The Demon Lord's Bride (BL)
Chapter 379: Being dramatic is not a race thing

Chapter 379: Being dramatic is not a race thing

The silence following my statement was to be expected, but that didn’t make it less awkward. They looked more shocked than the time they found out about my origin; widened eyes, parted lips that let out no sounds, and frozen muscle.

This time, even my dear old friend was shocked.

"You’re engaged?!" she finally let out a scream while clasping her cheeks after more than a minute of silence. She looked at me and shook my arm. "To a Demon Lord??"

"To my first love, thank you very much," I pursed my lips in response. She gasped after remembering that Nathanael was my crush, before letting out a quiet ’oops’ and covering her giggling mouth.

Meanwhile, the elementalist looked at us, looking absolutely flabbergasted, almost like she was in a daze. "What exactly happened?"

Before I could respond, however, I had to face another exclamation from none other than the boy who had been against me the entire time. "You made Brother Valmeier’s body engaged to a demon?!"

Oh, that’s enough!

"This is my body!" I slapped the armrest and sent a biscuit from the jar on the table into his mouth. "Eat this and shut up!"

[Eat that and shut up!]

Ah, damnit! He made me give a bad example for my child! I got more annoyed simply because of that. Huff.

"What happened?!"

Fatia stood up and screamed with clenched fists, forgoing her previous calm persona as she looked at us with frustration. I puffed my cheeks and glared at Illian in annoyance before taking a deep breath to calm myself.

"Exactly what you hear," I said after exhaling harshly, taking my time to stare at each one of them. "I am here as the Demon Lord’s proxy, in my capacity as his future spouse."

Perhaps because I was rather annoyed, I didn’t feel bashful anymore about announcing that I was about to marry him. The elementalist, having received her answer, clutched her chest and gasped.

"Oh, my Goddess..."

"What the hell..." the Hero chimed in.

I frowned and pursed my lips. "That’s unnecessary."

"Wait--wait...wait!" Zarfa closed her eyes and raised her hands, as if telling everyone to hold their horses. When she opened her eyes again, she looked at me and abruptly stepped closer, shoving her face in front of me. "So...if you’re his--umm--fiance, does that mean you have the right to decide on this matter? I mean...about the Amrita."

Fatia, who still had a hand over her chest, widened her eyes again and stepped closer too. Her voice was sharp, but also sounded almost like a whisper, as if she was hanging on a thread of hope. "Do you?"

Rather proudly, I replied with a shrug. "As a matter of fact, I do."

Fatia looked like she had just been struck by thunder. I didn’t want to look at the Hero and Illian, so I had no idea what kind of face they were making--not that it mattered. In business, the most important person was the one with the highest stake--Fatia--and the one with the financial burden--Zarfa.

So I focused on those two.

I leaned back and patted my lips as I looked at them with narrowed eyes. "But I wonder..."

"What?!" the elementalist almost made the same squeaking sound as Aina. She gasped and covered her mouth after realizing she might come across as rude. "Oh, beg your pardon..."

I turned to look at Zarfa instead. "Hmm...you want the Amrita for that magician, right? The one on the island?"

"Uh-huh."

"To purify the land?"

"Yes, so--"

Pfft--I couldn’t help but laugh at this point. Not one. Not one of them could take the hint I provided for their problem, even after I clearly asked them about it. Even my dear friend looked at me in confusion and tugged on my sleeve.

"W-why are you laughing?"

I hugged Jade to stifle my laugh, but it was kind of hard, honestly--especially after trying hard to act all dignified the whole night. "I mean...I already introduce myself to you, but..."

Suddenly, we heard a sharp gasp from the couch. The only one still sitting quietly there, the little inventor, was now standing and opening her mouth; face brightened like Izzi’s when the elf got struck by a bout of inspiration. She looked at me and pointed with her finger. "He’s a druid--I mean, a half-druid, but...he’s a druid!"

I chuckled and scoffed as they looked back at me in astonishment. "Took you long enough."

