The Demon Lord's Bride (BL)
Chapter 258: There will always be a discrepancy between people with different timeframe

Chapter 258: There will always be a discrepancy between people with different timeframe

While Valen was having a history lesson with the Vampire Lord, Lesta was listening to the explanation about Eternal from Eruha.

They sat on the couch, face to face as if they were about to conduct a hostage negotiation. There was a clear tension brewing in the air that separated them, just two meters from each other. But it was a thin wall that Lesta did not want to breach right now.

Arms crossed, Lesta got more and more flabbergasted as the explanation continued. He didn’t show it much outwardly, but keen eyes would be able to see his slightly shaking pupil.

"Something that important, and you never tell me all this time?" he asked incredulously, trying his best to hold back from barking his disbelief.

Eruha, in his usual infuriating way, did not see the need to reply to the rhetorical question. He just calmly looked at the other demon, observing quietly. Whether he meant it or not, the calm silence only chipped at Lesta’s patience.

"When exactly are you planning to tell me about it?" Lesta asked in a voice that was nearing exasperation. He leaned back and tilted his head, asking mockingly. "Or what--did you perhaps change your mind after you know me more?"

"If that’s the case, I would already go back to Gluttony," the Vampire shrugged. "My contract with His Lordship isn’t that long,"

"Then why--" Lesta stopped himself instantly when he realized his voice had gone up.

He took out a bottle of northern spring water, which stayed cold no matter what the environment was. It always helped him to clear his mind and get calmer. "Haa...alright," he poured the water into a crystal glass and drank it. "We’re both adults, so let’s talk about it like adults."

"Sure," the Vampire nodded calmly.

Lesta couldn’t help but frown slightly at the deep eyes that had always been observing him. Those bottomless eyes that he could never fathom, no matter how long they had been together. He knew others thought they were lovers or something along that line, but the closest Lesta could think of their relationship was probably a sexual one.

And it only happened when he was intoxicated with the vampire’s poison, which contained relaxant and aphrodisiac, every time Eruha suck his blood.

So even now, in this situation, he still wasn’t sure what was in the vampire’s mind. Swallowing his sigh, Lesta asked carefully. "Do you want me to be your...Eternal?"

"Yes."

The answer came without hesitation, without pause. A firm answer as if it had been prepared since a long time ago. Perhaps it was true that Eruha had stayed for so long in Natha’s household solely for this.

But although Lesta could feel his heart beating wildly, he couldn’t get rid of the churning in his gut.

"Why?" he asked again, trying to keep his voice steady.

"Does it matter?"

Lesta had to grit his teeth as he stared at the unchanging deep eyes. "It is," he hissed through his teeth, fist clenching to hold himself back from throwing a formation or two.

Instead of answering him, however, the vampire just leaned back and tapped on his armrest, as if still contemplating whether or not Lesta deserved an answer. Oh, how much he wanted to bash that pretty head to the table between them.

"What? You don’t want to say it?" Lesta crossed his arms again, lowering his tone to that of a sneer. "Don’t you think I have the right to know if I’m going to be your food for eternity?"

The tapping stopped, and, against Lesta’s expectation, Eruha let out a small, short laugh. "The fact that you still ask me why, is exactly the reason why I’ve never told you."

What the fuck is this vampire is on about? Lesta clenched his jaw and hissed. "Say it like I’m dumb."

The vampire’s lips curled slightly. "I’ve been waiting," he said.

"For what?"

"For the day you stop looking at yourself as my food," Eruha stared at the widening dark eyes and stood up, walking over to the shocked demon. "For the day you stop thinking the only thing I desire is your blood,"

He stopped in front of Lesta, and reached out to grasp the demon’s jaw lightly, who was looking at him with confusion and bewilderment. He hummed slightly while rubbing Lesta’s chin with his thumb. "Looking at you now, it seems like I still need to wait more."

"Wait--" Lesta smacked the vampire’s hand aside and stood up abruptly, walking out of the seating area with hands over his mouth. His dark eyes narrowed in contemplation as he paced back and forth, before turning around to face the vampire again. "Wait, are you confessing right now?"

Even while saying it, Lesta could hear the slight tremble in his voice. It was something that he had been wanting to hear, wanting to see from those unfathomable eyes.

But it was also something he kept buried far in the bottom of his heart, because he felt it was futile. In front of those cold, dull eyes, he had no courage to hope. He knew he had used up all his luck when Natha took him and his sibling in, so he never let himself have expectations anymore.

But could he, perhaps, have some hope again?

Unfortunately for him, the vampire gave a vague answer. "Hmm...let’s say I did that."

Fuck--what kind of answer is that? Clenching his fist, Lesta pushed himself to ask it clearly after taking a deep breath. "Do you love me?"

Eruhe tilted his head for a bit, stroking his chin as if he were contemplating a scholarly thesis--which absolutely infuriated the demon, but Lesta decided to hold back and waited.

"...that will need a complicated answer."

"...Hah!" Lesta scoffed, covering his face and let out a self-mocking laugh. Looking at the vampire coldly, he sighed and spoke dryly. "I thought it was a black-and-white question, though? You only need to answer yes or no."

