The Demon Lord's Bride (BL)
Chapter 536: Marriage means we share all the burdens together

Chapter 536: Marriage means we share all the burdens together

"No side effect presented so far," Neel made a report after half the container had been transfused into my system. "How are you feeling inside, Boss?"

"Fine," I nodded. "Great."

I had started feeling bored since all I did was lie down. Natha had gone to draw more mana, and the Aunties watched him since they hadn’t seen it before--and they didn’t want to disturb me by having conversations with me. Izzy, after making sure the device ran well, went downstair to talk to Zia and Jade so they wouldn’t get too worried.

"No complications on the inside too, okay. How much had your mana increased?"

"Around...five percent?"

"You monster."

The hell? Neel made another note in her report before glancing at the container. "So this flow is fine. Would you like to increase it? I think the drawing process is almost done."

"Sure?"

"I’ll go consult with the Progenitor," she said before walking away, leaving me alone in the bed.

I took this rare time when I was completely alone to think about some stuff. With this method proven to be effective, I wouldn’t need to be too concerned about my mana level. Of course, we still have no idea if receiving mana from other people constantly would be good for me. Who knows, if more mana inside my body was other’s mana, it might start to mess with my core.

Still, we avoided the situation where I would be left helpless without mana stones. As it happened, there were a lot of people willing to be my donors--which almost made me shed tears like Natha earlier.

Ahem. Anyway, it meant I would be able to be more active. I had stayed cooped up inside for too long, making it easier for our enemy to think that I was an easy target.

Honestly, I was pissed. Becoming Natha’s kryptonite was one thing, but having them think they could just come after me? I was sick of it. They did it before when they sent those assassins I had no idea about, and they did it again this time. Sure, they came from different enemies, but that only showed how much they underestimated me, thinking they could use me to hurt Natha.

Using me.

It was a triggering concept that got me boiled up inside.

I did tell Natha to deliver the kind of payback that would make everyone shiver in their boots, but that didn’t mean I wanted Natha to do it alone. I wanted us to do it together. I didn’t like the concept of being the source of someone’s fear before because it reminded me of how people saw Valmeier--in fear and hatred--but then...I realized that was how people looked at Natha too.

He brought fear due to his race, and he brought hatred due to his accomplishments. And if that was how people saw my husband, I would be glad to be seen with the same gaze. If that gaze, in return, would be able to shield Shwa from harm, then...I would gladly bear that gaze.

Wasn’t that what Natha had been doing? Wasn’t that what my grandfather did in the past?

I wanted people to immediately say ’it’s foolish!’ and ’just die on your own’ when someone said they wanted to harm us.

Yep.

Hmm...but how should I go about having that kind of effect?

"Whatever you’re thinking right now, stop it."

Suddenly, Natha’s voice pulled me out of my random pondering. I blinked and looked at him, who was staring at me with a suspicious gaze in his eyes. W-Why? Did he start sensing my thoughts again?

"You make a face you always have when you are about to get into trouble," the silver eyes narrowed.

"Wh-what kind of face is that?"

"The kind where you seem to be giggling silently," Natha said while placing a new container on the nightstand.

I did that? I grimaced and averted my gaze since I couldn’t lie about having some...thoughts. My objective aside, it was hard to imagine a scenario where Natha would allow me to ’show off’ my power--not while my mana was still tied to Shwa. No amount of ’I’m fine’ would convince him I was truly fine.

Perhaps I’d have a better chance consulting D’Ara first. She should be able to convince Natha more anyway.

So I just shrugged and glanced at the first container. "Are we going to hasten the flow?"

Natha’s eyes narrowed even more, but he didn’t chase me for explanations--thankfully. He looked at D’Ara and Neel who were tinkering with the regulator, and they nodded. "Let’s up it by one level and see how you feel."

Again, I shrugged and waited and--I flinched again. Natha flinched with me and made a worried face again, but I immediately grabbed his lower face to cover his mouth. "I’m fine, it’s just cold!" I stared at Natha keenly to make sure he did not go into panic again. "The mana is fine, but it’s a bit uncomfortable because of the cold."

