The Demon Lord's Bride (BL)
Chapter 358: All we need is one person to accept us as who we are

Chapter 358: All we need is one person to accept us as who we are

"Why don’t I take you to your room for now while Jade shows off his new books?" I asked Neel, who was taking a break from perusing the thick contract made by our meticulous Demon Lord.

Neel looked at Natha, who was absorbed in answering Jade’s many questions--just like how he used to answer my curious inquiries in the hospital. Looking at them like this--with Jade on Natha’s lap--they looked like they got along so well.

Almost as if they had never bickered before.

What a great illusion.

"Sure," Neel nodded and stood up, taking the contract with her. She grabbed the teacup while at it, and drank the rest of her tea as if it was an energy drink.

Together with Zia, we left Natha and Jade in the drawing room, walking through the corridor of the bedroom gallery. Aside from the three room belonged to Jade and Zia, the other ones were empty, so I let Neel choose whichever room she wanted.

Unsurprisingly, she chose one on the opposite side of Zia and Jade’s room; a room in the corner that would grant her a quiet environment.

"What do you think about the contract? Is it to your liking?" I asked as we walked to the room.

"I haven’t read everything, but...I guess it’s all right so far," she said. "I know the Lord here is better than the bastard over at Envy, but still...he’s a merchant, so I need to be vigilant."

"Were you under an unfair contract before?" I tried to ask. "Was it exploitative or something?"

Neel replied with a sharp scoff that didn’t need to be translated. Natha didn’t elaborate much, but I gathered that she had been making equipment and devices for the Lord and other nobles while only receiving a paltry sum for her work. And the Lord kept pulling tricks to keep her in the realm, including barring her from crossing the border.

So...he was kind of the opposite of Izzi, in a sense.

"Well, don’t worry. Natha is fair," I told her.

And--it was embarrassing to say it myself, but--since she would work for me and make things that I wanted to use for our wedding, Natha would even be extra generous. I understood his pattern now.

The half-naga just hummed and glanced at the contract in her hand. Well, the fact that she considered staying in a room rather than going back to her ’vault’ already told me she was looking at the contract favorably.

It wasn’t hard you know, to look better in comparison with a stingy, exploitative former employer.

"Anyway, what should I call you?" she sighed, perusing me with her deep black eyes. "Calling you Young Master is kind of weird for me, but I feel like I’ll get in trouble if I use your name."

"Hmm...I’m not sure..."

Wasn’t it awkward if we set a nickname for ourselves?

"What does that elf call you?"

I tilted my head to recall. "Boss?"

"Well, I guess I’ll just call you that," she decided easily--even though she hadn’t signed the contract yet.

"You’re not really my subordinates, though? It’s more like a partnership," I told her, in case I sounded condescending by considering myself above her. With Izzi, he was under a strict working contract to pay for his debt, so it was different. "You’ll be the one dishing out the product; I’m just providing materials and funds."

"Dude," she snickered, before looking at me while shrugging. "People who provide funds and materials are gods to people like me."

Did she mean to inventors? Researchers? Well...I guessed their project wouldn’t be alive without a sponsor.

"Is that so?" I pondered for a while and decided to test her. "But...I thought you had lots of money?"

Again, she scoffed and spat harshly. "I use that money to build my bunker so those people would stop bothering me," she frowned deeply, clicking her tongue at the bitter memory. "And I want to save up to make a mobile banker."

"Oh? That sounds neat..." I paused and recalled her ’vault’. "Wait--is that thing you came with earlier supposed to be a part of it?"

She raised her brows in surprise. "O-ho--not bad, Boss."

I blinked as my mind tried to picture her so-called mobile bunker. Our steps halted because of it--and because we almost reached the room already. When a picture formed in my mind, I asked her. "Kind of like a tank?"

She smirked, the black eyes glinting in amusement. "Kind of," she nodded. "Just with a comfortable living space."

