The Demon Lord's Bride (BL)
Chapter 349: Dislike definitely needs to be discriminated

Chapter 349: Dislike definitely needs to be discriminated

Jade was the one who opened the balcony door, looking at Heraz in fascination. I usually received him alone or with Natha, so Jade rarely met the shapeshifter.

[Master, this one like the fake child!] Jade let out a sharp, low chirp in its attempt to whisper. I had to press my lips on the way Jade referred to Opti, because I didn’t want Heraz to think I was laughing at him.

Anyway, how sharp, Jade. Heraz should be Opti’s relative if I recall correctly.

"Is it the Hero?" I asked before as he shifted inside and got on his knee as usual, and he simply nodded--because what else would it be about. "Have they reached the island?"

"Yes, Young Master."

Hmm...that was fast. They must have been in a hurry. Indeed, winter would worsen the mana corruption, so they must have wanted to solve it before then. It would be almost autumn in the human realm, and I guess they didn’t want to spend the winter with corrupted mana around their land.

Hmm...now that I thought about it, the war ended in late autumn, so it had almost been a year since I got transmigrated here. Wow. It felt so long, but also so short. Weird, huh?

Ah, but I digress.

"How long do you think they’ll take to reach this place?"

Heraz did not answer immediately, lowering his head and seeming to be thinking about the answer seriously. I guessed he didn’t want to give me any light guesses. "They would have to pass through the Empire first, but they would probably use Midas so they could pass by quickly," he answered after contemplating for half a minute.

"Hmm...so where the druid kingdom used to be?"

He flinched a little bit, before replying in a quieter voice and lowering his head even more. "...yes."

Hehe...it was quite cute seeing him like that, especially since Opti always presented himself like a sly fox. I cleared my throat and smiled so he didn’t have to feel bad about mentioning that place. "And then, they will cross the border, right?"

"Yes, and they would have to be careful here, avoiding Drow’s patrol. They would be forced to move slowly and carefully."

"I see..."

I guessed since they came from the Empire’s border, the drows patrolling near there would be more vigilant and probably sensitive about human sightings. They would have to cross the whole realm to reach the Lair, or take a shorter route through the Realm of Lust. I didn’t think they would risk going to another demon realm, however, since the realm of nature was easier to hide in with its thick forest, tall meadows, uninhabited mountains, and many rivers.

"Do you think they’ll scale the cliff or go through the river?"

"Depends on the people he brought, but I think it’ll be the river, Young Master."

Right--he probably only came with people who could fight. Although, he might bring the daughter of Midas, who I presumed to be my old friend. In that case, indeed, using the river would be more feasible. They could even use a small boat or canoe--which Midas could easily provide.

And that would mean they’d go through Vrida. I made a mental note to talk to her about this tomorrow. "So, how long would it take?"

"The prediction is three weeks."

"Ah...just in time when this place turned prettier..." my eyes ran to the window then, imagining the garden that would start to be filled with colorful flowers. Just a month away from my wedding.

So, I truly didn’t want any fight to break out.

"Alright, thank you for the report."

"There’s another thing, Young Master," he added. "It’s about your business in Envy."

"Oh, the inventor? I didn’t know you take care of that too."

"Every information for you goes through me, Young Master."

"Aha!" I clapped. How busy you must be, Heraz--what a poor demon. "Is there a development?"

He let out a rare smile before replying. "My agent shouted the words you told them to say, and it seemed to work," he said with a hint of amusement, perhaps because he didn’t think it would work.

Well, for them, the words probably sounded like gibberish. I told them to shout things that only people from Earth might know--from nuclear to vaccines, to some names of scientists and inventors. I had no idea what era he was from, so I mentioned as many unique words as possible.

"The person didn’t come out, but some...device took your letter inside and there’s a message telling the agent to wait," Heraz continued.

"And??"

"They’re still waiting. It only happened this afternoon."

I realized then that I had unconsciously leaned my body forward in my eagerness--this had become more important for me than the Hero and his companion. Leaning back awkwardly, I laughed to calm myself. "Haha...well, that’s an improvement, isn’t it?"

