The Demon Lord's Bride (BL)
Chapter 294: We should teach our children that we love them however they are

Chapter 294: We should teach our children that we love them however they are

I now understood why Arta liked dressing me up so much; it was fun.

I had asked for a pair of children’s clothing, but Arta brought a whole box with many options. We had fun picking the ones Jade should try, but the little bi...boy wanted a matching color with me.

"Hehe...same," he giggled while climbing on my lap after I helped him put on an embroidered white tunic and royal blue shorts. The small fingers clutched on my blue coat as I fixed a nice ribbon on his collar.

"There you go," I patted the boy’s shoulder and squeezed the chubby cheeks.

It was rather nice, honestly, knowing how I used to look when I was a child. This must be how I looked before I got sick, and since Jade told me he copied my appearance by looking at the memory I had with my grandmother, it would be the time when I was the healthiest.

Now that I look back, I always felt the best when I was around my grandmother. Probably because she offset my condition by supplying me with mana or her life force, because my condition instantly deteriorated after her death.

Just in time, as soon as Jade finished dressing, the living room door burst open with a loud sound. Again. Just like the time she came back from the Lust territory, Zia slammed the door open with two outstretched arms. She was out first thing in the morning to buy a limited-edition bread, so she was late to find out about the news.

And now she arrived with a bang.

"Where’s Jade?" she yelled loud enough for the whole quarters to hear her, and Jade stood on his knees on my lap, head peeking out behind my shoulder.

"Zia!" the little boy squealed, raising his arms to greet one of his best friends.

"Jade!" Zia gasped and practically ran across the room, leaving Izzi--who was holding the bag of bread--behind. Jade stood up on the couch and the succubus lifted the little boy in the air, twirling him as if Jade was still just a little bird. "Look at you! You look just like Val!"

They both laughed and twirled until they fell onto the couch and laughed some more. It was truly adorable, seeing two cute creatures looking so joyful like that, and by the look in everyone’s eyes, I knew they thought the same.

"Hey, hey--does this mean you’ll be in this form from now on?" Zia asked, fixing her posture so she could sit down properly.

"No," Jade crawled into my lap again and leaned against my chest. "Too much energy. Jade can only do it for a few hours," he explained with a low spirit that marked his disappointment. "Human body...umm...complicated inside."

"Why are you disappointed?" I stroked his cheek. "It’s amazing enough for you to achieve this."

What Jade did was the reverse of what a druid could do, which was turning into animals they had contracted with. I hadn’t even managed to do that, and Jade was already able to with just a short instruction from D’Ara.

"Jade do good?" the green eyes looked up, big and round and blinking slowly.

Would it sound vain if I said I found him to be so adorable--I mean...considering he was using my appearance?

"Yes, you did good, baby," I chuckled and caressed the green hair. "Jade is so smart, mm?"

The little boy wiggled his legs in delight, holding my hands while giggling. And then he shifted and turned to face me, green eyes staring at me with a sheepish gaze. "Umm...is Jade...is Jade look like Master’s child now?"

My brows raised at those words. The cheeky, cheerful expression turned timid, and Jade fiddled with the hem of my clothes--he even picked my habit? I looked at the child in surprise, and then at Natha, who smiled briefly.

So...Jade had been thinking about that, huh? From the way Jade fiddled with my black pendant now, it probably started after I told the bird about Shwa.

Oh, baby...

"Jade, let me tell you something," I cupped the child’s face, stroking the pink cheeks fondly as the green eyes stared at me innocently. "No matter what Jade looks like, be it a bird or a human, Jade is still my child, that is born from my mana, okay?"

Jade blinked; his hands stopped fiddling with the pendant. I poked his cheek teasingly and caressed his hair. "You don’t have to be disappointed because you can’t do it all the time, or force yourself to think you have to look like me."

If there was one thing I could take from everything I had experienced after coming here, it was that our appearance wasn’t the most important thing. What mattered was what was inside, our soul.

Perhaps, with how excited I was talking about Shwa, there was anxiety inside Jade’s mind that I would love my future child more than him because the child would look like me and Natha. I knew Jade always felt rather jealous, greedy for my undivided attention, but I didn’t think the little bird would think of changing appearance.

"I love you either way, you hear me?" I squeezed his cheeks again, a smile spreading on my lips. "I love you right now, and I’ll still love you when you turn back into a bird later."

