The Demon Lord's Bride (BL)
Chapter 426: Flying is truly the best

Chapter 426: Flying is truly the best

"You’re going to stay longer this time, aren’t you?" Tiralein looked at me with sparkling, expectant eyes when I was about to finish my breakfast.

But unfortunately for her, I shook my head. "I can’t, Grandma. I have a wedding in twenty days."

"Oh..." she sighed. "Can’t you do your isolation time here, then?"

"I can’t do my fitting then."

"Haa..."

I laughed at the Chief who didn’t even bother to maintain her facial expression in the safety of her daughter’s home. "Later, Grandma," I patted her hand. "I might need a long rest after...conceiving."

"Oh, my..." the Scribe blushed slightly, and Tiralein laughed, pinching my chin lightly--I guessed that ran in the family, huh? "Of course, you should take a rest here," she nodded. "The Queen had to lie in bed for a while after her first pregnancy."

"I won’t carry it in my belly, though..."

"Still..."

Jade, who was still eating his jelly, looked at us with interest. "Papa, what’s a pregnancy?"

Urk--

"It’s when Valen gives Shwa a body, Jade," Ignis told the curious boy.

"Ooh!" Jade nodded as if he understood, before getting back to his green and yellow jelly--but I’d take that explanation nonetheless.

Amarein tilted her head and raised her brows. "I see that Jade started to call you differently now," she curled her eyes. "Is it a training or something?"

W-why did she say the same thing as Natha?! The three Grandma even chuckled because of it--or rather, because I got flustered and blushing again. Thankfully, Tiralein shifted the topic away.

"So, how long will you stay this time?"

Oh--I looked at Amarein then. After all, I was here to make up for the training time lost during my human realm adventure.

"The drows said they’ll be ready with your order in two days, so you should stay until then, at least."

"Then let’s do that," I nodded, before adding carefully. "Umm...would it be possible to get the stuff in their place instead?" I looked at the druid with expectation, but also really readied my heart for rejection. "I had stayed in Sarteriel, but I had never seen the drow’s city--or...would I need permission, first?"

"Of course, you can go," Tiralein replied swiftly, holding my hand tight. Her bright eyes were firm and sharp. "Who are you? You are our Prince! Whose permission do you need to visit their place?"

Would...would that really be alright? Wouldn’t it be...abuse of power or something?

"In the first place, the underground cities are never isolated, and anyone can go if they want to," Amarein added. "It’s just that the entrances are naturally not in plain sight."

Oh, if that’s the case...

"Let’s go there in two days then," Amarein smiled. "For now, we’ll go train."

My back straightened--without realizing it, studying the druid skills with Amarein had become something I always looked forward to. "Oh, where will we do it? In that meadow?"

"No," she put her tea cup down and smiled deeply. "We have a better place for it."

* * *

The better place, it turned out, was the converging spot I originally meant to visit. Indeed, it was a place rich in elemental mana, so it was a perfect place for a druid to train. And with this, we crossed two things at once in my itinerary.

"Will Halurean guide us again?" I asked Amarein as we climbed the stone stairs leading to the cliff. I could see Vrida from here, and the good girl, who had been waiting patiently for me, perked up as I waved at her.

"No, I’m enough to guide us there," Amarein replied while stroking the wyvern’s head.

"Ah, I see," I nodded and put Jade down. "Jade, you know you can’t sit in Vrida’s head this time, right?"

"Jade know!" the boy pouted. "Jade will sit with Papa!"

Vrida looked at Jade and nuzzled the boy’s side--from the sound of it, the wyvern was actually quite sad about losing the usual weight between her horns, as well as the cheerful sound of chirping.

"Have you had your breakfast?" I stroked the slightly saddened wyvern, and she purred in reply.

I had asked Amarein yesterday if Vrida could hunt her own food, and she told me Vrida could do it in the mountain, since the forest might be too tricky for a non-native like her. Thankfully, as a green wyvern, Vrida didn’t need a lot to get full--just a dear or a mountain goat was enough.

It seemed like she had her hunt while I was sleeping in--such a diligent girl, unlike her Master.

