The Demon Lord's Bride (BL)
Chapter 183: The name on our lips

Chapter 183: The name on our lips

It was dark, again, and he was still floating; a speck of light in a vast galaxy.

He remembered now; it wasn’t a dream. It was a memory. He’d been here before, for a long, long time.

Or at least, he thought it was a long time. There was no way of knowing how much time had passed here.

But he remembered waiting. Drifting and waiting for his soul to be whole again.

And then, as he drifted, he heard a voice. The center of the universe, whispering into his cracked soul.

--find me

Where? He asked.

--find me when you’re whole

What was that even mean? He drifted confusedly, rolling around inside the vast galaxy. He had been drifting on a fixed orbit, but he rolled out of it unconsciously, and bumped into another speck of light.

Another broken speck of light. Same yet different.

Like a twin.

Like another part of himself.

And with astonishment, he touched that broken speck of light.

* * *

"How is he?"

For as long as Rubha knew Natha, she had never seen him this distressed, this anxious, this...scared. The Nightmare kept on pressing the physician that was examining the human, who was burning with fever despite looking as lovely as ever.

They were waiting for dinner to start when the Lord immediately ordered the physician they brought from L’Anaak. When the vassals as well as Rubha came to check on the Lord, they saw him on the bed, caressing the human who was sweaty and delirious. His skin was burning, his face was flushed, and his long lashes were wet. Lesta had to grab the little bird who wanted to dive onto its Master, while the Salamander stood on the windowsill, confused about what it had to do in that situation.

The human was delirious then, but he soon grew quiet. But rather than seeing this as a sign of peaceful sleep, the Lord looked anxious instead. He kept calling for the human, but it wasn’t the name they thought it would be.

"Valen," he called, and although the others were perplexed, Rubha was familiar with the name. "Valen, can you hear me? Are you there?"

It was a bizarre thing to be asked of someone, surely. But Natha kept on calling the name and asked the question until the physician--who was having dinner with the other staff--came running and panting.

As the physician did the examination, the Lord kept on prancing on the side of the bed, back and forth, back and forth. He would bite his nail, stand behind the physician like a looming gatekeeper, and then walk around again.

He never did that, even during the few hours of the human disappearance that one time--although to be fair, he was busy looking for help and explanation at that time, so he had no time to stand still like this. The only reason he didn’t barge the physician with questions was to make the physician work faster.

"There’s nothing wrong with the Young Master’s body except for the high fever," the physician concluded after the glow from the screening spell disappeared. "Besides, Young Master has the natural rejuvenation trait of the druid, so he couldn’t get sick."

Natha frowned and bit his nail again as he pondered hard. What was it, then? What caused this fever? It was almost like the burning Val would get after ingesting Amrita at the early stage of his recovery. But that was caused by the rapid movement of Amrita’s substance inside his mana circuit, so it would be visible.

Val hadn’t consumed Amrita tonight, and there was no overdrive in his circuits. That was why he thought Val was sick--perhaps a cold or something, because Panne told him Val soaked for a long time in the bath earlier. But if that wasn’t it too...what then?

"My Lord," the physician looked up hesitatingly, before stating his conjecture. "It’s possible to have this kind of fever when someone is accumulating too much stress."

The silver eyes blinked, and before he could even finish digesting that information, he was attacked by furious pecking on his side.

[Nightmare bad! Nightmare make Master sick!]

"It’s you, isn’t it? It’s you!" the Salamander joined the bird and landed on the Lord’s shoulder, blazing and whipping the Lord’s neck with its flaming tail.

And he just stood there, dumbfounded. Was it true? Did he really cause this?

"What did you do, Natha?" the fox tilted her head and looked at the Lord dubiously, followed by the twins who narrowed their eyes in suspicion.

And then Natha recalled how much his sweetheart was crying earlier. How Val was hitting him with the cushion, pouring all his suppressed emotions.

Suppressed stress.

How much of that Val had been keeping inside that pretty little head? How much anxiety Val had felt before confronting him, thinking that Natha didn’t love him.

No--he had been thinking that it wasn’t him that Natha loved all along, that it was Valmeier.

"God--" Natha closed his eyes and frowned deeply, burying his eyes in his palm.

Alright then, so it was his fault. He could accept that much.

But knowing that didn’t erase the gut-wrenching worry in the pit of his stomach. Honestly, he would prefer it if the fever was caused by something more tangible like a cold.

This condition, this situation...who could say it wasn’t because he revealed everything? Who could say that it wasn’t because Valen was getting sent back to the other world?

Who could say...it was still his sweetheart in that body?

He still looked so worried that the bird and the salamander even stopped their attack. It was at this moment that Val suddenly stirred, and the pale lips parted slightly.

"Natha..."

