The Demon Lord's Bride (BL)
Chapter 329: Perhaps taking your child to a future intimate place isn’t such a good idea

Chapter 329: Perhaps taking your child to a future intimate place isn’t such a good idea

The moment I mentioned the wedding, Tiralein’s eyes lit up. "Oh, that’s right!"

I looked at her and asked sheepishly. "Will you come?" my voice came out softer because ridiculously, I still felt embarrassed about it. Perhaps I would only overcome it once the ceremony was over. "I mean...I already invite Amarein, but...will you?"

"Oh, my dear," Tiralein shifted closer and reached out her hand to stroke my cheek. "Oh, my precious Valen; of course, I’ll come! How couldn’t I?" she pinched my cheek lightly and wore a wide smile on her face. "Will it be in the Lord Castle?"

"No, it’ll be in the Lair," I shook my head. My face felt warmer as I added; "I...I want the ceremony to be a private one, just friends and family."

Tiralein smiled and patted the hand that she had been holding. "That sounds good, dear."

I had been feeling during my time in the Lord Castle, but...it was truly nice, wasn’t it, when other people looked so happy for your happy event? When they were as excited as--or even more excited--than you. It made my heart flutter differently from when Natha caused it, and I couldn’t hold back the smile blossoming on my lips.

"Oh, we will have it on the rooftop, where the elemental bird’s colony is," I told them.

"Jade’s seniors!" the little boy climbed onto my lap and exclaimed energetically.

"Yes, with Jade seniors," I ruffled the green hair, pulling Jade securely to my lap along with the druid children’s book.

Tiralein clapped her hands with an even wider smile on her lips that made her entire face wrinkled adorably. "Oh my, that will be a wonderful sight."

"Right?" I swayed in my seat with Jade, who was giggling while holding into my arms. "D’Ara will officiate us too, isn’t that nice?"

Both the Alnin Chief and the High Shaman went quiet suddenly. I had become used to this now so I just hid my smile behind Jade’s head, watching them trying to maintain their smile.

"...yes, that is...nice," Tiralein nodded, sounding rather--no, very awkward.

"Friends and family, I see," Amarein muttered, before adding quietly, "...and the Progenitor."

I pressed my lips to hold back from laughing. "D’Ara is a friend," I argued.

"Teacher is Teacher!" Jade bobbed his head in agreement, hugging the book that Amarein gave him to be brought home.

"That’s right!"

"Lots of people will be in Jade’s house!" the little boy continued joyfully, filling the living room with the delighting sound of a child and a chirping at the same time. "Celebrate Master’s Day!"

Aww...my baby! I ruffled his hair and kissed the chubby cheek. "But Jade, it’s going to be Natha’s day too, you know."

"Master’s Day!" Jade insisted while shaking his head. "Because Nightmare belongs to Master!"

"I agree," our Nightmare’s low voice came behind me, along with a soft, cold caress on my cheek.

I leaned into the cold palm and laughed. "Well, as long as you are."

"We’ll have flowers! And rainbows! And candy!" Jade raised his hands--and his book--high.

"And we’ll have lots of fun!" I agreed.

"Lots of fun!"

Amarein chuckled at our childish cheer, eyes looking out the open patio door with a smile and a twinkling in her eyes. "Well, here comes another one looking for fun."

With a slight buzz in the air that was louder than what a bee would make, I realized that the first batch of fairies was here.

* * *

Tracking through a thick forest to go to another thick forest was certainly not a leisurely activity.

But what if there was a demon giving a piggyback to a child on his shoulder, and dozens of fairies were swirling around them as the child snacking on jellies?

Felt like a picnic, don’t you think?

We even brought sandwiches and some wrapped steamed grains, as well as hearty and delicious side dishes that Letaruen hastily whipped for us. There were even bottles of cool squeezed fruits and milk that came from a plant in my storage ring.

So...yeah, we were on our way for a picnic.

Five fairies had come and spent fifteen minutes bickering about who found the place first. But I decided that the ’first’ would be the one who found the place that I approved. So we waited for all the fairies to come, around two hours more, until lunch. They showed me the place they saw through shared visual memories--just as Jade usually did when the little bird wanted to show me the view it liked.

And that was how I found a place that seemed to meet all the descriptions in the Queen’s letter; a small, shallow lake with a solitary big tree in the middle of it, much like an island. A part of the root that formed the island was unprotected by the tree’s canopy, so we could expect the moonlight to shine on it directly.

