The Demon Lord's Bride (BL)
Chapter 417: A Day Out should always end in a laughter

Chapter 417: A Day Out should always end in a laughter

"So, what kind of souvenir are you looking for?" Zarfa leaned closer as we rode the carriage through the town.

She held my arm tight and closed her eyes as if she still hadn’t completely sober, but her voice was clear. She didn’t seem to have a hangover this morning, but perhaps her energy was sapped during last night’s party, so she was rather lethargic.

Still, when I said she should just rest, she shook her head strongly and reminded me again and again, in a stern voice, that this was supposed to be our date.

She didn’t even allow anyone to come with us. Not Fatia, not the Hero, not even Aina. Just me and her, along with my little companions.

"So?" she nudged me.

"Hmm...For a start, Zia likes books, so I want to look for some romance novels for her," I tapped my lips in contemplation. "Oh, children’s books for Jade too."

[For Jade! Books!] the little bird chirped happily, jumping on my lap and prompting Zarfa to laugh at the joyful show. [Master, Master--candy too!]

"Candy too," I laughed. "Let’s look for confectionary stores."

"Oh, my company has that," Zarfa perked up. "Let’s look in later! I want to show you around the merchant guild too--well, it’s not the main store, so it’s nothing much, and I guess your fiance has a bigger one, but still! I help to build that merchant guild, so..."

I laughed and nodded readily. Seemed like she had regained some of her energy. Hmm...yes, it should be like this. She had visited my Lair, so I should know a part of her world too. Although it was only a branch, Zarfa was supposed to lead the one in this country, so it could be said to be hers.

"It might be fun to look around for trinkets or local craft, oh...is there any quick auction that will end before the evening?"

"Hmm...nothing too grand--the best auction is always at night and done monthly--but..." she moved her head left and right to think. "Ah! There’s this one event that is shaped like an afternoon tea soiree, but they auctioned stuff in between. You know..." she lowered her voice, even though we were inside a private carriage. "Since having a luxury auction will induce public sentiment, but the high society still wants to preserve their lifestyle."

"Heh..."

Zarfa shrugged and grinned. "Well, who knows? It might be fun. I always have an invite since I’m the Princess of Midas."

She uttered the last phrase while flicking off her hair like those posh rich girls in the drama. Jade looked at her and tried to mimic the funny gesture--which worked since the little bird had long majestic tails still. We laughed and clapped our hands, filling the carriage with merriment as we went through the streets toward the commercial districts.

"Oh, let’s stop here and walk," Zarfa said once the carriage entered the plaza, and we alighted in the middle of a noisy street.

While the country was still recovering from the civil war, it wasn’t like every region was affected. Some places with economic importance like the port city and those known for their tourism were strategically preserved. After all, both sides still wanted the country to exist, whoever won the war.

It seemed like the spirit of celebration still abounded because more people came out to the street with cheerful faces, totally different from the first image I got when we arrived in the Capital. Everyone seemed to be having fun, and a lot of shops even held sales. Free performances could be seen in the plaza, but well...we were there for shopping this time, so...pass!

Just for today, I didn’t wear the cloak. The church usually stayed away from tourism anyway, and by this point, I doubt anyone would recognize me. In the middle of the crowd, it would be more suspicious if I covered myself.

[Master! Master! Candy!]

Of course, Jade would find the confectionary store faster than anything, and already flew over there before I said anything. Eh--who cares?

We laughed and ran to follow the little bird before it terrorized the show window. This time, I decided to just buy each of every kind since Natha tactlessly left me with nothing but big currency. Jade was beside itself with joy, but we also bought some to be shared with the kids around the stores.

Also...I cheated a little bit and had a candy or two. Let’s just treat it as a bonus for all the purification I did, alright?

[Hmm...demon candy is still the best!] Jade gave a review as we continued to shop.

"Clothes! Let’s buy clothes!" Zarfa jumped as we entered a street full of clothing stores, and we probably spent more than two hours here, going through several stores.

She whined about how the clothes were worse than where she came from, but still tried a lot and bought a lot. She dragged me to a male clothing shop too, but we came out again since they only had boring suits--nothing like what I usually wore.