The green eyes widened, just like the bird’s beady eyes, and Jade spoke through squeezed lips. "Weawwy?"

"Are you doubting how much I care about you, now?" I pursed my lips and let go of his face.

"N-no!" Jade caught my hands and put them on his cheeks again. "Jade...Jade love Master too!"

I laughed and stroked his cheek again "I know, baby..." I shifted my gaze to Ignis, who had been watching us wordlessly all this time--not like the Salamander was talkative in the first place. "What about you, Ignis?"

"What?"

"Do you even want to make a human form?" I asked curiously.

"N-no!" the Salamander turned his face away with a slight fluster in its voice. "I’m the Great Salamander, so I’ll always be a Salamander!" it said rather aggressively, before adding in a quieter tone. "B-because you make a contract with the Great Salamander, not human!"

I patted the gecko’s head as laughter came out of my mouth, and Jade put his small hand above mine. Ignis hmph-ed and scoffed, before jumping onto Jade’s shoulder, slapping the little boy’s neck lightly.

Zia scooted closer and poked my side as Jade giggled and hugged my neck. "Aww...look at Val already acting like a parent before even getting pregnant~"

"Hey!"

* * *

We would have liked to bring Jade around the Castle and the Capital, but since it was the first time the little bird manifested into a human form--not to mention after sleeping for eighteen days--we decided to just spend time in the Lord’s quarters.

Natha and the vassals, however, had to get back to their jobs, because a realm could not rule itself. It was Izzi’s day off, however, so he and Zia stayed to play with Jade--as well as eating the bread.

"Why are you buying bread with Zia?" I tilted my head while munching on a sweet pastry Zia bought too. "I don’t know you become that close."

"Close my ass!" Izzi grumbled quietly. "She dragged me first thing in the morning to be her porter."

"But you agreed,"

Izzi fell silent for a few seconds, before replying with another grumbling. "I heard the bread is good."

Heh--so you were bribed. I ripped a small part of the pastry and fed it to Jade. "Since you’re in a human form right now, you should try more food, Jade."

"Hnn..." Jade looked at the pastry hesitatingly.

"It’s sweet," I told the little boy with a smile, and Jade immediately put the pastry in his mouth. "How is it? Good?"

The boy closed his eyes and munched slowly as if to carefully savor the taste like a critique. "Mm...jelly is better! And candy!"

Pfft--Jade is still Jade, after all.

"You can eat all your jelly, but only one candy, okay?"

"What about candy from Lesta?" he opened his fist to show me the candy Lesta gave him before the demon went to work.

"Hmm...you can eat that," I nodded. I’d give him a leeway since it had been eighteen days since he had one.

"Jade, try this too--this one has jelly inside!"

Zia picked up another pastry and made Jade eat it. While the succubus took care of my familiar, I looked at Izzi to talk about something I had been contemplating for the past week.

"Hey...do you want to go visit your hometown?" I asked. "To the elvendom, I mean."

Izzi, with cheeks bulging from a sandwich, blinked at my question. He chewed the food slowly, perhaps while contemplating the answer. It had been so long since he went back home due to his fugitive status. And while he was also a transmigrated soul, unlike me, he was reborn in this world. He had families he grew up with since his birth, so there would be a certain level of attachment.

After a minute, Izzi finally swallowed his food and opened his mouth. "Why do you ask?"

"Well, you know I’m going to the realm of nature sooner or later, right?" I shrugged. "I’m wondering if you want me to try lifting your ban."

"Hmm...the ban is one thing, but I still have my debt," Izzi muttered, biting into his sandwich again.

"We earn some money, aren’t we?"

"I still have a debt to your fiance,"

Haa...I let out a sigh and asked again. "So let’s say you could clear your debt and I could persuade Sarterians to lift your ban--would you like to go home?"

Izzi, probably because he was surprised at my sharp tone, stuttered a little bit. "Uh...w-well...if you could, then..." he paused, looking down for a bit, looking at the sandwich in his hand, before replying with a slightly strained voice. "...yeah, I think...so?"

"Elf--Izzi want to go home?" Jade jumped me from the back, small arms circling my neck.

"That’s right," I patted the green head lying on my shoulder. "Let’s help Izzi so he can go home."

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