The Demon Lord's Bride (BL)
Chapter 158: Children have a way to pierce your heart with simple thoughts

Chapter 158: Children have a way to pierce your heart with simple thoughts

I almost spat out my goma, but she looked at me with clear, large black eyes; curious and innocent. I could tell there was no malice contained in that question, so I decided to answer it truthfully.

"Yes, I am."

I waited for her reaction. While adults had enough sense to hide their true feelings and pretend to be nice, children were usually more honest. Their reaction would mirror what the adult taught or showed them.

"Oh!" she suddenly straightened her back, and stared at me even more keenly, eyes blinking and wide. "If you’re a human...that means you’re the Lord’s bride?"

Hmm...was it possible to feel bashful and anxious at the same time? Yes, yes it was. "That’s right," I replied briefly.

She paused and kept staring at me, before exclaiming. "Wow!" and then shifted her attention back to her goma.

What...that’s it? Well...this is awkward for my anxiety.

I felt quite embarrassed now. I had projected my bad thought of being rejected onto this child, expecting she would react just as my worst imagination came in my dream--a horrified look, her running away in fright screaming about bad humans.

It was wrong of me to do so. I didn’t like to be judged by others for things I personally didn’t do, so why did I do so first toward others?

Still, despite my fluster, I was curious.

"Have you seen any humans before?" I asked her after we both finished our second goma.

She shook her head while rubbing her sticky hands. "No, humans don’t go here, Father said."

"Do you know anything about them?" I conjured a water ball and had it hovered above her hands. "Humans, I mean."

She parted her lips at the water ball, and turned her head to look at me with widened eyes. I pointed at her hands and the water ball, and with the innocent eagerness of a child, she shoved her hands inside the blob of water, just like Jade liked to do when I still fed the bird a huge amount of mana.

But since this was just regular water, not purified mana, Jade didn’t get envious. The little bird even chirped loudly, sending me its memory of our playing time in the bathroom, shaping animals out of water.

Once the girl’s hands were inside, the water ball swirled to get rid of the stickiness produced by the goma’s nectar. Once it was done and she pulled out her hands, the water ball changed its shape into Jade and flew away, dispersing somewhere else.

The girl shrieked and giggled joyfully, just like Jade who hopped on the table and jumped cheerfully at the little water bird.

"Hmm...Teacher said something about a war, humans and demons going to war," the girl suddenly said, after the fun time was over. I realized she was answering my question earlier. "But it’s far away from here so we don’t have to worry. Also, the Lord will keep us safe."

"I see," as I thought, the citizens had immense trust in Natha.

"Father said war is bad, and one of my friends thinks humans are bad too because they start the war," she continued, and swiftly added as she looked at me. "But teacher said there’s a bad and good human, just like there’s a bad and good demon. So we are not supposed to call someone bad or good before we know them more."

I pressed my lips tightly, taking a deep breath so I could speak without trembling. "And...what do you think of me?" I asked, unconsciously gripping my coat. "Do you think I’m a good human, or a bad one?"

The answer came fast, without an ounce of hesitation. "Mister? Mister looks like a good person to me."

"...why?"

"Because Mister likes goma and has a cute bird!" her replies came with a giggle, which called for a loud, energetic chirping from the little bird on the table.

[That’s right! Jade cute! Master like Jade cute!]

"Mister also drinks Mother’s tea. Mother only gives tea to nice people," she added. "And made waterball to wash my hand that turn into a bird!"

"Oh..."

"Also--" she moved her head, frowning a little bit as of trying to find a forgotten answer in her mind during a test. "Ah! Because Mister is our Lord’s bride, and our Lord is a good person. That must mean Mister is a good person too."

The edge of my coat must be so crumpled right now with how hard I gripped it. Arta would give me disapproving look later, but for now, I just felt so happy, so...validated. Just finding that little, seemingly insignificant things--liking the same food, enjoying tea, playing with a little magic--was enough. I didn’t have to be a hero or do some great deeds to be accepted as a decent person.