"I see," D’Ara nodded and returned the flow to medium. "You’ll probably be fine with Ignis’s fire, but let’s just stick to the medium for now."

I agreed readily; it wasn’t like the process was slow too. It took around thirty minutes for half of the container to be transfused, so it took an hour to go through the whole thing. Not bad, right? I’d get around ten percent more mana with each container, so for now, at the end of the session, I would get twenty percent more.

Seventy percent of my mana core would be filled, so yay!

"How about it, Lady D’Ara? Is it possible to use my mana too?" Amarein asked eagerly.

"Hmm...it should be alright," D’Ara said; but before Amarein’s happy smile could fully form, she added. "I don’t recommend too much mana entering his system in this way, however."

Oh? All of our attention was back on D’Ara again, who was now tapping the stopper connected to the needle in my wrist. "Unlike vampires, our sweetling here was not meant to receive mana from sentient beings. Even now, the mana from Natha has to be processed through this formation here to make it as close as it can be to the mana in our surroundings," she explained. "But of course, we cannot completely do that, which means the mana entering Valen’s system still maintains the source’s identity, however diluted."

"Oh!" I exclaimed in realization. "That’s why it feels cold!"

"Full mark, sweetling!" D’Ara snapped her fingers, and I had this thought that she treated me the same as Jade. Uhh...we all probably looked the same in her eyes, after all; just babies. But she continued; "And so, the one who needs to work hard to process the mana further is Valen’s body."

"Ah..."

"There’s no side effect now, but if we transfuse a lot of mana continuously, it will burden his body."

Natha held my hand with a frown on his face, but I tickled his palm and laughed. "Why are you making that face? It’s not like you have to give me lots and lots--or are you going to pump me full of mana until it overflows?"

"Our sweetling is right; just two or three containers wouldn’t pose a problem," D’Ara smiled and patted my head. "This amount is enough for him to run around healthily. Rather than giving him a lot at once, let’s just prepare a few in advance in case the baby sucks more during the next growth phase."

"Is it possible to store a lot of it?" Natha and Amarein asked simultaneously.

"Who do you think I am? I’ve made a storage for them already," D’Ara scoffed. I started to think her three tickets during our first meeting were just for fun, seeing how generous she was with everything. She looked at Natha and Amarein--the most eager ones--and warned them. "The storage is not the problem, however. You can’t keep drawing your mana and let your own core empty."

"So what? I won’t die without mana, unlike druids," Natha’s stubborn side, which always subconsciously appeared in front of his teacher, came out as expected.

And he received a hard flick in his forehead. Thank you, Teacher.

"And how can you protect him from harm if you have no mana, you brat?" D’Ara flicked him again for good measure, and I nodded in agreement--not about protecting me, but I didn’t want Natha to draw all of his mana and unable to protect himself. Also...

"How will you teleport to me if you don’t have mana?" I pursed my lips, and he started to panic.

"I...won’t be leaving--"

"What about your work? Don’t you still have to go to the office? Don’t you still need to address the court and the citizens?"

"That’s..."

"You said four, so I won’t take more of it! I will tell Izzy to ban you from drawing more than that," I told him firmly. "He doesn’t owe you anymore, so he’ll listen to me more because his exoneration is in my hands."

Well, not really--but I was the one who could coax the elves anyway!

I wanted to cross my arms to assert more dominance but I couldn’t, so I glared at him. He looked like a sad puppy suddenly, with a helpless expression on his face.

"Sweetheart..."

Ugh--that wasn’t fair! My expression almost wavered, but D’Ara came in clutch and bonked Natha’s head. "Just listen to your husband, brat!"

"Ugh--"

"Haa...I shall retreat from this drama and make more containers with my colleague," Neel rolled her eyes and walked away, prompting me to laugh in the end.

Oh, well...

"Neel, please tell Izzy to let Jade and Zia come upstairs."

It should be alright now.

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