The Demon Lord's Bride (BL)
Chapter 243: Isn’t it nice to know that the weather won’t hinder your fashion?

Chapter 243: Isn’t it nice to know that the weather won’t hinder your fashion?

My battle dress for this court trial was a white tunic with sparkling blue embroidery and a light blue coat with white fur linings. I did not wear many accessories aside from the ring Natha gave me, but Arta took a liking to gilding my hair with the white snowflake blooms.

"You look very nice," Natha wrapped his arms around my waist and kissed my temple, despite Arta screaming not to ruin my appearance before we arrived at the court. He looked into the mirror and stroked my neck, over the line of the high collar. "This place seems empty."

"Are you going to give me a collar or something?"

"Mm, kinky," the cold hand slipped behind the collar line and Arta snapped.

"I told you not to make a mess, my Lord!" she stomped her feet to the ground like Zia when she was sulking--I wondered if the succubus actually got her temper from Arta. "I know Young Master is irresistible, but please don’t destroy my work."

"Don’t say such an embarrassing thing!" I hissed at them, and despite Arta’s protest, Natha still gave my neck a little peck.

Just then, Zia came peeking from the door. By Natha’s permission, I had told her all about the trial and this whole drama. Of course, Zia was furious and said she wanted to see their face too--so she could use them as a model for villains in her book or something.

And then, behind her, was an elf dressed as if we were about to march through blizzards. Izzi too, wanted to see the court--because he was bored or whatever. I told him I would take him if he could think of a new invention before the court hearing.

He did not manage to have one concrete invention, but he managed to make a whole study about making a mobile image recording device--yeah, a video camera--so I gave him a leeway.

"I thought Lesta gave you that warmer stone?" I tilted my head at the elf, who was so tightly wrapped in clothes and scarfed that the only thing I could see of him was his bright golden eyes--and if he pulled his hood down further, I wouldn’t be able to see even that.

The formation that Lesta made on a stone that time when we were testing the engraving pen contained a temperature-increasing spell, and Lesta gave it to Izzi after that--so the elf could work better.

"That’s not enough--don’t you know how cold it is outside?" Izzi mumbled behind his scarf and fur cloak I gave him as a New Year bonus.

"It is?" I tilted my head, looking out of the window, and found out the sky was gloomy and the snow was falling.

Mmm...perfect weather to punish some people.

"It’s indeed colder than usual today," Natha said, his lips curled rather sinisterly. "Isn’t it nice to know those scums wouldn’t be able to feel comfortable while waiting for their verdict?"

It was then that I realized everyone was wearing a thicker outfit--not as much as Izzi, of course. But the Salamander contract automatically managed my temperature and always made it ideal, so everything felt the same to me. The coat I wore today was also made of light material, even though it was lined with fur.

"How do you feel?" Zia clutched my arm, looking at me with a smile and a dash of worry.

"Good," I replied honestly. I did feel good. A bit vindictive, but good.

"You do look good," Zia whispered. "Gorgeous."

"Arta said we should look our best when we want to piss off others," I clenched my fists and Arta nodded proudly from the side.

Natha patted my head gently so he didn’t have to receive another glare from his subordinate. "Since your entourage is here already, I’ll get going now," he dove to kiss me lightly and walked away after donning his black coat. The Lord’s coat. Serious business coat.

Since the ’perpetrator’ and the ’mastermind’ were part of the Council of Elders, the court would be proceeded by the High Council, which included the Elders, the magicians from the Mage Tower, and three of the Lord’s household members, including the Lord.

While I was technically the victim in this, the crime itself came in the realm of treason, so there was no need for me, who was also unconscious of the time and thus could not become a witness, to be there. I could, however, be there to watch the trial, and Natha had put me in the honored tribune. It was kind of like a box seat on the second floor of the courthouse overlooking the court hall, and usually reserved for the Elders if they weren’t preceding the court.

It was nice. Too bad I couldn’t bring my new beloved popcorn there; kind of unethical, you know.

Anyway, the vassals that would precede the trial alongside Natha were Eruha and Malta, and Lesta would be my ’partner’ for today--which was good, because I needed an interpreter. While I had already gotten more fluent in the demon tongue, difficult stuff like legal matters was another thing altogether.

The courthouse, unlike any other governmental office, was situated outside of the Lord Castle, right in front of the big plaza in the middle of L’Annak Eed. Weirdly enough, even though I already toured the whole realm and walked around a lot of cities, I had never gone anywhere in the Capital before. This would be the first time I stepped into the street of L’Anaak Eed despite already living here for months.

