The Demon Lord's Bride (BL)
Chapter 531: All older sibling would matured with the arrival of the little one

Chapter 531: All older sibling would matured with the arrival of the little one

"Oh?" my eyes widened before they narrowed in suspicion. "Is this why you let me visit Shwa without a fuss?"

Natha flicked my nose and looked at me like a victim of false accusation. What? Was I wrong? He shook his head and gave his defense. "Of course not; I’m going to let you visit the shed no matter what. I know you must have been worried about Shwa after all of that."

Oh, my...you had become so wise and generous, my Lord.

He pinched my nose this time, as if enacting some revenge. "Besides, she didn’t say anything about finishing that spell."

"Huh?"

"I had been sending her letters every few hours since yesterday, so she was probably fed up with the pile of parchments and decided to just give up and give us an update so I’d stop disturbing her," Natha shrugged and chuckled lightly.

He sounded dismissive, as if it wasn’t a big deal, but I could tell he was actually hoping for the best; that D’Ara would come with the spell ready. I knew because...that was what I felt. How nice would it be if our problem could be solved like that?

Kind of...kind of like a gift, you know, after this whole debacle.

But, well...I knew from experience that it would be more helpful to keep our expectations to a minimum.

"Mm...okay," I nodded. "So you think she’ll just give us an interim update and leave?"

"Something like that."

"Well, it’s still nice to meet more people," I hugged his neck and leaned my head on his shoulder as we walked through the garden. "I want to ask her opinion about the nursery too. I’m thinking of painting the walls with the scenery of her abode, but..." I paused when I realized his face hardened suddenly. "Nat? What’s wrong?"

His lips straightened to a stiff line. From the way he did not immediately answer, I could tell that the answer was hard to convey. Or...did he think it might hurt me?

"What?" I tugged on his lapel. "Why are you not saying anything? Is there something wrong with the nursery?"

"...nothing wrong with the nursery," he replied finally, brows dipped into a frown. "Just with the one who took care of it."

A sharp gasp escaped my lips. Immediately, my mind flew to the conversation we had this morning. "A s-spy?" I asked carefully in a whisper. "Y-you think the spy came from one of the workers?"

"Not one of the workers," Natha shook his head. "The construction workers were placed in a dormitory inside the Castle, so the chance a leak come from them is slim. Even now, they are being quarantined as we speak."

Oh, that was true. But in that case, who could it be? The servants...I didn’t think they would be foolish enough. Besides, they were under an even stricter contract since they were involved directly with my daily life. The materials and logistics were handled by Arta, so I didn’t think it was from that direction either.

But then, the only one left would be...

"No!" I clasped my mouth. "B-but...he was sent by Uncle Sol?"

Natha patted my head--I had no idea it was to console me or praise my accurate guess. "From our interrogation, the nightmare mentioned ’bassinet’."

Oh, Mother! But...but we already established that the bassinet order was a secret! "N-Nat, you don’t think Uncle Sol is..."

"No, sweetheart, don’t worry," Natha stroked my head, this time a hundred percent in consolation. "He never mentioned the order to anyone, but of course, he couldn’t completely shield a working space he shared with his disciples. In the first place, he would need assistants while making our order."

"Oh, so..."

"I couldn’t even blame him," Natha shook his head while exhaling heavily. "Spying on us was one thing, but that person betrayed the master who had been teaching him for more than ten years."

"Ten years!"

I gasped; it wasn’t me, but even I felt hurt by it. Of course, you would trust a disciple who had been under you for more than ten years! That was why Uncle Sol confidently sent the demon to take care of our place, probably even with the bassinet project. That person must have been helping Uncle Sol with a lot of projects before too.

"Even more than us, I think the Grandmaster is the one hit the most right now," Natha said with a clear sympathy in his voice. He probably thinking about how he would feel if one of his vassals betrayed him.

"B-but...why? Why would he do that?"

"As of now, that person had run away before we could find out anything," Natha said. "But from Opti’s investigation, there seems to be a connection with the Realm of Pride in his past."

Oh, come on!

