The Demon Lord's Bride (BL)
Chapter 378: How do you break the news of your engagement to your friend?

Chapter 378: How do you break the news of your engagement to your friend?

"Are you planning to fight him?"

This was something I had been curious about, especially because I had never heard from Ceci about what happened after the Hero and his companions came to the Lair. For all I knew, Natha only possessed the bottle of Amrita because he wanted to cure me. In that case, there was no way he would willingly give the Amrita away, unless...

Unless he had given up on me.

But...he would only do that if he found out that Valmeier had died, and if he did, I didn’t think he would look at the Hero--who in his mind had something to do with my misery--in a good light. And while Natha wasn’t in love with Valmeier, he probably still thought that Valmeier’s body was mine, and it was the only connection he had with me; the only possibility of having my soul visiting this world.

So, no--there was no scenario in which this would end peacefully.

"Well..." Zarfa stroked her cheek awkwardly. "Of course, we want it to be solved without the need to exchange blows, but..."

"Were you about to use the other demons as hostages?"

"Ugh..."

I could hear the stifled groan from the righteous humans. It was easy to see the guilt in their eyes simply from having a thought so despicable.

Oh, how hard it was to hold back from sneering. I leaned into the backrest and looked at the elementalist on the other side of the table. "Do you think you can do it? Subduing the demons stationed here?"

The elementalist’s brows raised before she lowered her gaze in contemplation. She glanced toward the door, probably recalling the experience of seeing Angwi earlier. A demon seemingly harmless for her occupation--but what was her occupation? A housekeeper?

Perhaps. But was there a rule that a domestic worker needed to be weak?

"You’re not so naive as to believe that he only placed weak demons in his Lair, are you?"

I raised my brow in challenge as I looked at the Hero, who was still standing with the young paladin to dry off.

"Have you become complacent because you managed to get some achievements?" I asked with a smirk.

"Now wait a minute--"

"And even if you do manage to subdue the demons here, what makes you think he won’t come here with his other, stronger subordinates?" I turned toward the arguing elementalist before she could blabber.

At this time, Zarfa tugged on the edge of my sleeve. "Well, uhh...I kind of want to offer some foresight..."

I turned to her in surprise. Oh, that was interesting. "About what?"

She glanced around before shifting closer and whispering to my ear. "About the Realm of Lust who is targeting him."

"Oh, that," I looked at her awkwardly, for some reason feeling guilty even though I was technically a victim in the whole debacle. "He dealt with that already."

"What?!" she stood up with widened eyes, almost slamming the armrest where my arm was.

I grinned and told her further. "Do you know the Lord of Lust is a female, now?"

"Huh?!" she clasped her cheeks and parted her lips in shock, before staggering back to her seat.

I patted my shocked friend while looking at the others. "But let’s say he comes here alone per your demand," I glanced at the Hero. "Are you sure you can handle his wrath?"

The combatants--the Hero, the young paladin, and the elementalist--were visibly tensed up.

"He’s a Nightmare, you know," I couldn’t help this urge to praise him, but what I told them was also not a lie. "Even if he became the Demon Lord because of his wealth, he’s also a war veteran."

I could see the Hero frowning deeply, perhaps measuring his own might against a Demon Lord. I wasn’t overinflating Natha’s power or underestimating the Hero. Yes, this man was indeed a Hero, but...he was a Hero being coddled for years while Valmeier was toiling around in the front line. He might get stronger after he left the Kingdom, and as a Hero, I was sure he would get stronger much quicker than anyone else, but...

Could he defeat a Demon Lord in less than a year?

I think not.

I turned to Zarfa again. "Were you able to convince him in your foresight?"

She snapped from her stupor and immediately answered. "Well...we bring Aina along for that too," she glanced at the little inventor girl, who was waving shyly at me. "He’s a reasonable Demon Lord, so he won’t kill his ’investment’, don’t you think?"

"Hmm..."

"I..." she bit her lips and continued in a quieter voice. "I wrote that he fought with Jin too--something about proving something, but..."

"But?"

"For some reason, my vision got blurry after that," she frowned and shook her head, ending it with a long sigh.

