The Demon Lord's Bride (BL)
Chapter 282: How should you explain the concept of marriage to your kid?

Chapter 282: How should you explain the concept of marriage to your kid?

Lesta unbuttoned his shirt without much care, and I hugged the pillow in his place because I got too excited. You know, the kind of excitement when we encounter something interesting?

He unbuttoned his shirt just enough for it to show his chest. There, above where his heart should be, was a mark, roughly as big as the brand of contract Natha put on the back of my hand the first time.

"Whoa..."

I stared at the mark in fascination. I thought it would be like a tattoo at first, but it was closer to the mark I had on my palm; the mark of Alveitya. It looked like blood veins, those blue and purple lines we could see in our wrists. But the color was deeper, darker, the lines spreading like blooming flowers.

Upon closer inspection, the mark was actually an archaic rune formation. Different from the magic circles and arrays used nowadays, the archaic rune formation was formed by combining all the runes used in the spell into a singular form. To put it simply, it was like how Chinese characters--Hanzi--formed back on Earth.

Looking at it like this, rather than a tattoo, it looked more like the mark had been a part of his body from the start; like a very elaborate birthmark.

It was beautiful.

"Would you like to touch it?"

"Yeah," I admitted easily. "I want to try channeling the rejuvenation mana through this point."

Lesta nodded. "Go on," he said, and my hand had already moved before he even finished the ’on’. He chuckled at my eagerness, and let me rub the mark slightly.

I did it carefully, afraid that it would still hurt. But he said it was alright, and I realized curiously that there was no scar on his skin, considering he was supposed to get ’stabbed’. Pressing my middle finger slightly on the center of his mark, I channeled the rejuvenating mana to his system.

"Oh?" Lesta raised his brow.

"Does it feel different?"

"I think it works better than usual, Young Master. Perhaps because it flows directly through my core," he moved his shoulder slightly and arched his back, probably checking how much it lifted his lethargy.

Alright, so my experiment went well. Curiously, the mark also pulsed slightly as it absorbed the mana I sent and delivered it throughout his system, truly like blood veins.

"Does Eruha have one too?"

"Yeah, but his looks even clearer, since he has lighter skin--"

Lesta stopped talking because the door to the room suddenly creaked open, and as we turned to see who was it that went past Panne and the guard to disturb our private time, we saw Arta and Opti standing at the door, looking at us with parted lips.

"Oh, my Lord! What are you doing?!" Arta clasped her cheeks in shock, while Opti arched his brow and smirked.

Ah...now that I think about it, our position--Lesta half-laying down with an unbuttoned shirt and my hand on his chest--was rather...compromising. Thankfully, Lesta was as calm as always.

"Medical check-up," he shrugged, and I nodded vigorously, still delivering rejuvenating mana inside him.

"Oh..."

"You’re lucky it’s not His Lordship that sees you like that," Opti said after satisfying himself with laughing all the way until he reached the couch.

I grinned and scratched my neck awkwardly while Lesta buttoned his shirt again. Not that I felt guilty or anything, but it was indeed something that could raise suspicion.

"Don’t worry; His Lordship would understand this time," Lesta said nonchalantly.

Well, I also thought that Natha wouldn’t be so unreasonable considering this was purely...research and medical examination. Yes! That was it. He should also know that Lesta was already Eruha’s Eternal, so...what’s there to get mad about?

But then Lesta added; "Well, probably," with a shrug and I had to smack him for giving me sudden anxiety.

"But why do you call us here, Young Master?" Arta asked while crouching beside the table in front of us. "Oh--is this from Gluttony? Can I eat this?"

Oh, right. I took out the snacks I got from Gluttony as souvenirs and poured them on the table. I gave Arta my communication orb and told her to contact the other orb, which was in Zia’s possession right now. While she did so, I went out of the lounge to call for Izzi and asked the imps to provide my guest with more refreshments.

[Master! Is Succubus here? Is Salamander here??]

Of course, I didn’t forget to call my little bird too, who came swooping down through the window the moment I opened it. "Not yet, but we can speak to them, at least."

[Hngg...] Jade was still a bit disappointed, but playing with Vrida and the notion of hearing their voice perked the little bird a bit. [Alright. Jade will ask when they will go home!]

