The Demon Lord's Bride (BL)
Chapter 156: Seize the day or something like that

Chapter 156: Seize the day or something like that

"More than us, the one who is most annoyed must be you, right, my Lord?" Lesta smirked from the couch across from me.

"Your Lordship probably waiting, right?" Opti grinned. "For a chance to have a justification and--" he didn’t finish his sentence, and instead made a slashing motion on his neck.

Hey! That was rather extreme, right?

I looked up to see Natha, but rather than reassurance, what I saw was a pair of silver eyes gleaming dangerously, and a deep smile that sent a shiver up my spine.

...right?

He looked down, and, upon seeing my horrid expression, change his smile to a gentler one, patting my head as if telling me not to worry about it.

Uhh...okay then.

"Your Lordship, you can’t do that! I have to fix young master’s hair again!" Arta pursed her lips and scolded Natha, telling him to get out of the way so she could fix my hair.

With my hair fixed and my clothes changed, we went down to have dinner with the Di clan. It was a very long table to fit the direct members, the vassals, and the prominent figures of Lu’ann. Natha had told me not to listen to any of their chatter, so I busied myself with thinking about Eruha’s homework.

As we entered the drawing room, I finally felt the ’unfriendly’ atmosphere that I hadn’t felt for so long. The last time was...yes, during the banquet in Lenaar, the night Natha took me away. Oh, thinking about that moment actually make me feel good, recalling the blurry view of Natha’s human form and cold hand.

In fact, it made me feel good enough that I could practically ignore those demons--who were most likely on the Elder’s side--staring at me with dubious gazes and cold eyes. I wondered if there would be a drama, like they forgot to arrange a seat for me at the dining table or something...

No such thing. Seemed like it would be enough justification for the Lord to get angry and felt disrespected if they did so, thus, my seat was waiting for me across from Natha. Fortunately though, maybe by the arrangement of the friendly Mayor, Arta and Lesta were seated on my sides, so I wouldn’t have to endure having dinner with strangers flanking me, talking in a language I barely could follow.

You know, Natha didn’t really have to tell me about not paying attention to their chatter. I could only understand them partially anyway, hahaha. What a bliss.

I ignored the stare, and if someone seemed to want to say something to me, either Arta or Lesta would talk to me first, and Opti would engage that person in conversation. Caba, who wasn’t as skillful verbally, just glanced in my direction from time to time, looking anxious.

"Hmm...he’s looking more like a puppy each day," I told Arta as we enjoyed the dessert.

She giggled and whispered a reply. "Right? He used to follow His Lordship everywhere, asking for attention, just like a puppy."

"He used to be small too, really like a puppy," Lesta snickered. "But then he got hit by puberty and all he grow was his muscles."

Oh, it seemed like Caba was younger than I thought. Honestly, I couldn’t keep track of their age, since after entering adulthood, their look was almost unchanging until they entered old age. It was like the human period of twenties to fifties getting stretched for a century. And it was even worse with vampires and doppelgangers, who wouldn’t change unless they were on their death doors.

But half the guests tonight looked middle-aged in my eyes, which means they probably almost lived for two centuries already. My human head couldn’t comprehend this disparity in lifespan.

Lifespan...

Talking about lifespan...did I have a human, or a druid lifespan?

I stared at the pudding in front of me, and put my spoon down. Haa...why should I think about something like that in this situation.

"Young Master, are you alright?" Arta whispered, her voice filled with worry.

"...it’s okay," I said. Glancing forward, I saw Natha looking at me with a smile on his face, and I took a deep breath.

Right--it didn’t matter how long I could live and stay with him. It was enough that I could even live now, right? Just last year, I never thought of having a future anyway. I should just be grateful for the time I had today and used it to my fullest.

I turned to face Arta and replied with a smile. "I was just thinking about Jade. The kid must be sad and bored being left behind."

"In that case, we should take the bird to a lot of candy stores tomorrow," she giggled, and I picked up my spoon again, enjoying the rest of my pudding.

* * *

Wrapped in a warm coat, I followed Arta and Opti to the second floor of the city hall, where I could observe the hearing well. Even though it was still autumn, and the weather hadn’t got cold yet, everyone told me to wear something warm today. I thought it was excessive, but I understood when we entered the city hall.

"This place was designed to be cold, because it has to fit a lot of people," Opti told me. "With crowds talking about their concerns, it was easy to get agitated. What would happen if agitated crowds are crammed in a hot place?"

Opti said it with a laugh, but I could imagine the chaos that would ensue in such a situation.

"Oh, but Natha can just... cool it down, right?"

Opti raised his brow at me, before laughing. "That’s right. He’ll look like a dictator for a bit, but there won’t be chaos for sure."

We giggled and snuggled next to a pillar, leaning into the stone railing and peeking into the hall below; Arta and Opti flanking me, Jade perched on my shoulder, while Panne and my two guards standing behind.

On the raised platform at the head of the hall, Natha sat on the chair in the middle, while the Mayor sat on a slightly lower platform, with the city’s administrative staff lining up behind him. Standing beside Natha was Lesta, with a crate of parchment on his side, while Caba stood guard on Natha’s other side.

Chairs had been arranged inside the hall, and it had been filled with representatives from the northeastern region--the places we toured yesterday. If this was a trial, it would be easy to picture all those demons yelling and fighting to be heard. Thankfully, it was just a regular hearing session, and representatives were called to present their reports and concern based on the number given to them before entering the hall.

I tried listening to them, but sometimes they used local dialects, so it was quite hard. I couldn’t even fully understand the standard accent, much less the dialects. I had to ask Opti and Arta for translation, and after some time, they just interpreted it for me before I even asked.

There were various concerns, from something like a broken bridge, to a failed harvest from a beast’s attack. There was a case about a fraud who was targeting tourists, and a village deep inside the forest that had the residents fallen ill after a ritual. Some concerns about stampedes, and the neverending fear of the eternal volcano.

As the hearing continued, something suddenly occurred to me. "Is it possible that the representatives made false claims? Like...only telling the good things," I asked the two vassals.

Arta replied with a smile. "Young Master, don’t you remember what His Lordship said?"

"Which one?"

"That we already sent agents to check on the region before,"

It took me a while to recall it. Right, Natha told me that they already sent someone to scour and record what happened on the ground while we were in the sky, and reported it to him. Which meant, he already more or less knew about the situation in each region.

But then, if that was the case, what was the point of this hearing?

"So, are you telling me that Natha already knew about everything? Then..." I mulled about this new fact, drumming my fingers on the railing. I observed Natha’s face, and then gasped. "Is it a test? To see if they told him the truth?"

"As I said, we called this ’inspection’," Arta snapped her fingers, lips stretched into a grin. "We’re not just checking what exactly happened in the region, but also the leader’s competence."

"So the ones being inspected are those representatives?"

Arta and Opti gave me a deep smile as affirmation, and I shifted my gaze back to Natha, who calmly observed the faces of the representatives. There was no significant change on his face, but I could see the different glints in his eyes that indicated when he was happy and when he wasn’t.

From what I saw thus far, he was pretty satisfied with the hearing today. I leaned into the railing, propping my face on my palm and staring at his firm eyes that read the face of the representative like he read his morning report. And then, the silver eyes glanced upward, and his lips stretched slightly into a subtle smile that sent heat into my cheeks.

Ah...my Demon Lord was truly cool.

[Master, Jade bored]

I almost burst out laughing at the chirping sound from my shoulder. Well, everything seemed to be going smoothly and in control, so, there was no longer a need to spectate more.

"Alright, alright," I turned to Arta, and said with a grin. "Let’s have some snacks now."

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