The Demon Lord's Bride (BL)
Chapter 496: Late is better than never

Chapter 496: Late is better than never

With Moikai’s arrival, my diet was completely changed. It felt like I was back in the realm of Gluttony, with every meal containing rich mana.

At first, I was horrified at how much each of my meals cost. The ingredients were stuff that were found in auction houses or specifically procured, and Natha had to build a new warehouse just for them. Each portion was probably costing the same as the meal for all the vassals--or even the rest of the castle.

But then, Zia cleverly told me I should think of it as spending money for Shwa, and for some reason, the guilt and dread vanished just like that. Uh-huh, the mana was for my child anyway, so what if it got a bit expensive?

Gradually, things turned for the better. I could see Shwa every day, and the meal kept me from being lethargic. I wasn’t back in my full condition, of course, but I was no longer feeling too tired to do things. Zia visited me a lot since Izzi was still absent a lot, and Nezja came every day to accompany me. She almost felt like a babysitter, but I didn’t mind. I heard a lot of things about Natha’s childhood and he was like as a child, which made me giggle a lot.

For a while, being surrounded by other people distracted me from realizing that Natha was still very busy outside.

Oh, don’t worry--he was still very attentive, even more than before. He always asked me about my day and how I was feeling when he came back in the evening, and held me all night in his arms. He never ceased to shower me with kisses first thing in the morning and became even softer and gentler than he already was.

But he rarely came back once he stepped out of the Lord’s quarters. We no longer had luncheon together, since he didn’t come over during his lunch break. Which was alright, honestly, since I was never alone during lunch. I was just curious what made him so busy.

Every time I asked the vassals, however, they only said he had a big project to tackle. I was wondering what it was, but I never got to ask Natha about it. Clearly, if he wanted me to know, he would have told me like he always did.

Oh, well...I was rather sad, but I also didn’t want to be annoying. I didn’t want to be annoying and demand him to be with me twenty-four hours. It wasn’t like he was being cold and such. Surely, I didn’t want my conditions and selfishness to disturb him from his work.

It was fine, it was fine.

Yes, it was fine...

"Nat, what have you been doing that gets you so busy?" I relented to the brat inside of me in the end, and blurted out the question one night when we were lying on the bed.

The arms hugging me from behind stiffened slightly, making the whole thing feel even more dubious. But I was waiting instead of hounding him, rubbing his fingers around my chest.

"Can you wait, sweetheart?" I felt his head on my shoulder, and his lips on my skin. "I promise I’ll spend more time with you once this is over. Just wait for ten--no, one week. Just give me one week."

Huh...this reaction was more dramatic than I thought it would be. I was getting more curious, but I couldn’t say no to that weak pleading voice, so I just said okay and once I woke up in the morning, I already forgot all about it.

I didn’t even remember it a week later, when he returned to the Lord’s quarters after my morning walk and visit to Shwa. He grasped my face and kissed me then and there, with Aunt Nezja and the servants around. The embarrassment I felt was being shoved away by the yearning in his kiss, as if he missed me as much as I missed him during all his absence.

If there was still any resentment in my heart before this, it had already been smashed to smithereens by that one kiss.

"Come with me," he whispered; his eyes were the brightest I had seen recently.

"Now?

"Yes," he nodded, looking rather enthusiastic. "You can come too, Aunt--although there will be a lot of people there."

Huh? A lot of people? Where were we going?

"You can go without me," Aunt Nezja raised her hand and gestured toward the carriage standing ready in the courtyard.

[Are we going somewhere? Are we going to play?]

Jade flapped its wings excitedly. Perhaps because I had been spending time indoors mostly, the active little bird felt rather bored getting confined in the Castle. Especially because we had been going around often since before the wedding, so this life of merely accompanying me around the Castle must have been stifling for the growing child.

"We’ll see," Natha patted the little bird with a generous smile before offering his hand to me. "Shall we go?"

This would be my first time stepping out of the Castle ever since I came back from the realm of nature. Honestly, I was rather hesitant to leave the premises, away from Shwa. But perhaps because I had just returned from the routine visit, I quickly decided it would be alright. Besides...how could I say no to that excited face?

Natha rarely showed this side of him, so I was getting even more curious. He didn’t want to say where he was taking me, but he was in a good mood throughout the journey. His heart was beating slightly faster than usual, and it affected me too.

Unknowingly, I became nervous, looking forward to where he was bringing me to, and what was in store. Jade was busy chirping about the city, and Ignis was busy calming the bird down. Hmm...were we going shopping? I thought so at first when the carriage went toward the commercial district, but my guess got thrown out the door when we went past it altogether.

And then, to my surprise, we went toward the edge of the city, and Natha pulled the curtain around the carriage--shielding us from the outside.

"What? Why?" I asked, along with Jade’s protesting chirp.

"We can’t spoil the surprise now," he shrugged, smiling cheekily.

"Surprise? What surprise?" I raised my brow in...well, surprise. I didn’t know he was preparing for one, although...I guessed that was why it was a surprise.

And then, something clicked inside my head.

"Is this...is this why you have been so busy lately?" I looked at Natha with widened eyes, and the demon lord just grinned, looking all youthful and mischievous.

What the hell?! So he had been absent from my afternoon because he was preparing this ’surprise’? I didn’t know if I should smack him with my palm or with my lips.

That would depend on the surprise itself.

"We’re here, my Lord," the coachman warned us and the carriage slowed down until it came to a stop a little bit later.

"Sweetheart," Natha turned to me and held a...was that a blindfold? "Can you put this on?"

Wow...he was really serious about this surprise.

Hmm...it was actually kind of fun, so I nodded, and he carefully put the silk cloth around me, tying it gently behind my head so it wouldn’t hurt me. Before we got off, however, he turned to Jade and had a pep talk with the little bird.

"This is a surprise, so you can’t tell Valen what it is until he sees it with his own eyes, okay? You need to keep it quiet, sush!"

[Surprise! Quiet! Okay!] I heard a muffled chirp, which I guess came from Jade clasping its wings over the beak. Cute.

"Alright, good bird."

Wow, he was being very generous with his praise too.

I heard the carriage door open, and Natha held my hand, carefully leading me down the steps. When my feet touched the ground, I could feel a lot of people there--just like Natha had said. But all of them kept their silence, even though some were shuffling around.

Curiously, I could faintly feel familiar presences--the vassals, and...was that Izzi? And Zia? Wait--Neel was here too?! In the middle of all these people?

What was this? The more presence I felt, the more curiosity piled up inside me. At one point, I was even tempted to just rip the cloth covering my eyes to see what this was all about.

But no--no Val, you were civilized. I reminded myself that it was Natha’s surprise for me, and he had worked hard for it for weeks--perhaps even more than that. Izzi’s presence was telling me his recent absence from our circle had something to do with it.

"Walk carefully, sweetheart," Natha warned me gently as he led me forward. I could feel people flanking our way, which made me feel like I was walking on a red carpet or something.

I didn’t have to walk far, and Natha stopped me while I was still wondering all kinds of possibilities. Was he building a nice villa at the edge of the Capital? Perhaps a store in my name? Or--

The cloth was removed from my eyes and I blinked to get them used to the light.

And oh, my Gods...

Whatever I was thinking about was puny compared to this. Because in front of me was unmistakably, undeniably...an amusement park.

"It’s late, but..." Natha stroked my upper arms and whispered behind me. "Happy birthday."

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