The Demon Lord's Bride (BL)
Chapter 412: Do you think spontaneous human combustion is real?

Chapter 412: Do you think spontaneous human combustion is real?

"What’s with this ’papa’ thing?!" I hissed at Natha as we rode side by side in leisure.

The other had gone first to the town, but I wanted to ride in leisure rather than galloping fast. The mine was in a mountainous area, so the scenery was rather nice, overlooking the valley that thankfully hadn’t become a victim of the war.

Besides, I couldn’t tell the horse to go fast with Jade in a child form--no matter how addicted Jade was to speed.

Well, this was also nice, right? Kind of felt like a date, or...ahem--a family excursion.

"Papa, look at that! What is that? Jade never seen that animal before!"

"It’s a bull; the one in our place is red with huge horns."

"Ooh! That one!"

If only I stopped getting flustered at this ’papa’ thing.

"Why? Isn’t it cuter for him to call you that rather than ’father’?" Natha tilted his head, looking at me with an expression that said everything was obvious.

"Ugh...it is, but..." I let out a sigh. "It’s not good for my heart."

Jade gasped and looked up. "Why? Papa--Master don’t like it when Jade called Master...’papa’?"

"No, no--it’s fine, baby," I shook my head and stroked the saddened little boy. "You can call me...that, it’s okay. I just need time to get used to it."

The green eyes lit up and Jade smiled widely in joy. "Okay, Papa!"

Aaack! My heart felt like it was getting squeezed. Was it a heart attack? Was every parent experiencing this?!

"It’s training," Natha patted my shoulder. "Shwa will call you that in the future, after all."

I looked down and as if listening, there was a soft vibration coming from there. Ah...my heart felt so full. Everything felt so perfect, and we’d get married next month. Once we created the ’vessel’ for Shwa, how much perfect would it be?

I turned toward Natha and told him to get closer, until our horses practically rubbed shoulder. I pulled on his coat and kissed him briefly, staring at the nostalgic grey eyes I fell in love with for two months once upon a time.

"Do you...have to come back today?" I fiddled with his hand, even though our horses were definitely annoyed by the uncomfortable position.

Natha wasn’t supposed to stay with me all day, since he had to prepare for our wedding in my stead--and that was besides all the work he needed to do in order for us to have a smooth honeymoon afterward. But he stayed today because of Jade, and was supposed to come back in the afternoon--well, now--to catch up with his work.

But how could I let him back now, when I felt so warm and happy?

Natha looked at me in the eyes. "Would you like me to stay?"

"What kind of question is that?" my lips pursed in annoyance. Was there even an instance when I didn’t want him to stay? I mean...aside from the time when those humans came...

"I guess I could stay," he glanced at Jade who was in the middle of playing with a passing butterfly. "Should we have a date tonight?"

"A date..." I muttered dazedly.

"I’m not sure if there was a good enough spot for sightseeing, but..." he turned his head to look in the direction of the town. "There seems to be some sort of festivities going around. If we can find someone to babysit him..."

We looked at Jade, who had become quiet at the last minute. The green eyes stared at us dazedly, and I finally did the math.

Ah, I didn’t feed Jade purified mana these days, since I needed to concentrate on purifying the land. Jade was turning using his own mana, so holding on from morning until afternoon would be his limit.

"Are you sleepy, baby?"

"N-no!" Jade blinked and straightened his back. "No! Jade can still play with Papa!"

Or so he said, but a few seconds later, the green eyes looked dazed again, and with the soft swaying of the horse, it didn’t take long for the little boy to slump against me.

"Jade...not sleep..." the boy mumbled. "Jade...still play...Papa..."

And then silence. I chuckled and held his chest against me tighter. Perhaps because of his willpower alone, Jade maintained the little boy form even while he was sleeping, although I reckoned he would turn back into a bird in an hour or so.

"I’ll take care of him," Ignis said from my shoulder. "You go to your date or whatever."

Aww...what a good older brother you are!

And then Natha threw a red mana stone that the little lizard caught in its mouth, and it shattered the gentle fantasy. Haa...

