The Demon Lord's Bride (BL)
Chapter 515: Sometimes, a problem on the horizon made us forget about the problem at home

Chapter 515: Sometimes, a problem on the horizon made us forget about the problem at home

Once I was strong enough to walk down the stairs, I asked to have breakfast in the dining room instead of having it on the bed. Natha told me to preserve my strength, but I argued that I would lose my muscles if I kept lying in bed--only then did he relent.

But since I was no longer in the confine of our private bedroom, I shared the breakfast with morning reports that kept on coming. It was nice, honestly; making me stop feeling like I was living in a cage.

If only the reports contained something else other than the war.

But it couldn’t be helped, since the kind of reports fitted for disturbing the Lord’s breakfast naturally needed to be at that level of urgency. Moreover, from what I caught through the storm of news, the war was heightening.

[Last night, General Ki Kamar managed to take over Kha’arvahan Canyon] Lesta reported. It felt like weeks since I heard his voice, and he sounded tired and sleep-deprived.

Was it because Eruha was there too?

"So the original territory had been caught," Natha muttered. "But I bet they don’t plan to stop there."

[With their temperament? No dice] I could hear a groan in Lesta’s voice, which was understandable because it meant he couldn’t come home yet. [They had been partying all night and that ki--I mean, the Lord made a fiery speech about giving them the taste of their own food...]

I tilted my head, and Natha buried his face in his palm. "You mean ’the taste of their own medicine’?"

[More like their own poison--but these fighters don’t care about the correct phrase as long as it conveys the spirit]

It sounded like a merry gathering despite it being a war. Definitely not a place I could fit in.

"How about the human force?" Natha asked. "It’s quite amazing that they could hold the Wrath’s fighters for this long."

Right--I was wondering about this too. It was weird saying it myself, but honestly...without me or the Hero, Lenaar was not much.

[Ah...it was taking a long time because the fighters wasting time having duels--sometimes among themselves] Lesta said exasperatedly. It was easy to imagine him saying it while shaking his head in frustration. [But...]

"But?"

[It will be harder from now on]

Oh? I straightened my back unconsciously to focus on the report, but Mara cleared her throat and moved my hand--which had stopped temporarily--to the bowl of congee in front of me.

"Please keep eating, Young Master."

I grinned and quickly ate a spoonful of very healthy and mana-rich congee while listening quietly to the transmission. Apparently, there were two points that could make the campaign getting harder.

First, as they stepped into the original territory before the first war, the church could start activating the Goddess’ blessing. If we put it in game terms, the blessing gave human buffs like higher defense and attack--or something like that. At any rate, with the blessing, activating human magic would be easier than demon magic, so...yeah.

You might be wondering; how could the human still have a blessing without the Goddess’s being present? Well, looking at Valmeier’s memory, the blessing seemed to be coming from a relic that the main church had, so all they needed to do was activate it, I guess?

Pushing the button or something.

It became worse when, according to the spies, Lenaar wasn’t the only one who activated the relic. The church in the neighboring countries also did the same, which strengthened the blessing--and brought us to point number two; alliance.

It seemed that the neighboring kingdom had decided to ally with Leenar.

In the previous war, the initiative was on Lenaar, so the neighboring countries only looked with mild caution--just made sure Lenaar wouldn’t ’eat’ them next. But in this war, perhaps seeing that Leenar’s power was weakening and the Wrath’s campaign looked successful, the neighboring countries accepted the alliance proposal.

Why? Simply, because they didn’t think Wrath would stop with Leenar should the kingdom fall.

[There are quite formidable magicians in Selhat] Lesta said; it was a kingdom bordering Lenaar’s west side. [It will be annoying for those fighters]

Ah, right. Wrath’s fighters hated magicians because they liked getting close to their opponents, be it with cold weapons or hand-to-hand. While magicians...well, they attacked from afar, so the fighters couldn’t face them ’directly’. In fact, Natha once told me the reason demons from Wrath did not hate me--or rather, Valmeier--was because I used Alveitya as a proper spear and always engaged in close-quarter combat.

