The Demon Lord's Bride (BL)
Chapter 437: Sometimes, the clothes are not the main character

Chapter 437: Sometimes, the clothes are not the main character

"Your Grandpa’s subordinate, huh..."

Natha tilted his head and paused the hand he used to braid my hair. I had spent the whole bathing time telling him about my adventure in Arhat. Of course, I didn’t tell him about what I bought for him--and I specifically only put a single quote for the whole purchase so he wouldn’t get suspicious when he, or rather Eruha, checked on my travel expenses.

Haa...it was hard making secret purchases when you lived in allowance.

Most of my story, however, focused on the fact that I found someone who looked exactly like my Grandpa’s subordinate.

"Hmm...is that the one who seems like he always scowling?" Natha narrowed his eyes. "The one with dark blue eyes and chipped left ear?"

"Wow, you remember that?" I looked at him through the vanity mirror in surprise. "He doesn’t have that scar on his ears this time, but everything else is the same."

"I only saw him twice, I think."

"Well, you were only there for two months after all," I shook my head after he finished fastening the braid with a silk ribbon. "Anyway, I gave him one of the invitations for the banquet--is it alright? We didn’t have drows representatives yet."

"We do have a representative from the merchant alliance in L’Anaak Eed, but you’re right--not for a city leader," Natha nodded. "Good job, sweetheart."

I grinned and took his hand so we could get downstairs for our late dinner. It seemed like the servants made an extra effort because the table was full of my favorite food. Only then did I realize how hungry I was. The last time I ate was a sandwich for lunch on top of Vrida’s back, and everything Natha put inside my stomach, hehe...

For about ten minutes, I shove off anything from my mind to enjoy the food fully, savoring all kinds of my favorite meat and fruit sauce--nothing made of worms. After devouring a portion in record time, I let out a satisfied sigh and my brain could function again.

"Oh, right--have you never met that Mayor, Nat?" I tilted my head. With his memory, he should be able to recognize that person. And yet, he didn’t seem to know Tourma.

"No," Natha contemplated while staring at his wine glass. "You said he’s younger than me, so it must haven’t been long since he became a Mayor. Trade and negotiation are always handled by proxy and merchant alliances, so there’s no need for me to meet their leader personally unless there’s a trade that would impact two realms greatly."

"For example?"

"Let’s see..." Natha tapped on his glass and curled his lips. "For example, if they decided to widely export their liquid mana stone."

I blinked and wordlessly took out three small bottles of liquid mana stones; a neutral one, a fire one, and a metal one. Natha smiled as if he already knew I would acquire them and remarked lightheartedly. "Those are subjected to a heavy tax, my dear sweetheart."

Gasp--I covered my mouth and whispered scandalously. "Oh, but they are gifts, my Lord."

Natha chuckled and pinched my cheek in amusement. Hey, hey--you didn’t think I never listened to Eruha’s lesson, did you? While I laughed and hid the bottles again, the Lord’s quarters door opened loudly and at this point, I already knew who these footsteps belonged to.

"Young Master!" Arta came like a storm as always, clearly did not care that it was beyond working hours already. She rushed toward me and held my hands. "Please tell me you’ll stay here tomorrow."

"Umm, well...I am, but...what? Do you need a fitting again?"

"Yes! An emergency one!" Arta, for the first time, sounded frustrated. "There’s a problem with the fabric we should be using for your outer robe during the parade, so we have to start all over again. Anyway, you’re not gaining weight, right? I don’t think my team could afford too much adjustment at this rate."

"I don’t think so?" I shrugged. I mean...it wasn’t like I weight my body every day.

At my irresponsible response, she scrutinized me from head to toe, and even held my waist. "Hmm...seems like you exercise well," she nodded. "Alright, free your time tomorrow morning--whatever His Lordship asked you to do, reject them all."

"I don’t like this," Natha narrowed his eyes. "I don’t like having him watch his diet."

Arta rolled her eyes and, with a vigor of challenge that only the youngest child had the privilege to exploit, she dismissed her Lord without a flinch. "I don’t care if you want to plump him up, but only do it after the wedding."

And after saying all of that, she stormed out again.

"I kind of feel like I’m turning into a cattle," I laughed while watching Arta disappear behind the door.

"A fluffy one," Natha muttered, before correcting himself swiftly. "I mean, a beautiful one."

...so, you didn’t object to the ’cattle’ part?

* * *

I sincerely believed that Arta nor the seamstresses had any sleep for the past few days, if the dark circles under their eyes were any indication.

It was understandable though, the moment I arrived in the special warehouse catered to the wedding outfits. Perhaps because I only ever met them when they were discussing my outfits, I was under the illusion that they were only responsible for my five-plus-one clothes.

But no. The warehouse had several sections, and tons of clothes. Mine was on the second floor, side by side with Natha’s. But from the entrance to the back door of the first floor, there were uniforms for the wedding staff, for the committee, for the servants--it was a whole thing! The seamstresses I knew were indeed responsible for me, and me alone, but there were a lot more working here that it felt like a factory.

And they were a~all busy. In fact, they were so busy that they didn’t even lift their head when I came inside--which was a nice change. I tiptoed onto the second floor, careful to not step on fabrics or spilled corsages, or accidentally knock over threadboxes. This was the kind of room that would become a nightmare for Ignis--even with its fire-absorbing bangle.

"Umm...hello?" I peeked into my fitting rooms, and for the first time, I saw all of my wedding outfits being lined up on mannequins and they were...haa...

Am I really going to wear all of these? Aren’t this way too beautiful?

I had gone through several fittings before, but all of them weren’t the ’final’ product. The magic of the outfits--the embroideries, beads and sequins sewing, gems embedding...all the sprinkles and sparkles--were only added after the last fitting.

And oh...it felt so different with all of the details added. I almost felt too scared to try these...these arts.

"Young Master!"

While I was staring at the outfits in a daze, Arta came from a little room adjacent to this one and hugged me. But only for a second. "Come here! Come here, quickly. Let’s do another fitting to make sure everything’s fine."

"Why don’t we do the hairpieces as well, Ma’am?"

"That would need a hairdo too, right?"

Hairdo? My hair...how many times would they change my hair?!

They looked at me then, and...what could I do but nod in front of those dark circles? Ah, right--since they were talking about hairpieces, then...

"Umm...I actually...have something to show you."

Arta and her crew, who were about to prepare the fitting, looked at me curiously. I took out the beautiful box the drows gave me and opened it in front of them. Just like me, they gasped.

I mean, I gasped again.

That was the first time I saw the ’crown’ under the sunlight. The colorful lights from the glowworm and glowing flowers made the crown shine in a multi-color iridescent glow. With the light of the sun, however, the crown looked as if it was carved from an ice crystal, glowing in a soft white light. Inside the crystal, we could see a multicolor thin branch, like veins.

"Oh, my God..." Arta let out a sharp whisper. "Is this...is this made of..."

As expected of someone who had previously lived in the realm of nature, she recognized it well. "Mm--it’s from liquid elemental mana."

The seamstresses took a deep breath, and some of them even held it for a while. Their hands were stretched out, but no one dared to get close to the box. They were so frantic earlier, but now, it seemed like time had stopped in this private atelier.

"The drows gave me this, saying that I should...umm...have a crown," I said in slight embarrassment.

"As you should..." Arta nodded in a daze.

"So...I promised them I’ll wear it during the banquet," I told them carefully. "Would it be okay for me to wear it during the inter-realm banquet? The one who molded it will be there and..."

"Oh, Young Master..." Arta stroked the box in my hand softly--almost in worship. "Even if we have to make an outfit from scratch, we’ll make sure it goes well with this crown."