The Demon Lord's Bride (BL)
Chapter 260: Look, I’m not saying I give good advice, but...

Chapter 260: Look, I’m not saying I give good advice, but...

"Whoa..."

If you asked me before about what I would think about a vampire city, I would say something like an eerie castle with a gothic-esque aesthetic, elegant and sinister at the same time. Black! Red! Emo!

Or something like that? Hehe...

But while the place did have the expected aesthetic of those pointy arches and elaborate tracery, it definitely wasn’t a sinister or gloomy place, even in the middle of winter. The city itself, unlike the spacious metropolis that was L’Anaak Eed, was built atop stony hills in terraces, so the moment we got out of the castle gate, I was greeted with rows upon rows of beautiful architecture stretching down the winding terraces.

[Master! It’s like giant stairs!]

"Giant stairs indeed," I nodded in agreement. Lesta had chosen a more open carriage for us, so we could easily sightseeing even while going to our destination.

Which was supposed to be the bank--Natha’s bank--but since we had a child with us, we went straight to the candy store in the commercial district. That way, we wouldn’t have to hear Jade chirping every ten minutes asking about the candy store.

Well, that, and because I was also curious about the snacks from other regions.

Around the center of the ’giant stair’, there was a plaza with a fountain as a centerpiece. Around that plaza was the commercial district, and the canter of activity in this place. Because people came to shop? No.

They came to eat.

When I said commercial district, I did not talk about clothing stores or accessory shops. More than half the stores here had something to do with food; massive grocery stores, herb-specialty shops, rare ingredients auction houses, and of course; ready-made products and restaurants. Lots of restaurants, cafes, and food stalls.

"It’s like culinary festivals..." I could only blink in wonder as I looked around the plaza.

Immediately, all I could see were the food stalls and people walking around with food or drink in their hands. Some ate it around the fountain, and some brought it to their next destination. But while it was fascinating, it was also confusing because...uhh, would we know where we should be going?

Aside from the coachman, we didn’t bring anyone. It seemed like Natha truly trusted Lesta and his ability to protect me, since he forgo giving me guards. It was nice because it felt like we were just strolling leisurely among friends.

But then, who would guide us?

"This way," Lesta, however, pointed in a direction and confidently led us away.

"Oh, you know the way? Have you come here before?"

"Not in the Capital, it’s usually Older Sister who came," he said. "But I already memorized the layout, so you can rest easy, Young Master."

Owh--as expected of Natha’s right-hand man, to memorize the way just from the map...

We followed Lesta to a street that was filled with colorful buildings. Holding Jade in my chest, I couldn’t help but marvel at the display of sparkling, shining sweets in various shapes and sizes. Five-tired cake, chocolate fountains, and even cotton candy in various shapes. There was a stall selling my favorite caramel candy, the one shaped into various sculptures.

[Master, this place full of candy! And cake! And choco!]

We stopped at that stall for a bit to see the artisan’s performance, shaping a little bird with a round belly and pipe-shaped tail that could act as a whistle. It was so fascinating that I couldn’t help but buy it, because Jade was pecking at me excitedly. To think that this magical thing was made without magic...

Jade was fascinated by the little candy bird that was only a little bit smaller than it. But once we arrived at the store Lesta chose for us, Jade forgot about the candy bird.

Well, I couldn’t blame the little bird, though.

The place was big, almost like a small palace. And what do you know--there was a miniature Lord Castle made of chocolate in the middle of the store. I spent a few minutes just admiring the detailed works of the chocolatier with Jade, who couldn’t even let out any chirping sound for being too amazed. Besides the chocolate, they also used candy to make the glass window, from the clear ones to the colorful ones.

Before we were drooling too much, before an intrusive thought of eating it surfaced, I followed Lesta to one of the display windows, causing Jade to chirp in disappointment.

At least, until the little bird saw the rows of sparkling jewels inside the display window.

"Wow...look, Jade--it’s like a gem," I said in a whisper.

The candy truly looked like gems and precious stones. Some even looked like unprocessed minerals. But everything was so beautiful, so different than other candy we tried before. They looked exquisite and luxurious, even the box.

[Like the stones in treasure room!] The little bird hopped on top of the display window, almost pressing its head to the transparent glass.

"That’s right," I nodded in agreement. I recalled Jade’s disappointment when it knew all the sparkling jewels in the treasure room were inedible. "Now you can have the gems you can eat, Jade."

[Wooow...]

"There’s a sample here if you want to try it, Young Master," Lesta said, calling out one of the shop’s clerks who readily provided us with a long box filled with small jars; each jar contained one type of those beautiful candies.

