The Demon Lord's Bride (BL)
Chapter 525: Things will turn out well if you have a Goddess as your backer

Chapter 525: Things will turn out well if you have a Goddess as your backer

The last thing I remember was Natha’s cold embrace, which seemed to be colder than usual. But it might also be because I was only in my nightwear. I remember feeling extremely exhausted, but also relieved that Natha was finally there.

Surely, Shwa was safe now. The child was no longer crying.

With that thought, I let go of my consciousness with a smile.

I didn’t remember much after that. When my mind came to, I felt like I was floating. My body felt weightless, and everything was dark. Where am I? I looked around, but it didn’t seem like Shwa’s empty world, nor did it feel like the galaxy of souls I used to spend rolling around while waiting for my transmigration. I guessed...this was my dream, then?

Floating aimlessly, I couldn’t move my body or my limbs to change direction--not like there was any direction. Wait--I wasn’t even sure I had limbs. My body swayed helplessly, following the flow of mana like a leaf following the course of the wind.

Was this the effect of fusing with the forest? Hmm...

Oh, wait! Mana? A flow of mana? Why was there a flow of mana here? Wasn’t this my dream?

[Come along], I heard a familiar soft voice that reminded me of a spring breeze and a sunlit garden. Oh, isn’t that Mother? Excited for something other than the darkness, I focused my consciousness on the voice and my body flowed along the mana quicker. [That’s right, come along steadily...good, good child]

Hmm? That sounded weird, but I like being praised, so I willed myself to flow through the mana channel even quicker, although I had no idea where this path would end. It was also hard to judge the flow of time in this unknown space, so I just moved and moved and moved, following the voice at the end of the mana flow.

Oh?

Suddenly, I felt like I was getting pulled by something. A tender and warm touch, like a pair of giant hands, enveloped me. I curled myself into a ball like a sleeping Jade, and the hands formed a cocoon around me.

[There you go] Mother’s voice flooded my consciousness, and when I came to, I suddenly felt a solid ground beneath me.

"Huh?" I blinked and uncurled myself, slowly adapting my eyes to the soft sunlight showering me and the garden. Still lying there, the scent of fertile soil and fresh grass tickled my nostrils, and I got up in surprise. "Oh!"

As I thought, I was in Mother’s garden. Before I could look for Her, a warm hand already caressed my hair. Gently, so gently that I could feel Her affection from it.

Turning my head to the said, I saw Her soft but forlorn smile. "You’re doing a good job," she stroked my cheeks, and I couldn’t help but grin. "But that was very reckless of you."

Oh...the corner of my lips retreated.

"Thankfully, I can still pull you out before you’re drifting too far," she let out a sigh. "Even I wouldn’t be able to do anything if your soul go to the world of nothingness."

Huh? Huuuh? Was that darkness...

I clasped my mouth and the reality of what I just did finally crashed into my mind. Of course--of course, there was no power without consequences. I used up all of my mana, and in that ’inferior’ position, I fused myself with an entire forest, which had much more mana than me. Fusion might not need mana to be activated, but the position on the scale was still determined by the might of mana.

The only reason I could hold on without losing my mind was probably the extreme emotions I had toward the enemies and the fact that the forest felt the same anger and disgust, which made it more lenient to my lack of mana. Well, I guessed they also became lenient because I had the crown and the lineage, so I bypassed the mana-level qualification.

But in the end...I couldn’t hold on.

"T-thank you..." I clasped my trembling hands, and Mother pulled me into Her embrace.

"It’s okay," She whispered soothingly. "As someone who burdened you with the task of carrying the Primordial One, it is partly my fault for not recognizing the danger it would put you through. Please forgive me, my child."

I shook my head strongly. "Shwa...Shwa is not a burden."

She pulled back and caressed my cheeks with a smile. "I know you’d think that, but I should have foreseen such a problem."

As expected, it was quite weird hearing a deity sigh. She shook her head with a regretful expression and stroked my hair. "I had sent a gift for you, although it’s just an emergency measure."

"Oh? Th-thank you?"

"Now," she smiled and my body started to feel light again. "I’ll return you swiftly before more people fall into despair."

Huh? Despair? What did she mea--

"Gasp!"

I opened my eyes with a start; the blue sky and the garden had changed into a comfortable bed and a canopy.

[P-Papaaa!]

