The Demon Lord's Bride (BL)
Chapter 319: When you get used to something good, it’s hard to let it go

Chapter 319: When you get used to something good, it’s hard to let it go

Some of the older Chiefs gasped at the piece of information. "Sleeping in the same bed before they are wed?"

The way they looked at each other in shock made me feel like I was a celebrity caught in a scandal. Well...perhaps, for the morally strict children of nature, it was a scandal. I had never encountered the same concern from people in the demon realm, although...

It could also be because they didn’t have the guts to raise any concern to the Lord.

"Am I...not allowed to do that?" I tugged at Amarein’s sleeve and asked in a whisper.

"You shouldn’t, my dear," Amarein raised her hand and put it on my cheek, stroking it softly.

Why? What was the difference? It was just about making it official with a registry and a vow. Would it affect anything if I slept with him before that?

Well...I guess, normally, it was to prevent sex and pregnancy outside of marriage which would make the child’s status and last name questionable--just as Natha had told me.

But I wouldn’t be able to get pregnant with just sex so...

I took a deep breath to calm my mind. Even if I told them all of this, it would probably be counterproductive to our objective of seeking a conception method. So I could only exhale slowly in the end.

"A marriage is a sacred union, and you’re supposed to start it by tying your lives in a lifelong vow, before living together as one of its fulfillment," Amarein smiled and stroked my furrowed brows as if trying to unravel it. "If you preceded the process, it would lessen its meaning, don’t you think?"

Uhh...I didn’t have any rebuttal for that. In the first place, I didn’t even know the culture of couples here, aside from not letting others use nicknames aside from family members and very close friends.

"So...are you saying I can no longer live with him if I were to ask for your blessing?"

Pulling away from the hand that was stroking my cheek, I had no idea what kind of face I was making. But from the look of surprise on their face, it must be a bad one.

"Valen..."

"It’s not for long, just until your wedding day," Tiralein patted my hand, but I instinctively pulled it away, keeping my limbs as close as possible to my body.

"Valen?"

I hugged both Jade and Ignis close to my chest as my head started to spin. My lungs felt heavy, and my throat felt constricted. My neck felt cold, but my scalp felt hot. When I tried to breathe, everything seemed to burn; my body, my head, my stinging eyes that grew blurry...

[Master!]

"Calm down, Val," Ignis patted my hand with its tail. "He’s coming here."

He? I heard some vague noises around me which I could not discern. Jade was squirming and flapping its wings, but I kept the little bird close to my chest. No, don’t leave me. It was...it was so scary to be alone again--

"Sweetheart,"

I gasped, sucking on air as if I had been drowning this entire time. My flared-up skin was being cooled down by a cold touch, caressing my cheek and neck slowly, gently.

"Breathe,"

I took another gulp of air, and my hands flew to chase the coldness I desperately sought. "Don’t go," I managed to whisper with choked breath when I grabbed that source of cold.

"I won’t, just keep breathing."

The soothing voice filled my soul with warmth and reassurance. I felt my body being shifted, and the coldness enveloped me better this time, as if wrapping me in a cool blanket. The comfortable feeling it gave seemed to lessen the constriction in my throat and gradually, I could breathe better.

"Nat?"

"I’m here, sweetheart,"

Now that I regained my senses, I realized that I was in Natha’s embrace, on his lap as he sat on the armchair that I used earlier. Jade was nuzzling my neck frantically, and Ignis was...flaming.

I clutched his neck and hid my face in his shoulder. "Home...I want to go home."

"Okay," he patted the back of my head. "Just keep breathing for now."

So that was what I did, just breathing while being encased in his body temperature. As I laid my head on his shoulder, I could hear him talking to the other druids.

"I am willing to honor your rule and leave my betrothed in your hand because I had faith that you would not bring him harm," Natha said in a low tone. "It seemed to me that you mistreated my goodwill."

"Lord Natha--"

"Has my reputation waned in the realm of nature?"

...reputation? What reputation?

For some reason, the anger emanating from him calmed me down considerably. I was good enough to follow the conversation, but I stayed put to listen to it more.

