The Demon Lord's Bride (BL)
Chapter 305: Maybe my friend is also a protagonist

Chapter 305: Maybe my friend is also a protagonist

"Aah...I’m full~" I patted my stomach while slumping on the couch in our suite--which was actually a luxurious cabin on the northwest side of the palace.

[Aah...Jade fuuull~]

The little bird followed me, laying on my lap and patting its round, white belly. Funny, since whatever Jade put inside its body immediately dispersed into energy, and the useless stuff was just...devoured into nothingness. But Jade had to roll around because Natha was pulling me up, straightening me a bit so I wouldn’t bend my stomach.

"That’s a bad habit," he warned me. "Let your body digest in peace."

I grinned and followed his words, sitting neater on the couch while Natha put a pillow behind me. Scooping Jade and stroking the little bird to appease it, I recalled the conversation I had with the elves again.

"Nat...were Sarterians think the gun blasphemous because it wouldn’t give a clean death?"

I thought about it on the way to this cabin, that I shouldn’t cast judgment so quickly because of prejudice. I had a preconception that the elves were so strict and stuck up that they couldn’t accept any changes, but...

Perhaps that wasn’t all there is to it.

Natha tilted his head to contemplate it. "It could be," he rubbed his lips, who was smiling slightly. "Didn’t you remember what the result of the gun experiment was?"

"...mine or his?"

Natha smiled a bit wider. "Both, sweetheart. Both were destructive," he said with a teasing glint in his curling eyes. "How big do you think the explosion he caused for the penalty to yet be paid?"

"...oh," I scratched my neck and grinned. I’d never found out the details because Izzi didn’t seem like he wanted to talk about it. "What actually happened?"

"You want to know now?" Natha raised his brow, taking a seat beside me, and shooed Jade away from my lap.

"Well...I think I need to know the whole story before asking Issa to do something about the ban on Izzi," I told him, and swiftly added at his narrowed eyes. "I know, I know--I should have looked into this before coming here, but..."

But that was just how my brain worked, okay? It didn’t have the fastest processor around. At least it pulled through before it was too late...I guessed?

As if reading my inner thoughts, Natha chuckled and stroked my hair--it was fine since he was the one who would have to fix it for me. "From what I know, the explosion happened inside the royal academy," he started, which already made my jaw drop. "He’s been obsessing over making a gun, but he actually had enough conscience to not attempt it until he was...well, out of sight."

"But he did?"

"But he did," Natha chuckled. "Someone found his research journal, and his rival or something mocked him for it--the standard."

I pulled a cushion to my chest and gasped. "Academy drama; continue, My Lord."

"Well, I’m not sure what happened, but knowing that elf...he was probably challenged to finish that gun--which was not finished, as you know it, and...Boom."

[BOOM?]

Natha shrugged and I nodded seriously. "The explosion happened."

[BOOM?!]

Without knowing it, the little bird and the little gecko were also listening to the story, perhaps because they also had grown closer to Izzi. They perched on my shoulder and we looked at Natha like a bunch of kids waiting for bedtime stories.

"Unintentional explosion itself wasn’t such a crime, especially if there’s no collateral damage. But since it happened in a prestigious academy, and the ones attending the place are the nobles and the wealthy, well..."

"Well?"

"He was supposed to merely get fined, if it’s just a normal case. But the parents--especially the one from the family who challenged him--sued him, which sent him into jail."

"What?!"

[What?!]

Before I knew it, I got emotionally invested and gripped Natha for more. I didn’t even let him have his water break. "Well, jail means a trial, and thanks to this trial, he had to explain what he was trying to make."

"Oh no!"

[Oh no!]

So that was how Sarterians found out about the gun? It wasn’t because Izzi was advertising a dangerous weapon that contradicted Mother’s blessing?

Well, I mean...since he didn’t manage to complete it, we couldn’t say he advertising anything, right?

"You guessed it," Natha smiled. "Sarteriel is in charge of governing the law, and for them, going against The Goddess’s basic teaching is against that law. It doesn’t matter if he was not a citizen of Sarteriel--as long as he’s a child of nature, he was bound to that law."

