The Demon Lord's Bride (BL)
Chapter 264: It’s nice to have someone opening their heart to you

Chapter 264: It’s nice to have someone opening their heart to you

I looked at the ceiling, blinking, before kicking my feet slightly beneath the blanket and giggling like a child.

"Sweetheart, I know you’re full of energy, but I need my rest, okay?"

A cold arm wrapped around me to prevent me from moving and shaking the bed. The soft vibration from Natha’s slurry voice tickled my nape, and I clasped my mouth to prevent myself from making another noise. Carefully, I shifted and turned so I could face him instead, looking at his sleeping face.

Okay, okay, I know I looked at him every day, but still...

I never felt bored looking at his face. Well, to be fair, I rarely do so, okay? I couldn’t just outright stare at him in front of other people, or when he was awake, because I would be too embarrassed. Before, I wouldn’t even do anything but stare when I woke up first, but these days, I got more courageous to trace my fingers on his face.

This time, he looked rather exhausted. Hmm...perhaps because I kept asking for more last night? We did it until I sobered up, and then more. And yeah, it was as fantastic as fantastic could be. He was rougher than usual, which I liked, because he had always been too gentle, despite knowing I had better stamina and self-healing ability than him.

It seemed like calling him husband pushed his button, which was...quite embarrassing, now that I was sober. Ugh, he probably would tease about it after he woke up and gained his energy back. I had a guess he would even ask me to say it again, which I wouldn’t! Unless he was asleep, or I was drunk, or...

Or I had something I wanted to request from him, hehe.

I kept stroking his cheek and enjoyed his soft breathing, until I felt someone’s presence outside the bedroom door. So I sneaked out of bed and wrapped myself in a fluffy fur coat before carefully opening the door.

The attendant who stood outside the door retreated and bowed politely. It was the one sent to serve us while we were here, the one who made our morning drink and coordinated the servants in charge of our quarter’s housekeeping.

"His Lordship is still asleep, is there anything urgent?"

By the look of it, Natha would sleep in today, so perhaps we could have a late breakfast away from the Vampire Lord? Mm, that sounded good. I had to tell this attendant while at it.

"Oh, no, Sir. Someone’s here for you," the attendant said, which had me surprised. Someone coming for me so early in the morning? Me of all people?

And then I looked toward the door and couldn’t help but smile. "Let him in. Would you be a dear and get me my usual drink?"

"Certainly, Sir."

Hmm...what a nice morning to hear some juicy story.

Making myself comfortable in front of the fireplace, I watched Lesta wobbling inside while grumbling and cursing, devoid of his calm countenance. "Rough night?"

"Help me," he said briefly, before slumping on the couch and leaning--or rather, crashing--toward me. I caught and wrapped him in a blanket, before patting his back while sending a rejuvenating spell.

Damn...what have you done, Eruha?

While I healed the demon, I noticed something--or rather, a lack of something. "You don’t have any puncture marks."

"No," Lesta mumbled into the blanket. It was quite funny hearing him let go of his usual persona. "We’re not doing that this time," and then, after a while, he added. "And that’s why I’m in this situation."

"Huh? How so?"

"We’ve never... done it without me being...hmm, poisoned?"

My brow arched, and so did the attendant who brought my herbal drink, although it was only for a second. I took my drink while stifling my laugh and asked Lesta if he wanted a drink. He asked for a wine, so I told the attendant to make a coffee. Bad Lesta!

"Wait..." While I had my drink, something suddenly occurred to me. "You mean...you hadn’t been sober all those other times?"

"Yeah," he massages his neck, and then caught the look on my face, and chuckled. "No, it is by consent."

Oh, what a relief. Wouldn’t it be weird if Natha taught me everything about consent when his subordinates did not abide by that?

"He told me about the effect of the poison beforehand, and I told him I didn’t mind with it," Lesta explained further. "It was better than agonizingly letting the poison wane by itself."

"Better because it’s good, or better because it’s him?"

Lesta paused for a bit, before answering with slightly reddened ears. "Both."

Wow. Wow. I didn’t know if I should say this, but I kind of feel excited. Not because of his problem, but because I was in a position that listened to other’s relationship matters for a change.

But let’s press on a brake here. So he told me all this time, they had been doing it while Lesta was...how should I say this, intoxicated? So he would only have a vague recollection of those events? For decades?

Geez. No wonder their relationship was vague.

"But wait--how could you tell it was good when you’re practically not sober all the time?" I tilted my head, staring at him inquisitively while sipping my drink.

