The Demon Lord's Bride (BL)
Chapter 191: When you’re an adult with a lot of babysitters

Chapter 191: When you’re an adult with a lot of babysitters

It wasn’t that I couldn’t understand their concern, especially the companions that had a soul bond with me. But repeatedly receiving anxious gazes and crying faces made me restless and guilty.

But I knew those reactions came from genuine care, and I loved them for that--which was why I said nothing. But their barrage of emotional responses was getting too stimulating for me.

I looked at Lesta with grateful eyes, who even helped me untangle Jade from my hair. "Your attendant is preparing a light meal for you. You must be hungry, but it’s not good to have a heavy meal on an empty stomach, so let’s have that first and you can take a bath after."

I nodded at first, but then I looked at him curiously. Things like this were usually arranged by a certain someone else, but why hadn’t I seen him at all even after Opti and Caba invaded the room along with my meals?

"Umm...where’s Natha?" I finally asked after drinking my first spoonful of soup.

I mean...Jade and Ignis aside, if the demons had this kind of reaction, I expected Natha to come running already. But almost an hour had passed since I woke up without even a wisp of his name being uttered by anyone.

"His Lordship went to Sarteriel yesterday," Lesta, the icon of calmness, told me.

"...why?" I asked after blinking in confusion for a few seconds.

"To look for a druid."

This information put me in silence. Looking for a druid when I was unconscious and...ah--Natha would be able to feel that my soul wasn’t there either right?

"Oh..." I put my spoon down and buried my face in my palm.

He must have looked for an answer to my condition, or perhaps a healer. The ones who had the most connections with druids were the Sarterians, so he probably asked them for their help to get a druid.

"Have you--"

"Of course, we already called Sarteriel," Lesta nodded, putting the spoon in my hands again. "But His Lordship went inside the jungle to meet one of the tribes, so the message would be delayed. We will need to wait until the elves manage to contact him."

Oh, so that was why. "Did he teleport there?"

"Yes. He was determined to bring back a senior druid no matter what," Lesta ended his report with a stern gaze toward my empty spoon.

Geez--Natha’s right hand, indeed.

So I started to eat again, since I was also hungry. It was just that the information was a little bit too stimulating. I sighed and slowly had my soup while Arta and Caba looked at me like I had a terminal illness.

Which...kinda felt ironic because I had no one looking at me like that in my previous life--you know, when I truly had a terminal illness?

While eating, I asked them about the schedule, since we had been here for five--six?--days already because of me. But they told me it was still on schedule and not to worry, and I just nodded even though I knew they lied. I filled my belly with warm soup, which reminded me of my last meal, and a breakfast made of minced meat.

Once I was done with my meal, however, they didn’t let me bathe, but sent the physician to examine me first.

’I really am alright, you know," I told them with pursed lips as the physician checked on my pulse and screened me with magic. "I think I’m better than ever now."

"I know, Young Master, you wake up twice as powerful as before," the physician said with a smile and curiosity in his eyes, although he kept any question to himself. "But there’s no harm in being cautious."

All the vassals and my attendant nodded firmly, so I just sighed and let the physician probe me. "Huu...fine," I leaned back and closed my eyes, shifting uncomfortably in my seat. "I just want to take a bath as soon as possible."

Perhaps because I had been spending all my previous life getting examined by doctors, I was having reservations about getting examined like a patient again.

"It’s alright, I’m done," the physician finally said after a minute. "Young Master just has slight muscle weakness from laying down for more than three days, but otherwise, there’s nothing wrong with his physique."

"Mm, mm," I straightened my back and nodded, looking at the physician seriously. "Make sure you tell Natha that too."

"...I will try," the physician smiled wryly. "That being said, I am not an expert on things outside the physical realm, so I think it’ll be good to consult the druid that His Lordship will bring."

The physician left after that, and I could finally have my bath. I could feel Panne standing guard outside the door, perhaps making sure I didn’t soak myself for too long. But I still spent the time nicely playing with Jade; making water-shaped animals and testing the feeling of using magic again.

