The Demon Lord's Bride (BL)
Chapter 242: See, it’s always good to have some popcorn with a dash of drama

Chapter 242: See, it’s always good to have some popcorn with a dash of drama

Ahh...it felt good even in the winter, looking out of the greenhouse’s patio, watching the serene view of the white snow and dark trees all around. Even in the cold water, the glowing water lily still blooming.

Thanks to the temperature magic inside the greenhouse, I could still feel the blessing of being surrounded by rich plants. The elemental mana they released blanketed me in such a comfortable sensation, almost as comfortable as Natha’s embrace.

I leaned my back onto my Demon Lord’s chest, holding a steaming mug of hot chocolate, while Jade and Ignis were sunbathing on the patio...

My little corner of paradise.

"I don’t know it’s that easy to make popcorn," I commented while waiting for the snack to be delivered to the greenhouse.

"All you need is dried corn kernel and a pot," Natha shrugged. "It will be difficult if you want some fancy flavors, but the basic salt or sweet should be easy."

"Oh, I don’t need the fancy ones. It’s not like I know how they taste, anyway," I shook my head. "It will be my first time eating popcorn, so I’m excited with whatever."

I had never gone to a movie theater when I was a child, and I couldn’t eat it when I was sick because it might get stuck in my throat, and then it would be a whole mess afterward, so...

Just thinking that I could finally do what other people did made me giggle in delight.

"...I’m sure we can at least try the butter caramel one," Natha muttered behind me, suddenly sounding so serious. "I should tell the chef to experiment with other flavors for the next time..."

"Don’t torture the kitchen staff," I patted his arm, which was wrapped around my waist.

I already felt bad because sometimes they had to prepare a totally different kind of meal for me, and had to learn human cuisine for me. I even heard they started to learn how to cook meals for druids with all the herbs and spices inside. I didn’t think those highly skilled cooks should be wasting their talent for making popcorn.

"It’s their job," Natha still argued, however.

"Just tell me about what happened," I sighed and decided to start before the popcorn even arrived. "I heard you attack them at dawn?"

He raised his brows at my eager tone, and let out a smirk after. Pulling me up so I got even more secured in his lap, he started with his night adventure story.

"I know they have a lot of screw losses, but..." Natha laughed; the kind of laugh that would make people remember that he was, undoubtedly, a Nightmare. "Ah...people always eager to meet the worst expectation."

"So...how many rats did you catch?"

Natha smiled when I used the phrase he used to call them in the past, and raised three fingers. "Three people?"

"Three families,"

I whistled at that. While I knew there were still a lot of Elders who didn’t like me, I thought there would be only one attempting this time. You know...like testing the water first.

But three families tried at the same time? Are they dumb? They should have made sure every clan in the realm of greed agreed if they wanted to make an attempt at all, so there would be no chance for Natha to retaliate.

They had known my Nightmare for decades, but they didn’t know how petty he could be? Even if they managed to make it seem like I died naturally, they didn’t think Natha would investigate them?

"Were the people who sneaked into the Castle revealed the ones who ordered them?"

"In a case when the Lord or the Lord’s partner’s life is being put at risk, the crime committed would be considered as treason," Natha explained. "And in the case of treason, it is perfectly reasonable to use a truth serum."

I gasped and clasped my mouth with both hands. Truth serum! That was very fantasy and science-fiction coded! I needed that popcorn right now!

"But the use of truth serum needs the agreement of at least five Elders and be witnessed by at least three Elders,"

"You certainly can have it, right?" I looked at Natha, and he was smirking smugly in response as if telling me who do you think I am? He was about to open his mouth again to continue the story, but I stopped him. "Wait—I need my popcorn for this!"

He laughed but decided to wait as I requested. Thankfully, the popcorn came not long after, in just a few minutes. The sweet and savory scent of sugar, salt, and butter even made Jade wake up from the sunbathing nap and fly inside to perch on Natha’s shoulder while eagerly watching the servant bringing it closer.

Oh-ho? Look at that—my little bird seemed to get closer to Natha?

Ignis, meanwhile, only sniffed the air a little bit and got back to napping after scoffing in disappointment.

[Master, it smell like candy!]

"Oh, the sweet ones?"

The popcorn came in two bowls; one of them was coated in sugar, and one of them had a buttery salty scent coming out. Since each of them was round, Jade thought they were candy, and almost dove into the bowl of the sweet popcorn.

