The Demon Lord's Bride (BL)
Chapter 383: It’s time to tie some loose ends

Chapter 383: It’s time to tie some loose ends

"Excuse me, but...may I ask why?" Fatia asked cautiously, probably worried that I would get offended by her question.

"Just...curiosity," I shrugged.

Well, it wasn’t; but I couldn’t just tell them, could I?

"What’s the problem, anyway? You won’t get any harm by taking me there, will you? It’s not like I’m going to take my fiance with me."

"No, but...it’s just..." the elementalist bit her lips. As her anxiety was starting to climb, the quiet Hero finally took the reign again.

"It just feels rather dishonest; we’ll be using the scroll we gave her even though we wouldn’t be using her service anymore and...well, we didn’t get her the item she sent us to fetch," the Hero explained, finally meeting my eyes again after avoiding it the whole time.

I couldn’t help but laugh at his reply, though. "Dishonest, huh..." I tilted my head and smiled teasingly. "Although you were also using dishonest means to get the Amrita?"

"That..." he pressed his lips and lowered his gaze again. "I’m sorry."

Hmm...it wasn’t as fun when they just gave up on my teasing like this.

"Well, but I understand," I nodded. I would be pissed too if a group of kids I sent for an errand came back with another kid.

That being said...

"Who said you’d come back without the item, though?" I raised my palm as they looked at me in surprise, and called forth the Amrita that I had stopped consuming since I merged with Valmeier.

Instantly, their eyes were pulled to the shimmering golden bottle hovering above my palm. A gasp came out of Fatia’s mouth while Zarfa grasped my other arm.

"Val, is that...?"

"What you’re coming here for," I grabbed the beautiful bottle with golden liquid inside.

Even after seeing it so many times, it still looked breathtaking to me. The bottle was made of the drow’s liquid elemental stones technology and protected by the elven’s formation spell. The elixir itself was being tended by the druid, in a place that was constantly being purified so there was no trace of impurities in the materials.

Truly; an elixir worth keeping as a collection for the Demon Lord of Greed.

"Oh, Goddess..." Zarfa exclaimed softly in awe. "Now I know nothing we were planned to offer would be enough for this."

"This is not something you can buy with money, anyway."

"I agree."

As far as I know, Natha also did not ’buy’ this. He had to go around doing some work for the elven king, and even then, in the end, he had to resort to ’blackmail’ or something of the sort because the king was being shady about it, trying to give him a diluted concoction.

"What did you give him?"

"My heart."

Zarfa laughed at my nonchalant answer. To be fair, I already gave my heart to him long before he gave me this, but it was also true that he went so far as to obtain this because he loved me. I just shrugged and smiled at the memory of how fast he agreed to give me the Amrita.

"Wait--" Zarfa tilted her head as she finally realized I wasn’t kidding. "Did he...did he acquire this for you?"

"Was that not in your vision?"

"No, but...oh my Goddess," she covered her mouth, before slapping my arm while laughing. "I told you that doctor liked you!"

I scratched my heated cheek in embarrassment. Well...would you believe it if your friend said a handsome doctor liked your sickly-looking dying self?

But I’m glad I didn’t listen to her and develop some hope, because...what would happen to my heart once Natha came back and only Nathanael remained? The original doctor had never even looked my way--worse; he was changing hospital, so I would never hear from him again until the day I died.

In that case, I would probably faced Natha with resentment instead when I met him again.

Oh, well--it was all in the past, anyway.

"Hmm...yeah, he would never give us the Amrita then, if he gets it for your recovery," Zarfa shook her head. "We’re already losing the battle before it started."

"Personally, I don’t mind giving this away," I shrugged, and once again, Fatia gasped.

"R-really?"

Her shift from being level-headed to fumbling around back and forth was also kind of fascinating.

"Sure, but..." I shifted my gaze to the Hero. "That means I’ll be the one to trade with her--and I’d rather do it personally."

"Ah, well...in that case, we couldn’t help but agree," the Hero replied, surprisingly quickly. Contrary to my expectation, he seemed rather...glad? At any rate, he didn’t look like he minded much.

