The Demon Lord's Bride (BL)
Chapter 488: It’s just the first step

Chapter 488: It’s just the first step

I opened my eyes to a familiar darkness.

This time, I did not forget about it. Instead, I felt a strong sense of nostalgia. Ah, it had been a long time since I visited this place. Without even needing to concentrate, I took an invisible path toward a pulsing cocoon at the end of the road. There, as if waiting for me, was the soul of my child.

I hastened my step and held the cocoon. The center was pulsing even harder than before, like a heart beating. It glowed in subtle iridescent light, just like the core I had made earlier.

"Shwa?" I stroked the cocoon, which looked like the bulb of a flower. Faintly, I could see blue and green lines running through the surface, like blood vessels.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t hear any answer; just the pulsing cocoon that told me my child was still there.

Ah, could it be that Shwa could no longer talk to me now that a physical body had formed inside the bulb?

As I thought it, the pulse was beating a tad bit harder, as if giving me an affirmation.

"Alright," I hugged the cocoon closer and rubbed my cheek on its surface. "Is this your way of seeing me for the last time before you are born?"

Another hard pulse, along with a soft vibration. I knew this vibration--of course, I would recognize my child no matter what.

"Okay, good child," I caressed the cocoon and cradled it for a bit in my embrace.

After I woke up from this dream, I wouldn’t be able to hold Shwa until the flower was fully bloomed and our child emerged from it. And even then, the soul’s memory would regress and it would take even more to be able to hear that soft ’papa’ again. In that case, I would use as much time as I could to enjoy the warmth and the soft beating of this cocoon.

In the warm darkness where my child had battled loneliness, I sang a lullaby. I hoped it would echo in this void to accompany this little one until the time we could meet again.

* * *

"Oh...!"

The second time I opened my eyes, it was to a bright world with a bright sky. The moonlight caressing me to sleep had turned into warm sunlight, and the fog crawling the lake had disappeared.

It was a beautiful, beautiful day; perfect for an ending of such a beautiful dream.

And then I gasped. "Oh, right--Shwa!"

"It’s here," Natha’s low, soothing voice caressed me the way his hand caressed my hair. He led my hand to my lap, where a beautiful flower with its outer layer blooming was sitting quietly.

I let out a breath of relief and held the flower in my arms, rubbing my cheeks on the central bulb just like in a dream. The pulse was familiar, and so was the warmth. Ahh...what a nice way to start the day.

"I see this is how things are going to be," Natha chuckled behind me--oh, I didn’t even realize I was sleeping in his embrace. "You used to hug me first thing in the morning, but now it’ll be Shwa first for everything, huh? Jade will be so~ jealous."

I leaned back against his chest and patted my husband’s cheek. "I won’t be able to do so once we plant Shwa in that shed, so just be patient until that."

"In that case, I shall be patient," he kissed my temple and caressed the pulsing bulb. "As long as you let me hug this one too."

I laughed and moved the little flower to Natha--which was far from ’little’ as its height was almost as long as my forearm. While my husband tried to form a bond with our unborn child, I took a look around.

While the scenery didn’t change much, there was a glaring difference in the mana content. The abundant elemental mana that made me feel energized simply by breathing the air had decreased so much that the place didn’t even feel like a realm of nature anymore. Not that it became bad, but just as good as the Lair.

Well, that was to be expected. I didn’t remember much, but during the essence unification, I did use the mana around to facilitate a harmonious fusion, and fed the rest to the core to strengthen it. It would be two days before I could plant Shwa safely, so the flower would need enough mana to sustain itself for at least two days.

Well, the converging point had been here for months already, so it was time for the leyline to move anyway.

"Oh, you clothed me," I looked down, seeing myself in a comfortable nightshirt, probably from Natha’s storage ring. I already knew he had a chestful--or more--of my basic needs saved.

Natha narrowed his eyes--which looked funny because he did it while caressing the flower’s petals. "You don’t know me at all if you expect me to send you to sleep naked in the open, sweetheart."

