The Demon Lord's Bride (BL)
Chapter 535: Who said treatment can’t be sexy?

Chapter 535: Who said treatment can’t be sexy?

Suddenly, I found myself lying in bed and staring nervously at the ceiling.

Because of the treatment? Wrong.

I was nervous because the memory of my first love was playing out in reality instead of in my mind. My eyes couldn’t leave the sight of Natha checking the device carefully, making sure the needle that would be used to pierce me was sterile and safe.

"I can’t believe you even made him put on that white coat," Izzy murmured under his breath while setting the mana container on an IV stand.

"I can’t believe I’d see an IV stand again," I replied nonchalantly, shrugging.

Nothing--nothing would make me feel bad tonight. I didn’t care even if the transfusion ended up feeling painful later on, because that--that! Because Natha followed my silly request and put on a white coat during the proceeding.

Of course, aside from Natha, only Izzy--and probably Neel to some point--understood that request. But since I was the patient, they did not question it.

Perhaps realizing my burning gaze, Natha glanced at me and smiled playfully. "Should I change my appearance too?"

"Dear Gods--no!" I crossed my forearms in sharp rejection. "This is perfect! Perfect!"

This was like...combining the love of my two lives! Who else in this world could have that kind of privilege but me? Huh? Huuh?!

Natha chuckled and stroked my cheek, which blushed from excitement. "I don’t even have the leeway to feel nervous seeing you like this."

I giggled and clasped his stroking hand. "I’m not nervous, so you shouldn’t be. Well...my heart does beat fast when I look at you though..."

"Ah, children in love are cute," D’Ara sighed from her armchair, smiling playfully as I giggled. "But let’s start soon, yes? We need to monitor it closely until the process is over after all."

"Ah, yes!"

"The container is ready. I set it to medium flow for now, so we can adjust it easier later," Izzy reported as if he were a nurse instead of an engineer.

Neel, another assistant nurse, presented the tray of another needle. Unlike the one used for drawing the mana, however, this needle was yet to be connected to the tube. Natha wanted to be extra careful while piercing me with the needle, so he didn’t want to be disturbed by the long tube.

"You know, since we don’t really need gravity, wouldn’t it still work even if we placed the container on the nightstand?" I looked up at Izzy, who narrowed his eyes coldly in response.

"Just stick to the concept, boss, the concept," he clicked his tongue. "You even made him dress as a doctor, so just go with it."

Ugh--fine, you sleep-deprived elf! I stuck out my tongue at him just as Natha took my arm and stroked my left wrist. I shifted my attention from Izzy to Natha’s thumb, which stroked a line from my wrist to my upper arm. From the way his silver eyes glowed, I could tell that he was looking for the mana vein closest to my core.

Oh, my heart was beating fast again.

Natha glanced at me and smiled, which was not helping my heart to calm down. How did I manage my heart back then? I must have been even more nervous back then, since I had no idea that Natha liked me back. Or...perhaps I managed to control my heart since I didn’t want him to realize how much he made my heart race?

"What distract you this time?" Natha asked softly, and I snapped back to reality.

"I was wondering if my heart also went this fast when you were attending to me in the past..."

"Not really," Natha chuckled while patting one spot on my wrist and rubbing it repeatedly. "It spiked for a bit, but some people reacted like that when they were receiving treatment. It wasn’t like I attended to you before, so I wouldn’t know your usual reaction."

Oh, would you look at that! I actually managed to hide my feelings in the past--unlike now. Well, it didn’t matter now though. I giggled and he rubbed my lips lightly. "Now, let me concentrate on this, okay?"

Oops! I nodded and clasped my mouth. As if in agreement, no one else spoke as Natha took the needle and removed the protector cap that was used to sterilize the needle. Even D’Ara was silent, leaning forward in her armchair to watch the process keenly.

Natha brought the needle close to my wrist, but he paused and took a deep breath. I wanted to tell him it was fine, but I was afraid it might disturb him, so I let him gather his wit in utmost concentration. Honestly, it was rather funny that he looked more serious than even the time when he had a meeting about the war. It was so endearing and also...could I say this?