"Forgive me, Lord Natha," I heard Tiralein’s voice. Was there a shaking in her voice? I wasn’t sure. "We had no intention to harm His Highness."

"But you did."

"Yes, I..."

Tiralein’s voice dwindled, and Ignis filled the silence. "They said Valen can’t live with you until the wedding."

Unconsciously, my grip was tightening at Ignis’s remark, and I could feel Natha tense in response.

"Valen is very sad. He was so scared and restless last night."

"...I see."

The word came out of Natha in a low, silent fury. I heard the sound of shuffling and fabric rustling, and when I glanced slightly, I saw Amarein and the Chiefs were bending their waist, bowing.

"We were failing to consider his feelings in our deliberation," this time, I heard Amarein’s voice. "For that, I ask for your forgiveness, Your Highness."

Slowly, I turned my head toward them while still holding on to Natha. The constant pat on my back, however, kept me nice and comfortable enough to face others despite the embarrassment that started to creep in due to this outburst.

"It’s...it’s fine," I said quietly, and then cleared my throat so I could speak better. "I’m sorry for making a commotion."

"Oh, no--we’re the one in the wrong. We should thread with it more care--"

"I..." I shifted slightly so I could face them better, staring at Amarein and the Chiefs who were standing with apparent concern in their face. "I never had anyone accompany me to sleep before,"

I had no memory of my parents sleeping with me in the bed, and I knew I spent my infant and toddler days in the bassinet. My grandmother was sickly so she couldn’t sleep with me when I visited her, and well...you couldn’t sleep with a patient in a hospital room, right? Not that I had anyone who would spend a night there. Even Nathanael had to go back to his job.

"I never had anyone give me a pat before sleep, or a bedtime story," I continued. Grandma did sing me a lullaby, but not when I was about to sleep. Rather, she would sing it when she was reminiscing about something--now I realized that she was thinking about this world. "I...had always spent my night alone."

I lowered my head, fiddling with the edge of Natha’s coat. "But now, I have someone patting me until I fall asleep, talking to me until I get drowsy, and...and calming me when I have a nightmare," I looked up, biting my lips. "I...I don’t want to...I don’t want to lose that again..."

I knew it sounded childish and egotistical. I was probably looking like a whiny child right now. But I couldn’t help it. The moment they said I would have to live apart from Natha, my body just reacted badly, almost as if it was the end of the world for me. It was okay thinking that I should only bear it for one or two days while we were here, but thinking that I had to sleep alone for two months was almost devastating.

Haa...all of this after feeling happy about how they saw me as an adult...

"Valen, I’m sorry," Amarein suddenly kneeled on the side of the chair, taking my hand in hers. "I didn’t think that it would affect you so strongly. This is my fault, for not having this discussion first before imposing it on you," she let out a sigh. I could feel her sincerity from the tone and the gaze that she gave me, and it made me feel better. "Will you forgive this foolish aunt?"

"Umm...yeah," I nodded slowly.

I mean...I did reacted quite violently, but it wasn’t like I couldn’t see it from their perspective. Druids rarely got together with other races, even the other children of nature. While they did interact, love and union was another thing. That the queen was born from a druid and a dryad was a very rare occurrence, which was why it was kept in secret so tightly.

So I understood that they had always adhered to the norms of their community. And it wasn’t a wrong norm too; there was nothing wrong with them believing that a couple should not share a living space until their marriage.

Perhaps, if I wasn’t so depraved of that need to be with someone...if I wasn’t so afraid to be alone...I wouldn’t have any problem with it.

It was merely two months anyway, and then we would be able to spend all of our lifetime together. In retrospect, living separately might make the part of living together afterward that much sweeter.

It was just hard for me personally.

So, forgiving them about this was not a big deal for me, who actually felt embarrassed after everything was over. But...

I looked at Natha, and he seemed to have the same thought. I shifted my gaze toward Amarein again, who should know our real objective of coming here.

"Aunty..." I started cautiously. "Would I still be able to access that archive if I don’t follow the norm?"

Amarein’s sweet smile shifted and turned wry. "That’s...I have to apologize, my dear, but..."

Search the lightnovelworld.cc website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.