The Demon Lord's Bride (BL)
Chapter 53: It’s called guilty by association

Chapter 53: It’s called guilty by association

I hated this.

I hated—

"I get it," his soft, gentle voice enveloped me along with his embrace. "I get it, sweetheart, you don’t have to," he caressed my hair and pressed my head on his shoulder. "It’s okay, you can even throw it out if you want, or let it hidden forever. I’m sorry for talking about it, yeah?"

As I felt his gentle kiss on my temple, my mind and heart gradually became calmer, and I nodded against his chest.

"Thank you," he pulled me back and caressed my trembling cheek tenderly. "Do you not want to bring it out?"

I nodded wordlessly, and he smiled at that. "Even though I said you don’t have to feel guilty over that?"

"I know that...but..."

Actually, rather than guilt, I felt disgusted. Hatred. It was a tool that hurt someone I liked, so wouldn’t it be a given that I’d hate it?

"Alright, then we won’t talk about it," he leaned down and kissed me lightly. "But I hope you can just forget about it, sweetheart. I hope you can lighten your heart, yeah?"

I bit my lips, and hide my face in the crook of his neck, clutching him tightly. "I’ll try..."

I promised him—I promised myself.

"Alright," he held me tight, and stroked my hair until I relaxed inside his arms. "Good boy,"

I was anxious just a minute ago, but now I was wholly embarrassed—both from acting childishly and from feeling flustered by his pet calling.

Strangely, it felt good being called that.

I guess something really was wrong with me.

I pulled away, flushing deeply, and he kissed my blushing cheek with a small laugh. "Feeling better?"

"Yeah..."

"Good," he circled his arms around my waist, and it felt like yesterday again, when we were on the swing. It made me feel good. "If you have that kind of disturbing thought again, don’t hesitate to call me through the orb, alright?"

"Even in the middle of the day?" I asked hesitantly.

With a gentle touch that felt more reassuring than anything, he pinched my chin. "Don’t think about the time. Don’t even think about urgency. Call me even if you only want to ask what I have for breakfast,"

Hey, that was a bit excessive, wasn’t it?

"So...it seems like you won’t be able to come much then," I pursed my lips slightly, fiddling with the green necklace above his chest. "Seeing that you tell me to call often..."

"Mm, unfortunately," he got up suddenly, without warning, with me still on his hold. I held his shoulder in a haste and gasped as he walked toward the couch in the next room while carrying me, with Jade following us. "I can only come once every seven days,"

Oh, that wasn’t bad. So...like, on the weekend, right?

"But I’ll definitely come during that promised time. I won’t make you wait for more than that," he put me down on the armchair in front of the fireplace, which was already being refired by one of the humanoid golem maids. Jade landed softly on the chair’s backrest, folding its green wings and curled into a ball there. Natha stroked my cheek then, and looked at me with a disappointed gaze. "Although it would be better if you just move to the Lord Castle."

Oh, right—I forgot about that. What exactly happened to his convincing effort or whatever? "Is it impossible, after all?" I asked carefully.

Natha chuckled a bit, before walking out of my sight toward the table that held my morning herbal drink—I felt like I couldn’t start my morning without that anymore.

"It’s not that it’s impossible," he said, "I could take you there now if I want—if you want,"

He stopped speaking for a while, and I peeked at him through the back of the chair. "But?"

"But I don’t want you to suffer any hardship there. I want you to live there without worry, just enjoying yourself," I heard the sound of water pouring into the cup as he continued. "I have a plan—I’ll pave the way so smoothen your road," he turned then, my steaming drink in his hand and a smile on his face. "Wait for me a bit,"

Honestly, it didn’t really matter to me. I said it already, I didn’t need people’s acceptance, only his. But it was also true that I couldn’t stay freely beside him with people throwing stones at me.

So I just replied simply; "Okay,"

He gave me the warm cup with an even warmer smile, pinching my cheek as if I was a child, which made me pout involuntarily. Well, I also didn’t think I could go anywhere until Jade was strong enough to live detached from the rich elemental environment.

"There’s also something else I want to do first," he continued while watching me drink. "I want to put a portal here."

I paused and pulled the cup away from me before I got choked by the drink. "You mean...that thing we can use to teleport with?"