I giggled and gave him his first morning kiss, before we looked at our flower together. The center part still looked like a bulky bulb, and I could see now that it consisted of more layers of petals. Only the outer layer was blooming last night, and I reckoned more of the layers would bloom over time.

"I think Shwa will be born after all the petals open," I trailed my finger along the blue pattern that was identical to Natha.

"Do you know how long it would be?"

"No," I shook my head and sighed. "Maybe nine months? How long is a demon’s pregnancy?"

"Around 52 weeks..."

Whoa...that was quite long.

"Except for vampires, which are almost made in an instant."

Ah, a drop of blood and voila!

"Well, it doesn’t matter," Natha rubbed the petal with a soft smile on his face. "We’ll wait for as long as it takes."

My lips twitched and I had to kiss him unless I wanted to start giggling non-stop like a maniac. "I love this fatherly face you’re making."

"Yeah," he chased my lips again for a quick peck. "Then perhaps you should start calling me Da--"

"Nope!" I clasped his mouth and glared at him.

Nuh-uh, not in front of our child!

* * *

"Papa!" Jade was already jumping up and down, arms waving energetically as Vrida swooped down.

The smart girl had picked us up by herself when I called her through our connection, and the first thing she did was nuzzle the new addition to our family. She even touched my black pendant--which was empty now--to show that she understood where this flower came from.

And Jade did the same too, nuzzling the flower the moment he saw it. "Shwa!"

even though the appearance was totally different, they recognized Shwa right away, including Ignis, who was peeking behind Jade’s shoulder--curious but also afraid it would burn the flower.

Even with the tail bracelet I gave, the Salamander was still cautious about causing harm with its fire. Such a sweet thing.

"It’s okay, Ignis. Shwa is my child, so your fire will never be harmful."

"...oh, if that’s the case," Ignis crawled closer and stroked the petal with its tail. "Mm...good one, very powerful."

Hmm...I wonder if our contract was transferable. It would be nice if Shwa had a reliable protector like Ignis around--although I also didn’t want to impose on Ignis’s right to freedom. Who knows--perhaps our Salamander would want to go exploring the world more after a few years of staying with us. It had always been pretty independent after all.

Well, whatever the future might be, that day we celebrated Shwa’s arrival. Naturally, we would think of a proper name once the flower was fully bloomed, but in the meantime, our little flower would be called...flower.

Hehe.

"Ah..." both Amarein and Grandma Chief were clasping their hands and looked at the flowers with sparkling eyes.

Amarein was looking more serious than amazed, however. "This is truly unprecedented," she muttered, almost sounding dazed. "Three different races coalesce harmoniously..."

There was something in her voice that sounded guarded--or was it concerned? Amarein had a quick wit, so she probably could guess what Shwa’s existence would entail.

But if she did, she didn’t say anything. Instead, she observed me up and down before checking my eyes. "Are you alright? Do you feel unwell?"

"Hmm...not really," I looked down and touched my solar plexus. "I’m a bit drained, but a day of rest should be fine."

"Your mana core is connected to this one’s," Amarein looked at the flower. "Your mana would probably be recovering slower from now on because you have to share. It might be even harder the nearer it is to the due date, so..." she caressed my cheeks softly. "Please make sure to take extra care of yourself."

Well, I already guessed that much already. Naturally, I could feel our connection. How should I say this...it was like an astral umbilical cord, connecting my mana core with Shwa’s. This was why we needed to plant the flower, because the burden in my body would be shared with this world as the flower roots absorbed the surrounding elemental mana.

"Don’t worry, Aunty," I glanced at my husband and children. "I have a lot of caretakers back home."

"I’m glad," she nodded, squeezing my upper arm in support. "And I’m saying all of that, but I’m sorry...would it be possible for you to do something right now?

I raised my brows at her wry smile. "What is it?"

"Mother wants to see you."

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