The Demon Lord's Bride (BL)
Chapter 172: Looking forward to things I couldn’t do before

Chapter 172: Looking forward to things I couldn’t do before

The fire was still alive and colorful, and it felt like the night only get brighter.

Natha led me to a big tent across the stage, where a cluster of seating areas had been arranged. It seemed to be done so to accommodate those who would like to talk to Natha.

And just like that, the moment Natha appeared, he was surrounded by the merchants and visitors that had been wanting to talk to him since our shopping date. Meanwhile, I found myself being pulled by familiar arms.

"Oh!" Arta exclaimed when she saw me, raising my arms and twirling me around as if I was wearing a ball gown or something when all I did was put on the traveling merchant’s colorful tunic and poncho.

Although, since it was loose, the fabric did move nicely around my length as I was being twirled around.

"Young Master is lovely in any clothes," she said while squeezing my cheeks.

"Don’t coddle me," I pursed my lips in protest. These days, I felt like they had been spoiling me too much; letting me eat whatever, letting me do whatever, praising me for nothing...I’m going to get spoiled at this rate, thinking it was alright for me to do anything.

What if I ended up getting careless again?

"No, Sir has a lovely face, so everything looks good," one of the performers chimed in. She either knew Arta before, or they had become besties in the span of a few hours.

"That’s right, that’s right!"

"Don’t make me blush!" I pursed my lips and ran to hide behind Natha, who was coincidentally in the middle of talking to visitors from the realm of nature.

Arta let out a good-natured laugh before going into the group of performers who seemed to be preparing for a play--it seemed like she was especially interested in the costume department. I looked around and saw Caba among the group of mercenaries, while Lesta and Opti were talking with travelers and merchants doing their hobby--gathering information.

So everyone was having fun on their own instead of getting busy with their duty. Mm, mm...that should be the case. After all, this was a festival! Even Jade and Ignis were going round and round the oasis to look at the venue from up above. Reversing their role from the cave, Jade took its true form and let the little gecko climb up.

"Seems like the Young Master is having fun," one of the elves greeted me with a hand-on-chest gesture as usual, and I replied in the same way--although it might be slightly ridiculous doing it while peeking out behind Natha.

There were seven of them--four drows and three elves--dressed more like mercenaries than those elegant clothing the Sarterians wore. They also explicitly brought weapons and seemed to be used to this area already, despite not coming from here. Especially the drows; tall, lanky, dark skin, and red irises that glowed in the dim of the night. Despite looking slim, their limbs were packed with nimble muscles--which had something to do with living in a cave and traversing the night.

It was my first time seeing them, and I couldn’t help but stare. They greeted me with a simple nod, since unlike the elves, they didn’t have specialized greetings. Their eyes did the greeting; whether they looked guarded, interested, or relaxed--it showed their stance. And by nodding, which lowered their gaze--and thus their guard--it meant to convey respect and trust.

"They are a group of travelers going around the world since their younger days," Natha introduced them. "They had roamed the Realm of Demon longer than you, sweetheart."

Yep, I could easily see that. They definitely looked like a seasoned adventurer. "Going around the world..." I muttered, looking at the various trinkets on the Drows’ clothes. "...seems fun."

One of the drows who followed my gaze laughed and spoke in a deep voice. "Looks like the Young Master wants to travel around the world too."

"Oh, I’m just...I’ve been staying inside too long, so it seems nice to be able to travel everywhere," I said sheepishly. I didn’t want Natha to think that I hated just staying in the castle.

"Someday, you’ll be able to do that without worry," Natha said while patting my head. Yep--once I--or Valmeier’s corpse--was no longer being pursued by the kingdom. I nodded with a grin at that promised exciting future, and Natha added. "Also, going around the world doesn’t have to be experienced physically."

Oh? I tilted my head and then looked back at the smiling drows and elves. "Oh!"

Right--I could also listen to their stories, which would feel more personal than reading a book. We took a seat then, with warm drinks in our hands, and their stories to tell; about the caves of the drows, the cold realm of Sloth, the beautiful port cities of the west, and even the news from the human realm.

"The Realm of Nature doesn’t have winter, so I traveled to see what it’d feel like," the first drow that talked to me, Halzerin, told me. He was the oldest of the group and looked around Natha’s age. He said he’d been traveling ever since he came of age because he was bored.

Very inspiring, I must say.

"Oh, like watching the snow?" I asked with a gasp.

"Yes, the snow," he replied with a smile, which was followed by the other drows and elves. Unlike the Sarterians, they didn’t treat me like a revered person, which was nice. It seemed like they saw me as a younger brother of some sort, and it made me feel more comfortable because I didn’t have to pretend to be all elegant and authoritative like when I was talking with Issa and her entourage.

"I want to see the snow too," I confessed. "I want to stand outside when it’s snowing, and play with it afterward..."

