The Demon Lord's Bride (BL)
Chapter 276: My Lord used to be a troublemaker, but he’s still my troublemaker

Chapter 276: My Lord used to be a troublemaker, but he’s still my troublemaker

"Do you enjoy your sunbath?" I cupped Natha’s face from behind the chair he sat on on the balcony. He opened his eyes, looked at me, and smiled; the kind of smile he gave me when he just woke up from his sleep. "Oh, were you asleep?"

"I was awake when you walked in," he said, patting his thigh."You’re very cheery."

I giggled and circled the chair to climb into his lap and stroked his forehead, swatting loose hair from his face. It was rare to see Natha had an afternoon nap—no, I didn’t think I had ever seen it before. Well, he was usually either working or tending to me, so he didn’t have much time for himself to just relax and have an uninterrupted rest.

"You must have liked it here since you won’t sense anyone’s thought," I stroked his cheek next, and rubbed the soft flesh around his eyes. He looked so refreshed, so well rested.

There was no one here but D’Ara and me. He had blocked himself from reading my thoughts, and D’Ara blocked herself from any mental attack—including mind reading. So he didn’t have to concentrate so much on blocking so many thoughts like usual. Perhaps that was why he spent five years here after the war; it wasn’t just to learn how to control his trait, but also to heal his mind.

"Mm, it’s peaceful," he said. "I have an island too, and there are only the caretakers and their families living there, quite a nice place,"

Did he just casually tell me he owned an island?

"But I guessed, since the scenery is different, it feels different," he continued. "This one is...nostalgic."

"Because it’s never changing?"

"Mm," he smiled, looking into the blurry horizon that would stay the same tomorrow, and tomorrow’s tomorrow. He turned to look at me after a while, stroking my waist. "So? Why do you look so happy?"

"Am I?" I giggled again, shifting my body to a more comfortable position on his lap. "I just heard a lot of interesting things."

"Really? What about?"

I grinned and pointed at him. "You."

"Me?" Natha tilted his head, before narrowing his eyes and muttered. "I don’t have a good feeling about this."

"Don’t worry, they are all cute and fun things."

"Definitely not a good feeling," he shook his head.

"Why? I like hearing how cheeky and rebellious you were," I propped my elbow on his shoulder and poked his cheek. "Like the time you were almost expelled for not coming to the academy for a whole semester because you were involved in treasure-hunting."

"Eh," he shrugged. "The lesson was boring, and treasure-hunting seemed like a more profitable way to spend time with."

Look at this demon, ditching his classes just because he was too smart for them. "Or the time you secretly let the spiritual beasts on the loose and pinned it on the lich."

This time, he was grinning. "That was fun," he said, the youthful mischievousness flashing in the silver eyes. "That prick was the one who framed me for plagiarism first."

I see. Petty was his inherent trait. Talking about petty...

"Oh, oh—I heard you liked challenging the academy professors too!"

And by challenging, I didn’t mean in debate. Well, he liked debating them too, but I was talking about duel. Like...sword and magic duel.

Apparently, if words fail, do violence.

"A bunch of narrow-minded conservatives bunch," Natha scoffed, and I couldn’t help but laugh.

"It sounds fun, your academy days,"

"Eh, it had its ups and downs," he shrugged.

I turned around so I could lean against his chest, staring at the horizon that he watched before. Vaguely, I could see Vrida perching on one of the mountain peaks. Jade should be there too, giving the wyvern the mana stones I gave them for their afternoon snacks. It seemed that Jade liked Vrida so much because she had more similarities with the little bird than Ignis; the wings and flying part, especially. They had already become the bestest buddy after two days. "I’ve never gone to school before, so it’s fun hearing stories about them," I told him.

I was homeschooled at first, and then, I received my education in my hospital room. I knew the teacher only saw it as an amusement for someone who would never live to use the knowledge, but it was one thing that made me feel like I was still a human, a somewhat part of society. Even if it was useless.

The downside of being the only student was...no friends, I guessed.

I felt him shift behind me, propping himself higher and dragging me with him. His arms circled my waist and pulled me onto his chest. "Well, the most important about going to school is the people," he said nonchalantly. "You get friends, and you get enemies."

"Ouch," I tilted my head and pondered about what might happen if I were going to a school. "Hmm...I think I might be the type that gets enemies,"

"Because of your family?"

"Yeah," I nodded, and then clapped my hands in exclaim. "Maybe that’s why I was home-schooled, huh?"

"Perhaps,"

Mm, mm, I understand it now. Well, there was also the thing about me being sick, but I was already home-schooled before I got sick. "But I can visit Grandma often thanks to that," I tapped my chin as I tried to recall my childhood. "Before I got too sick, of course."

