The Demon Lord's Bride (BL)
Chapter 461: A lot of things in this world could be solve with a simple communication

Chapter 461: A lot of things in this world could be solve with a simple communication

What?

I was surprised for a second, but quickly managed to control my expression--easy; just took the teacup and hid behind it as I mulled over this information.

Hurt. What did she mean about hurting? I was surprised, but also...it kind of gave me more understanding of why Natha seemed rather dismissive about informing Nezja about the wedding, like he didn’t care whether she knew it or not, or whether she would come or not.

I had thought it was only him being considerate of her circumstances, or perhaps it was just how people his age looked at such things. But it seemed like there was something more there.

It was weird though...

From what I read in Natha’s journal, his great-aunt was the one who took him in after the massacre that killed his mother. It was also his great-aunt who brought him to the King’s Sanctuary. In the journal that I read, I didn’t sense any hatred toward her, and...well, logically, she played a good part in his early life, wasn’t she?

But then again, I only read about his early days and not after, so...

"What...do you mean?" I asked carefully after sipping on the tea. After making sure I had put on a proper poker face through the reflection on the tea, I put the cup down and looked at her.

She looked at her tea; eyes glazing in reminiscence. "When he told me he was going to be a Lord, I opposed him. So much so...that we ended up fighting and I kicked him out of my place."

Oh...

"I told him that I won’t consider him family again," her lips stretched slightly into a bitter smile.

Uh-oh.

"It was a long time ago, and through our mutual acquaintances, we do manage to be speaking again, but...as you can see," she lifted her face and returned to that stern expression again. "We are almost like a stranger to each other."

Ah...so that was why they spoke stiffly, as if they were in a formal setting. I thought that it might be because this great-aunt preferred that kind of style, but again...there was a whole different reason behind it.

I couldn’t help but frown slightly, lifting my teacup again as I mulled about this. Honestly...yes, it must have been hurt to be kicked out of his only family’s house. Not that Natha couldn’t survive, since he still had his family’s money--or what was left of it--but...

Natha didn’t have a lot of safe places for him in this world at that time. Aside from D’Ara’s abode, the only place he could consider as ’home’ was probably his great-aunt’s place. And even though he could come to D’Ara all the time, she wasn’t family in the end.

So I got it that Natha felt hurt. My question was...why did she oppose Natha becoming the Lord so much?

Rubbing the cup slowly, I tried to recall what I knew about Natha’s family. "Was it...because of his father?"

I tried to put myself in her position. Ever since Natha was born, their family had been hounded by threats from the then-ruling faction of the Spectre race. Natha’s father had tried his best to convince the Lord that Natha would never attempt to become one in the future, but he still got executed in the end. I had no idea what really happened, but I had a conjecture that the massacre and all the stuff Natha had to face in the academy had something to do with it.

Perhaps...

Perhaps she thought that Natha was betraying what his father had sacrificed himself for. It was the one thing that ended their family and killed so many people, and in her eyes, it might seem disrespectful.

"You are...a perceptive kid," Nezja smiled, before correcting herself. "Ah, I guess I shouldn’t call the Lord Consort a kid."

"Oh, don’t worry about it. D’Ara treats me like I’m a baby sometimes," I waved my hand dismissively. I mean...even Natha had lived for almost a century, so...how long had she lived? Two hundred years? More? A twenty-something like me must all look like kids in her eyes.

Surprisingly, she was chuckling for a second. A soft one, but it was still there. Unfortunately, it was soon getting shadowed by her sad gaze and bitter smile. "You’re right," he let out a quiet sigh. "I loved that child tremendously--Natha’s father, I mean. He was so alike my brother, who was practically raising me. It hurt me when he got executed, and it opened all the pain when Natha said he wanted to be the Lord."

"At that time, the Spectres were still ruling, and we still lived in partial seclusion. No matter how good her performance was in the war, people still saw him as the son of a traitor," she continued with a heavy voice. "I thought...how much more would he want to drag my nephew’s name through the mud? He was already branded a traitor, and if Natha became a Lord, the stigma would become even thicker. The accusation would become true."

Oh...I bit my lips and gripped the cup on my lap tighter as I felt my fingers tremble a little bit. Knowing that Natha only wanted to become a Lord because of me made me feel guilty.

"I’m...I’m sorry..."

She raised her brows slightly in surprise. "What for?"