"So it’s indeed your whole band of enemies, huh?" I let out a sigh. "I won’t even get surprised if the Lord of Envy was involved somehow."

Natha let out a dry chuckle. The underlying grimness in that sound told me I was right again. Heh--my brain had been working well these days. Maybe because I had been reading books again, hehe...

"Then...what about Uncle Sol?" I asked worriedly. He must have been a huge blow for him; not only because of the betrayal, but because it could jeopardize the Tower’s relationship with the Lord--which means jeopardizing his position too.

His dark circle must have grown thicker.

"He told me he’s going to hunt his disciple himself and deliver him to you as an apology," Natha said. "He said he’d be too embarrassed to face you otherwise."

"Oh..."

"Ah, but the bassinet is done, so you don’t have to worry," he added.

Oh, I didn’t even think about that, but...nice?

"Oh, we can check the bassinet soon, then?"

"I guess," Natha nodded. "It should come tomorrow morning."

"Great! We can check on it with D’Ara! Oh--and ask about that wallpaper painting!" I clasped my hands, right as we arrived in front of the Lord’s Quarter.

Natha stared at me silently for a few seconds, stopping in front of the door. When I tilted my head to look at him inquisitively, he suddenly started laughing and showered me with kisses all the way inside the suite. Ugh--damn it! We were outside, my Lord! The two dozen guards you put around the Lord’s Quarter were witnessing this! And the servants!

[Papa!]

Oh gosh--and my child!

[Where’s Papa been?] My little bird escaped Zia’s embrace and flew to my pace, nuzzling my cheeks.

"I was visiting Shwa," I laughed and held the shocked little bird. "Don’t blame me for leaving you! You were napping with Zia."

Jade puffed its already chubby cheek in disappointment. Surprisingly though, the little bird only sulked for a few seconds before making a straight, serious face. I looked at Natha, who was equally surprised.

"What is it?" I stroked the plump cheek inquisitively. "Why are you suddenly quiet?"

[Jade won’t make a fuss for something like that] Jade crossed its wings, not even using an exclamation.

"Wow...what is it? Is my baby growing up?"

[Jade grow up!] the little bird nodded, back on using that exclamation point. [Jade need to grow up so Jade can protect Master and Shwa!]

How many times had I gasped that day? But oh, screw it! I gasped again.

Oh, my sweet, sweet baby! I held my fluffy little ball of feathers and kissed the lovely green head. "Oh, baby...thank you so much. But you’ve done well, you know. You caught the bad nightmare, didn’t you?"

[Yes, Jade is great!]

Pfft--that was a fast agreement.

[But Jade need to be greater! More powerful!] Jade stood up on my shoulder and raised its wing as if making an oration. For some reason, everyone--even the guards and the servants--paid attention to the series of chirping. [Jade need to be powerful enough so Papa won’t have to do anything!]

My baby! My child! My beautiful bird! I clapped my hands enthusiastically, and Zia followed while laughing joyfully--even though she wouldn’t have any idea what Jade was talking about. Natha chuckled and clapped too, while Ignis flicked its tail against the fireplace.

Mara and Panne were the first ones to follow suit, and the other servants started clapping too. The guards had no idea what happened, but they peeked out and clapped quietly, grinning.

And just like that, the living room suddenly filled with applause even though the only ones who understood Jade were me, Natha, and Ignis.

But who cares? We needed some joy after all that depressing incident. Lesta said it was also important for the Lords to show the people that we were fine, healthy, and as strong as ever. Yep!

It was during this festive mood that a breeze suddenly blew in the middle of the living room.

"You seem to be having fun."

Again, for who knew how many times that day, I gasped; staring agape at the lady materialized in thin air. "D’Ara!"

[Teacher!]

"Teacher?" even Natha stood up in surprise. "You said--"

"I know," she raised her hand to stop Natha from speaking any further. "But I got it done faster than I thought."

Another gasp escape my mouth. "No way! Do you mean..."

D’Ara nodded; her smile looked like the most beautiful thing in my eyes at that time. "Yes. I finish the spell."