The Demon Lord's Bride (BL)
Chapter 139: Violence is not an answer, but it’s starting to look like a question

Chapter 139: Violence is not an answer, but it’s starting to look like a question

Brother?

I blinked, before fully digesting the word. Brother?! As in...Azma Ra Zir’Kal, the Demon Lord of Lust?

I looked back at the Incubus with surprised, widened eyes. He was darting his eyes frantically toward the door, the cowardly expression finally matched the face.

"Hey, Sisters, can you help me get out of this--"

"Shut your mouth!" I barked at him. Knowing who he was only gave me an initial surprise, and what filled me after that was even more disgust.

Because now, it felt like this Incubus did it simply to disrespect Natha--and me. He should have known what it meant for a Lord to sneak into another Lord’s chamber. Natha had been careful about instigating inter-realm conflict by not meddling with the Lust’s politics but this--what was this dunce thinking?

It would have been better if he was here to kidnap me, or even killed me for that matter, because at least there would be a clear purpose there, for a bigger objective. It would spell respect even in the most degrading way--but still respect, nonetheless.

That remorseless face, that only worried about his commercial face getting an incurable cut from Alveitya. I knew I was naive and ignorant about a lot of things, but I still knew some decency, and this was not it.

At my harsh shout, the Incubus flinched and looked back at me with wide eyes, flabbergasted. But it wasn’t just the Incubus--I saw that Zia froze for a bit from my peripheral vision, and so did the guards that came up.

"V-Val? What...what exactly happened here?" Zia cautiously walked closer toward us--more because her adolescent self couldn’t get too close to Alveitya’s aura. "Why is my brother here?"

"That’s what I want to know," I hissed in response, glaring at the demon below my feet. "Speak or I’ll deem your mouth useless," I twisted the spear’s shaft, prompting the Lord of Lust to hiccup and wince in fright. I recalled the gaze my grandfather used while admonishing his ene--adversary, and practiced it then. "I like to rip useless things."

I wasn’t really, but I might be, if I was angry enough. Like now.

"Uh...Val?" again, Zia called out. From her hesitated tone, I knew she was weirded out by my sudden temperamental display. Unfortunately, I couldn’t care less right now.

"You--didn’t you know who I am already?" the Incubus snapped, face morphing from shock to annoyance. "How could you treat a Demon Lord this way?"

"How could a Demon Lord comes inside another Lord’s chamber--" I gritted my teeth at this shameless demon, and raised my spear before slamming it down again in anger, "--and touched his bride?!"

"What?!" Zia exclaimed, and I could hear the sound of gasping--I forgot there were other demons there, not just Zia.

But what startled me was the familiar low and firm voice. "What...did you say?"

[Master, our Nightmare is here!]

I turned around, feeling my heart dropped to my stomach. There was relief in my heart that Natha finally come--the real Natha, my Demon Lord. But there was also a dread in the pit of my stomach that I couldn’t quite explain or understand.

"Lo--my Lord," the guards bowed and Aleena curtsied in reflex, giving way for Natha to walk inside the room. His steps were calm, but his gaze was firm, and I started to understand what the uncomfortable feeling in my gut was;

I felt like someone who got caught in the act of infidelity.

"L-Lord Cousin," Zia called out nervously, but Natha kept walking wordlessly, passing the girl without ever removing his gaze from me and the Incubus.

"Na..." I opened my mouth, but my throat felt constricted, and I felt like crying suddenly. I was so afraid he was going to misunderstand things and--

He reached out to stroke my hair and kissed my forehead, gently, and there was so much relief flooding my heart that all the rage swirling inside my mind almost vanished, like magic.

"Did I hear that right?" he pulled away, voice still low and firm, but also calm. He pulled me by my waist and naturally shifted our position so he was now standing between me and the Incubus. "You came into my chamber, when I’m not here, and do what to my bride?"

"Oh, come on, why are you making this into a big deal?" the Incubus moved away from the spear now that my feet weren’t flanking him anymore. "All I did was a simple prank--I just took your form and teased him a little,"

"Oh my God..." I could hear Zia lamenting behind me.

Before the Incubus could move any further, Natha already planted his foot on the wall, preventing him from escaping. "You were...impersonating me?"

"Uh-huh," the Incubus replied casually, as if he wasn’t trapped between a Spear of Judgment and a Nightmare. He even added with a shrug; "Just a harmless thing, right?"

"Oh, God..." this time, it was Aleena.

"And...teased him how, exactly?"

Because of my position, I couldn’t see Natha’s face. But I knew that tone, I knew that voice. It was the one he used when he was about to scold me or his subordinate.

But the Lord of Lust didn’t seem to know it, because if he did, he wouldn’t be able to say what he was about to say next. "What? I just caressed him a little, since he woke up crying--don’t you think I actually did a good job? I can’t just leave him all pretty and sad like that..."

"And?"

"Uhh--can you tell him to remove this thing first?"

"No," Natha said firmly. "What else did you do?"

"Nothing, I swear! I just kissed him a little, that’s all!"