Despite the brewing anger beneath the demon’s words, Eruha replied calmly. "Because I don’t know,"

"What?"

"I desire you," again, Eruha walked toward the demon, gaze never leaving the dark eyes, as if it was Lesta’s soul he wanted to talk to. "I desire your blood, I desire your body, I desire your heart," he reached out and pressed his hand in the middle of the demon’s heart; for the first time since they started this conversation, his eyes blazing intensely. "I desire your existence,"

Those eyes only blazed for a second, but it was enough to make Lesta stop breathing. The hand on his chest felt freezing and scalding at the same time, and it paralyzed him enough to not reject the caress on his neck.

"If you call that love, then I suppose it is," Eruha said, with a hint of regret in his voice, which was softened considerably. "It’s not a subject that I understand properly."

"Yeah, I know," Lesta replied without even realizing it. He already knew it, how little Eruha understood about feelings. Whether it was because he used to spend centuries being isolated, or because it was a natural numbness growing in beings with eternal life.

"Haa..." he let out a sigh, before laughing, and then he laughed some more; quietly at first, but it gradually became louder. "Haa...God, I’m going crazy..."

Eruha retreated his fingers from the demon’s neck, but he didn’t shift away, maintaining their close distance.

Lesta felt a throbbing in the base of his skull. He had no idea if he could even feel happy about this...confession. Oh, he loved Eruha, yes, but it was also tiring facing the vampire. "You didn’t think to say...all of this to me before?"

"Like I said, I’m--"

"Waiting, yes," Lesta shook his head exasperatedly. "Haa...you immortal people are just..." he bit his lips and looked up, facing the delicate, pretty face that rarely made any shift in expression.

"You’ve been feeding off me, you’ve been fucking me, and yet you can’t even say...these things you’re saying," Lesta pushed his finger on the vampire’s cold heart. "Am I supposed to read your mind, or something? How could I know I am more than your blood bank and fuck buddy if you’re never even..."

Lesta bit the inside of his cheek and stopped, retreating his finger and taking a deep breath again. No, he couldn’t hope for that kind of move from this vampire, whose common sense was a bit skewed despite the brilliant mind.

"Haa...let’s stay calm, Lesta," he massaged his temple and exhaled. It was his fault for expecting it in the first place.

"Hmm..."

Lesta lifted his gaze at the sound of the vampire’s hum, frowning deeply in irritation. "What?"

"I was thinking that if I show it clearly, you’ll become uncomfortable," Eruha said, slipping his hand beneath the demon and rubbing Lesta’s throbbing temple with his thumb. "So I decided to just wait until you want me."

Lesta was so flabbergasted that he swore before he realized it. "Fuck--" he bit his lips as heat started to creep into his dark cheeks. "I’ve been wanting you for decades now!"

Eruha paused his rubbing, looking at the demon in surprise. For the first time, the vampire looked like he was lost for words.

Lesta bit his lips, thinking how stupid he was. He had been thinking that he shouldn’t show it because he thought Eruha only wanted him as a ’resource’, but what exactly did that bring? Just a pile of misunderstandings. "This is so stupid!" he hissed through his teeth.

"Indeed,"

Leata looked up in annoyance; the soft smile on the vampire’s lips only infuriated him more. "What if I never found out about this? What if you have to wait until five more decades or even a century?"

"It’s fine, I’m good at waiting," the soft smile was followed by a gentle stroke on the demon’s furrowed brows. "I’ll wait until you’re nearing the end of your lifespan."

"You’re stupid!"

"Is that so?" Eruha tilted his head. "I don’t like the thought of imposing my own desire on you. If by the end of it you still don’t want me, I won’t force you to be bound to me."

As the dark eyes shook slightly, Eruha leaned closer and with a soft but firm voice, spoke his intention clearly. "But yes, I want you to be my Eternal, La Lesta."

Lesta pressed his lips so Eruha wouldn’t have to see them quivering. Ah fuck--he was supposed to be a grown-up, so what was this fluttering feeling that did not befit him? Was this what Valen always felt in the Lord’s presence?

"What if I refused?" he responded quietly, looking at anything but the vampire’s eyes.

"That’s fine," Eruha shrugged. "You still have two-thirds of your lifespan,"

"I want to hit you so much."

"You always do," Eruha smirked.

"Don’t say it so smugly."

With a small laugh, Eruha retreated his hand from Lesta’s face, and the demon couldn’t help the slight disappointment in his heart. "Whether you like me or hate me, I simply like it when you focus your emotions on me," Eruha tilted his head to chase the dark gaze before continuing. "Because you never expend any of it on someone else."

"...then you should have realized that it means I want you, you bastard!" Lesta felt his head throbbing again.

"Mm, my bad," Eruha acknowledged his ignorance pretty quickly, which only made Lesta even more exasperated.

But at least, it gave light to what they actually felt for each other--although they should have done it a long time ago.

That being said, this ’Eternal’ business was another matter altogether.

"Give me time to think about it," Lesta said in the end, shoulder dropped in exhaustion.

"Of course," Eruha stepped back with a satisfied smile on his lips. "Time is all I have in abundance."