"Yes,"

People who played games were usually familiar with this; a device one could use to move long distances with, entering one gate and then appearing on another, usually between towns as checkpoints. In another word, we could teleport without having any teleportation skill.

Was he saying he’d put a teleportation portal here, in the Lair? "Here and..."

"The Lord Castle, of course," he walked back to the tray to get his own drink—a very thick and unsweetened tea. "This place is the most ideal place for you to cultivate in the whole demon realm, so I want to make sure you can go back and forth as you like without me. You probably want to visit Zidoa often too,"

Oh...he thought about all of that? Actually...if I was allowed to be completely completely honest, I had already grown attached to this place—his Lair—that I considered it as home. While I did want to be able to spend more time with him, leaving this place was quite...scary, if I had to say.

But...

Communication device was one thing—it was like a phone in a way. But teleportation gates were in a whole level altogether. As far as I know, in this world, such things were only available in the Magic tower and the palace of very wealthy nations. The materials, the skills, and the fuel needed to erect these gates weren’t something achievable unless one was extremely wealthy or planning to commercialize it, like the magic tower.

And yet he wanted to build one in his Lair? Just to make sure I could travel easily between here and the Lord Castle?

"Isn’t that expensive?" I stared at him with concern, watching him take a seat on the other armchair.

But he just smirked and asked me back casually. "Who am I, my dear bride?"

...Matsa Ra Natha, the Demon Lord of Greed, the wealthiest of the demon realm.

The silver eyes curled at my silence, "What’s the use of my wealth if I don’t use it for my beloved, mm?" he said, before casually sipping on his tea.

Ah...suddenly, I remembered something from my past life. Something my grandfather said to me when I told him it was a waste of money to keep treating me, since everyone kept on saying I wouldn’t be able to reach adulthood.

—what used is all my wealth if I don’t use it for my lovely grandson?

My grandfather said that, even gave me a way to keep receiving treatment after he died. I thought it was a wasted effort initially, since my life ended early anyway. But thanks to that, I got to live all the way to my early twenties, meeting that author girl, and that young doctor.

And perhaps...perhaps that was what made me able to cross over here.

Meeting this demon in front of me.

I jumped from my chair, the floor a little bit chilly in my naked feet. Raising his brow, Natha opened his arm to welcome me back into his lap, as I climb and circled my arms around his neck, kissing him.

"This is nice," he chuckled against my lips, placing his hand on my hips. "I don’t even need to seduce you,"

"When will you go?" I asked him and realized my voice was a bit weak.

Perhaps I did miss him a bit too much. Even though I had been used to his one-day presence and long absence, this time it was way harder to let him go.

"After breakfast," he kissed my chin, and then my cheeks, and let out a small sigh. "Ah...I want to keep you in my pocket and bring you everywhere," he leaned on my shoulder and laughed.

"That actually sounds scary..."

More because this was a fantasy world and it seemed possible to turn me into pocket-size with a snap of fingers.

He laughed even louder, and I suddenly got peppered with kisses all over my face. "Hmm...I’ll get you something next time," he said while nuzzling my neck, and I got an itchy feeling on the tip of my fingers to touch his beautiful curved horns.

But I remembered his reaction at that time and curled my hand into a fist to avoid any impulses, and just focused on his words instead. "What will you get me?"

"That royal druid’s cultivation manual you wanted,"

I blinked at that, and pulled myself away from him so I could see if he was serious about it. "But...I thought everything was destroyed by the Empire?" at least, that was what Doun told me.

"Not everything," he answered with a smile. "There should be some hiding in a collector’s treasury, or circulating in the black market,"

"Really? Wouldn’t it be hard getting those?"

"I have my way," He flashed me a charming smile, the silver eyes glinting confidently. "And I could always extort—I mean, ask one of the tribe’s chief for that,"

"Hey!"

He laughed again, kissing my pouting lips lightly. "Don’t worry, I won’t do anything harmful to your kin."

"...it’s not like I know them," I shrugged. But still, it didn’t feel comfortable to receive something through extortion.

It was a different case with the manual from the robbed palace’s treasury, though, since they were stolen goods in the first place. And if Valmeier was truly the descendant of the royal family, he had the right over those things then.

Actually, he also had the full right over the accursed spear embedded in this hand.

Oh, that fucking kingdom!