"Oh, my Goddes..." the elementalist clutched her chest again. "Oh, my Goddess!"

"I told you that--"

"Sir! Sir!"

I blinked repeatedly in surprise as the elementalist suddenly threw herself to kneel in front of me, like...not even the knight-pledging kind, but with both knees on the ground, like Caba when he was being scolded. She even clasped her hands in front of her chest and looked at me with eyes glazed in unshed tears.

"Umm..."

What...what is this? Weren’t they supposed to be negotiating? Where was all the tact and the act? Hmm...was it because they were too righteous to hide their intention?

As I squinted to decipher what this kneeling act entailed, she started to beg. "C-can you...can you help me?"

"No, wait--"

"What now?" I threw a sharp gaze to the side, this time toward the Hero--since Illian still eating the biscuit, funnily enough. Maybe he was really hungry waiting outside.

The Hero was...more timid than I thought. Or was he just quiet and observant? I wasn’t so sure, but he pressed his lips when I glared at him and cleared his throat before continuing. Interestingly, he was addressing his companions--Fatia, especially--rather than me. "Him being a half-druid is one thing, but...I thought not all druids could do that? It should be the special one--isn’t that what the magician said?"

"Indeed," I was rather annoyed because he could just ask me directly, but I let this one slide because he had a sensible concern. In that case, I also chose to address the kneeling elementalist instead of him. "But I am a special one--even though it embarrasses me to say so."

"You are?"

The elementalist looked like she had been holding her breath, so I smiled and put my hand on my chest.

"Again, let me introduce myself," how many times had it been? Three? "My name is Valen Valmeier Sil Seahl. I am...well, what you’d call a prince? Not that there’s any kingdom left but..."

"Goddess!"

"Again, that--"

Zarfa took a deep breath and dropped herself to the couch as she muttered in a daze. "You’re an heir to the throne..."

She must have finally recognized the last name I used. But I felt the need to correct her. "There’s no throne, Ceci."

"There is," she insisted with pursed lips. "It’s just that a human sat on it now."

"Huh..." I tilted my head. I did hear that the Empire used the remnant of the Castle and the estate around it as a principality or whatever. "You’re right about that, but that’s not the point--the point is that I have royal blood, thus--"

"You can purify the land," Zarfa concluded with a wide smile.

"Yes."

"Oh, merciful Goddess!" again, the dramatic elementalist in front of me exclaimed while burying her face in her hands.

[Master, this human weird...] even Jade whispered to me confusedly.

Sush, Jade--she had a legitimate concern for her citizens’ wellbeing. I couldn’t mock the sincerity that she showed to the point of disregarding her pride. Her dignity as the daughter of their ruler, however, was strengthened in my eyes.

And then she abruptly raised her face and grabbed my knees. "Please, Sir--please, could you help me? Please..."

Honestly, she was kind of intense, and it delayed my response for a bit until Zarfa nudged me. "Val?"

I let out a sigh and nodded. "Sure, I will."

Well, that was my original intention after all.

"Oh, thank you! Thank you!"

The elementalist lowered her head, making her look like she was bowing at me. But I was sure she was just trying to hide her tears.

"I have, however, some conditions," I told them before they thought I was doing it for charity. After all, I was the future spouse of the Demon Lord of Greed--I did not do things for mere charity.

That did not deter the elementalist, though. "Please, Sir--whatever you wish, as long as it’s within my power."

"Fatia..."

"Silence!" she turned toward the Hero and glared at him, to my surprise. Her face was full of anxiety, as if she was worried I could change my mind in the next seconds if they spoke wrongly. "This is about my land!"

Phew...she was more intense than she looked.

But I liked that.

"Well, we can talk about it later," I patted her hands so she would take them off my knees--it tickled. She gasped and pulled her hands away, lowering her head in fluster. I chuckled and glanced at the door, just as Angwi opened it. "For now, why don’t you have a meal? My friends had been waiting with the food."