"Young Master!"

"Valen?"

There were a lot of voices, but I could only blink and look at the canopy, still surprised by the sudden shift. Also, the terrible feeling in my body. Ugh--my muscles scolded me in protest and refused to help me move. It felt heavy to even move my tongue and lips.

"Nggh..."

Oh, at least I could whine a bit.

"Valen!" a pair of cold hands cupped my cheeks, and my lips suddenly found the energy to stretch into a smile as his face came into vision. Oh, he was still handsome even with those bloodshot eyes and messy head. Perhaps because I finally reacted, his agitation waned. "Sweetheart..."

[Papa? Papa!] Jade hopped hesitatingly near my neck, carefully touching my cheek with the end of its wing.

"Mm..." I wet my lips and tried to speak. "Morning?"

"Oh, God--" I felt his lips on my hands, and then his head on my shoulder. Oh, I wanted to hug him, but it was too heavy to even move my arms, so I stroked his cheek, which was where my fingers rested.

"M-My Lord--water..."

Oh, it was Mara; her voice sounded shaken up. Natha immediately pulled his head and propped my head with one hand and gave me water with the other. I gulped it gratefully; the itch in my throat finally eased.

"Ahh...that feels better..."

Even got my voice back. Nice. And it also seemed to be morning, so I wasn’t just saying nonsense.

Which morning, though?

[Ignis?] I contacted my partner in crime secretly.

[What?]

Oh, thankfully the Salamander was very cooperative this time--although I had no idea where Ignis was.

[Which morning is this?]

[Just the next]

Oh, phew--that wasn’t so bad, wasn’t it?

[I mean, it’s been twenty-four hours]

Hey!

Ugh...well, at least it wasn’t days, right? An improvement for sure. Thankfully, Natha didn’t look like the world had ended like before.

"Did you have a nice conversation with Mother?" I suddenly heard Amarein’s voice from the other side of the bed, and her face came into when I turned my head.

Ah...was that why Natha held himself fairly well? Mother must have informed them that I was with Her instead of drifting away to a path of no return. Otherwise, Natha wouldn’t be this calm.

Calm...

I looked at him, stroking his cheek. I remembered it was wet the last time. His eyes looked terrible, with red veins visible against his dark sclera. His hair, which was usually neat, was rather messy. But otherwise...he did not bombard me with his apology and self-loathing, nor did he scowl as if he was about to wage war with the whole world.

But those who were in the room, aside from us, were slightly shivering.

Ah...he must have been angry. So angry that it boiled down into a cold fury. Angry and scared, because I could feel a bit of his cold when I asked Ignis to pause temperature control in my body.

"Did Ignis tell you?" I asked him carefully, looking into his eyes. You know I was transported abruptly by the fairies, right? You know I didn’t have any choice but to act immediately, right?

Natha nodded wordlessly. He didn’t move away after helping me drink and kept propping my upper body, even though I already leaning against the pile of pillows behind me. Well, I didn’t mind. I leaned my head on his shoulder and sighed in relief, before gasping again.

"Shwa--!"

"Shwa is fine," Natha finally spoke again. "Thanks to you."

Oh...he wasn’t mad at me?

"How are you?" he asked; his voice was gentle, but also slightly strained.

"Just...tired?" I gave him a smile so he wouldn’t get too worried. I realized then that he had been stroking something above my chest. When I looked down, I found that I was wearing a necklace with a medallion-shaped pendant...like an amulet.

Huh? Curiously, I peered inside my body and found that mana was steadily flowing inside. Pure mana. It didn’t just help fill my mana core, but slowly activated my natural rejuvenation. Even as I observed, I could feel my muscle pain getting slowly alleviated.

"Oh..." I looked at Amarein. "Is this...Mother’s gift?"

"Yes," she nodded and stroked my head once. "The pure mana inside is not infinite, and most of it had been used to bring you back from mana-deficiency coma."

Oh...I couldn’t help but gulped, glancing at Natha cautiously.

"But there’s enough inside to maintain your condition until we can find a real solution," she smiled, also glancing at Natha. "Well--for now, my duty is done. I will let you...rest."

What was with that hesitation, Aunty?

[Papa!]

And why did you take Jade away? And Ignis? Huh? Why was everyone leaving? Swallowing hard, I bit my lips and turned to Natha.

I guessed...we should talk, huh?