* * *

"You can leave him in our room," Zarfa opened the door to one of the rooms on the high floor which she occupied with Aina. "Just in case he wakes up and looks for you."

The inventor girl welcomed us with open arms, skipping to the bedroom to prepare a place—but I raised my hand and shook my head. "No, we’ll just borrow the couch," I said. "He’ll turn back in his sleep anyway."

Natha stepped inside and laid the little boy on the couch, gently placing a cushion beneath the green hair. Aina took a small blanket from the wardrobe and gave it to me so I could cover him. When I brushed the hair off his face, Jade whined and mumbled and curled himself just like how his bird form usually slept. He looked so adorable that I felt bad leaving him here.

"Are you going to have a date at the festival?" Aina suddenly asked, and my reluctance to leave Jade magically lessened.

Just like Natha said earlier, there was a sudden festivity in town. When people found out about the mine’s purification, they flooded the street listening to the story of the person who brought the horses to us, who seemed to have a knack for becoming a bard. As people flooded the plaza to hear the stories, store owners opened up impromptu kiosks or got around selling food and drinks for the listener; traveling merchants opened up their wares, and when they saw the Hero and the Regent’s daughter, they cheered and everything became a festival. People suddenly danced in the plaza, and it became a sudden stage for other performers too--it was a whole thing and weird and wonderful.

By the time we arrived at the town, people from nearby towns and villages and travelers from other regions had come to listen to the story and joined the festivities. There were even people from the town where I stayed the night before, who immediately traveled to other polluted places to spread the word.

Thanks to that, we could blend in nicely among the crowd with the help of the cloak who masked one’s presence, and reached the inn without any accident.

Honestly, I was so embarrassed that I had thought of just staying inside. But the word ’date’ was blinking in my head and oh, I just realized I hadn’t been alone with Natha ever since I left the Lair.

Feeling bashful and guilty at the same time, I cleared my throat and asked her. "Are you not going? I can just leave Jade with Ignis."

"Eh--I don’t really like festivals," Aina shrugged. "It’s just an impromptu one, anyway. I’ll wait until a proper festival once everything is resolved."

Unconsciously, I let out a sigh of relief, and Aina nudged my side with her elbow. "Don’t worry, Boss; just enjoy your date, and feel free to forget our existence until tomorrow morning."

This girl! I pinched her cheek until her mischievous grin widened, but it was then that I realized it was only us in the room. "Huh?" I let her go and scanned the room. "Where’s Natha?"

Zarfa wasn’t there too. Curiously, I walked to the door to look for them in the corridor...and immediately slammed the door shut.

What the hell.

What the hell?!

Fortunately, Jade was already in a deep sleep and didn’t get startled by the sound. Carefully, cautiously while tapping on my chest, I opened the door and peeked out.

Oh, Mother. It was still there. Real. Not just a fragment of imagination.

"Why are you hiding, Valen?"

My heart felt like it would either burst or stop. I swallowed hard and peeking out again, fully knew that my face was aflamed.

Because there, standing in the hall waiting for me, was not Natha. It was Nathan--Nathanael, the Doctor. My first crush.

I blinked and even shook my head to make sure I wasn’t dreaming, but...that short dark hair, styled in a way that was too modern Earth to be part of this world. A simple dark blue shirt, which merchants here usually wore, but also bore a resemblance with formal shirt back on Earth. And then--and then! A long white coat, plain without adornment, and oh Mother! Mother! Glasses...

I had heard about spontaneous human combustion, and I kind of felt like I might experience one--because my whole body was heating up so much I thought I was going crazy.

"Sweetheart?"

When I heard his voice again, I realized, belatedly, that I was crouching on the floor, covering my face and had just screamed out like a superfan in a concert.

Oh, perhaps I was. I was his superfan.

He crouched in front of me, dark fringe fell above his forehead. I bit my lips to prevent myself from screaming again because all of my first crush hormones had just awoken.

"Are you alright, there?" he asked, pinching my chin to lift my face. "Or should I carry you again?"

...yes, please?

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