I had no idea how comfortable it would be living inside an armored vehicle, but hey--to each their own. And I could sense pride in her reply, so I knew the project meant a lot to her. Perhaps being confined in the realm of Envy incited a desire to go around and travel in her, but she still wanted to do it safely--catered to her fear and cautious nature.

I gave a key to the room to Neel so she could open it herself, and Zia patted my shoulder afterward. "Umm...what’s a tank?"

"Oh, hmm..." right, Zia wouldn’t know about it. "Let’s picture a cannon."

"Okay?"

"You put that cannon on a carriage, and then layer the outside with armor so you get extra protection," I wasn’t sure, but I felt like it was close enough. "That’s a tank."

"Oh!" she clasped her hand, bobbing her head while closing her eyes to picture it. "I see! Sounds weird, but...I guess it’s practical?"

"Hey--why are you talking about that with..." Neel suddenly grabbed my shoulder, looking alarmed at my conversation with Zia. But she paused and widened her eyes as an understanding dawned on her. "Does she...?!"

"Oh, no," I shook my head. "She’s a native of this world, but she knows about my and Izzi’s situation, so you don’t have to wor--"

"What the hell?!"

The half-naga, who was always speaking in a low tone except when she got excited about the golem earlier, suddenly raised her voice. Her eyes, for some reason, looked like someone who just faced a betrayal.

I looked at her with confusion, feeling Zia grabbed my sleeve. "Why? What’s wrong?"

"How could you just easily trust people with that kind of..."

She didn’t continue, just gritted her teeth as a plethora of emotion flashed across her face. And I think I know why.

I looked at her calmly and spoke as gently as I could. "Why don’t we come inside first and talk about this while sitting down?"

She bit her lips and glared at us, but in the end, opened the door harshly and stomped her way inside. I could see that rather than angry, she was probably upset and...confused.

She probably built a sense of kinship with me as someone who also came from another world, and while doing so, she projected her fear and caution to me. She had been hiding all her life, probably feeling miserable while doing so, feeling scared, and here I was freely talking about my origin with those close to me.

Moreover, Zia seemed to accept my identity well, contrary to her fear.

For her, this privilege was probably a form of betrayal.

And so I told her. "I didn’t," I said, looking at her keenly inside the room where the fire hadn’t been lit. "I didn’t just trust people easily."

She looked at me skeptically.

"I was living in fear and worry of what people might do to me when they found out," I continue. "But somehow...well, Natha knew about me. And after that, I braced myself to tell her."

I gripped Zia’s hand, who had been gripping my sleeve anxiously from the harsh reception. "Because Zia is not just other people," I told them. "She’s my best friend--my first friend--and she’s like a sister to me..." I paused, before adding bashfully. "Well, we’ll become relatives soon anyway."

"Val..." I felt Zia’s hand tightening on mine, and U continued.

"I trusted her, so I wanted her to know," I shrugged. "What’s so wrong about it?"

"How easy your life is," Neel muttered bitterly.

Like I thought, she probably experienced something that made her think it would be dangerous if she disclosed her origin.

"How lucky."

Buy well, she was right.

"Yes, I am," I agreed. "My life is indeed easy, and I do think I’m quite lucky. Even though I was so worried about how she might receive me, Zia accepted me easily, without any doubt."

Beside me, Zia scooted closer and hugged my arm while giggling softly.

I saw the half-naga’s lips quivered slightly. "How envious."

"Well, now you find someone else who knows your circumstances," I told her with a smile. "Won’t you say you’re quite lucky too?"

"Tsk--don’t shove your optimism on me."

I laughed. I couldn’t help it. Despite her harsh words, her expression kept softening with my explanation. As someone who had experienced the same fear, I knew how much relief it brought our souls, to know that there was someone who was willing to accept who we were. Even if it was just one person, it gave us hope and affirmation that we were indeed, a part of this world.

As evidence, I could see her cheeks and ears were slightly reddened. Probably due to embarrassment at her reflexive outburst, she shifted the topic at hand.

"But...how long have you been here exactly? You even have a child..."

"Ch--what?!"

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