I could feel the difference even with simple manipulations--it was easier, smoother, like using a bigger straw to drink a smoothie. The mana came out faster, and the water moved easily on my command, as if merging my soul and Valmeier’s doubling the druid authority.

Halfway through, I was thinking about training with the fire that Ignis produced, but Panne already knocked on the door, asking if I was done already. The call made me realize I had been spending too much time playing with my companions and decided to stop worrying my attendant.

Ah--after all those sweat and tears, I finally felt alive again. With a warm belly and healed soul, I felt refreshed and new, better than ever. I wanted to hurry and tell Natha about it, so I prayed that the elves found Natha as soon as possible. I was told that the communication orb did not work in druid territory because of the mana interference from their barrier, so someone from Sarteriel needed to go find Natha by themselves. Even then, he had to move out of the druid territory first to be able to use his teleport. That was, if he hadn’t exhausted his mana.

So I guessed, it would still take him a couple of hours, depending on how fast the elves found him.

"Should we take a walk?" I asked my little companions. "Let’s get my legs active again."

[Flowers!]

"Mm, let’s see the flowers before they wilted," I nodded, glancing at the bowl full of flower petals that Jade brought me earlier.

I stood up and clenched my fist, but Panne was looking at me keenly, so I paused and tilted my head. After a few seconds of staring at each other, he sighed and moved to fetch my coat from the dressing room. It wasn’t necessary, honestly, since I had Ignis. But they seemed to be anxious if I wasn’t wrapped in several layers of protection, so I let them--rather that than being banned from taking a walk.

Panne and the guards seemed to watch me even more closely. There were even two additional guards attached to me. Usually, they put a distance so I didn’t have to feel like I was being restricted, but today they felt like a throng of babysitters trying to not make me stumble on the road.

It felt weird and uncomfortable, but I couldn’t just tell them to go away because I knew their head would be on the chopping block if something happened to me. So I just tried my best to ignore them and talked with my companions.

Having Ignis, who could talk outwardly, made it better. I usually only talked with Jade, and the bird only talked in my head, so oftentimes, I would look like a delusional person talking so enthusiastically to my bird. But not now. I told them about the things I saw in my dream--or divine realm, whichever was it. I wouldn’t need to worry about whether or not I was allowed to say it in public since it would be censored for the one who shouldn’t hear it anyway.

Ah, but I was also glad that Panne was around, because I could ask him about the flowers that Jade had been stealing to give me. "They are winter flowers that only bloom in the cold, Young Master. They will grow even more vibrant on the coldest day."

"Oh! How fascinating...do we have that too back home?" I asked eagerly.

Panne blinked and paused for a few seconds, before replying with a rare smile. "Yes, we do have them in L’anaak and the castle. I could get them for you every morning if you’d like, Young Master."

"Oh, thank you!"

[Jade will give Master flower too!]

I patted the competitive little bird. "But you woke up even later than me, Jade."

[Jade can give other flowers!]

"You don’t have to. The poor garden will go bald if you take them too," I laughed and pinched the bird’s cheek lightly.

[But...]

"It’s fine, I love you anyway," I ruffled the colorful bird and stood up again, continuing our journey to walk among the hedge of winter flowers and the last bloom of autumn roses.

As I looked at my surrounding, I also realized that my vision seemed to be getting clearer. The colors looked more vibrant, and I perceived the flow of mana between life forces more easily, even within the complex ecosystem of the garden.

It was honestly fun, even more fun than before. I was tempted to take off my shoes and just run around barefooted on the grass and the soil. But I feel like Panne and the guards would cry if I do that right now, just two hours after waking up, so I held back.

Jade seemed to make some friends during the days of stealing flowers; the birds, the butterflies, and the bugs. They came out to greet us, albeit from afar due to Ignis’s presence. During the three days of my absence, the Salamander had managed to lessen the intensity of its fire, but still lethal to most weak living beings.

Ah...life seemed to be delightfully perfect, wasn’t it?

At least, before I heard an agitated loud voice from the mansion.

"Valen!"

Oh! Was Natha back? But why did he sound...angry?