Because... every time I encountered snow before, I was either immediately fainting or immediately kidnapped.

Huh...

And both times, I also encountered the same face.

"There will be another festival too, if the snow piled up high enough," Natha said, pulling me out of the daze.

"Oh?" I straightened my back immediately. Festivals upon festivals...this realm seemed to be even more lively than the human ones--although to be fair, Lenaar was in the middle of the war then.

One of the elves nodded and explained further to me. "The artisan and sculptor like to build many structures using snow in the plaza, and the children will bring them snow from around the house,"

"Yes, I’ve heard of that too," the others responded with collective nods.

"Winter always seemed to be associated with bleak weather, but if there’s something like that to look forward to, doesn’t it seem better?"

"That’s right!" I nodded enthusiastically, already imagining all the things I had wanted to do with the snow; building a snowman, laying on the white field, snowball fights with my companions...

"Oh, but will Ignis’s body heat melt the snow?" I turned to the side, right as a flaming gecko and a colorful bird landed on the table next to us. They were connected to me, so they probably had been listening to the conversation and decided it was interesting enough to be worth going down for.

"I don’t know," the gecko answered while hopping from the table to the armchair. "There’s no snow in the mountain."

"Oh, then it’ll be your first too!" I exclaimed while reaching out my arm so Ignis could climb there

The little bird, meanwhile, hovered straight to my shoulder while chirping loudly. [Jade’s too!]

"Mm--it’ll be Jade’s first time too," I rubbed the turquoise head lightly.

"It would be nice to have someone who could melt the snow when it piles too high," Lesta chimed in suddenly, already leaving Opti with the other travelers.

"But we’ll get flooded with the melting water, then..."

We paused for a few seconds, before we started laughing at the imagery of water flooding at us while trying to walk through the snow.

"Hmph! If it’s me, I can just evaporate it completely!" the flaming gecko stood on my palm and said haughtily.

"Ooh--as expected of our Salamander!" I laughed again while patting the flaming head, which wasn’t at all burning me. I still found this fascinating, to be honest.

Just then, the field outside was filled with cheering, and Lesta told me what happened. "Oh, look! The play begins!"

The stage was lit with many torches, and the play began. It was my first time watching a play, so I unconsciously felt nervous and excited as I waited for it to begin, even leaning forward and prompting Natha to hold into my waist again.

And then...lo and behold; it was actually a theatric show of the legendary salamander.

[Ignis!] Jade jumped in excitement as it recognized the lizard costume on the stage.

And I also got infected by that excitement. "Ignis, Ignis, that’s you!"

Well, it didn’t really look like Ignis, but they made the costume flaming with magic, so it was easy to infer who that was. The said Salamander climbed onto my head to see better.

"Hoh?" it exclaimed briefly.

Natha, however, corrected us. "To be exact, that’s the previous Salamander."

"My predecessor is still me," Ignis scoffed. "I just have a name now."

"Mm...that’s right," the Demon Lord nodded in agreement, and we continued to watch the play more calmly.

While the main character was Ignis--or the previous Salamander--the stage was divided into two factions. One of them was the abyssal monster and corrupted beast, while the other was the demons. They were fighting through a wild, fascinating dance until the mighty Salamander came and obliterated the monsters with its fire.

While Jade chirped in excitement and clapped its wings, and the real Salamander was stomping its feet proudly, I turned to look at Natha. "Is that during the war you participate in?"

"Yes,"

My eyes widened at that. "Will you be there?"

"No."

I gasped and whine sadly. "Why?"

Natha chuckled and caressed my hair as if to soothe my disappointment while replying. "Because it’s a story about the Salamander."

"I see," I nodded, and then recalled that if this story happened in this region, Natha wouldn’t be at it since he was still in the Realm of Lust. "Is there a story about you?"

"Hmm...I wonder," he smiled mysteriously, and I pursed my lips as I turned to the side to call for my encyclopedia.

"Lesta,"

"There is, especially about His Lordship’s competition with the Lord of Pride," the demon did not disappoint me.

"Ooh..." I clasped my hands in delight. "I’d like to see that!"

"Maybe we can go when there’s one in play," Lesta replied, before glancing at the Demon Lord and added. "But His Lordship won’t be coming."

"Why?"

"Because the actors would be too nervous otherwise."

Ooh, right. It would be weird playing about a Demon Lord in front of Natha himself. Although...that actor didn’t seem to mind playing as the Salamander in front of Ignis. Perhaps because they wore a costume?

"Sush--concentrate on the play," Natha held my chin and directed my eyes to the play again.

"Hmm, hmm--Indeed, I am the Great Salamander!"

[Ignis great!]

I heard my companions’ shouts and immediately immersed myself in the play again.

But that didn’t mean I failed to catch the slight color on the tip of Natha’s ears.