The Demon Lord's Bride (BL)
Chapter 161: There’s nothing wrong with wanting to be useful

Chapter 161: There’s nothing wrong with wanting to be useful

"Urk--"

You know those times when you keep eating carelessly until you feel bloated and nauseous? Yeah...that was what I felt.

Different from earlier, the pollution of mana in the storm cloud was greater, and I had no confidence I could maintain its form if I took it out. So I decided to keep the pollution inside my system.

But now I felt like throwing up.

"Sweetheart--"

"’m okay--just...ugh, feels icky," I swiftly said so Natha would stop worrying. "Like--uhh--eating something bitter and rotten," I shuddered.

[Jade not like it. Disgust]

The little bird, who got its energy back now that the air had been purified, chirped loudly from my shoulder. "You’re not the one who ’eat’ it," I grumbled and poked the chubby cheeks.

"I think it’ll be better if you throw it up, Young Master," Lesta said, and like the competent right-hand man--err, demon?--that he was, he already held an empty pot or jug or whatever in his hands.

"Uhh...I think I will,"

And that was how I poured out a stream of black tar-like substance from my mouth, right in the middle of the deck of a luxurious airship.

Eh, it was fine. The ship belonged to my groom anyway, who rubbed my back and neck like the dreamy partner that he was.

Oh, gosh--I must be really out of it, to think of this flowery thought while throwing out a hell’s river. It filled my mouth with a bitter taste, and I had to rinse it with a lot of water, as well as sweet juice. Lesta also gave me candies, although one of them ended up getting stolen by Jade.

"Feeling better?" Natha asked after we got back to the cabin, waiting for Caba and Opti to come back from their investigation before we decided on the course of the ship.

"Yeah," I nodded after sipping on my usual herbal drinks, curling against my Demon Lord, wrapped in a warm blanket and surrounded by plush cushions on the couch.

It was nice and comfortable, but even while I enjoyed getting hand-fed my breakfast by Natha, my mind couldn’t get away from the thought of the sick demons.

"Natha, we have to come back," I looked up, and could instantly see the frown on Natha’s forehead.

And it wasn’t just a slight frown. It was deep, and he was pissed. "Do you want to purify the whole region?"

His voice was cold, but I stood my ground anyway. "People are sick."

"You can get sick too, like this."

"But I’m not actually, it’s just filth, like sucking poison from a wound and throwing it out," I insisted, the blanket slid off my shoulder as I straightened my back so he knew I was alright.

"People can get poisoned by such method too."

"But--"

"Sweetheart--"

"Are you going to ignore your people because of it?" I grabbed his hand, which was about to caress my face. I couldn’t help but frown at his persistent denial.

He let out a sigh and said softly, perhaps so he could persuade me. "We can wait for a Druid to--"

"I’m a Druid!" I put his hand down, furrowing my brows even deeper.

Perhaps I said it too aggressively, but the others--Lesta, Arta, Panne, and the servants--froze, staring at us in silence. Even Jade chose to hop on Lesta’s shoulder, pecking the dark-skinned demon for another candy.

Natha, thankfully, didn’t look like he was angry. But he was also far from calm. He had this conflicting look on his face, maybe frustration too. So I took a deep breath and took his hand again.

"Natha," I said carefully. "I want to do this."

The line of his lips hardened as he spoke. "If you want to do it just because you want to feel useful--"

"What’s wrong with that?! I do want to feel useful!" I raised my voice again despite myself. Biting my lips and sighing inwardly, I fiddled with his fingers and lowered my voice. "But...I also have a friend who feels sad because she can’t play with her friends."

I looked up, my hands clasping on his, and I tried to earnestly look into his eyes, so he could see that it wasn’t just bravado, or foolish confidence. "Please?"

He didn’t answer. In the end, I just sighed and looked down, fiddling with my shirt this time. Well...what can I do? It was his territory, he was the Lord, and he could do whatever he wanted--

I felt his hands first, a cold brush before the warmth of the blanket enveloped me again. And then his voice; gentle and full of concern, warmer than the blanket. "Promise me you’re not going to push yourself."

I looked up, blinking at his still frowning face. "So I can?"

His answer came with a sigh as he took my fiddling fingers and wrapped them within his cool hold. Oh, but it felt warm all the same. I almost jumped into his lap, but managed to hold my instinct back and only leaned forward to kiss him.

But then he pulled me into his lap anyway, blanket and all, despite the others still there around the lounge we used to have breakfast in.

Oh well...

