The Demon Lord's Bride (BL)
Chapter 509: Even if it’s not on your doorstep, your porch might still be damaged by the fight

Chapter 509: Even if it’s not on your doorstep, your porch might still be damaged by the fight

Despite having a war in the neighboring realm, Natha spent more time in the Castle than before.

Maybe because he felt guilty for partially neglecting me before, or maybe because he felt there was nothing he could do in the front line anymore. Certainly, it was between the Realm of Wrath and the Lenaar Kingdom now; Natha being there too often would just complicate things.

Or perhaps, he just thought he had to protect me and Shwa from a closer distance now.

Whatever it was, I was happy that we could spend more time together. He didn’t have to go out early, so we could have breakfast together in leisure. And just like before the conceiving, he would take a break from his office and had a luncheon with me--sometimes with Aunt Nezja too. Sometimes, he would even walk with me to visit Shwa, and we’d continue to have a little strolling date in the garden for my daily exercise, before returning to the Castle.

It was such a delight, to be able to visit Shwa together. I knew he always tried to make time, but more often than not, he could only go early in the morning or late at night when I was still in bed. So it was rare for us to visit Shwa together, and...

This might be my imagination, but I felt the reaction was different when we visited together. The pulse of the flower felt stronger, and the lights along the vine seemed to be moving faster. The air felt fresher and the mana swirled more energetically. How should I say this--it felt more...vibrant? Alive?

"Is that so? I couldn’t tell much..." Natha muttered when I told him, but I could see the corner of his lips twitch and his eyes glowed in soft light.

After that, he would invite me to visit Shwa before I could even bring out the topic. So endearing.

With him around, the matter regarding renovation was getting even faster and smoother. Natha’s motto was ’just use the best’ and things quickly passed with his signature on the invoice--no lengthy discussion about the quality-to-price ratio or complicated negotiation about the workers’ fees.

Once the renovation was in full motion, Natha surprised me by staying at the Quarter after lunch. He brought his work stuff home, filling the living room with trolleys of documents, but he was there! Spending his afternoon with me!

He’d sit on the couch with documents in hand, while I read my books with legs draped across his lap. It was amazing that he could work while patting my legs and surrounded by Jade’s chirping noises, but I guessed he was used to the constant noise in his head since he was a child, so...

As for me...

I was enjoying watching his work mode from the side. I usually spent the afternoon reading Eruha’s book list, but when Natha was there, I could only concentrate about half the time. Half of it was filled with staring at him behind the book, giggling to myself every time the sight of him in glasses made my heart skip a beat.

Hmm...maybe this wasn’t a good idea in the long run. What if I developes a heart problem because of this?

"You know you don’t have to hide behind your book to look at me, do you?" Natha’s words startled me, and I immediately ducked behind my book again.

He pushed the book down to reveal my blushing face, and I wished I had my blanket to cover it--but well...it was summer. He smirked and flicked the tip of my nose.

"Just look if you want to look."

"But it’s embarrassing..."

"Why?" Natha tilted his head. "What’s wrong with you looking at your own husband? I’d like you to always look at me and nothing else if that’s possible."

Ugh--he always knew what to say! I covered my lower face with the book and playfully kicked his side. Seeing a chance, Jade also kicked Natha’s upper arm to ’help’ me--or so the little bird said--and he retaliated by catching us and tickling us both.

Ahh...such a good day.

But our playtime had to end when Malta and Arta came to the Quarter with more scrolls in their hands. Welp--time to work again. They brought reports about the war’s effect on the region, and Natha seemed to be concerned about one particular thing.

"It’s rising significantly," he said, flicking the list of prices for mana stones and elemental stones.

"We’ve tried to control the market price from fluctuating by buying from different sources, but with the war going on, one-third of the market’s supply is sucked over there," Arta reported with a sigh. "Between us, the Magic Tower, the ongoing industry, and the war, there’s not much left in the circulation."

"It can’t be helped," Natha stroked his lips. "Do we at least have enough for ourselves?"

