The Demon Lord's Bride (BL)
Chapter 188: Note: Birthday suit is just a natural state of things

Chapter 188: Note: Birthday suit is just a natural state of things

I felt weightless, again, so I knew I was in another lucid dream.

But it wasn’t dark, and I wasn’t a speck of light. Also, this time, I could move my body instead of just floating following an orbit.

Oh?

Oh! I had a body now!

I looked exactly the same way I did these past few months; long hair, meatier, a bit of fat hanging around my belly...ah, I belatedly realized I was naked.

Slowly, I directed my gaze to the surrounding view, which felt foreign but very nostalgic. It was a forest, but not colorful like the one in the Lair. It also didn’t look like the training chamber that I blew off. Strangely, even with the unfamiliarity, I didn’t feel anxious.

As if...I was just strolling in my garden.

Obviously, even if it was my garden, I wouldn’t roam around naked.

I started to move then, walking. I didn’t know where I had to go, but the plantation made a clear path for me, sliding away as if they didn’t want to hurt me by grazing on my bare skin. I walked through that path, and patted some of the ferns and the shrubs that moved away.

After walking for a short time, I saw a clearing that led to a river. It wasn’t big, but clear and calming. The sound of rippling water merged beautifully with the whisper of the trees. I could see an ivy gate that I supposed was the place I need to go to, but it was located across the river. When I looked around, however, there was no bridge.

Well, since I was naked anyway, I guess I could just go ahead and get wet. Because I still promised Natha not to morph anymore, I was thinking of swimming across if the river was too deep. Just as I thought about that, however, the river made a rippling sound and flat stones surfaced, enough for me to step on.

What a convenient dream.

I crossed the river easily thanks to the stones and continued along the path, past the ivy gate. It took me to another clearing, and then some kind of yard. There was a small log cabin with crawling roses along the wall and wisterias hanging above the porch. Flowers of all colors were surrounding the house like an island, and although this was supposed to be a dream, I could smell the nice scent all around me.

Or was it my brain playing me?

"Don’t just stand there and go inside,"

"Oh, my God!" I flinched and instinctively shielded my private part, looking around to the source of the sound.

"What are you being embarrassed for?" the voice chuckled--a very nice lady’s voice that blended well with the ripple of the water and the shuffling of the leaves. A voice that reminded me of a bird’s song.

My gaze followed the sound of laughter and saw a lady in the corner of the garden, watering a plot of new plants. She wore a plain blouse with rolled sleeves that revealed her dark skin and a long skirt, as well as gardening boots. She wore her blonde hair in a braid, I guessed so she could work without hindrance.

"Well...I don’t fancy meeting other people in my birthday suit, thank you very much," I replied sheepishly--why would there be a stranger in my dream?

The lady, however, laughed again--whilst watering her plants with attention. "It’s just a natural state of things," she said.

"...why aren’t you concerned about this?" I tilted my head in confusion. Usually, people would freak out seeing a naked man in their garden, wouldn’t they?

She scoffed as she replied, glancing at me. I could see her green eyes looking at me teasingly. "Would a mother be concerned about seeing her baby naked?"

"I’m not a baby!"

"You all are," she just replied briefly before getting back to tending her plants. "But if you’re that concerned..."

She waved her hand and a flickering iridescent light circled me around. It reminded me of the time Alveitya took its new form, and well...would you look at that, I got clothes!

It was plain, just like hers, something that seemed to be very comfortable to be worn for gardening.

Was she going to make me help her in the yard?

"Go ahead and come inside, little one," she said. "He’s been waiting for you for a long time already."

Oh, I thought she was about to make me pull out some weeds. "Who’s ’he’?"

"The other little one," she said cryptically, before humming to her plants, as if telling me I should stop asking questions and get going already.

Ah, well...better than pulling out weeds, I guessed?

So I walked beneath the beautiful wisteria to the unlocked the cabin. The inside was...uhh...not a cabin?

I looked in stun at the scenery inside. There was a white tree which branches reminded me of Alveitya. The leaves were such a vivid, rich green that I began to doubt if this was truly a dream. The dew around the surface made them sparkle as if each were made of high-quality emerald. There were small golden beads that I supposed were its fruits or seeds, and small, golden little flowers. The soil beneath the tree was of rich dark green, and each grain of dirt pulsed with many nutrients.

The tree was standing in the middle of a clear pond, surrounded by boulders that were big enough to be used as a bench. That was where my eyes focused on;

At the man sitting there.

A very familiar man looked at me with his green eyes. The same green eyes that were staring at him.

"At last," he spoke, in a dry tone and expressionless face. "Hello, Valen."

I took a deep breath before replying.

"Hello, Valmeier."

The door closed behind me and I stepped closer to the tree. It acted like a beacon and the golden beads were glowing like little lamps. They shone on Valmeier’s face, and it was quite weird seeing him like this--seeing me but not me.

Unlike me, his hair was cut short, just like a soldier’s. He had sharper eyes than me, and as Natha had said, a duller gaze. He wore the same kind of clothes as me though, and his fingers had traces of dirt.

Ah, so he was the one pulling out weeds.

As we got closer, I could see how similar yet different we were. While we had the same face and body type, he had more muscles--which were lost in me after the war. He was leaner than me, and his jaw was sharper. I guessed I was getting more fat rather than muscle after living with Natha. My body line and face structure became more delicate with the added weight.

It was weird at first, but now it got fascinating. To think that we were basically the same, but different lifestyles could bring out this much difference. I could see now why Natha said he immediately knew Valmeier was not me.

"When she said you’ve been waiting for me, is it...since I came inside your body?" I asked him.

"Perhaps," he replied vaguely. "I’m not exactly counting the days here."

Ah...

He glanced at the boulder beside him, and I took it as an invitation for sitting down, which I did. It was weird, fascinating, and awkward. I had thought about how I could meet the other part of my soul since I knew about it, but before I could think about any solution, it just happened.

Honestly, I wasn’t ready. And I had no idea what to say now. Perhaps Valmeier told me to sit down so we didn’t have to look at each other and felt like talking to a mirror.

After just sitting there in silence for some time, however, I couldn’t bear it anymore. I couldn’t say I was a talkative person, but Valmeier was even quieter than me! I swallowed my sigh and shifted around so I faced the pond and the white tree instead, before opening my mouth.

"Umm...so, how long have you known about this--about us?"

"After I came here," he said. "I was told about it; that I was fated to die, and that I would get rebirthed."

My eyes widened and I turned my face at him--and suddenly faced with the green eyes that looked keenly at me. I flinched and pulled back slightly, before asking in surprise and confusion. "Rebirthed?"

"Yes," he said, and I felt his fingers on my chest. "Rebirthed."

I looked down, still wide-eyed, and he continued. "Remade. Rebuild," he paused, until I looked up and we stared into each other’s eyes. "Reunited."

My lips parted without sounds, and he followed me to turn around and faced the white tree. "We should have done it from the start, but your soul was sealed."

"...sealed?"

"Your memory--you forgot about our meeting," he explained further, and I couldn’t help but gasp.

The dream! The one where we were fleeting in the darkness?

"But now that you’re remembering, the seal to your soul is lifted, so we can meet like this," he continued. "And we can resume the process."

It took me a while to understand what he had said. "Wait...when you said the process, you mean..." I looked at him again, still weirded out by how nonchalant his tone was.

"To merge," he said, tone still unchanging. "To make us whole," he turned his face to me with a sharp gaze. "To make us ’one’."