The Demon Lord's Bride (BL)
Chapter 222: Introducing your baby to their future sibling is a complicated affair

Chapter 222: Introducing your baby to their future sibling is a complicated affair

We had a new morning ritual now.

No, no--it did not involve anything naughty. I mean, I guessed...sometimes? But that wasn’t my point!

Usually, our morning started with warm drinks, and then getting ready, making ourselves presentable before having breakfast. But now, I started my morning by exercising the breathing technique of the druid on the balcony. It involved circulating elemental mana inside my system without purifying it, and expelling it again just as it was.

I didn’t know how effective it would be in chipping away at my blockade, but it did feel nice and energizing. It was especially good when I consumed the Amrita the night before, and the leftover golden essence was getting circulated again all over my body.

After that, I got my herbal drink and got ready for the day. Before we had our breakfast, however, we would visit the egg inside the treasure room.

Yes, we decided to ’feed’ this egg--seed, whatever--with our mana. There was no clear evidence if doing that would result in anything--after all, it didn’t come with instruction. But since it was the only thing that got the egg to respond, we decided to keep doing it.

We had tried to do it separately; just Natha, or just me. But the egg wouldn’t make any reaction. When we did it together, however, intertwined our mana as we poured it inside the egg, it would make this buzzing sound as if it was purring. There was no voice anymore after that first time, but the ten-second vibration to express its satisfaction was still the same. That was the sign that we had poured enough mana.

The amount that we needed to pour inside varied depending on how often we did it. If we did it every day, we would be satisfied with just a modest amount. It only took a lot during that first time because...well, it was the first time.

After feeding the egg, we feed ourselves. Natha liked this new routine because using mana made me hungry, and I would eat more--I already accepted that Natha liked to fatten me. Wasn’t it good that he wasn’t the type of Demon Lord who ate naive humans like me?

Ah--while I had tried having breakfast together in the dining hall, and everything turned out fine and peaceful, I didn’t go there every day. Just sometimes, when I wasn’t too lazy. I guessed I really prefer a smaller, more intimate setting to start my day.

After that, it was bye-bye for Natha, and since I didn’t have a lesson scheduled yet, I was free to do whatever. Oftentimes, my activity depended on who visited me that day, but sometimes, like today, everyone was busy with their end-of-the-year workloads, so I just spent time playing with my little companions.

Today, however, I wanted to do something new.

[Treasure room!] Jade chirped excitedly when it saw me go to the wall at the end of the hall.

"Yes, let’s visit the treasure room today," I patted the little bird perching on top of my head. "There’s some...one that I want you to meet."

"Someone?" Ignis flicked its tail on my shoulder. "There’s something alive in there?"

"...more or less,"

Jade chirped loudly as the hidden door opened, surprised and fascinated all the same. I warned the two to never enter the ’cursed’ room, before taking them to the large, general collection hall. Jade flew around inside the large space that was almost like a convention hall, while Ignis was looking around on my shoulder.

I knew the Salamander decided to stick to me to avoid accidentally burning something, and it was rather adorable. They didn’t care much about all those collections, though, since nothing was valuable--or delicious--to them.

The only thing interesting for Ignis was those ’living’ swords because it could sense the sentient inside those weapons. And Jade was only interested in the display of gems and precious stones--not because they were valuable, but because they looked like the little bird’s favorite candies.

But the interest turned into disappointment when Jade realized the gems were not consumables. So Ignis inquired about our original objective to meet this someone I wanted to introduce. With that, I brought them to the artifact room.

"Is this an egg?"

[Egg?]

Jade and Ignis jumped on top of the glass tube, looking down at the Primordial Seed. There was a look of fascination on their faces, perhaps because they could feel the pulse coming out of the stone-like thing. As they were busy looking at the egg, I took a step back quietly, observing them in silence.

When a minute passed without me saying anything, they turned their head at me with confusion. "What is this? Why you don’t tell us anything anymore?" Ignis asked.

[Master, is Egg alive?]

...I laughed, and they got even more confused. I stepped forward again and stroked their head. "Are you alright? Not dizzy? No ringing sound?"

[Jade alright!]

"No. Are we supposed to?"

"I don’t know," I laughed and told them honestly. "Some people did, but it seems you’re fine because your souls are connected to me."

Ignis made a nodding motion, and then started to circle the flat top of the glass tube. Jade, meanwhile, had jumped off and started to fly around the tube.

"So what is this?" the little gecko asked after making a full circle.