"As long as the order from the Wrath does not increase, we still have enough for operational and Young Masters’s consumption," Arta nodded. "But I’ll look for other sources in case of emergency."

Whoops! It seemed that my need for mana stones contributed to the scarcity. It was only ’scarce’ for the public, though. I guessed, because of that, the price of the available mana stones saw an increase. Based on what I learned, this increase would probably stay as long as the war was still ongoing, even if the supply increased.

Thankfully, not many transportation modes use mana stones as fuel, so the price of goods wouldn’t be affected much. Any service that required the usage of mana stones, however, might see an increase in fee.

"Soon, it won’t be just mana stones," Natha said.

"If it’s like before..." Malta narrowed her eyes. "We should prepare for a lot of logistics to be moved."

"Yes," Natha exhaled slowly. "It will be hard, but let’s try to prevent price inflation as much as we can. It’ll be the harvest season soon, so make sure to store the product well to prepare for the winter as well as Wrath’s war," he paused for a few seconds, and decided in a firm tone. "I will not do the autumn festival this year."

"That’s..." Arta opened his mouth, but when her eyes met mine, she closed it and exclaimed. "Ah..."

Ah?

"Right; it’s not like Your Lordship can leave Young Master here, after all."

Oh, I almost forgot that the inspection took almost a month. I felt a bit guilty, but I also didn’t want to lie to myself and told Natha to just go. Obviously, I wanted my husband to be with me throughout my...umm, pregnancy.

"Well, there’s that too," Natha smiled and stroked my slightly sullen face. "But I want to hold back using harvested products for festivals as much as we can. In return, buy the amount usually used for those festivals and send it to Wrath as support."

"Ah, understood," Arta nodded, before adding hesitatingly. "But my Lord...you probably need to talk to the Elders though..."

"They need to win," Natha frowned. "Even if I use my own money to make it happen."

Umm...would it be bad if I said my heart skipped a bit again?

"I will schedule a meeting," Malta said. "Would it be enough to say it’ll be regarding the response to the war?"

"Yes," Natha tapped on his chin before adding. "I’ll have the vassals meeting tomorrow morning to talk about subsidy."

"By your command."

Ah...if it wasn’t for this kind of office talk happening in our living room, I would have forgotten that war was happening at the border; at the land where Valmeier--where I--was fighting before.

"Umm..."

"Nothing to worry about, sweetheart."

With that one reassuring sentence, the relaxed vibe came back to our not-so-humble Quarter. I thought people might just keeping the real conditions from me in consideration of my mental state, but the servants and the staff were working as usual, without tension or apparent worry. When I asked Jade to fly around the city, the people also didn’t seem to care much about the war.

Hmm...perhaps because it was deemed easier? The Wrath attacked first this time, and there was no Hero on the kingdom side. Even with some help from the neighboring countries, I didn’t think the humans stood much chance.

After thinking about it logically like this, I nodded and enjoyed the blissful afternoon as usual.

"You look so much happier these days," Aunt Nezja commented during a luncheon at the greenhouse one day. "Less mood swings too."

"Is that so?" I clasped my face, failed to prevent my mouth from grinning.

Indeed, I felt more stable these days. Not many fluctuating emotions, less crying...no--I felt like it had been very long since I shed a tear. Perhaps since reading that letter from the Hero? And it wasn’t even a sad tear, so...

"Is my rampaging hormone days over?" I gasped excitedly.

Honestly, it was exhausting being so uncontrollable all the time. If I could return to normal, that would be much welcomed. I felt bad for Jade, who was always startled every time I raised my voice. Less threat from dehydration too.

"Maybe," Aunt Nezja smiled. "Or maybe it’s just being suppressed because you are constantly in an ideal state."

I turned to Natha. Ideal state...indeed; I ate well, I saw Natha often, and Shwa was happy with our visit. It had been happy, happy days.

"I think so," I grinned, fluttering my eyes at his slightly bashful face.

Seeing us, Aunt Nezja smiled and made a relaxed remark. Then, perhaps it’s time for me to leave."

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