The Demon Lord's Bride (BL)
Chapter 439: Too much free time is a leading cause for intrusive thought

Chapter 439: Too much free time is a leading cause for intrusive thought

"Can...can we touch this?" Izzi looked at the bottles, trembling hands stopped just an inch away from them. He looked more nervous than the time he got the letter from his family.

"Sure," I shrugged.

Izzi’s fingers twitched and started to move, but Neel grabbed his wrist and said in a hissing voice full of tension. "Be careful. I’m going to blast you with a cannon if you drop it."

I wanted to say that the bottle had a protective spell that prevented it from breaking, and even if it somehow did and the content spilled out, I could control it and put it back in another container.

But that didn’t sound fun, so I just kept my mouth shut.

"Oh my, oh my, so many beautiful things!" Zia looked at the treasure chest with sparkling eyes. She might be an anomaly for a lust demon, but she still liked to flaunt her beauty and bedecked herself in jewelry like any succubus. "Can I take this one? Oh--this one too!"

"You can take whatever," I rummaged through the chest too. "They used the underground plants and animals for inspiration, so there are a lot of unique ones that we can’t find here."

And since the realm of nature had more flora and fauna species than any other realm, they truly were unique.

"Oh, a lot of bird-shapes--fish too!" Zia said loudly, and Jade twitched even more. "Everything is so pretty, Val."

"I know, right? They are all giving me the prettiest on--"

[Jade’s the prettiest!]

The little bird, who had been burying its head in a cushion, turned around and chirped loudly. Zia looked up and tilted her head; hands and arms filled with accessories, from rings to bangles and necklaces.

Jade stomped its feet on the sofa and shook its body, concentrating its mana. I pressed my lips to hold my laughter and poured some mana into my little bird, enough for Jade to go puff and turn into an angry little boy.

"Jade’s! Is! Prettiest!"

Jade yelled loudly while showing off the branch necklace surrounding his neck. Design-wise, it was rather plain, but the price was reflected in the materials and the smooth finish from a professional artisan’s hand instead of an apprentice.

Zia laughed and clapped her hands. "Woow! Jade is right! Jade’s necklace is prettier than anything else!"

As expected from Jade’s number-one babysitter.

Jade puffed his cheek and plopped on my lap, exhausted from his own attempt to turn into human form again. I patted the green hair and hugged the little boy. "You’re done getting angry at me?"

The boy’s lower lip jutted out and Jade turned around to hug my neck. "Papa have to promise Jade not to go out without telling Jade!"

"I got it," I caressed the little back as a soft laugh escaped my lips. Ah...never thought that I would have to face two sulking boys in a day. "Oh, I’m going to make a call to Zarfa. Do you want to talk to her too?"

"Want," the muffled reply came with a nod, and I carried the still slightly sulking little boy to his bedroom.

It had been a while since I was there, and the table in the middle of the room was filled with books now--even though they were supposed to be in a bookcase. I put Jade down and while waiting for the communication orb to get connected, we tidied up the table together; putting more books we got from the underground city into Jade’s little library.

"If Papa read this for Jade tonight, Jade will be less angry," my child exerted his leverage skill, patting one of the new drow’s children’s book. Oh well...papa needed to practice how to read drows too, anyway.

But for now, the call finally went through.

[Val? Val?! Vaaaal!]

What kind of greeting is this?

"Ceci? Ceci?! Ceciiii!" Jade yelled back at the glowing orb.

Ah. I forgot we had one like that too over here.

[Jade? Is that my nephew Jade?!]

Jade giggled and grasped the orb, suddenly gushing out about how we just come back from the realm of nature and everything about flying with Vrida like a ’rollcosta’ as well as the glowing underground city of light.

I couldn’t even give my greetings.

[The drow’s city? Oh, my Goddess! That sounds like a dream!] Zarfa’s claps could be heard all the way through the orbs. I wondered how many mana stones she used to stabilize the connection since it was almost as smooth as mine and Natha’s.

"Oh, oh, and Papa buy a necklace for Jade!" of course, my boy needed to brag. "It’s a rainbow, like Jade!"

Not exactly, but whatever makes you happy, boy.