"Hmm...but that’s..." Zarfa tilted her had and rubbed her lips with narrowed eyes. "That doesn’t seem like a fair trade? You said you have a condition, so I thought it would be something that should at least satisfy your fiance."

Oh, as expected of the daughter of Midas.

"Of course, that’s only the prelude for my real conditions," I put the Amrita back inside my storage ring. "Because I don’t think you’ll be able to fulfill it without the help of the magician."

"What? What is that?" the Hero stepped forward with a concerned face, but his step halted when Ignis flicked its tail from my shoulder as a warning.

I patted the Salamander and just smiled at them. "Well, you’ll find out later, together with the magician," I told him. "It wouldn’t be fair if I give you a spoiler, no?"

"Aww--come on..." Zarfa puffed her cheek, which I poked in response.

"You won’t get anything even if you act cute," I flicked her forehead. "Only Jade can act cute around here."

[That’s right! Only Jade can be cute!] the little bird landed on the top of my head haughtily, being summoned by its name.

Zarfa laughed and attempted to touch Jade, only to be swatted by the colorful wing. "Don’t be like that, baby," I scooped Jade off my head and caressed the tiny bird. "Didn’t I tell you that she’s my friend?"

Jade looked at Zarfa’s grinning face and nodded slowly. "Here, play with her for a bit, okay?" I bribed the little bird with a piece of candy and had Jade jump over to Zarfa’s palm.

"What, you like candy? Why don’t you say so--I bring lots of them from my store!"

Jade chirped in surprise, and the moment Zarfa took out wrapped pieces from her pocket, the little bird instantly warmed up to my friend. What a dangerous little bird, getting seduced easily with sweets. I should talk with Jade sometime about this, but for now, there was someone else I needed to talk to.

"Illian, walk with me," I looked at the startled young paladin and gestured for him to follow me. "I think we still need to talk, no?"

He pursed his lips in contemplation and glanced at the Hero for advice. Only after he got a nod did he finally approach me cautiously. Damn--he had really become the Hero’s follower, huh?

Well, I understood. The church had gotten abandoned by the end of the war. When he was on the frontline, Valmeier could no longer send money to the church, and I...well, I had no leeway to think about them with all my debt and pursuing cures. In that situation, the Hero came, and he also saved him and the nun from the kingdom’s soldiers.

Of course, he would see the Hero as his savior. I didn’t know about the other companions, but Illian would follow the Hero until the end, I feel.

He would follow the Hero more than Valmeier, even, if I had to be honest. Valmeier was cold by nature, and the boy’s attachment came from the fact that they were raised together. It was also Valmeier’s money that helped him survive for the majority of the wartime.

But that was it. His savior, and the one who gave him a purpose in life was the Hero, Jin.

Still, I should clear up things between us, shouldn’t I?

"Wh-where are you taking me?" he asked when we entered the forest. His tone had shifted from cautious to nervous, staring at the trees vigilantly.

"Oh, I’m just going to visit my wyvern."

"Wh-what?!"

"How noisy," Ignis scoffed at the boy who was suddenly getting tense again. His face was telling me he missed his armor and shield.

Well, he wasn’t a boy anymore, but the last time Valmeier saw him, he was just a little teenage boy who followed him everywhere while calling him ’brother, brother’, so I couldn’t help but see him as a silly boy I needed to take care of to some extent. Perhaps that was why he looked both annoying and cute in my eyes.

Stroking the trees to show me the way to Vrida’s nest, I implored Illian to follow me closely so he wouldn’t get lost. It seemed like his fear of the eerie forest was greater because he scooted right behind me. If it wasn’t for his persistent suspicion of my origin, he would have probably held into the end of my clothes, since he used to be a coward.

"Why are we going there?" he asked in a whisper, as if he didn’t want to disturb the trees.

"Because I usually visit her at this time," I replied nonchalantly. "Don’t worry; as long as you’re not being naughty, they won’t harm you."

He was quiet for a while, but I could tell that he was staring at me hard. We walked like that for a few minutes before he finally said something.

"You...are really different from him."