The Demon Lord's Bride (BL)
Chapter 285: A pre-wedding talk is more important than the wedding itself

Chapter 285: A pre-wedding talk is more important than the wedding itself

"I don’t see the brat today," Natha remarked as we ate our lunch, and the corner of my mouth made an instantaneous dive.

"Jade went out again after talking with Ignis, I don’t know where it is."

Natha raised his brow and leaned on the table, reaching out to stroke my cheek lightly. There was a teasing smile on his lips as he addressed my curt reply. "What is this? Is my sweetheart lonely because his baby bird doesn’t latch on anymore?"

I pursed my lips and stuffed my mouth with the citrus salad, letting the tanginess spread to accompany the sourness in my heart. I knew that sometimes I would leave the little bird by itself when I was doing, umm, adulting with Natha, so perhaps I had no right to grumble when Jade had fun with its new friend and only came to me for snacks.

"Maybe it has something to do with the secret the brat has with Teacher," Natha said with a chuckle, still stroking my cheek as if it amused him how upset I was being left behind by my own familiar.

"Ah..."

But he was right. Just like that time, Jade had blocked our connection; I could still feel the little bird’s existence, but I couldn’t connect our visions or thoughts. It was the same thing I did when I was in bed with Natha.

"Hmm..." I looked at Natha and asked after swallowing my salad. "What do you think the secret is?"

Natha chuckled and retreated his stroking fingers. "You said you won’t pry," he reminded me. "Just let the brat have it; probably wants to surprise you or something."

Oh, if he put it like that...it didn’t feel that sour anymore.

I nodded, getting back to my lunch with a lighter heart and soft laughter from Natha. "What will you write in your letter?" he asked, glancing at the tray bearing my pen and paper.

"Hmm...do you think I should ask about the Queen directly, or..."

"I would say you have to be careful and gauge the reaction to such a topic first," Natha said. "But that is because I’m a businessman and a politician, not to mention a stranger."

He sliced the meat and put it on my plate as he continued. "On the other hand, she is your family, so do what your heart feels right."

What my heart felt right...

"I think I’ll just come clean," I said after mulling about it while eating my last mouthful of salad. "Not about Shwa," I looked down, at the black pendant that still housed my future child, "But I’ll tell her about our wedding and that we’re trying to con... conceive..."

My voice dwindled with the increasing heat on my face. Gosh--even if I didn’t have a contract with Ignis, I wouldn’t have any time feeling cold with how often I felt embarrassed today.

"Hmm...that word sounds like paradise music to my ear," Natha smirked, furthering my fluster.

"Sush!"

This demon! Just because my baby bird is not here!

I kicked his shin below the table, and while he laughed with no remorse, he helped me construct the letter I would send to Amarein and sealed it using his magic stamp so no one but Amarein could open it.

Since there was no way to send the letter directly, it would be sent through the Sarterian elves. It would be different once I learned how to send a letter using wind elemental spirit, but that would be too advanced for a greenhorn druid like me, no matter whether I was a royal or not.

Hmm...I wondered what kind of things I would learn once I started the lesson with Amarein; I wondered what the realm of nature was like as I watched Natha’s crow taking off with my letter into the horizon. I felt Natha’s hand on my waist as the black dot started to vanish from sight, and his cold lips on the side of my neck.

"Where would you like to go after the wedding?" he asked, the low and soothing voice so close to my ears.

"Huh? You mean...the honeymoon?"

He paused, and then chuckled softly. "Well, that too, I guess. But I’m talking about where we’re going to live."

"...oh?" I turned around, looking at him in surprise. "Are we...going to move out?"

"That would be up to you," he said, rubbing my cheek with a cold thumb. "I had to admit that I want to keep you here in the castle for my selfishness," he smiled with a trace of guilt in his eyes. "I wanted you to be accepted by my people, and I wanted to draw everyone who opposed it so I could get rid of them. I wanted you to be within arms reach all the time, so I could see you whenever I wanted. I did all that knowing you don’t like crowds and being surrounded by strangers,"

As I listened to him, I remembered all my nervousness, and my worries when I first moved here. I remembered how happy I was to find ourselves alone in D’Ara’s place.

But...

"I don’t dislike it, living in the same building with the others," I told him, reaching up my hands to cup his cold cheeks. "If it’s not for that, I would never learn how to connect with other people, or learn how to face people who might not like me--or well, people who blatantly not like me," I shrugged. "I used to be so nervous thinking about having breakfast with strangers, but just recently, I could even hold nice conversations with vampires I met for the first time."

I put my arms around his neck and smiled. "I’ve told you earlier, haven’t I, that I need to face uncomfortable things so I can grow, and feel what it’s like to be truly alive?" I leaned forward and pecked his cheek. "This is what I mean."

I could hear his sharp intake of breath when I pulled back, and he pulled me closer by my waist before I could react. He didn’t say anything though, just staring at me deeply. I held his shoulder for balance, although I knew he would never let me trip.

"But I guess, I do want moments where I wish it’s just the two of us," I said, and continued in a whisper. "Like the time we spent talking in the hospital."

"Oh, sweetheart," Natha whispered back and kissed me softly.

We let our lips rest against each other for a while, until I could no longer count the seconds and minutes passing by. When he reluctantly pulled away, it was to stare into my eyes. As I blinked and gazed at his face, I remembered I hadn’t even answered his original question.

"So...umm, I don’t mind still living here while you’re the Lord--I mean, it’ll be easier for you to work, right?" I put my palms against his chest and fiddled with the green pendant with my thumbs. "And probably...we can spend the end of the week in the Lair? Or going somewhere for a quick vacation..."

"Mm..." Natha smiled, pressing his forehead against mine. "Go on,"

Uh...what else? Natha rubbed the small of my back as if encouraging me to continue spilling out everything I wanted to do with him. "I...I want us to take a disguise and have a date around the city, like other people,"

"Okay,"

"I want to...I want to dance on the lake again, like that night,"

"Okay,"

"I want to walk around the Lair in your arms,"

"I’ll carry you wherever you want me to,"

"I want to live with you in the Lair once you’re done with being the Lord; with Jade and Ignis and Vrida and--"

"And Shwa?"

I laid my head against his chest, closing my eyes. "And Shwa," I smiled, clutching his back. Natha stroked my back and caressed my hair, pressing his lips on the side of my head.

"And when Shwa grows up and doesn’t need to be babied anymore, I want to go around the world. I want to see all the places you visited during your adventures," I continued shamelessly within his embrace. "And the places you’ve never visited before."

"We’ll do that," he said, a smile stretched against my temple. "We’ll do everything you want."

I shifted and pulled away slightly, just enough to enable me to look up. "Then...can we have the ceremony in the Lair?" I asked carefully.

"We can," his answer came easily. "After all, you only want to invite people you trust enough to come over, right?"

My smile turned into a grin, and his soft laughter reverberated around the lake. "What else?" he asked. "Tell me, tell me everything you want."

"Everything? Be careful, I might squander your wealth," I said teasingly, but Natha did not seem fazed by it.

"It’s fine, squander it all you want," he scoffed. "Do you want a phone? a camera? A video recorder? Should we just take that person away from that kid’s party? Do you want to take the Druid Kingdom back? I can start making a plan..."

He rumbled on and on about the things he said he would do for me; sparkles in his eyes and slight blush across his cheeks. Was it me, or did he look happier talking about how to squander his wealth than the wedding itself?

I laughed and stroked his cheek, kissed his lips so he would stop making plans to empty his coffers. "I’m happy enough to just be here with you like this," I whispered, before leaning back and tilting my head. "I don’t mind hearing about your honeymoon plan though."