The sweet, sweet voice was calling out to him, and Natha moved so swiftly that the bird and the salamander got thrown off of his shoulders. He touched the burning cheek, caressing it, and called back softly. "Sweetheart, can you hear me?"

"Natha..." the young human called again, still with eyes closed, and a little frown.

"Sweet--"

"Stupid Natha..."

He froze. The other demons froze. Even the two familiars stopped and looked keenly at the human that had started to mumble again.

"Stupid...Idiot...Natha, you idiot--"

The young man kept on mumbling deliriously, and the demons shifted their gaze to the Lord.

"So it is His Lordship’s fault," Dhuarta pursed her lips.

The Lord did not get angry at the accusation, even while it was delivered rudely. In fact, he was smiling, stroking the mumbling human with such a fond gaze that the physician felt like blushing watching them.

"Yeah, it’s my fault," Natha said, finally letting out a breath of relief.

It was still him. Still Valen. Still his sweetheart.

"You look strangely happy for someone who thinks they’re at fault," the fox commented in suspicion.

But the Lord kept on smiling, and the young human was leaning into the stroking hand; chasing for the cooling touch.

"Natha, it’s hot..." the mumbling turned into a whine now, and the young human stirred more, grabbing the Lord’s hand and arm. "Stuffy..."

With a smile, the Lord climbed onto the bed, half laying as he cradle the young human’s body, transferring his cold temperature to calm the heat as usual. Like an instinct, the young human snuggled closer to the Lord, clutching into the clothed chest and mumbled again.

"...name," he said quietly. "...my name..."

"Valen," Natha complied readily, brushing the dark hair from the sweaty forehead. He kissed the burning skin, and whispered gently. "Valen..."

The Lord continued to whisper the name like a spell, like a prayer, embracing his sweetheart against his chest with a relieved smile on his face.

He didn’t care that there were still others there, and he didn’t care when they retreated slowly from the room. Leaving the two alone, peaceful.

* * *

"That’s...a weird dream..." I blinked at the ceiling, feeling disoriented.

A dark place with countless blinking lights. A weird but strangely familiar voice. A speck of light that looked like it was mirroring his own.

I remembered trying to touch the speck of light, and I felt like I did. But I couldn’t remember the rest. It felt like there was more to this dream--no, this memory. But I couldn’t recall it.

"It’s weird..." I muttered again.

"What is?" a gentle voice asked, and I realized that a cool hand had been caressing my forehead. No wonder it felt so comfortable.

I stirred and looked up to see Natha’s smiling face--and sent my gratitude to whatever entity brought me here and allowed me to see this view first thing in the morning.

For a few seconds, I just blinked in a daze, enjoying the handsome face and charming smile.

"Sweetheart?" Natha stroked my cheek with his other hand, and I closed my eyes again, inhaling contentedly as the soothing cold seeped into my skin.

"Just...a weird dream," I replied then, opening my eyes and smiling at him.

He frowned slightly, brushing a stray hair away from my cheek before asking. "Was it a bad one?"

"No," I shook my head--or I tried, but immediately stopped as I feel dizzy. "Ugh--it’s just..." I paused to look for the right phrase. "It just feels like it wasn’t a dream? Like...like it was something that had happened before."

"Hmm..."

I tried to shift closer to Natha then, but I realized that my body felt rather heavy, like I was exhausted. So I stopped, but Natha shifted closer instead, slipping his arms behind my back so I could lay my head on his shoulder.

Giggling silently, I snuggled into him, and then realized that he still wore the same outfit he did when went out today. Actually...I did too.

Slowly, I remembered falling asleep earlier, and then wondering what time it was. The room was dim, but the fireplace was roaring. I realized I was sweating, and looked confusedly at Natha.

"You have a high fever," he explained. "I haven’t had the chance to change your clothes. Would you like to do it now?"

I looked down again, contemplating as I pressed my body to him. So that was why my body felt heavy and hot all over. The clothes that stuck to my body felt uncomfortable, but...I didn’t want to lose the comforting cold just yet.

"Just...just a little bit later," I replied quietly, and he responded with a soft chuckle.

"Alright," he pulled me closer, and I lay there staring at his collarbone, playing with the green necklace.

For a while, we just stayed there silently, enjoying each other presence. My mind slowly worked out what happened before, what we were talking about. The truth that came out. The name. Names.

"Nat," I muttered, fiddling with the metal chain and following it up to the crook of his neck. Stroking the textured skin, and tracing the pattern, I repeated the name again. "Nat...Natha..."

I could feel the vibration of his chest as he let out a soft laugh, and I kept on repeating it with a smile that automatically carved on my lips. "Nat," I said it again as he took my hand and brought it up, kissing my palm. "Nat..."

The silver eyes gleamed inside the dim light, and they were brighter than the roaring fire. "Valen," he called, leaning down and tilting my face up. I heard my name again, sweetly coming out of his lips before they touched mine. "Valen."