"I see..." I nodded, holding onto the cushion with a sigh while Jade and Ignis whispered among themselves about Izzi’s story--or rather, Jade asked Ignis what actually going on because the little bird didn’t really understand most of it.

But Jade did understand that Izzi was in trouble here, and couldn’t go home because of it. The little bird hopped to the cushion and stared at me with bright green eyes.

[Master, we still help Elf?]

Hmm...the reasoning behind Sarteriel’s ban made things more complicated, but that whole story also irritated me. Was Izzi reckless to get baited into doing a dangerous experiment? Sure. But that didn’t make it less unfair. No wonder Izzi didn’t like elves in general, except for his family.

Phew. Well, who cares?

"Of course, we will help Izzi," I nodded. "Izzi is our friend after all."

[Friend!] Jade chirped delightedly, so I knew my little bird supported me in this endeavor. I also felt Ignis’s tail around my neck, and Natha’s pat on my head.

Looking up, I asked my lovely, handsome Demon Lord. "About the person who antagonized Izzi in the academy..."

My lovely, handsome Demon Lord gave me a not so lovely, but still handsome smirk.

* * *

"Do you have any plans today, Your Excellency?" Irra asked me in the morning.

Because she wasn’t a servant, but more like my guide and...uhh...lady in waiting--for lack of a better phrase in my limited vocabulary--she did not shy away from any interaction. Kind of like Mara, in a way, which was nice.

Except for the grand way she called me.

"Hmm..."

I pondered while enjoying the scent of the herbal drink that now had become the essence of my life. If I had to be honest, I wished for a date with my fiance in a foreign, romantic-looking city built around a lake, but alas...

Yours truly had an agenda.

"I want to visit Natha’s company--I mean, merchant guild," I said, "And then looking around the city. Natha is busy buying fish, though, so..." I pouted and puffed my cheek like Jade when the little bird was sulking. "Do you think Issa--I mean, Lady Issaelmier--would have time to accompany me?"

It was just bait, honestly, but Irra clapped her hand in delight. "Oh, my; what a coincidence! My Lady had planned to give you a city tour if you are free, Your Excellency."

"Oh, that’s perfect!" I nodded happily, since it seemed like I would have a chance to talk with Issa alone later. "Hmm...but I don’t want to make her wait for my business, so perhaps I can go out first and we can meet her later in someplace?"

"Of course, we can arrange that," she answered readily while preparing for my breakfast tray on the side. "I will personally guide you today, Your Excellency, so you won’t have to worry about getting lost."

"Thank you,"

I thanked her again when she deftly prepared Jade’s portion of jelly and Natha’s breakfast. When my fiance finally came down from the bedroom, she took her leave to tell Issa about our plan, and I told Natha about mine.

"Hmm..." playing with a strand of my hair, Natha muttered while sipping his coffee. "I wondered what you’re going to do to convince her," he said with an intrigued smile.

"Huh, what plan?" I tilted my head. "I’m just going to talk to her sincerely."

Natha paused and looked at me in silence for a full minute, before breaking into laughter that made me feel embarrassed for some reason. "W-why?"

"Nothing," he shook his head, still with a wide, amused smile on his lips. "I just remember that you’re not me."

"What’s that supposed to mean?" I pursed my lips, wondering if he was just dissing me.

But from how his eyes curled and his lips stretched into a soft smile, I could tell he wasn’t mocking me or anything. He held my hand and kissed it as if to appease me. "I had been surrounded by so much intrigue, and living life by calculating my every move that I forget there’s still innocence in this world."

Uhh...are you referring to me, my Lord?

He leaned closer and stared at my eyes keenly, cold fingers brushing my hair and tucking it behind my ears. "Don’t change, sweetheart. It’s what makes you so beautiful."

I...didn’t really understand, but the smile that persisted throughout the breakfast made me proud of myself somehow, even though I hadn’t done anything.