The Demon Lord's Bride (BL)
Chapter 438: they said your husband is your other child

Chapter 438: they said your husband is your other child

"Oh, Gods..." Arta clasped her hands, almost as if she was in worship, and took a deep breath. "You look so beautiful!"

Uhh...thank you, but...

"Aah...it’s a masterpiece!"

"I think I can die peacefully now, leaving such a legacy..."

"D-don’t exaggerate!" I hissed in a fluster at Arta and her crew, feeling embarrassed at how they were gushing out after I put on the banquet outfit and the crown for the first time.

They raised their brows, looked at each other, and laughed. Arta grabbed my shoulder carefully--more so she wouldn’t damage the outfit, I felt--and turned me around to face the full-length mirror on the side.

I looked at the reflection--not at how I looked, but at the crown. It was thin and delicate and so light I could barely feel the weight on my head. The crown circled the back of my head and the two edges of the branch ended in a leaf-shaped pointing up, resting on my forehead.

It kind of looked like a pair of tiny horns and made me bite my lips in delight.

"Oh..."

"See? You’re so beautiful, Young Master!"

"Huh..." I blinked at Arta’s compliment. Honestly, I had only been looking at the crown instead of the clothes or myself. "Ah, umm...I guess?" I laughed awkwardly while scratching my cheek.

Arta narrowed her eyes at me and squeezed my cheeks. "Where did your mind go to, huuh?"

I averted my eyes and replied truthfully. "...Natha?"

"Huff--both of you are really head over heels for each other, huh?" she shook her head.

Well...I mean, wasn’t that the reason we got married?

"Do you think...Natha would like this?" I carefully touched the smooth fabric of the long outer coat’s lapel. There were like...three layers of stuff I had to wear and it would be so hot if we got married in the summer.

But it was nice and beautiful, although I knew nothing about this stuff. All the blue and silver gradations made me feel like being clothes in a deep blue sea.

Or being clothed in Natha.

"Like this? His Lordship would be on his knees!"

"I said don’t exaggerate!" I pinched the laughing demon. I didn’t need him to be on his knees, just looking amazed was enough.

"But I didn’t, my sweet Young Master," Arta stroked my reddened cheek. "His Lordship already looks at you as if someone might kidnap you for your beauty anytime. If he sees you in this?" she leaned closer and whispered next to my ear. "He’ll debate hard whether he wants to see you wearing it longer or just take it off you entirely."

Arta! Decency! I smacked her again with even inflamed cheeks. But as if she didn’t care about my plight, Arta signaled to one of her crew, who came back not long after with a box in her hand. She opened the box’s lid for a bit and--

Oh, Mother...

"Well, in case he decided to just take it off you, then..."

I wanted to run away in embarrassment, but my legs were rooted in the floor from intrigue as my eyes couldn’t look away from the silky... flimsy...thing...inside the box.

Shamelessly, Arta added. "It’s in His Lordship’s preffered color; white--"

I slammed the lid closed.

* * *

Phew...

It was so hard getting through all the fitting while being flustered from head to toe. Thankfully, it seemed like no major change would be needed to the clothes I would wear for the crown. No need to make a new outfit in two weeks and cause a potential labor lawsuit. They just needed to take off some bling from the clothes I would wear because the crown was eye-catching enough--something about making them regal and innocent or whatever.

Because of this fitting, however, I was almost late to my luncheon with Natha, and he was rather sulking when I arrived at the greenhouse. Well...originally, I was supposed to spend the morning with him--which was why he asked if I didn’t go back in the morning. But then, I was trapped in all the fittings and the discussion about what to change because of the crown.

"I’m sorry! I really can’t get away..." I grasped his cold cheeks and peppered kisses onto his expressionless face. "Do you need to get back to work immediately? I can stay longer if you want, and--"

His reply came with his kiss and a tickle as he tackled me to the corner sofabed, making the servants who were bringing in luncheon flustered. I laughed and indulged him for a minute before telling him our lunch would grow cold.

"I want to get over this wedding business quickly," Natha grumbled as the servants could finally serve us our lunch.

