The Demon Lord's Bride (BL)
Chapter 493: Do you think fantasy conceiving came with pregnancy hormones?

Chapter 493: Do you think fantasy conceiving came with pregnancy hormones?

"Ngh..."

I stretched out and rolled around and stretched out again, before lounging on the swing in the greenhouse, staring blankly at the lake and the pavilion across.

It had been a week since we returned to the Lord’s Castle, and all I did was lounging around or visiting Shwa. That day, my friends were visiting me from the Lair, however, so we were hanging out in the greenhouse. Natha had decided that the fewer people came to the shed the better for security, so even though I didn’t mind introducing Shwa to my friends, I couldn’t do it.

It wasn’t that Natha was suspicious of everyone, but Prince Zurheien’s case taught us that bad things happen even without bad intentions. This was a word that people who could sense thought and read minds existed, so even the most loyal people could screw things up.

This was why the guards in charge of forest security weren’t allowed to leave the Castle grounds until Shwa was born safely. Some people--like my friends and the vassals--knew we were trying to conceive, but only a few knew the process and where Shwa was located.

In short, we really did what we could regarding security. And for that, when people were meeting me, I avoided going over to visit Shwa.

"Are you bored?" Zia poked my cheek from the side.

"Mmh..." I moved my head from side to side, wiggled my toes, and then stayed still again. "Yeah, but I also don’t feel like doing anything..."

"I understand. There are always days like that, especially after doing something big," Neel, who found out after the wedding that going out occasionally wasn’t such a bad thing, said from her chair in the corner. She was scribbling in her notebook, but it seemed like she still listening to us.

Something big, huh...

Well, it was indeed something big.

"It’s like that lull period after finishing the main quest," she continued. "You’re not ready for another main quest, but you still want to play for a bit, so you’re looking for a side quest. Unfortunately, there weren’t any, so all you could do was just go around exploring, hoping you find a hidden piece or something."

"Oh! Or it’s not updated yet so we need to wait for the new patch?"

She snapped her fingers in agreement before going back to her notebook.

"What are you talking about?" Zia looked at us in a mix of confusion and annoyance. She pursed her lips and slumped on my lap, pouting. "Say something I can understand!"

Hehe...I felt a bit sorry because I often slipped into the Earth talking when I was with the inventors. But unfortunately, I also couldn’t explain it well to her if there was no equivalent in this world.

I mean...how should I go about explaining MMORPG to the resident of an MMORPG setting?

"It’s like when you end a relationship and don’t want to be in a new one so soon, but also feel lonely because you’re not used to being alone," Neel provided another example--although I didn’t think that quite what I feel.

But it worked.

"Oh!" Zia clapped her hands, but stayed there on my lap. My little bird jumped on her forehead since she was taking up its place.

[Zia is sulky!]

"It’s because Izzi is not here," I smirked.

"Hey!"

"What?" I grinned and pinched her nose--I saw that blush, young lady. "Where is he anyway?"

"Dunno..." Zia pursed her lips. "He’s been going away a lot, sometimes for a few days."

Hmm...was he going back to his old habit? Perhaps I should ask Panne to check the list of visitors in our Auction Houses. Well...he no longer had any debt to Natha, so once he finished paying back the school for property damage, and the elvendom for running away, everything would be solved. Sure, he was incarcerated for the blasphemy charge, but he did destroy a building and ran away from the justice system.

But that night, Natha told me to not bother with it, saying Izzi was working on something. Ah, that guy--he easily focused on something and would neglect anything else once he did. He should have said something to Zia so the girl wouldn’t sulk.

But then...it wasn’t like they were in a relationship. Yet.

What took him so long anyway?

"The servants told me you looked tired today," Natha sat on my armrest and lifted my face by the chin, scrutinizing me with those sharp eyes.

"I’m just bored," I shrugged. "But I feel a bit lazy to do anything, so...I was just spending my time rolling around."

"Why would you need to do anything?" Natha narrowed his eyes. "All you have to do is rest and keep yourself safe."

