The Demon Lord's Bride (BL)
Chapter 47: You know that feeling of being flustered in front of your crush?

Chapter 47: You know that feeling of being flustered in front of your crush?

"Congratulations,"

I whipped my head at that voice, so fast that the forest felt like a blur. But even if I didn’t, I could no longer see anything else but the tall figure walking steadily toward me.

Ah...I couldn’t even make any noise, feeling my limbs go limp. Jade flew away the moment I let go of it, probably feeling like I wouldn’t give it any more attention right now. My eyes were fixed on Natha, and my mind half thought that he was just a forest illusion.

"Hmm," his voice sounded as sweet as it was in my dream. "It seems like I had gone too unreliable that you come to doubt my promise,"

"...ah," was the only dumb reaction I could muster. I wanted to see him so much every day, but when he actually appeared in front of me, my mind went blank. Perhaps because our last meeting was so...abrupt and confusing.

"I try to come in three days, as I said," he reached out to brush my sweaty hair, tucking the stay strands behind my ear. And then the hand returned to stroke my cheek tenderly.

"Mm," I nodded, looking anywhere but at his face. For some reason, I felt bashful. Maybe because I had resolved my heart, and admitted my growing feelings for him.

That cold hand I missed so much continued to stroke me in silence, and I secretly drowned myself in the blissful feeling this quiet clearing provided for us. His other hand came to cup my face and slowly brought my gaze up.

"Are you upset, sweetheart?"

"...no?" I croaked weakly, feeling heat creep up my cheeks already.

As he lifted my face, I could no longer avoid looking at his face; at the narrowed, soft silver eyes and the gentle smile. It was Natha whom I knew for the past few months, not the one who abruptly came and gone three nights ago with wild, shaking eyes.

His hands and body were no longer burning up, but as cold as usual, and it felt oddly comforting. I reached out unconsciously to cover his hands on my face, and his smile grew wider. He leaned down and planted his lips on my forehead, before pulling me into his embrace.

I could feel his cold temperature even more, and almost closed my eyes in bliss. "I missed you," he whispered in my ear, hand gently caressing my hair. "God—I missed you so much."

Those words were what I had wanted to say the moment I saw him standing in the clearing. But since he already said that first, I just clutched his back, and buried my face in his wide shoulder.

I had no idea how long we were staying like that, just inhaling his scent and basking in his cold temperature. He was holding me close, pressing me against his chest, but it felt gentle and careful, erasing the last memory I had of his harsh and invasive touch.

As I breathed and sighed, he eased the embrace and pulled away, eyes the softest I ever saw in him. He fixed my hair again, weaving his fingers through the ebony strands. Ah—I guess it was more of a dark brown now. I realized that the longer it got, the lighter the color became, like a proper druid.

"It gets longer again," he commented with a smile, combing the hair that had grown to my upper chest.

That ten hours of accidental meditation contributed so much to the growth of my hair. Zia usually did my hair after breakfast, but since she was busy scolding me this morning, I left the Tower with my hair as it was.

"Do you like it?" I asked while peering into his eyes.

He answered with a chuckle, grabbed my hand, and started to pull me while walking. "I like you no matter what your shape is,"

Whoa—such a gentlemanly, drama-like answer. But I guessed, it was used a lot in drama because people liked that kind of answer.

I was one of those people.

Walking along his pace, my fingers tightened inside his hold, and he intertwined our fingers while smiling charmingly. "Seems like you can utilize a lot of attributes now," he said while looking up, at Jade who circled the sky above us. Its colorful, flowing tail looked like a tiny rainbow fleeting in the air.

"I did it somehow...but I got scolded so much..." I responded sheepishly. I supposed Angwi would make her report later anyway, so I might as well come clean now.

I heard his chuckle as we traversed along the morning forest. "Why—did you stay too late? How long did you spend in this place?"

"Mm..." I replied cautiously, bracing for a third reprimand. "About ten hours...?"

He turned his head to look at me, and I stared back at him while looking for a sign of outrage. "For your first time? Without a teacher...hmm, that’s quite something,"

His response wasn’t what I thought it would be, so I kept staring at him in surprise. "You’re not...angry?"

