The Demon Lord's Bride (BL)
Chapter 380: When I said dramatic, that includes my Demon Lord

Chapter 380: When I said dramatic, that includes my Demon Lord

There are no tables big enough for a five-person meal in my suite, so I brought the humans to the dining room on the guest floor. Of course, this meant it was time for the human groups to meet the rest of my companions.

Naturally, it didn’t go well right off the bat.

The humans were extra vigilant because they were entering a demon territory they had no knowledge about, and my civilian friends were tensed up from the weapons that the humans brought in their person. After all, my friends were merely an author and two runaway inventors. Neel was only peeking behind the door, while Zia was half-hiding herself behind Izzi while clutching the elf’s arm.

Funnily enough, the one who lessened the tension was Izzi.

Simply, because he wasn’t a demon.

"Is that...an elf?"

"Got a problem with that?" Izzi replied sharply.

"Well...Val is a half-druid," Zarfa, probably the only person who was not nervous or tense, shrugged.

The presence of a non-demon entity--beside me--seemed to lessen the human’s anxiety. While they were taught that demons were vicious creatures, the church was a bit less slandering toward the children of nature. If I recall correctly, they taught us that elves were prideful and arrogant--which...wasn’t so wrong, actually.

But anyway, humans saw the children of nature more as annoying races that were hard to mingle with, but not at a ’kill-on-sight’ level as they did with demons. Besides, by human standards, elves were beautiful creatures, which might have an effect too.

Still, it wasn’t enough.

"It’s mealtime; can’t you hide your weapon for a bit?" I asked them, looking at the Hero and the young paladin especially, because they were basically laden with armor and weapons. "I know it’s your instinct to have your weapon close, but I thought I already established that I had no ill will toward you."

When they still looked rather hesitant, I added.

"Should I tell you that I have no intention of providing help to people who don’t abide by my rules in my house?"

The moment I said that, the elementalist shoved her staff inside the group’s dimensional storage pouch and glared at the Hero and the young paladin, who begrudgingly took off their armor and weapons and put them inside the same storage pouch.

The Hero looked like the leader at first glance, but I guess the oldest one was still in charge at a time like this.

We all sat around the dining table, although it was only the humans who ate. It was midnight already, after all. As I thought, they looked famished from weeks of traveling in the wild. There must be a limit before people get sick of eating caught wild animals and bread made a month before. I could see they were salivating at the smell, but their eyes were filled with hesitation.

"Oh, this is so good!"

It wasn’t until Zarfa took a bite without care they started to raise their utensil--still flinching when the golem maid served the food.

"It’s tasty, isn’t it? Angwi is such a good cook--don’t you see how chubby I’ve become?"

"Right, right! I almost couldn’t recognize you," Zarfa nodded excitedly. "That’s why I was kind of doubtful at first, so I did not dare call you out. In the drawing that Lenaar spread out, you looked thin and...uhh...rather sickly? I could easily recognize you because it looked similar to when you were..."

"Sick?" I chuckled as she smiled wryly and shrugged. "Well, isn’t that good?" I patted the little bird who was happily enjoying its midnight jelly. "Both of us are healthy now."

Zarfa blinked once, and then her why smile turned into a wide grin. "Right; we’re both healthy now. We can do whatever we want."

"Yep."

We giggled quietly, and I couldn’t wait to talk even more with her. I wanted to know her life here, when she remembered her past life, what she had gone through, what she would do from now on...

It would be just like those times we spent running away from the nurses, giggle-gaggled in the corner while we whined about anything and dreamed about things we knew we wouldn’t achieve.

But we were the only ones who happily chatted during this time. The humans were eating on one side, and my demons-elf friends were being quiet on the other side. Naturally, it would be awkward. It wasn’t like they had something to talk about among them.

So I gave them something to talk about;

I told the humans about Izzi and Neel, and I told my friends about Zarfa and Aina.

As I thought, it was enough to make them react.

"I never thought there would be so many...traveling souls," Fatia massaged her temple with both hands. It must have felt like an avalanche of information for her, all this stuff about otherwordly soul.

Izzi scoffed at that. "We weren’t traveling, we were moved without consent."

"Perhaps we just forgot we gave consent," I shrugged. As far as I know, our memories were rather jumbled during the transfer. I didn’t even realize I had been floating in limbo for so long before entering Valmeier’s body.

"That’s possible."

"Anyway, we settled in, so we’re not traveling," I told the elementalist.

"And to say this is a lot is a bit of a fallacy," Izzi said, before adding with a grumble. "I wouldn’t be here if the Lord did not smuggle me in."