Natha strokes my hair then, and, after a few minutes of blissful silence, something silly came into my mind. "Will you fall in love with me if we somehow end up in the same school?" I asked him.

"I think I’ll fall in love with you in whatever scenario,"

"Pfft—how do you know?" I laughed and turned my head to look at him. "What if you can’t see my soul?"

I thought you fell for me because you could see my soul, Your Lordship. Stubbornly, he argued with a huff. "Well, I reckoned I’d still fall for your cuteness."

Laughter came out of my mouth without restraint. It was funny how he insisted he would fall in love with me no matter what, that it almost sounded defensive. Endearing, yes, but also funny.

"It’s just an imagined scenario anyway," he shrugged, and then pressed his lips on the shell of my ear. "What about you? Would you fall for me too?"

He looked expectant, the silver eyes gleaming a bit brighter. I felt like he would sulk if I said something like ’I don’t know’—not that I would say it. I touched his face, pinching his cheek lightly, and stroked his jaw. "I didn’t know that you were the same person, but I still managed to fall in love with both of you anyway," I told him. Well, to be exact, I only thought he had the same face as the doctor, not the same person.

Natha leaned back and closed his eyes as I continued to stroke his face, enjoying the handsome visage that I could confidently say to be mine now. "So you’re saying you like how I look."

"Why? Are you disappointed? Do you think I’m superficial now?" I asked teasingly, and he opened his eyes, lips curled into a smirk.

"Hmm, it means you have a good taste."

Pfft—so he didn’t mind if I only liked him because he was handsome? Well, to be fair, there was nothing wrong with falling in love with someone because of their look. It was just a problem if they stayed in love only for the look.

That being said...

"But I wasn’t crushing on you because you’re handsome," I said. It was true that, like any other people in the hospital, his looks made my heart skip when I saw him from time to time. But I wouldn’t say I fell in love with him because of that.

"Oh? Why then?"

"Hmm..." I looked at the sky, at the memory of cold winter days, and fiddled with his hand—the hand that was almost as cold. "Because you’re warm?"

Natha tilted his head in genuine confusion, and I smiled while continuing. "When you held me, it was warm," I said, remembering the feeling of being lifted and embraced after I fainted. "And when you keep talking to me all winter...it felt warm."

Winter had been the worse season for me, because it aggravated my condition. But meeting him, talking about silly stuff and serious matters, being treated like a real person and not just someone awaiting their death...that winter, I think, was when I felt the healthiest all my life.

And then the winter ended, and our time in that world ended. I still remember those fleeting moments as I succumbed more and more to my illness when my life force diminished. Those moments were what made dying rather bearable. Ah, I tasted what it was like to fall in love, I thought.

But my life, turned out, did not end there. I met him again, albeit not knowing it was him. During another cold night, he pulled me into another embrace.

"When you helped me, and taught me a lot of things after I came to the Lair, everything felt warm," I smiled and rubbed his palm with my thumb. "You’re very warm, even though your skin is cold," I looked up to gaze into his eyes. "It’s fascinating, isn’t it?"

He stared back at me wordlessly, until he lowered his head and pressed his forehead on my shoulder. His arms tightened around my waist, and I could hear his sigh; long, and ended in some kind of groan.

"Haa..." he moved his face; eyes staring at me, and lips mouthing against my shoulder. "I lost."

"Huh?"

He shifted his head so now his cheek was resting on my shoulder instead of his mouth. "Well, I’d never win in the first place."

"Are we competing in something?" I tilted my heart in confusion, and Natha smiled charmingly.

He straightened his back then, and leaned down to kiss my lips. A brief and sweet one, as his eyes looked straight at me. "You make me want to propose to you again."

Again? My brow arched and I turned to look at the sky. Ah, the sun was setting, and the sky was the same shade of violet and orange as yesterday. The same sky that Natha saw as he thought of proposing to me.

"Hmm...in that case, I’ll be the one to do it."

Natha raised his brows, and I jumped off his lap. When I turned around to look at him, he was already straightened his back, looking at me with a mix of intrigue and confusion.

"I used my last ticket to learn about the mark of eternal; well, the simplified version of it," I told him, and his eyes widened a little bit. I stretched out my arm toward him, and, after a few seconds of confusion, he gave me his hand.

"I...want to use it as a part of the wedding ceremony, so..."

I looked at his eyes, which grew larger, feeling my heart pounding so hard I almost couldn’t hear myself.

"Ra Natha, would you be my eternal?"

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