I looked at the egg, and then at my two little companions, before replying. "This is...my future child, I think."

The little bird flew up and landed on top of the tube. [Child? Like Jade?]

"Uhm...no, not really like you," I scratched my neck awkwardly.

Uhh...wait--how do I explain this thing to them? They were creatures that weren’t born by general conception. Jade was born from accumulated elemental mana that got fused with my mana prints, while Ignis rose from its predecessor’s melted body--yeah, that magma pool it used to swim around before.

Birds and lizards were supposed to come from eggs, but these two weren’t. And there was no involvement of a pair of parents providing ’seeds’ to involve into an embryo.

Would I even be able to explain procreation to entities with no concept of such?

"This...umm...child needs mine and Natha’s...essence--I think--to be born," I started to explain--trying. But even I could sense how awkward it was as I was saying it.

[Like Jade!] the little bird jumped on the tube excitedly. [Jade born from Master!]

Well, that’s true also, wasn’t it? But not exactly that. But how??

Ugh--how did parents explain this kind of thing to their child? How did this birds-and-bees conversation usually go?

[Master said Jade is Master’s baby!]

Oh...

Damn--Jade was right. I always called Jade ’my baby’ or ’my child’ so now I couldn’t even try to differentiate that phrase from the literal meaning of it. And to be fair...well, this future child of mine wouldn’t be conceived in a ’normal’ way, would it? We still didn’t know how it would be, but certainly, it wouldn’t involve a meeting between sperm and ovum--since we would be lacking one.

And what would I know about a fantasy world’s conception method? Hah!

But while I was mulling over this thing, I had gotten silent, and Jade perceived my silence with quivering beaks. [No? Jade not Master’s baby?]

I blinked at the downturned beady eyes and gasped apologetically. "You are! Yes, you are!" I scooped the little bird and gave it a tight hug.

Oh, what the hell--why should I complicate things?

"Yes, this child will be Jade’s younger sibling," I told the little bird.

[Oh! Oh!]

The saddened expression turned bright instantly, replaced by heightened excitement at the prospect of becoming an older sibling.

Ignis, meanwhile, asked the important thing. "When will we meet this child?"

I paused and blinked, looking at the Salamander silently for a while before replying hesitatingly with a sheepish grin. "That’s...I don’t know,"

Ignis tilted its head in confusion, and even Jade looked at me with a blank face. I laughed and put Jade back on top of the tube. Sliding my hands over the tube’s side, I felt the egg pulsing softly through the glass.

"I don’t know when, but...will you be good to them?" I asked my two companions, lifting my gaze to stare at their eyes. "Will you protect this child for me?"

[Of course!] Jade answered without hesitation.

"Will you talk to them, speak to them like this when they come in the future?"

[Jade will!]

I patted the green head delightfully, although I had no idea if Jade truly understood it. Ignis, however, stared at me keenly.

"Are you happy, Valen?" asked the Salamander.

"Huh?"

"About the child,"

I looked back at the bright blue eyes that weren’t just filled with curiosity, but also concern. Mulling about the question, I pressed my palm harder against the tube to feel the pulse better. "Yeah," my voice came as a whisper, and my lips stretched unconsciously. "Yeah, I think so."

These days, as I close my eyes and my vision was filled with darkness, my mind always flew to the memory of that dark place, the cocoon and the voice. I looked at the greedy egg and smiled wryly. "There are a lot of concerning things, and we’re not even really sure that this will be our child," I told them. "And even if it’s really our child, the child’s identity might be...too much to handle."

A God...could you imagine birthing a God? I still couldn’t wrap my head around that possibility.

"But..."

"But?"

"But...I don’t know," I lowered myself slightly so the egg would be at my eye level. "I just feel like...I love this child already," I pressed my forehead lightly against the glass. "I feel nervous, excited, worried...but never scared,"

Looking at the black, textured surface, I couldn’t help but let out a sigh. "I just...really want to meet this child."

Unfortunately, so far, I had never entered that space again. No matter how much I would like to interact with the cocoon again, or hear the voice. It was almost frustrating, even though it had only been a few days. I thought I would be able to hear that voice every time we feed it, but...no luck so far.

"Alright," the Salamander said, jumping to my shoulder. "I suppose I can protect them, as long as our contract still stands."

[Jade will too!] the little bird chirped energetically, also jumping onto my shoulder and patting my cheek. [Jade good older sibling!]

I couldn’t help but laugh at that. Hugging my two companions, my children, I looked at the pulsing egg with a smile and whispered gratefully. "Thank you."

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