The Demon Lord's Bride (BL)
Chapter 537: It’s always nice being dotted on no matter how old you are

Chapter 537: It’s always nice being dotted on no matter how old you are

Only after Neel left the room did I remember to ask. "It’s fine...right?" I looked at D’Ara and Natha, grinning sheepishly.

"I supposed," thankfully, Natha agreed this time. He rubbed my wrist, the part around the bandage, gently. "We only need to change the container after all. Although...I don’t think having Jade here while I take out the needle later would be good."

"A child needs to learn," D’Ara said.

"No; I think the kid will tell me to never get close to Valen ever again," Natha said seriously, but not because he was worried about being shooed away from me. "We’ll get into a big fight and Valen will get exhausted."

Pfft--I couldn’t help but laugh with D’Ara since Natha said it very seriously as if he were talking about a war strategy. No, no--I knew his worry was valid, and I also didn’t want to expose Jade to the shocking sight of me getting pierced. Still...it was funny.

[Papa!]

And then the bird came, followed by Zia and Ignis perching on her shoulder. Jade almost flew straight at a fast speed as usual, but Natha raised his hand on the bird’s path and grabbed Jade’s slowing body before the bird could reach me.

[Why? Why?!]

Obviously, Jade was confused and annoyed. "Be careful," Natha said sternly. "Your Papa is in the middle of treatment, so you can’t make a mess."

Jade would protest about how it never ’made a mess’ usually, but the word ’treatment’ seemed to stop the little bird. Instead, Jade was gasping. [Oh! Jade sorry!]

"It’s okay," I chuckled at this over-protective behavior. It wasn’t like I was in pain, but...it was also a good time to teach Jade to be careful. "You can come carefully."

Jade hopped off Natha’s loosening grip and gently landed on my shoulder, nuzzling my cheek in apology. [Jade sorry, Papa. Is Papa in pain?]

"I’m not, you don’t need to worry. Just be careful not to knock on the equipment, okay?" I stroked the green neck and only then that Jade realize the existence of the pole with a container hanging from it.

The beady eyes widened into a perfect round shape while watching the dark blue liquid flow through the tube into my system. [Oh! Ooh!] the little bird started to jump in intrigue. [Why Jade sense Natha there! The blue water thing feel like Natha!]

"Oh, aren’t you smart?" I replied in surprise. "That’s his mana."

Again, Jade chirped in surprise, and Zia gasped. I was sure Izzy had explained it, but he probably did it in a technical way that was hard for someone who had never known the concept before to understand. And so, I explained in a simple term to both Zia and Jade, which ended in the little bird weirdly bragging to Natha.

[Hmmph! Jade don’t need the weird stuff to give Papa mana!]

Natha smirked childishly. "But I can give so much more."

The little bird was aghast. [Th-that’s only because Jade still small! Jade will give more to Papa when Jade grow!]

"Oh? But you always said you’re not small. You said you are already a grown-up."

[That’s...that’s...]

In the end, I still had to smack this demon who was too eager to tease the child despite saying all those things about not exhausting me. Geez.

"That’s because he never had any sibling before," D’Ara whispered in my ear while we watched Natha and Jade keep bickering on the said.

When I was giggling because of that, Zia scooted closer while staring at my left wrist. "Is it uncomfortable?" she asked curiously, perhaps because I never moved my left arm.

"Not inside, but it’s hard to move my hand while I’m like this," I tried to wiggle my arm; it would be easier if the needle were on the back of my hand, but since it was in my wrist, the tube ran across my palm and it was a bother to get it off every time. So, in the end, I just let my left arm rest on top of a pillow.

Perhaps summoned by my voice--or tired bickering with Natha--Jade came over. [It’s okay, Papa! Jade will become Papa’s hand!]

"Oh my..." D’Ara chuckled at the confident statement, although it was doubtful that the pair of wings would be much helpful in grabbing things.

"Thank you, Jade," I patted the proud little bird. "But don’t you have some training you need to do?"

The green eyes made the adorable round shape again, and the little beaks parted in shock as Jade looked back and forth between me and D’Ara. [Oh...but...oh...]

It was so adorable that I couldn’t help but laugh. "Pfft--it’s okay, Jade--Natha will become my hand."

And this husband of mine had the cheek to smirk in triumph.