Hmm...could it be because this was the part where the future heavily changed? When she told me about this part too, it was still merely a prompt; a scribble of ideas I knew now she got from her dream.

I looked back at the Hero and told him honestly. "Just for your information, you can’t beat him."

The others trained their gaze at the Hero, perhaps knowing that it was something that only the man could tell. The fairly handsome brows furrowed slightly as he muttered. "...you don’t know."

"Oh, I do," I smiled. "Well, at least, not the way you are now," I shook my head. "You’re not at that level yet."

The moment I said ’level’, Zarfa exclaimed loudly, enough to make Jade jump in surprise. "Ah!"

They looked at the rich girl in turn. "Zarfa?"

My lips stretched wider as I looked at her. "In your vision, when should this event happen?"

"About...about next year, I think?" she glanced at her friends, biting her lips as the reality of my words was dawning on her. "Much later..."

"Because you’re not there to help them, right?"

She nodded. "Right."

I looked at the Hero, who was no longer frowning, but still looked very much conflicted. "Without financial support, it would have taken you longer to help those people, no? To get all the logistics for your campaign, to gain a more reliable cover and transportation..." I stroked my chin to recall all the reports and the constant change that I could recognize from my unreliable memory. "During that time, Mister Hero here would become much stronger, meeting new people to help him train too, I reckoned," I narrowed my eyes at the Hero, adding my own conjecture. "Perhaps even...meeting the Goddess for some blessings."

"What?!"

"Oh, gosh! How could I forget that?"

Between my deliberation and Zarfa’s support, the other humans seemed to be at a loss for words, eyes blinking in a mix of confusion and helplessness. The elementalist, especially, was looking anxious about the success of their mission.

"So, no--you can’t beat him as you are now," I shook my head in conclusion, leaning back and shruging. "And even if you are still adamant about fighting him, I won’t let you."

The Hero raised his brow in surprise, looking like something was lodged within his throat. So I drove it deeper. "And I don’t think I’ll lose to you."

"I’m not bragging or putting you down, but I still have all of Valmeier’s skills," I smiled, patting the little bird who had started to act rather haughty again, standing with a jutted chest. "Along with a bunch of druid magic."

In his dark eyes, I could see a flash of worry, of inferiority, and of a reality check.

"Do you think you can win against the past Valmeier?" I tilted my head. "If you don’t, then you won’t be able to beat me. And if you don’t beat me, you won’t get to Natha."

I let them process my statement, giving them a chance to realize that this campaign of theirs would never succeed and thus, it would be better for them to give up and think of another way. I even gave them a hint by disclosing my bloodline, but they didn’t seem to catch it yet.

"Val," Zarfa called me, seeming to realize something. Finally.

"Hmm?"

"What...is your relationship with the Demon Lord?" she asked carefully. "You stay here and call his name casually."

Oh, that one.

"What? I thought you would know," I tilted my head and looked at her in surprise. "I mean, you know who he is, don’t you? You know what he looks like."

"No, I don’t," she frowned in confusion. "I was writing, Val--not drawing."

This time, I was the one who was confused. "Huh? Then how do you guess that I might be Valmeier?"

"Because they had your picture spread all around the Kingdom--of course, my guild would hear about it," she replied with puffed cheeks. "Before that, I didn’t even realize I was in the world that I had...written about. I was busy developing the company in my own kingdom and didn’t hear about the Hero until he crossed the border into my kingdom."

"Huh..."

That was unexpected. Then again, knowing her, she would have probably done something about Valmeier. I had heard her complaining about the unfairness of Valmeier’s fate--despite the one writing about it.

Perhaps because I didn’t say anything, she pulled my sleeve and asked impatiently. "What does it matter anyway? Why would I know your relationship if I knew his...face..."

She blinked slowly as I bit my lips awkwardly and felt the heat creeping into my cheek.

"No way..." she let go of my sleeve, lips parted as realization dawned upon her. She must have known, because I only ever talked about a man once with her. "T-the Doctor?"

"Well..."

"The-then...now..." she stammered, hands fumbling in the air, before her eyes landed on my fingers--more exactly, on my ring. "You and him...what?"

"Ah, oh...well, to put it simply..." I smiled and shrugged my shoulder slightly. "He’s my fiance?

"...what?!"

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