Funnily enough, that comment made the quiet Neel snicker. "Smuggle..."

Unlike Izzi, Neel was getting moved voluntarily in a comfortable bunker-like vault.

Izzi rolled his eyes and turned his attention to the humans; to Zarfa and Aina and finally, Jin the Hero. "And you...you each come from a different kingdom, aren’t you?"

Zarfa clapped her hands and exclaimed. "True!"

"See? Not so many if you think about it that way."

Yep. We were just gathering like this because I made them gather like this, hehe. But then again, there might be other transmigrators or reincarnators who were just living their life peacefully without caring about the world’s affairs. There could also be people who do not remember their previous life.

"What about this Demon Lord of yours?" Zarfa suddenly asked, poking me with a wriggling brow.

"Oh, he’s just in a...short exchange course, I guess?" I waved my hand dismissively. "Just two and a half months, I reckoned."

The wriggling brow arched and she smirked. "The two and a half months he used to seduce you?"

"He wasn’t seducing me," I rolled my eyes and pinched her lightly. "Well...perhaps he was courting me, but..."

"In other words; seduce."

"Whatever."

She laughed and continued to tease me until they were done with their meal. While I asked the golem to prepare their bedroom in the gallery, I took them to the drawing room, which had been warmed by the lick of Ignis’s fire.

Perhaps because they were finally warm and full, the humans became even less vigilant. Aina had even shed her bulky clothes and started to stalk Jade, trying to poke the bird’s round cheek. They had felt cozy enough, even, to receive a cup of cocoa from the golem maids. Of course, they still sat in a group while looking around in caution, but no one checked their waist for weapons every few minutes like before.

"Val,"

As I saved the sleepy Jade from the curious inventor’s naughty finger, I felt a tug on my sleeve. Zia was hiding behind me while looking at my old friend, so I called the rich girl and brought them near the fireplace where I could leave the drowsy Jade to Ignis’s care.

"Ceci, let me introduce you to my best friend--soon to be relative, I guess?" I put my arm around the succubus who looked rather shy. "This is Ra Zodia--the sister of the former Lord of Lust."

"Don’t associate me with him!" Zia hissed, pinching my waist in annoyance.

I laughed and winced at the same time before swiftly correcting myself. "The cousin of the current Lord of Lust?"

"Much better," she nodded in satisfaction.

Ceci--Zarfa--smiled and tapped her lips in pondering. "Which means you’re also the nephew to the current Lord of Greed?"

"Uh-huh," Zia looked at the girl carefully. "So...you’re Val’s past friend?"

"Hey, what past? I’m still his friend!" Zarfa puffed her cheeks in protest, clutching on my other arm.

"Yes--yes, you are," I laughed and circled my arm on Zarfa’s shoulder too, pulling the succubus and the human into an embrace. It wasn’t as much as the time Natha proposed to me, but I felt so, so happy that my heart felt like they wanted to burst. "Both of you are my best friends, okay? Both of you mean a lot to me."

Truly; both of them were my first friends, the friends that helped me go through some difficulties in life, that made me feel like my life wasn’t so miserable, that showed me there were some good things left in life.

I had never thought I could see the day when these two would meet, but there we were! My two best girls whom I wouldn’t mind going on many adventures with.

Provided I didn’t have Natha, of course.

They looked at each other now, and as if in tacit understanding, they started to giggle, hugging me tight.

"Hehe..."

"Hehe..."

"You’re kind of similar, you know," I laughed and rubbed their upper arms. "Perhaps I had a type in that regard."

"Pfft--"

I let them go and was about to take a cup of cocoa from the tray that the maid brought when Zia suddenly reminded me of something.

"Anyway, Val--aren’t you going to call Lord Uncle? I don’t think he’ll appreciate the long delay."

"W-what?"

The humans, who had been enjoying their sweet warm drink, flinched and looked at us. Zarfa too, widened her eyes.

"Well, I wanted to let them have their meal first," I shrugged. "I didn’t think you’d swallow well in his presence."

"Y-you mean...you’ll summon him, now?" the elementalist asked nervously.

"Summon..." I chuckled and raised my hand, pressing my lips gently on the mark circling my ring finger. "Well, he’s on his way."

Just a second after I finished my words, a wind suddenly entered the room, even though the windows were closed. The three human combatants stood vigilantly, eyes darting around in palpable tension. With the wind, came a flurry of black feathers, and Zia pulled Zarfa away from me, just in time before a pair of cold hands held my waist, and a cool breath grazed my temple.

"Well," Natha’s low voice resounded clearly in the quiet room. "If you had called me just a minute later, I’d have barged in no matter what."