[Oh, gosh--a necklace by drows? It must be so pretty!] Zarfa gasped. Ah, you got the assignment, girl--good job. [You’re going to wear it at the wedding, right?]

"Of course!"

"And you’ll look so cute with the outfit too," I ruffled the happy boy. "Now, can Papa talk to her?"

Jade giggled and put the orb back on the table before jumping into his plush bed. Seemed like he was totally not angry anymore.

[You sound busy, Val] Zarfa laughed from the other side. [Realm of nature right after you get back?]

"Well, I’m not supposed to leave this place anymore in three days, so..." I shrugged. "I just wanted to tell Aina that I got the thing she asked for."

From the other side, I could hear a sharp gasp and finally realized that Aina was there too. A couple of stomping sounds later, I heard her voice. [Is that what I think it is?! The liquid...the Liquid?!]

"Uh huh,"

[I’m going to that wedding even if I have a forty-degree fever!]

"Go to a healer if you do."

[You’re a healer!]

Oh, that’s right.

[I’m going to keep developing the product until that time!]

Wow...all of these inventors were the same, huh? But with this, the development of a better video recording device and communication panel was on its smooth way. Everything I had to do before the wedding had been done, and all I needed to do now was be a good bride and wait for my wedding day.

First, by read my child a children’s book until he fell asleep and turned into a bird again.

After that, I was living like a prince--well, I guessed I was one anyway--with nothing particularly significant to do. Amarein said she wouldn’t come anymore until the wedding, since customs dictate no one but the people already living in the Lair and the wedding committee could see the bride during their seclusion era. Eruha was too busy with his work--and also the wedding--to teach me anymore, so I was also free of lessons. He didn’t even give me any homework! Yaay!

So, I was back to my peaceful life at the beginning of my arrival in this Lair; only focusing on myself and nothing more. The only wedding business I attended was the taste tasting for the banquet, and that didn’t really feel like work since I only needed to taste those already curated by Natha, so it was no longer hundreds of stuff.

It wasn’t like I would be the one eating all of them anyway.

The rest of the time I just spent playing around with my companions. I purified the mana around the Lair just for fun and to feed Jade, flying around with all kinds of maneuvers Vrida could think of until the sky was filled with Jade’s excited chirping, and helping Doun plant the seeds of the underground plants all over the path to Ignis’s cave.

My new favorite playtime, however, was finally exploring the colorful forest around the Lair. I hadn’t been able to do it before because I lacked experience and proficiency, and once I got good enough, I was blasted with a lot of stuff like learning this and learning that.

But now--now I had Amarein’s certificate! Hahaha!

Also, the trees had welcomed me now after spending so much time here. They no longer acted mischievous and made me lost for fun like the first time. Even without Doun, I had no problem finding my way out.

With Jade in tow, we ran through the forest, pretending that we were in the Great Forest of the realm of nature. While not as dense, the forest’s sentient property did make it feel like we were there. We went further away than usual, trying to find new places, new playgrounds; something like that clearing with a huge stump where I did purification the first time.

It was during those exploring times that I found them; a colony of rabbits.

"Oh, my..."

[Papa, their skin is like Jade!]

Was it due to the colorful forest? But these rabbits’ fur was colorful just like the trees--yeah, just like Jade. Their fur was a mix of several colors, like a soft cloud of pastel rainbow. Not as fluffy-looking as Cotton, but fascinating nonetheless.

I stared at the twitching long ears and beady eyes that looked at me with curiosity. The way they didn’t run away reminded me of Cotton. But instead of ignoring me for some sunbathing time, these rabbits were circling me instead, sniffing and nudging me as if they were trying to determine what exactly was this tall creature in front of them.

I crouched down and they flinched, but after seeing that I held the same curiosity and fascination as they had toward me, they didn’t run away. I stretched out my hand and after a sniff, two rabbits nuzzled my palms. They became more daring after that; some even climbed my back and locked in a staring contest with Jade.

As they surrounded me and pulled on my clothes as if they wanted to play with me, an idea came to my mind.

Could I try it? They looked as friendly as Cotton--even friendlier, even.

I wouldn’t try to fuse, just...conversing and asking for their consent for a future fusion should be okay...right?