"Thank you," I whispered quietly, holding into his shoulder as he secured me by my waist.

"Why are you thanking me?" one of his hands came up to stroke my hair, as h planted his lips on my forehead. "Do you even know how precious you are?"

"...Mm! I know I’m at least precious to you," I replied after thinking about it for a few seconds.

"Good," he patted me in satisfaction. "That’s the one thing you should never forget."

* * *

When Caba and Opti came back, they told us they found a trace of a fight, but couldn’t identify what or who caused it. There was no trace of weapons, and everything seemed to be caused by a clash of magic.

Natha told the Captain to turn the ship around, then. Using the communication orb, he contacted the Mayor and told him to gather information about places that suddenly face an increasing sick population, relaying to him what had caused them. Since we had to travel back for half a day, the staff also had to reschedule the itinerary for the next town, informing the Mayor there through the communication orb.

Anyway, it was chaotic.

But while everyone was bustling, I was sent to my and Natha’s cabin, where I tried to stay put by reading one of Eruha’s homework. There was nothing I could do before we arrived there anyway, and Natha strictly told me to rest or he would revoke his permission.

"We’ll start with that little friend of yours too, and worked toward the forest where the report came in first. Apparently, it’s the closest village to that storm cloud," Natha told me after he was done rearranging things.

"What about the area between here and there? Don’t we need to purify it too?"

He took a seat on the couch and I scooted closer automatically. "We’ll prioritize the populated places first. I sent someone to check how big is the damage in the unpopulated area, and we’ll plan the move after."

I nodded, and then he grasped my chin. At my dumb, blinking face, he said sternly. "I don’t care if you say you are fine, I will not make you do it more than you should."

Again, I nodded, more frantically this time.

The ship went full speed, and we managed to arrive before opening. We didn’t park it, though, and used a flying carriage to go to the village. There was already some staff from the Mayor’s office there, and we could quickly round up the villagers.

Of course, they were confused and panicking at first, thinking that they had done something wrong to offend the Lord. Especially the owners of the sweet store I visited yesterday. It seemed like they thought there was something wrong with their pastries and the Lord had come to punish them. Or their daughter.

They were visibly shaking, so I hurriedly went and greet them as cheerfully as I could, to show them that there was nothing wrong. I praised their pastries and told them Natha enjoyed it too--although he only ate a bite of everything. Only then that the couple stopped shivering in fright.

"I heard there are children who suddenly got sick?" Natha asked the village Chief.

"Oh, yes, milord. But children are usually sick around this time of the year," the old man said, still confused at the situation.

"But isn’t there an increase in numbers this year? And they were falling sick around the same time," Natha reiterated what I told him earlier.

Before the village Chief could answer, suddenly someone from the gathering villagers spoke; a middle-aged demon with a beard and loose clothing--like a hermit. "Are you saying it’s not just the usual sickness from season change, my Lord?"

"Eshad..." the Chief muttered, and I suddenly recalled something.

"Ah, the magician," I snapped my fingers, and they shifted their gaze at me. I left the store owners and approached Natha then, looking at the old demon. "The children usually played near your cabin, right?"

Tielli had said that there was a magician living in the cabin just outside the forest. The magician let the children play in his yard, and sometimes asked their help to search for herbs and things like that.

At my words, the old demon looked alarmed and cautious, so I waved my hands swiftly. "No, no--I’m not accusing you of anything. But you do cast magic daily, right?"

The old demon frowned and stroked his chin, mulling my words seriously. When I reached the group and stood beside Natha, the old man seemed to finally reach a conclusion as he widened his eyes and let out a soft gasp.

"A contamination?"

I nodded, and Natha continued with his talk to the Chief. "Please gather the sick children in one place--and adults too."

The Chief bowed and immediately relayed Natha’s message to the villagers, who were also immediately moved to do what the Lord had asked them.

"I know it’s weird that the children haven’t got better after I made them potions, but..." Eshad sighed. "I didn’t think it would be mana contamination."

"There’s a storm of mana havoc a day journey from here, which seemed to cause that," Natha explained. "The sickness wouldn’t be too severe here, so it’s probably only looked like a usual interseason sickness."

"They can be cured right?" I asked them, since I didn’t really know about the illness itself.

"Yes, they can. It will need specialized medicine, but I already asked the Mayor to send some from Lu’ann."

I breathed a sigh of relief, but old Eshad still looked worried. "But my Lord, even after they are cured, if the contamination still persist--"

"Don’t worry," I interjected and gave him a firm smile. "I’m going to purify this place."

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