Weird preference, but I respect that.

"Tell them I’ll send some anti-magic shield," Natha said.

[Shield...] Lesta hesitated. We all knew those fighters didn’t like shields too. So picky, these Wrath demons.

"Just tell them to break through the magic attack with the shield and bash the magicians directly with their fists."

[Mm...might work]

From there, the talk became so technical--and honestly uncomfortable--that I had to stop listening or I would lose my appetite. Obviously, Mara liked it very much and kept giving me more portions to eat. I only tuned in again when the report seemed to be reaching the end.

[I’m sorry to say this, my Lord, but...] Lesta paused in hesitation for a bit, which was unusual for him. [You might need to intervene directly this time. As you know, this ki--the Lord only listened to you]

Oh, perhaps he hesitated because he knew I was listening too.

Natha grumbled. "Sometimes."

[Which is more time than even the Elders here]

"Haa..." Natha sighed heavily. "I can’t be there physically."

Since I knew this was because of my condition, I tried to give him a concession. "You can go once or twice, you know--"

"I’m not leaving you," Natha quipped quickly, looking at me with sharp eyes.

Well...

I pressed my lips to hide the smile creeping into my lips. I couldn’t lie--while I truly didn’t mind him stepping away for a bit, once or twice, it made me happy that he still chose me over his work.

I gave him a kiss afterward, although I wished I could give more than that. But alas--it was impossible to get beneath the sheets with my meager level of energy. How could I have the energy for orgasm when it took me ten minutes to climb up the stairs?

Ugh--it had been weeks since we had any coupling. While I had no energy to do anything, it was still frustrating. Being the considerate husband that he was, of course Natha didn’t ask me for it, but still...

Haa...

"Just seeing you getting lively like this already fills me with satisfaction," he said like a sage--or a cliche romanticist.

"Don’t lie!"

He chuckled and kissed the top of my head. "I’m saving it," he whispered. "I’ll collect your debt at once later."

"Oh?" my brow arched.

"I’m still saving some of that stamina enhancer from our wedding gift piles."

Now we’re talking! I giggled and kissed him again.

Well...he also became a bit more relaxed, perhaps because we were no longer facing a great wall. The wall was still there, but it seemed to be easier to jump over it.

I was glad...I didn’t want him to keep blaming himself.

Besides the fact that I still needed some assistance going around, it seemed like we were back to routine. Natha was relaxed enough--and busy enough--to go to his office in the morning, and came to stay with me after luncheon. He would visit Shwa every day as I requested, and I no longer heard the sorrowful cry of guilt anymore.

As a substitute for visiting Shwa, I spent more time in the to-be-nursery--sometimes with Natha. The construction had mostly done and we had started to do the interior. Before any wallpapers or furniture could be placed, however, we had to carve the magic formations on the walls, windows, floors, and ceilings first.

Normally, I’d like it if Lesta could do it. But calling the demon back just to make him work on renovation seemed to be too much, so we asked Uncle Sol. Unfortunately, Uncle Sol was busy making my custom-order bassinet, so the one who came was his disciple.

[Forgive for my inability to make time, but Young Master’s order is more complicated than I initially thought] Uncle Sol said through a communication orb. [But don’t worry; I’ll be sending the one best in magic formations]

"Well, since it’s because of Valen’s order," Natha said generously.

He said that, but he seemed to be satisfied with the disciple’s performance. I didn’t know much about formation, but this one looked very calm and professional while doing it, almost reminded me of Lesta. The magician also didn’t talk much, aside from confirming the type of function we would like to be embedded in the room. He did not inquire further or pry about what we would like to use the rooms for.

Well...Uncle Sol probably told him not to pry.

If only...

If only we realized that not prying didn’t mean he couldn’t figure out anything...