"Those will diminish your prettiness!" Zarfa scoffed.

"I agree," Ignis chimed in from my shoulder.

At this point, I had a feeling that Arta probably custom-made all of my clothes, since I wasn’t sure I saw other demons wore the kind of clothes I wore too. Actually...my style was probably more geared toward the elves?

Eh--as long as they were comfortable.

We went to the bookstores next, but...probably because it was a tourist spot, there was not much variety. I did get some romance novels for Zia, and bought every kind of children’s books for Jade’s personal library. I also bought some for leisure reading, and afterward, we went to Midas’s branch for luncheon and souvenir hunting.

"This is my office!" Zarfa did what Jade usually did, just minus the ’tadaaa’ sound. It was weird calling it her office when she hadn’t been there for months, but the staff seemed to be used to it already, since they greeted us as if Zarfa had always been there, which was fun.

We had a nice lunch on her office’s balcony while looking at the passersby, and the staff gave me a catalog of all the things they sold.

"Just pick whatever you want, I’ll buy it," Zarfa told me with a grin.

"No," I shook my head, and before she could argue, I shook Natha’s allowance pouch which was still full. Even after all of the shopping we did, I only used three gold coins and one platinum coin--barely even lessened the weight. "Besides, that white coat you gave him is worth more than anything."

She pursed her lips in disappointment, but also smirked cheekily right after. "You pervert."

"I’m not!"

[Master, what’s pervert?]

"Nothing! Forget that word!"

[...Jade will ask Nightmare later]

"No!"

I had a bit of a panic time during lunch to convince Jade to forget that word, but the rest of the day went nicely along with Zarfa’s cackling sound in the background. We went to that afternoon tea ’soiree’ that was really an auction afterward and honestly...it was rather boring.

Well, she did say the good thing always presented in the monthly auction at night, not this ’light’ entertainment. I wasn’t really interested in the gems and jewelry that other socialites seemed to crave, since I had a bunch of those in Natha’s collection room. But there was a box of rare herbs and some ingredients, also weird things from various places that not many seemed to be interested in, so I bought them thinking it would be fun to see if anyone back home had any interest in them. If not...well, we could always use it to decorate Jade’s room.

Once the auction ended, we had dinner at a nice restaurant not far from the soiree’s venue, and we talked more about our adventure, continuing where we left off during our sleepover the other night.

"Aaah, it was fuun!" Zarfa stretched her arms and exclaimed loudly, eliciting stares from the passersby. But she didn’t seem to care, and neither did I.

I could feel her excitement, her sentiment. These were the things we sometimes talked about while laying on the hospital bed together; hanging out outside, not just in the hospital park, but outside. Having real tea time, strolling through the streets with our own legs, shopping without care, laughing, forgetting the time...

We talked about it sometimes when we were in an optimistic mood, although it always ended up in silence as we went into a coughing fit from giggling too much and reality struck us again.

Did we ever imagine that those things we talked about, we fantasized about, would come true someday?

"It only takes two lives and a different world," I smiled and held her hands as we walked just a little bit further.

I felt her hand tightened in my hold, and she went silent again. We continued to walk, and I didn’t say anything, nor did I look at her. Her trembling hand conveyed it already, and I let her savor it as we walked.

I knew she loved and hated this moment, just as I did. It was such a blessing that we were reborn again in the same era, and that we could meet like this, peacefully hanging out and fulfilling a long-lost dream.

How nice would it be, if we were neighbors that could visit one another all the time just by walking a few minutes away? How nice would it be, if we could call each other every day and video-calling?

But we lived in different realms, and we had our own duty to bear. Our own people to care about, even as we cared about each other deeply.

So, no matter how much fun we had today, it still had to end.

"I’ll visit you someday," I said when I could see our carriage in the plaza. "Your home, I mean. You’ll let me meet your parents, won’t you?"

"Promise?" she replied quietly, but her tightening hold was harder than ever. "I’ll kidnap you if you forget about it."

I laughed and stroked her hand. "You’ll have to fight Natha for that."

"I’ll raise Jin so he can distract your husband enough while I kidnap you."

I laughed again, and then she laughed too, and we laughed together even after we entered the carriage.

This time, none of us had a coughing fit.