The Demon Lord's Bride (BL)
Chapter 176: Adult conversations or something like that

Chapter 176: Adult conversations or something like that

So, after suffering a period of these demons smothering me between teas and cakes, I finally found out who they really were.

All of them, including the fox, were courtesans.

Yeah, I know--I know it might sound bad. But no, this wasn’t Natha’s harem or anything.

To be exact, the fox used to work as a courtesan, a high-ranking one, and for quite some time ran one of the highest-grossing entertainment venues in the city, if not the whole realm. And then she retired, while still retaining ownership of the pleasure house.

That was when Rubha met Natha, and they formed some kind of partnership. Because, lo and behold, the courtesans were actually informants. Not in the kind that they actively went into someone else’s property like spies or doing investigations like detectives. What they did was escorting high-profile people and extracting information from them without the people knowing.

After all, people tend to lower their guard and spill teas when they were high in pleasure. Besides, who would have thought these beautiful demons who only knew how to act pretty and seducing would do anything with that information, right? Their silly little head wouldn’t know anything about it--or so they thought.

It was a perfect honey trap.

So they were basically one of Natha’s spies, and Rubha liberally let them stay in his mansion as her companions--if they weren’t working. Conveniently enough, they also helped him with his rut, which, surprisingly enough, I didn’t find that upsetting. Perhaps because I knew he spent his last rut locking himself in Lord Castle--according to Arta. And it wasn’t like I was in a position of controlling who Natha met or had a relationship with before he met me.

And after the whole prank, the courtesans assured me there was no feeling involved during their ’help’. Natha also never involved himself with them outside of the formal business of information gathering, and they never visited them unless he was in a rut. Basically, they convinced me that Natha only had his heart for me, and it embarrassed me enough that I would run away if Arta didn’t suddenly suggest going out shopping.

So yeah, I was saved from the embarrassing disposition, but thrown into a situation where I was dragged from store to store by over-exciting older sisters and brothers who seemed to see me as a doll to play dress-up with.

This felt like a deja vu--a worse version of it. At least with Arta before, we only stayed in the Lord’s quarters while she made me try a lot of clothes. But with these super-energized demons with boundless stamina, I had to go through at least half a dozen stores, and tried at least two outfits in each. At least.

"Gosh--you’re like a canvas; every color looks good on you!" the cat lady squeezed my cheek as I stood there, too tired to even dodge anymore.

I lost count of how many clothes I had tried as the evening was approaching and these people didn’t show a sign of stopping. I had tried the monochrome ones, the colorful ones, the beautiful ones, the tacky ones, and any kind of clothes that I didn’t even know existed. Arta capitalized on the fact that she could make me try the clothes outside of Natha’s preference, and joined the enthusiasm. When she said all expenses would be handled by the Demon Lord, these older sisters and brothers went even crazier.

Jade and Ignis were still hanging out in the sky and I had never felt so envious of them.

I mean...the first three stores were fine, but after the fifth, I just had no energy left to spare. By the sixth store, I just let them do what they wanted to do and left the judgment of which clothes to pick to Arta, since she knew what my and Natha’s preference was.

While dressing me, they would give Arta and Panne--who followed me around silently as usual like a male version of Angwi--some advice on how to dress me to the ten and eleven or whatever. And during the course of this unexpected exercise--yes, shopping was exercise, y’all, all those ten thousand steps and many more--I heard them comment on my appearance a lot. Perhaps because they were in the business of making themselves looked presentable for the client, they were very particular and sharp about it.

"I don’t envy humans and elves much, but I envy them for this," one of them, the short male one, commented with a sigh.

"But they are very prone to change color easily," Rubha chuckled in response, and somehow, I had a feeling that she was referencing to how my face easily showed how flustered I was.

"That’s right," Arta chimed in. "Young Master’s skin reddened easily with temperature change."

I knew it was supposed to say that my skin easily reddened when I was exposed to the sun, or that I blushed easily--which, of course, was something quite normal and healthy.

But these mischievous courtesans looked at me with curled eyes and a playful grin.

"My, my, must have been cute in bed," Rubha chuckled, fanning herself although the theater was definitely on the colder side. "His Lordship must really like looking at your face and skin while doing it, huh?"

...uh? How should I respond to this?

I mean....regarding me being all flushed was probably not a new thing for Natha, but...we hadn’t exactly ’doing’ it like people had been thinking, despite sleeping on the same bed.

Feeling confused and awkward, I looked down and fidgeted uncomfortably--a gesture that did not go by unnoticed by their sharp eyes.

"Wait--" I heard one of them say before pausing, and when I looked up, I saw them looking at me with flabbergasted expressions. Some even gasping.

"Don’t tell me..."

Blinking, I watched their face morph into fascination, and before I knew it, they surrounded me, and I was getting whisked into a private saloon where they proceeded to interrogate me.

"What? You really haven’t done it?!" at least three of them snapped in disbelief.