"Why, do you want me to?" he smiled mischievously, and I shook my head frantically in reflex. I had already been scolded during two mealtimes, so while Natha’s reaction was an unexpected one, I welcomed it so much more.

He laughed at my dreary expression, and rubbed my hand with his thumb. "I trust my subordinates," he said easily. "Doun would watch you closely since he knew about druid somewhat. And as you said, you’re already being scolded,"

Oh, wow—he was being so generous. Could it be that he felt guilty about dodging his visitation repeatedly?

"But you have to promise not to run inside the forest alone again," just as I thought of that, his voice turned stern suddenly. "You haven’t known this forest that well, have you?"

Ugh—right. Now that I thought about it, I was only able to find the clearing because of Jade’s intense burst of mana from its growth phase. But I wouldn’t have a guiding signal to lead me back out. If Natha didn’t come today, I would need to wait until Doun found me.

"Sorry..." I grabbed Natha’s hand tightly, suddenly remembering the time I was mindlessly steering away during the festival.

Years of living inside a ward probably made me get wild during outings.

"Not that," Natha tugged on my hand and stared at me keenly.

"...I promise not to go alone?" I said after a minute of confusion. At his blooming smile, I knew then that I got the right answer.

It kind of sucked being treated like a child who couldn’t do anything alone, but I did make people worried last night, so I couldn’t help but accepted it.

After that, we no longer talked about it. Instead, he asked me how I felt during all the process I went through to grow Jade—and grew myself too, I guessed. So I happily told him all about the sensation I felt as we walked through the grass field and entered the garden.

Instead of the Tower, he brought me to the labyrinth-like shrubs in the middle of the garden. I came here sometimes if I got bored with the library. I’d bring my books and read them on the beautifully crafted huge swing at the heart of the labyrinth.

"Seems exciting," he chuckled at the many experiments I had done with Jade throughout the week.

And yes, it really was fun—I found myself grinning as I told him. "I’ve been waiting to tell you about that—"

I stopped suddenly, remembering the bitterness I felt when I was waiting in a daze for him. Natha should sense it too, since he was also paused to look at me.

"Umm, so—" as I fidgeted nervously at the sudden awkward vibe, he pulled me gently toward the swing, where he seated himself and guided me to sit beside him.

I could feel his gaze on me, but his eyes were full of tenderness—patience. Ah, did he wait for me to finish? To let out what I felt? I could feel his hand on my hair; caressing, encouraging.

"I was...just..."

Damn, I really wasn’t used to confronting people, or saying what was on my mind coherently. Or was it because it was him? Because I didn’t want him to get offended by my remark. "It was confusing...when you come and go abruptly, and I have no idea what are you...doing, or when will you come back, it just..."

I bit my lips without being able to finish it, but Natha offer the word for me. "Frustrating?"

"No—" I cut him swiftly. "I felt...anxious?"

Haa...it was hard. I didn’t want to come off as a whiny, needy, spoiled lover or something. But I probably wouldn’t have this kind of thinking before—before I knew he actually had a feeling for me. Well, not for me, but for the previous owner of this body.

So there was this subconscious reaction where this strange, contractual relationship turned into something more.

And I became greedier for more.

I felt his palm over my fidgeting hands then, his fingers prying them open and rubbing, taking my hand into his. "Forgive me," his other hand still caressing my hair. "It must have been upsetting,"

He pressed his forehead on my temple, and his voice was rather soft—weak? Ah...it was the same as when we spoke on the attic’s balcony, during the last night of the festival. But even with that soft, weak voice, his tone somehow felt...teasing?

"You did say you only need me, but I have been away for you so much,"

Ugh—did I really say that embarrassing thing?

I did, didn’t I?

Covering my burning face with my free hand, I felt his soft laugh and his stretched lips over the back of my hand.

"I truly am sorry though," his caressing hand moved to my shoulder, and he pulled me even closer to his side. "My main agenda today is actually to apologize, so it’s good that I have even more things to apologize for,"

I pulled my hand down, turning my head to face him. With a slightly frowning brow, and downcast eyes, he did look rather guilty of something.

"What do you mean?" I tilted my head in confusion. Apart from sort of ghosting me for the past week, was there anything else?

He pulled my hand, which had been grasped earlier, to his lips, and the silver eyes stared at me keenly. "For what I had done that night, I’m sorry..."