Three fairies confessed they found the place first, and I had to hear them bickering again. But it was easy to deduce who found it first because only one fairy’s vision didn’t have the other two fairies in it. I gave that fairy a bigger piece of candy than the one I gave them in the morning, and since then, this fairy had latched itself on me.

The little guy looked like a walking flower, with petals around its neck like a collar, a thin green stalk as a body, and leaves as its limbs. The head itself was just a half sphere with two dots I presumed to be eyes, and I had no idea how it digested the candy.

Well, the guy was pretty adorable and meek--thanks to the candy--and Jade let this one ride on my shoulder. Ignis, in fear of setting the walking flower on fire, staved himself away inside Jade’s red riding hood instead.

The place was in the Great Forest of Aphen, which was located next to the Great Forest of Alnin where we at now, separated by a wide ravine and placed in a lower elevation, surrounded by mountainous areas that made it seem like a basin.

Aside from the flower fairy, the other two fairies also came with us because I also gave them the pieces of candy--the same grain size as this morning. Ilya and Halurean, of course, came along as a guide and our bodyguard. This time, however, we were also accompanied by Amarein.

We ran through the Great Forest of Alnin, and now, with the token on my wrist, I could see the forest more clearly. I didn’t feel the temptation to swerve, and there was a faint trace from the bracelet--that only the wearer could see--leading the way. In a few hours, we got out of the forest, and bore witness to the wide ravine and another sea of trees that was more colorful than the forest of Alnin.

I would have spent more time appreciating the scenery if it weren’t for the pressing time--because we had to arrive at that spot before nightfall. The token, as it was, did not work in the Great Forest of Aphen, which had no tribe settling within.

Amarein immediately created a path across the ravine, freezing a part of the water so we could use it as a bridge. Natha grabbed my waist and walked across the bridge with me and Jade in his hands. After that, the fairies became our guide.

Thankfully, the place wasn’t located so deep inside the forest. Just around two hours or so, so we had plenty of light to watch the breathtaking scenery.

There was no thin mist on the surface of the lake, but there were floating flowers that glowed in the dark. The tree in the middle of the clear lake was dark and sturdy, with white blossoms instead of green foliage sprung from its branches. And surrounding the small lake was a field of grass as well as beds of colorful wildflowers.

And the mana--oh, the mana! This place was brimming with so much life force that taking a breath here made me feel like I was prolonging my life for a few years.

"Master! This place is fun! Lots of yummy things!" Jade shared his agreement, climbing down Natha and running to the edge of the shallow lake.

Yeah; the elemental mana here was even more bountiful than the one in the settlement, so it must have seemed like a banquet for the elemental bird.

"They are not for you to eat, Jade," I told him upfront, because I had no intention of absorbing this place’s mana now. I didn’t want to change anything in case it would disturb the process.

Jade gasped. "No?"

"No, sorry," I patted his head. "Not this one."

Jade lowered his shoulder in disappointment. "Hngg...okay..." he said quietly with pursed lips. Well, at least he didn’t protest and rebel. "But...why are we here if not for Jade’s food?"

Ack! Right, Jade wouldn’t know our objection. "Uhh..." I bit my lips in surprise, panicking a little bit as I tried to find an answer. "It’s..."

"It’s for Shwa," Natha, as usual, came to the rescue.

Jade turned around and widened his eyes. "For Shwa? Jade’s little brother?"

"Y-yes!" I nodded swiftly. Well, it wasn’t a lie.

Jade frowned slightly to digest that answer before finally clapping his hands and exclaiming. "Jade know!"

"Y-you do?" I felt my heartbeat quickening.

"This yummy thing for Shwa!" Jade spread his arms wide, with a big smile on his face.

I tilted my head in ponder. "Well...you could say that,"

I mean...I was certain I would have to feed the seed with the mana from this place once I put the bounded essence inside.

"Oh, okay! Okay!" Jade nodded his little green head enthusiastically; no trace of disappointment could be seen on his face. "Jade won’t steal Shwa’s food!"

"Good boy!" I ruffled the green hair and hugged the little boy tightly, who proceeded to squeal and giggle while wrapping his arms around my neck. "My smart, good child!"

"Jade good boy!"

"Yes, you are!"

I ruffled his head once more and gave him a piece of candy, as well as three smaller pieces to be given to the fairies.

As I watched Jade run to the fairies, Natha put his hand on my waist. "Now that we have kept him busy, shall we move to that tree?"