"No?" I replied hesitatingly. Yes, I knew it was a private matter and I probably shouldn’t divulge it to anyone else.

But you try talking to them as they surrounded you with wide sparkling eyes--try to dodge then, see if you can do it!

It was hard, okay?

And then they began to look at each other and asked in unison. "Why?"

"Uhh...mm..." this suddenly turned into an interrogation, it felt like. I fiddled with my cup while glancing at the fox lady. "Should...should I really say it?"

"Honey, you’re sleeping in the same bed," Rubha replied in an exasperated voice. It seemed like she had no intention of letting me get away without spilling things. "He already went into a rut two years too early just by being in your proximity."

Oh, was that what happened a few months ago? So his irregular rut was triggered by...me? That sheer information already got me blushing furiously, and this time, Arta didn’t try to rescue me.

Because she was also curious about it herself.

Traitor.

"Uh-huh," the rabbit said from somewhere on my right, adding in a whisper. "Don’t blame me if he pounces on you one day for losing control."

Losing control...pounce on me...

Those words effectively triggered a memory of that night again, the only time I felt his hot skin and his pained expression. It got my face heated even more, and I could see how flushed I was through the reflection on the shining teacup.

"No way!" someone gasped. "He’s already doing it?!"

"Wait--during that rut..."

"He was...he wasn’t doing it!" I hurriedly corrected them, in case they had a misunderstanding of Natha ’attacking’ me. "He...he stopped, before..."

I stopped, couldn’t continue anymore without stuttering in embarrassment.

"Lord Natha? Holding back?!" Again, they gasped, and I sighed as I continued.

"He said...because I was afraid..."

They were silent for a full minute after that, as if digesting my words required more effort. When Rubha spoke again, her voice was full of wonder. "Wow, he really loved you, huh, Honey?"

And again, I blushed.

"Hmm...so you haven’t done it because you’ve been afraid?" she leaned into the side so she could look at me properly, her hazel eyes observing me keenly.

"Well..." I bit my lips and hesitated for a bit. "That’s one of the reasons?"

It wasn’t all, and part of the reason was that deep down, I was still confused and doubtful that this relationship would last. I still thought the one Natha truly loved was Valmeier, and it put a wall in my heart that made me hesitate. I was so thankful that Natha never pushed me to break that boundary. We might be touching each other, but technically, there was never any invasive action.

"Why are you afraid?" one of the male demons asked.

Because I was afraid he’d abandon me someday.

"Because...I’ve never done it before?" I replied quietly before hiding my face behind the teacup.

"Oh my God!" as I expected, they reacted with a loud exclaim. "A virgin!"

"Good grief, Honey," Rubha ruffled my hair and pinched my cheeks with a laugh. "What a treasure, you are."

Ugh...

"To be fair, he’s still young."

"Pfft--demon kids these days already doing it in the academy!"

"True,"

Amidst the comment, the rabbit girl leaned forward and asked me softly. "Are you probably like, seeing it as something sacred? Are you waiting for your wedding night?"

"Wed--"

Gosh! I didn’t even think about it! I mean...I knew he called me his ’bride’ but...oh, God...

My face must have been so red right now because even the cat lady looked at me pitifully and scolded the others. "Hey, hey, let’s stop teasing him, be serious now."

Thankfully, they stopped. I bit my lips hard once, before taking a deep breath and trying to articulate my thought like how Natha told me to. "I don’t...it doesn’t have to be a wed--that night," I paused to swallow my embarrassment before continuing. "But I do think it’s something sacred--well, not sacred maybe, but...important?"

"Oh, Honey, you’re absolutely adorable," again, I found my cheeks being squeezed by the fox, as the other commented with a nod.

"Mm, there’s nothing wrong with that,"

"Most of us do this because we were forced, or it was robbed of us too soon, too fast..."

"Whether it’s sooner or later, it’s best if you do it because you truly want it."

Oh? They looked at me with a wry smile, and I realized that, as courtesans, they might enter the industry because they were sold to the brothel. And most of the case, it was done without their consent.

"That’s right, decide for yourself since you have the privilege of agency," the rabbit winked at me. "Especially if it’s not a mere fling."

The other nodded in agreement. "Marriage is overrated, but a serious relationship is still precious."

Wow...this turned out to be a wholesome conversation?

"That being said..." the cat lady leaned forward and propped her chin to her palm. "Shouldn’t we still teach him some things?"

"No no no, you can’t ruin a virgin’s first experience," the succubus replied hurriedly. "If he already knows what to do, it will ruin His Lordship’s experience too."

"But we can at least tell him what to expect, right?"

"Oh ho, that much is fine, I reckon."

"So, Honey...how far have you gone with His Lordship?"

Eight pair of curious eyes looked at me with hunger, and I couldn’t help but back away as I swallow my saliva.

What did I say again? Wholesome? Yeah, never mind. I spoke too soon.