"No, Jade, you can’t just dive into someone else’s food like that," I grabbed the little bird and shook my head sternly.

[Sorry...]

The little bird looked down and whimpered apologetically. I patted the green head and took a popcorn, giving it to the little bird that instantly perked up—this time, more calmly and patiently eating it on top of my stomach.

"Is it good?"

[Yummy!]

"Now that I think about it, bird usually eats corn, right?" I muttered while popping the popcorn into my mouth...

Natha tilted his head when I stopped speaking. "How is it?"

"Oh, my God..." I felt like crying. It felt like the first time I could properly put solid food in my mouth again. Like the first time I could feel stimulating taste.

I kept shoving them in my mouth, sweet and salty, and sometimes both flavors at the same time. I heard the sound of Natha’s laugh and he caressed my head after. "Be careful, don’t choke on them, mm?"

Mother, I love him so much.

I took a salty one and put it in his mouth, and for a while, we ended up just busy eating the popcorn, even though it was supposed to be a snack as I listened to his story.

Oh, right! His story!

"So what did you do after using the truth serum?" I asked him again while clutching the salty bowl, letting Jade have the sweet one.

"I called emergency summon at dawn," Natha replied with a sneer, and I couldn’t help but laugh at his pettiness, pecking his cheek in delight.

"They should have realized what it’s about, right?"

"They should, and I want to see how shameless they could be. I had already rallied the Elders that I trusted—you know, the fanatics who always accept Lord An’Hyang’s words in its entirety,"

I snapped my fingers at that. "Those angry-looking Grandpas, right?"

Natha raised his brow, before smiling and kissing my temple. "My sweetheart is so smart," he chuckled and continued with his story. "Only one of the three came, and we easily made him surrender after dragging the infiltrator in front of everyone. I put the evidence I had been gathering to put the cherry on top."

"Mmm," I licked my lips—half to taste the butter on my lips—while imagining the council room in that tower.

Oh, how I wished we already had a video recording device. That would be movie-worthy.

"And it was even easier incriminating the other two families. Their no-show was already a violation, and with an additional testimony from the one that had surrendered, I have all the justification to bring them to the court."

"Court?" I straightened my back and shifted to look at him better.

"You don’t think I would really declare a war, do you?" he chuckled. "During the holy week?"

Ah...well, I did think it was rather foolish of him earlier. "In that case, what exactly did you do?"

"I just detained some of the family members working in my companies and sieged their estate," Natha said nonchalantly.

Just? Did he imply detaining people and sieging an estate was just a simple step?

...well, perhaps it was simple for him, since he could do all that before lunchtime, evidently.

"Now, we just wait for the court trial in three days," he concluded his story.

"So there’s still a court trial..." I nodded while nibbling on my popcorn.

Natha smiled and patted my head. "They had been branded guilty already by the Council of Elders. The court is to determine the extent of their guilt and the punishment they should receive," he said. "We can’t open the court during the holy week, so we can only do it as fast as three days later."

"I see," I chewed the inside of my cheek and contemplated the situation for a while. After eating a few more popcorn, I looked up to stare at the silver eyes and asked him. "Can I...see the proceeding?"

"The court trial?"

"Yeah," I bit my lips slightly, and, after taking a deep breath, continued. "I want to see them," I told him, trying to make my voice steady. "I want to look into their eyes and hear why they want my death so much."

Natha frowned slightly at my request, and as he looked back into my eyes, he stroked my cheek gently. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah," I held his caressing hand and nodded firmly. "I mean...I already got acknowledged, right? Lord An’Hyang said it’s me, so there’s nothing left to fear, right? Also..." I pressed my lips and frowned for a bit, clenching my fists. "I should show them that I’m not afraid."

"There’s nothing to afraid of, Valen has me and Jade," Ignis, who I thought was napping on the deck, suddenly jumped into my shoulder. It seemed that the Salamander was actually listening all this time.

[Jade don’t understand but Jade always protect Master!] the little bird, who had already emptied the sweet popcorn bowl, jumped back into my stomach, and gave me an emotional support chirp.

I laughed at my valiant companions and looked up. "So they say," I grinned and asked again. "Can I?"

Natha did not answer whether or not I could come to the court, but he pulled me closer to him and planted a long, sweet kiss on my forehead. "I love you so much, you know," he whispered, and as I felt his stretched lips on my skin, I knew his answer already.

So I guessed we’d see my assailant in three days.

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