"T-thank you," I muttered, feeling my throat getting choked up a little bit.

The little girl tilted her head, soft black curls bouncing around her horns. "Hmm? For what?"

"Oh...f-for...the goma!" I quickly pointed at the goma skins piling on the table.

She giggled in response and rummaged through her bag again. "That’s okay! You can have another one if you want."

"Is that okay? Don’t you want to save it for your friends?"

She paused as I mentioned her friends. "Ungg--it’s fine, they can’t go out when they’re sick anyway," she sighed, suddenly looking downcast that I felt guilty for bringing it up. "You know...I was feeling sad and lonely earlier because there was no one to play with,"

I watched her take a deep breath and a long sigh, but immediately perked up, looking at me with bright eyes. "But I’m okay now--I can meet the Lord’s bride because of that," she grinned, flashing her pearly white teeth. "I’m going to tell my friends about you when they’re well. Oh! I’m going to tell Jenna that human is not all bad. Mister is not a bad person after all!"

I pressed my lips, feeling my eyes getting hotter. But if I cried right now, she might misunderstand, so I pinched my thigh to get ahold of myself and whispered my gratitude. "Thank you..."

She perked up and continued to rummage through her bag, taking out another goma, slightly cooled this time. "Here, Mister, I’ll give you one more, but that’s the last one, okay? I still want to eat some later so I have to save it."

I took the sweet tuber, and even though it was already cooled by the outside temperature, it still felt very warm. "Mm, okay, thank you."

"Tielli?" just then, the store’s door opened to show the clerk lady, who gasped in surprise, which was followed with fright. "W-what are you doing, disturbing Sir like that?"

"She’s keeping me company, I like her very much," I told the lady, giving her my bestest smile. I wouldn’t want to get my new friend in trouble after all.

The little girl, Tielli, looked at me and giggled. Her mother hurriedly came over, breathing a sigh of relief at my reply, only to gasp again as she saw the pile of goma skin on the table, and a new one in my hand.

"Is...is that a goma? Oh my god, I’m so sorry, it’s just a villager’s humble snack, Sir, you don’t have to--"

"No, I liked this very much. It might be my new favorite thing," I rubbed the goma in my hand, which I decided to take back with me. "It’s warm and delicious, right Jade?"

[Delish! Not as delish as jelly and candy, but delish!] the little bird chirped loudly and jumped energetically on the table.

"Just like Young Master said, it’s a nice and delicious food," Arta, who probably had come back long before, finally decided to show up along with Opti, who had a grin on his face. She came and crouched in front of me with a handkerchief in her hands. "And it tastes even better when it’s warm,"

I instinctively put the goma on the handkerchief, and Arta wrapped it neatly. "Young Master had never tried it before, so thank you for sharing yours with him, little Miss."

"I give Mister some because he’s pretty!" Tielli replied with a giggle.

Why, thank you. To think I finally enjoyed pretty privilege in another world. I serviced her with another smile, and the clerk lady finally looked calm, back to her gentle demeanor.

Since Opti had come back, we decided to have our lunch there, borrowing the store’s terrace. The clerk lady even brought out more tea, and Tielli joined us for lunch. Unfortunately, her parents were still too nervous about that, so they stayed working inside the kitchen to refill the stuff we bought earlier.

There was another place that I wanted to visit, which had a field full of flowers, blooming for the last time until the snow fell. So we bid goodbye to the village after lunch. As I waved to the little demon girl, I felt a bit saddened, as if I just lost a precious friend.

It was just a brief encounter, an hour of meeting and a few minutes of conversation. Yet it filled my heart with warmth and sweetness, just like the sweet goma in my pocket. Every time I’d feel like I wasn’t accepted, every time I’d feel the unfairness of being blamed for this body’s past deeds, I would remember the little girl from this beautiful village, and the same warmth would fill my body no matter the situation.

Truly, thank you.

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