"I don’t remember all of it," Lesta stretched his body once I rejuvenated him enough. "But I remember how I felt--well, my body remembers it,"

"Heh," I snickered, and he chuckled, and we ended up laughing quietly because we both knew how it felt; the feeling of leftover pleasure from a satiated body.

"Hmm..." I leaned my head onto the pile of pillows and observed the demon who finally looking alive again. "So...aside from...that, have you never talked about...well, your feelings or anything? About being his Eternal?"

"No," Lesta sneered at himself. "Because we’re stupid."

Huh.

I waited for him to elaborate, and also because the attendant came with Lesta’s coffee, which he didn’t mind taking even though it wasn’t wine. He took a sip of the steaming coffee and let it resonate with the rejuvenating spell, before finally speaking again.

"He never said anything because he was waiting for me to...I guess, to see us as something more than a vampire and a source," he said. "He told me that telling me about it before I’m ’ready’ would seem like he forced me to accept it and...well, let’s say he doesn’t want to force me, so to speak."

Oh? That made Eruha sound more gentle and considerate than I initially thought. But then again, it could also be because Lesta narrating it through his rote-tinted glasses.

"So...since he kept hiding it all this time, that means..."

"That I still think of us as a mere vampire-and-source pair?" Lesta smiled in this self-mocking way. "Well, yeah, I couldn’t help it. He never showed that he desired something more from me, so I thought that was my only value in his eyes. Well, that and a decent colleague,"

I blinked and replied carefully. "Are you...sure about that?"

"Well, I was sure," Lesta sighed. This was the first time I saw him rather distressed.

I couldn’t help but raise my brows in surprise. Was this what they meant by the eyes cannot see what the mind doesn’t know? Because I was so sure Eruha had something for Lesta, and I was sure everyone knew it too. Everyone but Lesta himself, apparently, because he thought he was nothing but a working partner.

Hmph. And Natha told me I was dense.

"Well, to be honest, it was probably just my inferiority complex," Lesta gave a sudden confession, and I stopped myself from sipping on my drink so I could hear him better. Staring at the fresh fire in front of us, Lesta sounded quite vulnerable when he spoke again. "I was just a street orphan before I met His Lordship, doing whatever to survive, even tricking adventurers and stealing petty coins. It was only after His Lordship took us that I could find education and live like a decent people."

Leaning on the couch and looking at the exquisite cross beam above us, Lesta chuckled before he continued. "Eruha, on the other hand, was noble since birth. He was born from the First Progenitor, the youngest of the Thirteen, so he is dotted upon by his siblings; which is why he is allowed to do whatever he wants. He could be the Lord of Gluttony someday, by the way, since only the Thirteen are allowed on the seat."

Oh, that was a new information. Although...well, that was to be expected. This was the land of vampires anyway, so it was only normal that only a vampire could be the Lord. And well, there was a clear hierarchy in the vampire community by whose blood they were born, so saying Eruha was considered a ’noble vampire’ wasn’t wrong.

And I guessed helping Natha would give him ample practice should he decide to take the position too.

"Umm...so did you think...you were lesser than him?" I asked carefully. "You think you don’t deserve him?"

There was only one reason why I asked this of him; because I was feeling the same in the past. I constantly thought that I was nothing, I had nothing, I could bring nothing; that I didn’t deserve to be loved by someone like Natha, even though it was all I ever wanted.

And it was probably what Lesta was thinking about. "Yeah," he said. "Yeah, I did. I think I unconsciously put myself beneath him, so I never had any courage to see past that, or tell myself to ignore it and just tell him what I feel."

Oh, Lesta...I knew that very well. And he probably had it harder, because he had to struggle with it for decades. And I could see that he had never told anyone about any of this before. He spoke quietly, sometimes with a shaking and hesitant voice, while sighing in between.

When he said ’help me’...was it not just about healing him? Was Lesta, actually, just wanted to speak to someone about this? Perhaps. Because honestly, I couldn’t see him doing that to his siblings; the stony Malta and the blabber Arta.

Oh, this made me happy, even though it could be just my delusion. But I was happy nonetheless that he was willing to speak to me about it, even though it made him look vulnerable and everything.

"So...have you made a decision?"

He lifted his head and, in a dumbfounded way, replied dazedly. "Oh, I was already in this state before even managed to tell him about it."

Pfft--so it seemed like he already made a decision. I patted his back and sent more rejuvenating mana as a bonus, until a sleepy Natha showed up behind the couch with narrowed eyes. "What are you doing here stealing my bride away first thing in the morning?"

Whelp--I guessed that was the end of our hearty session.