! I pursed my lips in annoyance at a bunch of old demons that I never met and were probably dead. "There’s no way that kind of reasoning would convince the other demons to call my father a traitor."

Well, that was true. If they jumped on the bandwagon of calling his father a traitor just because the man refused to kill his own son for the Spectre’s lust for power, I would have to retract my nice opinion on the demons.

"It was only much later on that I found out about it, but it seemed like the Spectres were the main culprit behind the death of many children bearing alpha seed across the centuries," Natha continued his story, still while stroking my hair in a soothing manner. "Anyway, my father refused to do it. He even made an oath to never let me become the Lord of Lust, and my family moved to a secluded estate. I also had to take my education in other regions."

Oh, gosh! I knew he had a tragic past but...

I let out a sigh and sunk myself deeper into his chest. I could feel the rumble of his soft laughter vibrating through my back, and it made my heart clench in pain. How long did it take, I wondered, for him to be able to laugh about it?

"Is that why you decided to move to the realm of greed?" I asked.

"Well, that’s only part of the reason,"

Until Natha reached adolescence, everything seemed to be fine. He lived in the academy dorm, so he wasn’t home much. But one day, he suddenly heard that his father was accused of treason by the Lord, and a letter came from home asking him to go back. When he reached the estate, his father was already in prison awaiting trial.

The accusation that he received was collaborating with the elves to take over the realm so he could plant his son as the Lord. Which was ridiculous, because the oath he took prevented him to do exactly that; if Natha was to take the Lord’s seat, his father’s soul would shatter.

And yet, the Spectre provided evidence of an attempt on erasing a soul-binding oath, so even when Natha’s father presented the oath to defend himself, it was rebuked.

"The recording evidence about my father’s talk with the elves was a fabrication," Natha explained. "My father did have several meetings with the elves, but it had nothing to do with taking over the realm or making me the Lord. The documents about erasing soul-binding oath, however..."

"It’s real?!" my eyes widened in surprise. Although, to be honest, I wouldn’t blame him at all to try. It was a cruel and absurd oath in the first place.

"It’s real, but it did not belong to my father,"

"Then?

There was a soft sound of a sigh coming out of his lips, and when Natha told me the answer, it was filled with regret and sadness. "It belonged to my mother."

Oh...

"She was a sweet mother, and she loved me so much. Too much. She felt like I wouldn’t have a future worthy of my talent unless I became the Lord," he held my hands, and I gripped them back as he continued. "Obviously, it backfired, and my father was deemed guilty. He requested an appeal and was supposed to have a re-trial in two weeks’ time while we gathered proof to defend him. But three days after the court was adjourned, he died."

At this point, I was too flabbergasted to even make a noise, just stared at him with a frown and pressed my lips.

Natha had no idea if his father was killed or died from immense stress and heartache. His death made the case end in an awkward notion; most thought he was a traitor, but some also doubt it. Those who doubted and saw it as the tyranny of the Spectres protected Natha and his mother from being prosecuted, although in the end, years later, she still ended up killed in the massacre.

Natha fled to the heavily guarded estate of his Great Aunt, and after that, it was just as I had read in his journal.

"After I came back from the Sanctuary, I left the realm of lust for good, and started a new journey," Natha told me while stroking the back of my hand, chin resting on top of my head. "I needed capital, needed resources if I wanted to have my revenge. So I gathered money, friends, and subordinates. For years and decades, I gathered proof of my father’s innocence, and asked for the lust demon’s cooperation. I told them I’d let them take the Key of Lust to honor my father’s oath, and we worked together to drive the Spectres out of power. I used my money to provide the firepower and bought the citizen’s favor through charity and investment."

I blinked as I listen to him, couldn’t say anything but wow...just wow...

This entire tale should be worthy of its own book, in my opinion.

"When what the Spectres had done to my family was revealed, I could finally free my father from being labeled as a traitor," Natha let out a long, relieved breath. "But it was also exposing the shameful history of the realm, so demons avoid talking about it."

When I clicked my tongue in response, he laughed and took my hand to his lips. "Well, how would you rate this bard’s story, Young Master?"

"Mm..." I tapped my chin in contemplation, faking a serious pondering. "The protagonist story is pretty tragic but exciting. I bet he ends up becoming a handsome, alluring, valiant Demon Lord somewhere else," I looked up with a grin as Natha laughed behind me. "Would there be a sequel to that?"

"Well...maybe, if there’s enough reward?"

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