Uhh...would it make sense if I said he did it because of me? Technically, this body lived in this world less than thirty years ago, so how could I say Natha planned to become a Lord for me...seventy years ago?

As I refrained from answering, she let out a small chuckle. "Well...of course, I found out later that he actually made a whole plan to get rid of the Spectres, but..." she gazed at the garden beyond the glass window. "It was too late. By the time I could accept his decision, the distance between us had become so wide that making a bridge seemed impossible. When he spoke to me again for the first time using a formal speech and gesture, I knew that we became nothing more than a pair of strangers."

Hmm...this sounded complicated, but...not really?

I put the teacup on the table and looked at her eyes. "Aunty...I don’t think Natha hates you at all."

She smiled wryly. "He’s good at hiding things."

"Not from me."

Well, I hope so anyway.

"...you’re right," she said with a smile. "Pardon me for making assumptions."

Phew--I didn’t want to show off or anything, but listening to her, I knew that both she and Natha had the same problem; too many years had passed without any reconciliation attempt. Sure, they were ’talking’ to each other, but it was on a greeting level and nothing more.

I wouldn’t have thought of doing anything before, but since Natha had become my husband, I should have the right to meddle for a bit, right?

"I..." I took a deep breath and braved myself to speak. "I didn’t have a very functioning family."

I could see her surprised arched brow and the question in her eyes, but I continued. "The only ones I could call family were Grandma and Grandpa, but...I couldn’t spend much time with them and when I finally could...they weren’t here anymore," I gripped my hands tightly as my heart clenched at the thought of them. "I always regret that, wishing that we have more time."

"But your grandparents did not hurt you, did they?"

"No," I shook my head. "But...if my parents came to me to apologize sincerely, I would forgive them. I would talk to them, we would talk to each other, and I would try to figure things out."

I knew she must have understood what I was trying to say since she was Natha’s grand-aunt. There was a possibility that she thought my words were just something that came from a kid who didn’t understand anything. I might overstep my boundaries just because I became Natha’s husband, but...

But I still wanted to say what I could.

"Of course, I couldn’t say it would be the same for him, but..." I looked at her and shrugged. "You don’t know, do you? You’ve never talked about it."

She didn’t respond, but I could see her eyes shook a little bit.

"This is only my thought, but..." I recalled back to the forlorn look I saw in Natha’s face earlier. "I think both of you think you were hurting each other."

She did not bother to mask her surprise this time. Her eyes widened; doubt and hope were interchanging in her shifting expression.

"Natha had his own reason as to why he wanted to become a Lord, which he probably couldn’t say to you," I continued. "But you know, don’t you? Natha had always been clever, so there was no way he didn’t know how you might feel about it. The fact that he told you about it first meant he didn’t want to lie or hide it from you because he knew how much this matter meant to you."

She blinked repeatedly, eyes glazing in a daze.

"He knew you were in pain for his decision, but because he was also stubborn about it, he agreed to just leave your place," I exhaled heavily. "And just like you said...the gap between you kept increasing, and when you met again, he had no idea how to face you properly, and it just...snowballing from there, I think?"

I leaned back, even though it would make me seem slouching, but...honestly, I was kind of tired.

"You know...Natha is cheeky, and he could be so, so petty about things," I smiled as I recalled his youthful shenanigans he told me sometimes before bed. "He wouldn’t care even if his opponent was an elder. For someone like him...do you think he would treat you politely if he really hates you?"

I looked at her, and the glazed eyes were now filled with realization. "No," she said quietly. "No, he would spit on me--or something equal to that."

"Right?" I laughed, letting the heavy breath leave my body slowly. "For me, it just looks like you need to talk and clear the misunderstanding."

"Misunderstanding..."

"Uh-huh," I nodded. "So, it’ll be better if you talk it out, right? Like, right now?"

"Oh, that--"

I stood up and yelled like Jade usually did. "Naaaat!"

I counted, but he teleported in just one second. "What? What’s wrong?"

He grasped my cheeks and looked at me up and down, checking for any...injury? What did he think might happen between me and his grand-aunt that would cause a druid injury? Geez...

Wordlessly, I took his hand and pushed him into my seat. I pressed his shoulder and looked at Nezja. "There! You can talk now!"

"Sweetheart?"

I cupped his face and gave him a hearty kiss before retreating with a grin. "It’s my turn to enjoy the garden now."

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