My heart, which had grown calmer after Natha came, dropped again, further than my stomach. It dropped to the floor and scattered on the ground.

"You’re what?!" I heard Zia scream, and Aleena groaned.

"Oh, my God."

Again, just like this afternoon, I suddenly felt dizzy and uncomfortably cold, and everything around me felt like a blur. My body felt heavy, or was it light? Or was it just my legs losing their strength? I stumbled backward despite myself, until my calf hit something hard and I fell into a chair.

And over there, the Incubus still speaking innocently. "Just a little--"

"My Lord! Wait--"

A blasted coldness even harsher than the one happening in the pavilion filled the room, and I heard shouting, though I couldn’t register much of the words. And I couldn’t see what happened, since my vision was getting more and more blurry.

"Lord Cousin! Val is..."

*chirp!*

The cold was receding then, but it didn’t stop the fast and loud beating of my heart. I vaguely heard Jade’s frantic chirping and the soft wind from its flapping wind. It wasn’t until I felt the cold touch on my cheeks that I realized they were wet with tears.

"Sweetheart..." I heard his voice; that soft, soothing, and concerned voice that felt like home.

But I was scared right now--scared that the home would crumble.

"I--I’m...I didn’t..." I grabbed the hands wiping my cheeks, my head felt dizzier with every word stuttering out of my mouth. "I...I swear I wasn’t --"

"Of course you’re not," Natha grabbed my hands back, rubbing them gently, and holding them firm within his cold palm. "I know you don’t want it, I know, it’s okay..."

"But...I’ve only ever...k-kiss you..." my throat felt like it was burning, and I was sure my lips were trembling. They felt so...dirty. "I..."

What if Natha felt that too? That I wasn’t faithful, that I couldn’t stop the advance even though I knew it wasn’t him. What if he felt disappointed because I couldn’t even differentiate between him and an impersonator?

The more I thought about it, the more I felt like I couldn’t properly breathe, like something lodged in my lungs and throat.

"I’m sorry..." my eyes were hot and blurry, so I guessed I was crying again. So pathetic. "I’m sorry...I’m sorry, I’m so--"

The rest of my apology was lost between Natha’s lips, which gently sealed any attempt for me to speak again. Whether it was the kiss or the caress on my hair, he did it softly, tenderly, long enough until I stopped shaking. When he finally parted our lips, I could breathe again.

But he didn’t stop the caressing hand, stroking the side of my hair and chasing my anxious gaze. "What are you sorry for?"

Biting my freshly kissed lips, I replied quietly. "I’m...with someone else...kiss..."

"Damnit, Kal, you’re such a jerk!"

Ignoring Zia’s indignant growl, Natha rubbed my lips to stop me from biting them. "What kiss? Someone just put their lips on you without your permission. What did I say about that?"

I didn’t understand what he meant at first, but he patiently waited, as usual. Slowly, I recall a certain sunny day in the Lair, sometimes after the festival, when he taught me about consent.

"That...I should...feel upset and...admonish them for it,"

"And you did, didn’t you?"

"Yeah..." I replied weakly, but looking into his eyes still made me feel really guilty. "But I should have done something before...before..."

Natha grabbed my fidgeting hands and asked, "Do you even want to do it?"

"No!" I replied swiftly, almost yelling in my haste. I pressed my lips immediately after in embarrassment, but Natha smiled at my reaction instead.

"That’s right, so it’s not a kiss," he said. And then, in a more lighthearted note, he added; "If a corpse falls down on you and its lips coincidentally touch yours, would you consider it a kiss?"

"...no?"

The Incubus, who found a chance to move away from my spear and was inching away toward the door, stopped in his track and looked absolutely flabbergasted. "Excuse me--a corpse?"

"Yes, a corpse," I saw Natha’s lips stretched into a smile, although he didn’t seem like smiling. The next thing I knew, I was being pressed against his chest, his arms pushed my head and my back close to prevent me from moving. "Which would become of you if I don’t get a worthy explanation by tomorrow."

I blinked against the fabric of his coat, grabbing his back for balance as that harsh cold was back. Ah...he was truly angry, I realized. It seemed that he didn’t want me to see his angry face.

But Jade was perching atop the backrest of my armchair, and I could see what the little bird saw just by closing my eyes and sharing our consciousness.

What I saw was glowing patterns dancing across blue skin, dark veins protruding around his temple, hardened clenched jaw, and eyes so fierce it looked like thunderstorms; the silver churned and flashing fury around the slit of black pupils.

Through Jade, I could see the air vibrating, and the other demons were shivering with pale faces, clutching their chest or throat in palpable agony. Even the Lord of Lust.

Especially the Lord of Lust.

"Explanation..." the Incubus pushed out the word laboriously. "What explana--"

"Just remember that I held myself tonight because it’s still the festival, and because my bride just had a rough day."

There was an underlying growl in Natha’s voice, and Aleena reacted immediately, grabbing the Incubus and sealing him with some magic.

"We understand, my Lord," she bent her waist low, the confident face she usually had replaced with fear. "I’ll...go and detained His Lordship for now."

"Get out."