The Demon Lord's Bride (BL)
Chapter 502: I heard talking to your fetus is good for development

Chapter 502: I heard talking to your fetus is good for development

[Shwaaa! Jade is here!]

Together with Jade, I burst into the magical shed cheerfully. My heart felt a lot lighter thanks to Natha’s prep talk and the servant’s reassurance, and I wanted to share this feeling of joy with my baby-in-progress.

Buzz! Buzz! Buzz!

The fairies welcomed us cheerfully. They had become friendly even without the candy now, and always surrounded me first thing when I came. They’d play with my hair and sometimes braided it, and later on with Jade while I talked to Shwa, so they became really helpful.

Perhaps they considered us part-fairies now, which was cute.

"Shwa, let’s have a picnic today!" I took out a big basket from the storage ring as well as a few blankets.

With Jade and the fairies’ help, I set up the blanket under the tree, in front of the pulsing flower, and brought over the pillows from the bed on the corner of the garden. We took out the cakes that the servants made, as well as some fruits and a flask of herbal tea for my mana intake.

"Try some of these," I put some honey-preserved fruits on a small plate and cut them into smaller pieces for the fairies.

I had tried to introduce them to some other stuff besides candy, but they were only interested in something with high sugar content, since it didn’t exist in the realm of nature. But fruit dipped in honey was something they could make from ingredients in the forest, so I thought I could introduce it to them.

You know, so they had an alternative once they ran out of candy.

I didn’t want to hear some eerie news about the mysterious disappearance of confectionaries around the realm in the future.

Thankfully, the fairies liked the honeyed fruit, perhaps because it was the combination of something familiar with a new taste. I’d ask for more stuff like that later when I visited the kitchen.

"And this is for Jade~"

I placed the big plate of jellies in front of the patiently awaiting little bird. [Jelly! There’s chocolate jelly this time!]

"Yep! Since it’s a picnic!"

[Picnic is good! Picnic is nice!] Jade laughed before jumping into the jelly plate. The fairies used to take some interest in Jade’s jellies too, but it seemed like the texture wasn’t to their liking.

Well, it was good that they wouldn’t fight for food.

"Eat lots and let’s visit the kitchen to say thank you later, okay?" I patted the little bird who was already half-buried in the jelly.

[’kay!]

Now that I got my kid and the three little friends settled, I turned toward the pulsing flower. Lights traveled along the green vines in a rhythm that mimicked a heartbeat, and made the flower look shining all the time.

"Look at this, Shwa..." I raised a plate of pastries that was filled with fruit from the realm of sloth, which apparently only grew in the coldest place. It managed to survive because of the high mana content, and the cooks turned it into a preserve.

I told Shwa about the pastry and the fruit and tried to describe the taste as if I were doing an eating broadcast. I did it for the other cakes as well, conveying the stuff I learned from the servants as they helped me pack the picnic basket.

It was delicious and fun. Sometimes, Jade would chime in with some commentary--and ratings, which went from one jelly to five jellies--and maybe it was just my imagination, but I felt like sometimes the flower pulsed a bit stronger, as if Shwa was giving out some response.

Well, let me be delusional--it was still fun for me.

"The cooks here are so great, aren’t they? No matter what they make, it’s always come out great!" I patted my satisfied stomach that got filled with desert. "Also, they always try their best to fulfill my request, no matter how weird they were. Even some stuff that I crave from Earth..."

I stroked the first blooming layer, giggling to myself at the cook’s bewildered expression when I asked for those things. Still, they always managed to creatively figure out what I meant--since obviously, I could only describe them from the memory of seeing them in pictures or videos. But well, since I never tasted those stuff anyway, it was alright as long as it tasted good.

"You know, Shwa...I used to think that they worked so well because Natha paid them well, and because they were afraid of offending Natha," I let out a long, regretful sigh. "I found out lately that it’s not just that. It seems that they love working here, and they said they loved serving me..."

I smiled and felt my cheeks warmed at the memory. "Aren’t they great? The people here are so kind to me, even though I came out of nowhere..."

I ran my finger along the blue patterns that never failed to ascertain me that the child inside this flower was my and Natha’s child.

"I’m so happy, and so glad..." leaning down to press my forehead on the top of the unbloomed bud, I let out a relieved sigh. "I’m sure now, that they will take good care of you in the future; they’ll make you good food and help me play with you--oh!" I raised my head and grinned as I recalled what Arta showed me. "Your Aunt Arta already has a book full of your clothes!"

It was so amazing and silly at the same time. A journal almost as thick as the one she used to manage my wedding outfits, filled from the first page to the last with doodles of baby outfits! All the way from newborns to toddlers. Gosh--if she really made all of that, we’d need a different room just for the baby clothing!

"I don’t even know when she had time to design all of those!" I couldn’t help but laugh even as I admired it. "I mean, we don’t even know if you’ll be a boy or a girl, although...hmm...I think it doesn’t matter for babies?"

Knowing Arta though, she would probably just make both and put it on Shwa no matter what sex my baby would have. Well...as long as the clothes looked pretty, who cares?

"Ah..." I sighed and caressed the flower petal again. "I really can’t wait to meet you, Shwa...if only I knew the estimated time, perhaps--"

Thump.

"Huh?" I looked up, blinking at the echoing sound. Only after looking around and finding nothing did I realize that the echo was happening in my head. "Huuh?"

Thump!

I flinched and this time, Jade and the fairies too. They flew to me and together, we stared at the flower in front of us.

The lights, which were traveling in a steady beat through the green vines, suddenly became erratic. They traveled fast, but not in unison, as if each vein was pumping a different amount of mana frantically. At the same time, my heart was suddenly beating so fast as if I had just running up and down a hill.

"W-what happened?"

The mana around us was moving rapidly, even though the amount was stagnant. I didn’t feel like my mana was getting absorbed, and nothing was leaking from the flower too. It felt as if the mana particles were bouncing around, just like excited fairies in sugar high.

[Papa! Shwa! Shwa!]

I shifted my attention back to the flower and it was...shuddering? The petals were trembling, and the stalk was shaking. As we were holding to each other in confusion, I saw the bud wriggling and--

Oh, Mother...

Dazedly, I watched as white lines appeared along the central bud and, just like how it was the first time, another layer of petals bloomed.

Jade and the fairies were so flabbergasted that they couldn’t even fly anymore, slumping on the ground while staring at the flowers with widened eyes and senses.

Just like me.

"Oh...oh, Gods..."

I was frozen and trembling for a while, before I clasped my hand and poured my mana into the mark on my hand. Natha. Natha. Natha!

"Valen!" it only took ten seconds before the door of the shed was slammed open. Natha wasted no time rushing through the garden and held me, cupping my face to check on me. "What happened? Sweetheart, what...?"

He was so focused on me that he didn’t even realize it until I turned his head toward the flower. Even then, it took him a few seconds to digest the view.

"Oh..."

When he opened his mouth, his lips were trembling--and so were his fingers on my face. I held them, and I could hear how fast his heart was beating. Just as fast as me. His eyes were wide open, unblinking, and he slowly collapsed to the ground, sitting beside me in a daze.

He stayed like that for a few minutes, unmoving, as if his soul was not there; as if his soul was inside that flower. Just like me a while ago.

But he found his calm gradually, and held my hand--which was still trembling at that point--tightly. "Shall we...sleep here tonight?" he asked in an airy, almost choked voice.

All I could do was nod vigorously, because I felt like I would flood this place if I said anything.