Ugh...if I argued with him, it would only turn into a sermon, so I just agreed quickly. "I know, I know..." I exhaled slowly and shrugged again. "Maybe I’m just a bit down because I can’t see Shwa today?"

"Mm...perhaps," he stood up and reached out his hand so he could lead me to the bedroom. "Shall we go first thing in the morning? Let’s visit at dawn and come back before breakfast."

"Really?!" I perked up and for a while, forgetting about my boredom.

Only, turned out that it wasn’t simply boredom.

That feeling of not wanting to do anything persisted long; for days, even a week. It especially worsened every time I returned from visiting Shwa. All I wanted to do after that was just lay down on the sofa or lay down in bed.

I mean...I was a homebody, but it didn’t mean I only liked to roll around in bed doing nothing.

But I had no motivation to pick up books or even ride Vrida. Walking up the hill to her nest felt like such a drag, and sometimes, no matter how delicious the cook prepared my meal, I felt too lazy to even pick up my utensils.

Naturally, after a week, Natha decided to call the physicians and healers, even though I told him I didn’t feel sick or hurt.

"It’s lethargy," the physician said. "Young Master has a lower amount of mana and energy in his body."

What?

"It’s not enough to cause any harm, but his mind instinctively avoids activities that require more energy to be spent."

Oh. Uh-oh.

"Umm, Nat..." I looked up at my silent husband wryly. "They did say it’s not causing me harm, so--"

Nope. Of course, it wouldn’t work. The physician didn’t know--no one truly knew, really--but Natha would have connected this fact with the bit that it got worsened after I visited Shwa.

"You can only go once a week," he gave me his final judgment after the physicians and the healers left.

"No!" I grabbed his arms and shook my head. "No, no--don’t do this to me. It’s alright, they said it won’t harm me--"

"It’s not harming you now."

I flinched at his sharp and cold tone, and perhaps because of that, he immediately softened up. "I’m sorry, sweetheart, I didn’t mean..." he sighed and crouched in front of me, holding my hand. "I’m sorry..."

"Nat..."

He pressed his forehead on my hands which he held, but he still didn’t rectify his ban. "Sweetheart, you do know that the baby is taking on your energy, don’t you?" he lifted his face, and the way he looked so sad made me unable to even argue. "It’s getting absorbed even when you’re here, right now, and when you’re closer, it got absorbed even more."

"But--"

"And it’s only the beginning," Natha held my hand tighter. "When Shwa grew, the energy absorbed would be even greater. You promise me--" he stopped, closing his eyes under a tight frown. His jaw was tensing, and when he spoke again, it sounded lime a choke. "You promised me you’d be alright."

What...could I say against such a vulnerable request? It pained me to see Natha like that, and it pained me to be away from my baby. But it wasn’t like he banned me entirely, and I knew where his concern came from.

In the end, I agreed to it, and I didn’t even go near the greenhouse during that time. When it was getting too hard for me, I ran away to the Lair so I wouldn’t get tempted to break my promise.

The good side was, I did find my energy again. I rode Vrida to the Lair, and absorbed some purified mana to replace my depleting inner energy. I could concentrate enough to resume my lessons with Eruha, which had gotten more advanced and touched politics now. I tried to move my body more by exercising with Alveitya, but Natha banned me from doing that too, so...

All in all, with my level of energy increasing slightly, I found the motivation to do more things. But...

At the end of the day, it was hard. It was so painful being away from Shwa. It hurt my heart to not see or touch my sweet flower, but if I looked like I had a hard time, it would be painful for Natha instead.

I felt so messed up that while I regained my energy, I had no appetite. I forced the food inside my mouth, but I no longer found any joy in it. I couldn’t taste the food, and chewing felt like a sport.

Perhaps that was why, when Natha’s Great Aunt came to visit the Lord’s quarters for the first time and asked me how I felt, I burst out crying.

Search the lightnovelworld.cc website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.