"Oh! Which one do you want to try first, Jade?"

[Green!]

We tried the green one, which looked like our eyes, and it tasted both sweet and sour, easily right up my alley. But Jade liked something that was only sweet, so we tried another one, and then another, and another, until we ended up trying everything, together with Lesta.

And well, we ended up buying everything, because why not?

"Hmm...how many should we buy?" I tilted my head and tapped my chin in contemplation. The clerk already packing the one that Jade liked, and then the one that I liked. I wanted to buy some for Zia and Arta too, and who else? Hmm...

Oh!

"Do you think Natha’s teacher would like candy too?" I asked Lesta.

"I don’t know, but there’s no harm in trying," Lesta shrugged and I ended up purchasing the special box they had, which was filled with the best product; not only candy but also chocolate.

The clerk eagerly processed my order, which ended up being quite a lot. Turned out it was a very expensive product, since the candies were made of ingredients infused with mana, which was why they were shaped like literal jewels. Perhaps that was why the clerks became extra nice, even though they were already nice before. But hey--you know how we tend to spend a lot during vacations, right?

That being said, the fact that the final amount made no dent in my black card was scarier. Lesta said I could buy the whole shop if I wanted and the card would still have some change.

Scary-ass rich daddy. Thank Gods he’s my fiance.

"What are you going to do there, Young Master?" Lesta asked me while we were waiting for the boxes to be individually wrapped with a nice ribbon and stuff, except for a small pouch for Jade’s snack.

"Hmm...I don’t know too," I looked at the ceiling, pondering while sipping on a hot cocoa that the store made for me as a service. "I guess we’ll see if she could give us some advice on things. Oh--and I want her to teach me how to make that mark of eternal thingy!"

I was getting so excited about it that I forgot that it might be a sensitive topic for Lesta. I pressed my lips and glanced carefully at the demon, but as usual, his face was calm and unreadable. Instead, he looked kind of curious.

"May I know why?"

Why do I want the eternal mark? Hmm...

"I don’t know if I can say this in front of you, but..."

"Please be at ease and tell me," Lesta gave me an assuring smile.

Uhh...well, if he said so...

I took a deep breath and unconsciously fiddled with my sleeve. "I’m kind of...envious," I told him quietly. It was something that I had never even said to Natha. "Everyone has a long lifespan, longer than humans," I sighed, looking at all the other demons walking around with their loved ones. "While I have a longer lifespan than humans, I wouldn’t live as long as a druid, I know that much,"

It was something that had always nagged in the back of my mind. But I always countered it with the thought that it was already good that I could live this long.

That being said, I started to get greedy. And that greediness turned into anxiety.

"So...I wouldn’t be able to live as long as Natha, even though he was already much older than me," I continued, looking down at my cocoa.

In a way, I was glad that there was a large gap between the time Natha met me and the time I got transmigrated here. Because at least, I could match Natha’s lifespan a little bit, although it still wasn’t enough.

"That’s why you want to learn the mark of eternal?"

"I don’t wish for a long lifespan, but..." I shrugged and smiled wryly. "I would like it if we could be together until the end. That if one of us dies, then the other follows," instinctively, my eyes traveled to my ring finger, and I had to hold back my voice from cracking. "Because I don’t think I could ever live without Natha."

I let out a long exhale, and sipped on the hot cocoa again to warm my heart. After a minute of silence, Lesta spoke first.

"May I ask you a question, Young Master?"

"Of course,"

"How would you feel if you couldn’t have that mark in the end?" he asked, dark eyes gazing at the mark around my ring finger. "How would you feel if you...left first?"

I could see that Lesta was very careful, and very serious with his question, and it made me think that he was looking for an answer himself. I had no idea if my answer could help though, but I still wanted to give him an honest response.

"I would be sad," I looked at him with a smile, revealing what I had been worrying about. Thing I had yet found the courage to tell Natha. "Thinking about leaving Natha is sad," I continued, feeling the tremble in my heart and voice even when I said it. "Whether it ends up with Natha all alone, or Natha moving on to be with someone else..." I shook my head and let out a long sigh, "I would be sad."

"Moving on...to someone else..."

[Jade and Master is eternal!] The little bird that had been busy counting its candy inside the pouch suddenly jumped in front of me. [Jade will live as long as Master live!]

My eyes widened and I scooped the little bird, nuzzling the green head. "Oh, baby," I kissed the sweet, giggling little bird and we laughed together until the clerks came with our beautiful boxes of beautiful candies.

Search the lightnovelworld.cc website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.