"Yes," again, Heraz let himself smile. "At least they’re not getting kicked out"

I couldn’t help but laugh as I remembered Natha’s story; of how that person would send out some golems or mechanical legs and literally kick people who got near the bunker. Indeed, it was such a huge improvement. Even a possibility for a reply!

And it was another proof that the person also came from Earth.

My letter was also quite straightforward, asking for a collaboration for the camcorder because by Gods--I wanted to have a recording of my wedding!

"Thank you, Heraz," I nodded as I felt like there was nothing more the shapeshifter wanted to convey. "Have you had dinner yet?"

"I’ll have them on my way back."

"Please do," I chuckled. As usual, the espionage department was always busy. "Get some rest too if you can."

I actually saw him smiling a bit wider, before lowering his head again. "Good night, Young Master."

"Good night."

Jade waved its wings toward the retreating demon, and then flew to close the balcony door for me--such a good bird. I stretched and walked to the dressing room to change into my nightshirt, sighing as I looked into the mirror and once again realized no one would braid my hair before sleep tonight.

Should I learn how to do it myself? But I liked having Natha doing it for me...

What a dilemma.

[Master, people will come here? Master’s friends?] Jade flew to the top of the drawer and asked me curiously.

"No, not my friends."

[Human?]

"Yes," I replied nonchalantly while putting on my nightshirt, and only after a minute of silence did I check on the little bird. Jade, strangely, made a serious face, as if the little bird felt unpleasant about something. "Why? Why are you making this face?"

[Humans are bad] Jade said in a rare, low tone. [Humans hurt Master]

"Silly bird," I pulled my shirt down and scooped the little bird from the top of the drawer. "I’m a human too," I flicked the green forehead lightly. "Besides, you can’t label everyone bad just because some of them are."

The tiny green head tilted; beady eyes blinking, asking for an explanation. Holding the little bird in my arms, I started to explain while walking back to the bedroom.

"There are bad demons who tried to harm me, right?" I reminded it of the time demons still trying to plot against me. "But there are also a lot of demons who are nice to me, who protect me. They are good, right?"

[Hngg...] the green eyes narrowed, the small bird face scrunched as the elemental bird’s brain whirred. [So...the humans good? The ones who come here?]

"Well, I don’t know yet," I paused, and then threw ourselves to the bed. "We’ll know when we meet them, won’t we?"

[Ng!] Jade giggled as we bounced slightly on the mattress. The little bird jumped some more and patted my cheek. [Don’t worry, Master! Even if they’re bad humans, Jade will protect Master!]

"Oh, how dependable!" I rolled to my stomach and squeezed the chubby cheeks.

[Ignis too! And Vrida, and Zia, and Angwi and everyone!] as if to prove its claim, Jade bit the edge of the blanket and pulled it over me. But then, the little bird slumped to the pillow beside me in a grim contemplation. [Mm...but Nightmare is the strongest, so Nightmare should come too...]

My brow raised as I propped my head with my hand. "Oh-ho? You admit that Natha is the strongest?"

[J-Jade is honest bird!] the little wings slammed into the fluffy pillow in blatant annoyance.

"Of course, you are!" I patted the green head fondly. "Such a good bird!"

The beady eyes glanced at me, to the window, and then back at me. [...will Nightmare come?]

"He’ll come even if I don’t call him," I laughed and shifted on the bed so the blanket covered me better.

[Okay] Jade breathed relaxedly and scooted closer to my head, crossing to my pillow.

Look at the little bird being relieved after hearing Natha would come. How cute.

"Thank you, Jade," I kissed the little green head. "Let’s go visit Vrida tomorrow, and tell her about the human."

[Okay!] Jade nuzzled my cheek for a while before slipping inside the blanket too. [Good night, Master!]

"Good night, baby."

I waved my hand to turn off the lantern on the bedside table, and surrendered myself to drowsiness.

Ah, damn. I forgot about the scroll.