Well, technically, I was using a carriage, so I only stepped onto the pavement leading toward the courthouse.

Since I came as a guest, and not part of the trial proceeding, I would have come through the front door, just like the general mass. Of course, since it was a high-profile case, the ’general mass’ was also high-profile; the elite members of society.

Still, because Natha aggressively put out the news about the assault to attack those traitorous families in the papers, the citizens already knew about it, and a lot of them showed up in the plaza to hear about the sentence once the trial was over.

The carriage that we rode stopped in front of the courthouse’s plaza, right below the steps leading up to the building itself. Arta came out first, and I could see both Haikal and Caba flanking the door. I didn’t even know they would stay with me--shouldn’t Haikal guard the Castle? And didn’t Caba usually stay with Natha?

While I was still confused, Lesta--who rode a beast mount behind the carriage--alighted from his mount and walked to the carriage door, offering his hand to me as Natha’s proxy. I looked at Zia and Izzi for a second, before exhaling through my mouth and taking Lesta’s hand.

It was loud. I didn’t know if it was because I was nervous, but I didn’t realize how many people--demons--were there in the plaza. And for some reason, they were all making noises when I stepped out of the carriage. I almost paused and stumbled in shock, but thankfully, Lesta was steadily holding my hand and helped me climb down without making me look like a waddling clown.

"What happened?" I asked the demon quietly, but Lesta just gave me a calm smile.

"Why; they are happy to see you, of course," Lesta told me in a soft voice. "The Lord’s betrothed."

I almost let out an undignified hiccup then. Of course, people already knew me, already seen me from the banquet; both in the Castle and the Temple. But back then, I wasn’t...official, so to speak. I might be a lover, I might be a mistress, who knows.

But now, Natha had already announced to the whole realm--and by the whole realm, it was the whole demon realm, not just the realm of greed--that I was his betrothed; his bride-to-be.

Turned out, it made things a whole lot different.

"They don’t care about me being...not a demon?" I whispered as we climbed up the steps, while Jade on my shoulder curiously looked around at the festival-like atmosphere despite the somber tone of the courthouse.

"The general population is much simpler than you might think, Young Master," Lesta explained. "They are demons. They followed the words of Lord An’Hyang."

"And unlike the big clans that play politics for their interest, the general population only cares about being able to keep on living," Arta added from my other side. "You being a demon or not does not impact their livelihood, so they just feel happy because His Lordship looks happy."

Wow...so the trial, whatever its initial intention was, truly benefited me in a lot of ways. Kind of worth experiencing massive sore muscles for two days, huh?

"But how do they know Natha is happy?"

The twins chuckled softly beside me. "His Lordship had a lot of communal events during the holy week, so of course they would be able to see it in his face," Arta explained to me with a teasing glance. "He practically never stopped smiling for the past three days."

Uhh...I wouldn’t know that since Natha had always been full of smiles in front of me--except for that short duration before the trial when he was in his separation anxiety mode.

But thinking that he was so happy he even showed that to the public was...endearing. I couldn’t help but sigh in adoration when I heard that.

Again, not really a fitting expression to be worn to a courthouse.

Speaking about not fitting, though...

I turned my head to take a look at crowds gathering in the plaza. I could see them well now because we almost reached the top of the steps. And Mother--the big plaza was almost full. And they were all looking bright as if it was a festival instead of a trial, smiling widely and waving energetically even though their ears and the tip of their noses were red from the cold.

I halted my step, and all of my entourage--as Natha called it--including Zia and Izzi, stopped and looked at me in confusion. After all, we were still at the stairways.

"Ignis,"

The Salamander on my shoulder sighed, but still flicked its tail toward the empty air on top of my stretched palm, creating a ball of flame.

"Jade," I called out to the little bird, who energetically jumped off and hovered on top of my head, flapping its colorful wings and sending air elemental mana to the ball of flame.

Two kinds of energy danced on top of my palm, swirling into a condensed ball of energy in a soft orange glow.

"It should be a good day, today, so I hope you stay warm," I whispered to the air before blowing the ball of energy and dispersing them to the whole plaza.

A warm wind blew between the cold air, and the loud noises were gradually replaced by a surprised gasp. I saw a little girl smack her cheek in delight, no longer blowing white fog out of his mouth, and I turned around in satisfaction.

Alright, it’s time for a poker face.