"Thank you for flying again so soon, Vrida...you can have some rest later on the lakeside--it’s such a beautiful place, and we’ll see some new friends there," I patted her cheek while Amarein helped Jade climb up Vrida’s back.

Vrida blinked and tilted her head for a bit, looking intrigued. I wondered how the fairies would react when they saw her. Thinking about that made me giggle while climbing her back, and Amarein followed me soon. Unlike Halurean, Amarein was a family, so it was fine for her to ride with me.

"Bye-bye!" suddenly, Jade waved his hands. Unbeknown to me, the children who played with Jade the last time were gathering on the lake below, waving their arms. "Jade will come back later! Jade have new candy!"

Pfft--this kid and his candy...but the children jumped cheerfully and waved their arms harder, telling Jade to come back quickly. Well, I also used candy to make a contract with fairies so...who was I to say anything about it?

I saw Tilarein beneath the Great Tree, and I waved too. She laughed and sent a little wave too, before Vrida kicked the cliff and took off.

Oh...the forest just looked like a sea of darkness yesterday, but in daylight, it was a completely different world. A green carpet with sparkling blue lines and scattering colors peeking out from time to time. From up here, it looked like a deep, emerald sea, crashing into giant mountains that were a swirl of green and grey.

Amarein told me about some tribe places that we could see up here, including the ones in the mountains. Perhaps, later on, I could find time to visit each one of them, since Amarein said each tribe’s settlement was special in its own way--different, despite the druid’s homogeneity.

Finally, after flying for an hour or so, Amarein pointed at a spot covered in fog in the middle of the forest. Phew--flying was truly the best! To think we needed to travel until evening the last time...

Vrida followed Amarein’s instruction well, just like last night with Halurean. Even though she couldn’t see any land, she still dove straight into the spot. And oh...

It was still as breathtaking as ever.

I was rather shy, honestly, about training in a place that would be where I and Natha...doing things...in the future, but...

Let’s not think about that for now.

What important was that the place still going strong; the converging line hadn’t shifted at all. In fact, it was gathering more and more mana.

"From the rate of it, the mana will peak in a few months," Amarein said. "It might be the perfect time for you to do it."

Oh, Gosh--and here I was trying to get it out of my head!

Thankfully, Amarein was saying it in a serious tone, like it was business, with no trace of teasing. It helped tone down my embarrassment, and I finally remembered something.

"Aunty, please give me a written certificate or something!" I asked her as Vrida started to descend on the side of the lake. "So Natha will believe that I’m good enough at controlling my own system!"

She raised her brows and chuckled. "The Lord is as cautious as always, I see."

"He is, and it’s annoying sometimes," I puffed my cheek. "So? You’ll give it to me, right?"

She curled her lips and eyes. "That depends on today’s training result."

"Aaahh--not you too!"

She laughed and jumped off Vrida’s back, so I had to halt my protest. Besides, the fairies were also here to greet us. "Papa, it’s the fairies!" Jade moved his arms quickly, before realizing he couldn’t fly anymore, and pouted. I had to hold back my laughter while holding him and get down, since the fairies refused to get closer to Vrida.

"Why are they stopping there?"

They huddled a bit further away, buzzing and whispering among themselves. But Jade, our little translator, caught it perfectly. "They think Vrida is big and can eat them!"

Pfft--turned out these little naughty creatures knew fear. "Tell them it’s okay, Vrida doesn’t like to eat fairy."

The wyvern scoffed at my words as if questioning what those tiny things could do to her big stomach. Jade shouted at them, but conveyed the rest through telepathy. I took out a jar of candy as an added incentive, and they rushed to our side as if Vrida wasn’t there.

It took a while, but I finally convinced them and right after, they jumped around Vrida’s head just like Jade did the first time, which the wyvern welcomed with a deep chuckle. She lowered her head and laid down to sunbathe while the fairies played tag with Jade in the meadow.

Meanwhile, Amarein was standing on the side, close to the forest near where we were camping before. She seemed to be looking at something keenly, so I approached her with curiosity.

"What is it, Aunty?" I asked carefully after seeing her frowning face.

"Someone was here," she said. "Not too long ago."