He looked so sexy.

Gosh, Val--how could you have this kind of thought when you were in the middle of--oh!

I shifted my gaze from his extra handsome face to my wrist. While I was drowning in his face, the needle had successfully found my mana vein. It was...

"Wow..." I blinked at the weird sensation. It was a bit uncomfortable because the needle was attached to my wrist instead of the back of my hand, but we couldn’t help it since the mana vein was there. But what weirder was that...It felt like the needle was there, but also not there? I couldn’t describe it well, but it was different than the usual IV injection. "I don’t think you lost your skill at all, Nat..."

"Are you alright? You’re not in pain?" Natha asked hurriedly, and I shook my head with a laugh.

"No, I don’t even realize you’re already inserting it," I looked at his relieved face and giggled. "I guess being attractive is also a doctor’s skill."

"Geez...did you also flirt in the hospital?" Izzy rolled his eyes, and I would have thrown a pillow at him if I wasn’t worried about it hitting the pole instead. "Anyway, hurry up and attach the tube, Big Boss."

Look at this guy becoming more daring once his debt was cleared. I had to tell Zia later to make sure Izzy did not waste money to gamble for materials again.

But it was legit advice that Natha immediately acted upon. As if he had been fiddling with the equipment for a long time, he attached the tube with a stopper with precision. Still, he did not immediately activate the spell in the stopper. He meticulously checked if everything was connected properly, and gently attached a bandage to keep the needle and tube in place. Only then did he finally activate the stopper and let the spell work.

"Oh..." a suppressed exclaim came out of Amarein’s mouth as the dark substance in the container started to flow down the tube, all the way to my wrist.

"Ah--" I gasped slightly from the sensation of the mana entering me, but it was enough for the others to react like I was groaning.

"What’s wrong? What happened? Is it hurt?" Natha asked worriedly, holding my right hand hard while checking my pulse.

"No, no--" I shook my head immediately, patting Natha’s worried face. "I was just surprised because it feels cold."

I had meant for it to be a consolation, but Natha was getting paler instead. "C-cold? Are you really fine? We should call Ignis he--"

"Nat," I pat his cheek again, laughing. I knew I shouldn’t laugh, but he just looked so cute like this. "I really am fine. It just feels...like you."

He looked at me with a frown, so I pulled him closer and whispered. "Actually, it makes me feel at ease because it feels like you."

It had been a while, but I finally saw his ear reddened again, hehe...

"Oh, you children are so adorable," D’Ara clapped her hands, chuckling, and Natha pulled away to deal with his flusters. I could hear the sound of a relieved sigh from Amarein and Aunt Nezja, but I didn’t have the chance to look at them because D’Ara occupied my vision.

"Excuse me, sweetling, but I need to examine your core. Would it be alright?" she asked with a smile, but her hand had already touched my solar plexus.

"Uhh...sure?"

She smiled prettily and...ugh--I just realized now that the only ones who ever looked at my core besides Natha were Mother and Lord An’Hyang. The deity was whatever, since I was basically in their territory through my soul, so they did not even need to probe to look at it. My companion beasts were also fine since we were bonded, but...

Oh, I didn’t know that it would feel uncomfortable being looked at by someone else. It was like being stared at naked; you were fine with your husband and, to some point, your children, but someone else outside of your family was...a bit upsetting.

I scrambled to grab Natha tightly even though D’Ara only took a few seconds to examine my core. When it was over, I was almost breathless, gasping with widened eyes. Natha was clasping my hand gently, and she stroked my cheek apologetically.

"Forgive me," she smiled wryly. "But on a bright note, I don’t see any rejection so far. Can you check your core now?"

Oh--I blinked and looked inside myself, feeling the cold mana dripped into my core, blending with the existing mana there.

"Oh!" my lips stretched wide as I looked at Natha. "Nat, it works..."

My excited voice tapered down as tears dropped from Natha’s closed eyes to my hands. He pressed his forehead to the back of my hand and muttered, over and over again.

"Thank you...thank you..."