[Mmh...] The chubby bird’s cheek puffed in annoyance, although it didn’t take long for Jade to make a concession. [Fine! Jade will let Natha serve Papa this time!]

"I have been serving him from the start, though?" Natha tilted his head, and I had to smack him from embarrassment.

What were you saying in front of a child?!

[Oh, right!] Jade replied while clapping its wings, which made me worried.

What? What was ’right’?! What do you know?!

[Because Natha belongs to Papa!]

Oh...

Natha nodded with an approving smile. "That I agree."

Hey! I pinched him in embarrassment because D’ara was laughing loudly. She even told the two aunties about our conversation with Jade and I had to pull a blanket over my boiling face. D’Ara got even more cheery and ruffled my hair with a big smile on her face.

Hmm...she seemed to be having fun, so I decided to just sigh it out. I’d just take it as a price of using her generosity--like a ticket or something.

She was very cheerful and talked a lot that night, to the point that Amarein and Zia no longer felt jittery about her presence. Even the servants had started to treat her as another guest instead of this mysterious demigod. Was it because she was happy about the transfusion’s success, or did she just want to mingle with other people after working alone for days...weeks?

Maybe she got hooked on hanging out with more people after our wedding...

"Are you staying, D’Ara?" I asked when the second container was almost empty. Her business should be over after the equipment worked with no issue, but someone who always came and went quickly like the wind didn’t show any sign of leaving this time.

She tilted her head. "Of course?"

"You said that like you’ve been living here forever," Natha narrowed his eyes.

"Why? I have my children’s home here," she shrugged. "I should decorate the empty house more--they really have no sense."

"Don’t be an annoying mother-in-law."

D’Ara gasped and her wine glass paused in the air. "What do you mean annoying?"

And Natha started to list several things that made them argue back and forth. I wondered if this was how they were back in the day too, and I couldn’t help but giggle imagining it. It must have been even funnier since Natha was way more stubborn and petty in the past.

Oh--I wondered how Lesta was dealing with her. Natha said she had a tendency to show her love forcefully; and since Eruha was the youngest, he received a lot of it. Lesta, as Eruha’s Eternal and someone even younger, would look very adorable in her eyes.

Lesta never said he disliked it, though. He was just having a hard time getting used to it because...well, the twins never knew their parents and Malta never wanted to talk about them. It was like getting adopted by a dotting parent after spending seventy years having none. Must have been awkward.

But Lesta was speaking about it with reddened ears and slightly sparkling eyes though, so he must be thinking it was nice too.

"Humm..."

"What is it, sweetling?" D’Ara suddenly turned to look at me, which made the others look at me too.

I, who didn’t think anyone hearing my nonchalant humming, got flustered. "Huh? Oh, no...nothing."

But of course, someone who knew me well, namely my husband, would be able to see my lie even if I shook my head strongly. Or probably because I shook my head strongly. "He probably thinking about how nice would it be to have a mother-in-law."

"N-no?!" I got panicked until I saw Natha was smiling playfully.

Oh, I was afraid it would hurt him since I knew he loved his mother, but...he seemed to be...fine? Well...

"...a bit? Hehe..." I scratched my cheek as my lips drew a sheepish grin. To be exact, I was intrigued about how it might feel since Lesta seemed to like it. "O-oh, b-but...but Aunt Nezja kind of...like that...right?"

I looked at Aunt Nezja carefully, and she made a bewildered expression. "Hmm? That’s..."

"I think it’s better to have you, Aunt, rather than my mother," Natha nonchalantly said.

Umm...N-Nat? I thought you loved your mother?

Look--even Aunt Nezja was flabbergasted.

"It’s true," Natha shrugged. "I loved her, but I don’t think she’ll be a good mother-in-law."

"Oh..." I looked at his relaxed expression before thinking about my own family. Well...mine wasn’t very complicated. "I don’t think mine would too..."

Natha stroked my hair with a smile. "The druids are all welcoming though...to some extent," he chuckled softly.

"As long as you treat Valen right," Amarein nodded.

"He always does!" I replied quickly, making the sleepy Jade flinch in surprise and the aunties laugh.

Well...it might not exactly mother-in-law, but I still gained a lot of family members. A total win, wouldn’t you think?

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