"Sure, you should ask them," I laughed at the way Jade called this place home when Zia’s real home was where she was now. But it also sounded nice.

By the time I came back to the lounge, Izzi was already there, huddled near the fireplace. The communication orb was on the center of the table, glowing red, and I could hear Zia’s voice as she talked with Arta.

"...yeah, so--Oh! Young Master is here!" Arta exclaimed when I came inside, and Jade jumped to the table and chirped loudly so Zia could hear.

[Is that Jade? Is Val there too?]

"Hey, are you having a nice time, there?" I asked, crouching in front of the table beside Arta. At this point, except for Lesta--who was lounging languidly on the couch--we were all huddled around the table, snacking naughtily before lunchtime.

[Not as nice as wherever you are right now, but I can make my own fun] Zia replied casually; I could almost sense her shrug all the way here. [I’ll be back in a few days, but...what’s up? I heard you gathered everyone]

"Hmm...well, I kind of miss everyone," I grinned, which wasn’t a lie. It was rare for me to completely be away from everyone. I understood why Jade missed Ignis--which the little bird expressed immediately.

[What about Salamander?] Jade chirped loudly.

"Is Ignis there?" I patted the little bird. [Jade miss you, Ignis]

[Should I project myself there?] we heard the Salamander’s voice, and in the next second, the air beside my head trembled a little bit, and a gecko-shaped flame manifested on my shoulder.

Jade chirped in surprise and delight, jumping to my shoulder to nudge the flame with its wing.

"I can only do it here, while connected to your body," the fire-gecko told us.

"Oh, interesting..." I poked the fire, and my fingers went through the body, like a hologram. Fascinating. I wondered if I could learn to do that too...

"That’s fascinating," Opti, the master spy shapeshifter, shoved his face close to my shoulder, observing the fire projection. "But anyway--you’re not gathering us just because you miss us, are you, Young Master?"

I smiled sheepishly and scratched my cheek. I knew I was the one who gathered them, and I knew I had resolved myself, but...now that I faced their curious eyes, I felt embarrassment creeping up my face. Even Jade tilted its head and stared at me inquisitively.

"Uhh...so..." I fiddled with the nearest snack packaging on the table, looking at that rather than their eyes. "So I decided to...to hold the wedding in spring..."

My voice dwindled at the end, because the room became so quiet, and I felt like my voice became unnecessarily loud because of that. My heart pounded nervously for reasons I didn’t understand, and I fidgeted in place before peeking at them.

"Well, more works for me," Lesta commented with a shrug, but he also smirked. "Congratulations, though."

"Gratz; hmm...all I need to do is attend, right?" Izzi muttered.

And it opened a floodgate.

"Aaaah!! Aaack!!" Arta tackled me to the ground--just fifteen minutes after she acted scandalized by me and Lesta. "Yes! Yes! I’m going to make the best outfit ever!"

Staring blankly at the ceiling, sometimes I wondered if Arta wanted to become a designer rather than take care of governmental affairs.

Zia, however, screamed and slammed her hand against whatever surface near her. [Noo!! You should have waited for me to be physically there first!]

"Uhh...sorry; I just want to get it out as soon as possible," I laughed awkwardly as Zia threw a little tantrum and called her cousin, Aleena.

"No--you do the right thing, Young Master!" Arta defended me as she pulled away and helped me up again. "Spring is only a little more than two months away. There’s a lot to be prepared!"

"Have you decided on a date?" Opti asked from the side, looking uncharacteristically serious.

"No," I shook my head. "It doesn’t matter to me, so Natha should be the one to decide that, since he’s the busy one."

Opti nodded, stroking his chin for a while before moving away to talk to Lesta. Looking at them made me think that this wedding wouldn’t be as simple as tying knots or exchanging vows. It smelt like a lot of complicated political and security affairs.

...oh, well--that was for Natha to take care of. He told me yesterday that all I needed to do was tell Arta what I wanted for the ceremony.

[Master] as the chaos erupted inside the lounge from Arta and Zia excitedly yelling back and forth, Jade jumped on the table, the green head tilted as the innocent, beady eyes stared at me. [What’s a wedding?]

Ah...

...help?