"Because of the honeymoon, or living together again?"

Natha smiled and kissed me again. "Both."

So do I, my Lord. So do I.

"Seventeen days to go, my Lord," I whispered against his lips, and I saw the impatience clear in his eyes. It made me glad, that I wasn’t the only one eager for it. "Oh...but that also means my seclusion will start soon..."

I heard that for a royal, I should be barred from going out and meeting my soon-to-be husband for a month. Fortunately, I wasn’t truly ’royal’ since the kingdom was no more, so I didn’t have to do it. But I still had to experience this seclusion era--not only because of custom, but also for security. More people would come and go for the wedding logistics, and I heard some guests even started to arrive--you know, so they could have a vacation before the event. And so, with so many people arriving in L’Anaak Eed, the presence of the bride there would not be conducive.

Sure, we already took care of people who wanted to harm me, but...we never know, right?

For that reason, I would be barred from leaving the Lair until the wedding day, and even though Natha could still visit me on the first week, he would be banned from seeing me in the last week. This time, it was for tradition.

That day, I heard Natha’s sigh several times. I was sad too, thinking I couldn’t see him for a long time, but...it was also endearing seeing him no longer hiding how disheartened he was in my absence. I was glad I challenged him on that converging spot; he became more open and honest about his feelings now, no longer only showing me the cool and collected side. Perhaps because he had already shown me some of his worst emotions, he was now confident enough that I wouldn’t suddenly leave him if I found out his ugly side.

He ended up ditching his afternoon work to spend time with me in the greenhouse. We walked around the lake too, and I told him more about Cotton, and how I was thinking of bringing the rabbit over but couldn’t. When our date ended, the sky had almost darkened, and I practically ran through the portal to return to the Lair.

And faced another sulking face.

Jade looked at me with scowling brows and puffed cheeks, before turning around and tucking itself beneath the colorful wings, refusing to face me.

Wow...this child was angry, huh?

Well, figured--I left quietly and didn’t come back until twenty-four hours later. Of course, Jade would be sulking.

"I’m sorry Jade," I caressed the bird’s green back gently. "I have a sudden fitting today, and Arta keeping me in her workshop for a long time."

[Liar!] Jade replied coldly. [Papa’s mind is full of Nightmare! Papa must be with Nightmare]

Uh-oh...

I apologized again, but Jade was so angry that it refused to talk to me. I chuckled inwardly and left the bird alone for now, turning toward the other demons. I had also told Izzi--who had lived in the research tower again--to come that evening, so I didn’t have to go back and forth.

"It’s souvenir time!"

I announced, and Zia threw her arms up excitedly while cheering loudly. The sulking baby bird’s colorful tail flinched, and we giggled quietly. "Here, here, I brought lots of things from the drow’s city!"

Doun, as someone with a drow’s bloodline, looked the most excited. After several times, none of these demons felt awkward about receiving my gift anymore, since it had become a tradition every time I came back from a trip.

I gave the twin guards some drow’s armor, which was designed for mobility. As for Doun, I got him several boxes of underground plant seeds and a book to cultivate them. "Maybe we can decorate the path leading to Ignis’s cave?"

For the next few days, I wouldn’t be able to find Doun unless I visited Ignis.

At Ahrat, I found several recipe books and romance novels too, so I bought them for Angwi and Zia, as well as some drows fabric for them to make traveling clothes.

Of course, a trip to Drow’s underground city wouldn’t be complete without their beautiful accessory. I couldn’t believe how cheap their gems were--no wonder they nonchalantly used them for street decoration. Accessories made of gems and metals were mainly made by apprentice artisans as practice, so they were sold dirt cheap, sometimes even sold by boxes.

I bought lots of them, enough to fill a treasure chest, and yet the price wasn’t even half of Jade’s custom necklace. I told the demons to take whatever they liked from the box, and planned to give the rest to the Lord’s quarters’ servants.

The highlight of it all, of course, was the three unassuming bottles I took out in front of the two inventors.

The way Neel’s eyes looked at me after that reminded me of the time she went gaga for the Lair’s golem.