The Demon Lord's Bride (BL)
Chapter 551: It’s fine to test your husband once in a while

Chapter 551: It’s fine to test your husband once in a while

For the umpteenth time that day, I let out a sigh; staring blankly outside the window from the empty research floor. The cushions scattered around the carpet were a reminiscence of how many people hung out there in the past; Izzi, Zia, Lesta, sometimes Eruha...

None of them were here now.

I felt so heartbroken.

"Are you alright, Young Master?" the imps asked worriedly, holding a blanket and a tray filled with all kinds of warm drinks.

Oh, I guessed it wasn’t truly empty, but...

Haa...it’s different.

"Are you sad, Young Master?" Arta stroked my head, and my lower lip just jutted out in response.

"You think?"

She chuckled and just kept stroking my head. "Oh, how it saddens me to know I’m no longer enough to accompany you..."

"What are you talking about when you have been so busy this month?" I pursed my lips and rolled to the other side, prompting Arta to laugh.

I knew it wasn’t Arta’s fault that she was busy taking care of logistics in the middle of winter, and she didn’t have any obligation to accompany me--it wasn’t on her job list, per se. But I was feeling lonely and sad and wanted to be a brat about it.

[Papa...] Jade jumped across the thick fur carpet and nuzzled my cheek. [Papa is sad because of Zia?]

"Mm..." I pulled the little bird closer and buried my nose in the plump belly. Jade patted my forehead with the colorful wings and I exhaled heavily against my child’s feathers. "Jade, can you turn again? I want to hug you..."

Of course, I could hug the elemental bird Jade, but I wanted the full feeling of a child’s body. But my little bird, who was usually very enthusiastic about turning into a boy, and never rejected my request, looked conflicted.

[Umm...but Jade...Teacher said...]

"You can’t," D’Ara suddenly popped up as if the word ’teacher’ summoned her presence. She picked Jade up from my hold and I raised my body, pouting in disappointment.

"Why?"

"Jade is in the middle of consolidating a more complex mana circuit system--we can’t afford to complicate the mana system now," D’Ara explained.

I had no idea what she was talking about, but I understood it was connected to Jade’s training. So I went back to sighing and plopped down on the pillow again. No matter how lonely I was, I wouldn’t go as far as hindering my child’s personal development.

Ugh...was my hormones messing up again?

"W-would you like to have a warm drink, Young Master?" the imps asked me carefully. "You might feel a bit better."

Oh, my poor imps--they looked so confused and lost. They must be wondering what they had to do after Izzi left. To be honest, I had no idea if this research floor was still necessary, or if I should move Neel here. But it wasn’t something I could decide by myself. Everything was built with Natha’s money after...all...

Oh!

"Nat..." I sat up and muttered his name. Feeling unsatisfied, I did it again, louder this time. "Natha!"

Naturally, the others looked at me strangely--even D’Ara. But when the wind blew inside the room and black feathers fluttered around us, they understood it right away. Still, they were astonished that my husband came out of nowhere just from me calling his name.

Honestly, so did I.

I mean, I didn’t even use our brand to call him you know...

"Sweetheart?" his voice came before the feathers even dissipated. He walked over and held my hand. "What’s wrong?"

"...wow," that was the only thing I could say at that moment.

[Wow!] Even Jade was amazed, clapping soundlessly with a pair of wings.

"Hmm?"

"You really came..." I stared at him blankly.

"Of course, I will?" he tilted his head. "I promised you."

"I know! I just..." I fiddled with his fingers and said bashfully. "I didn’t think you’d come this fast."

He chuckled and flicked my nose lightly. "Isn’t that the point of me staying near?"

"Hehe..."

I scratched my raised cheek awkwardly, and pulled him to sit on the pile of pillows beside me. He smelled of parchment and ink, and something about him rushing to me in the middle of work was...nice? It wasn’t nice for me to think like that, but what kind of person wouldn’t like it when their husband prioritized them over their work?

Just that fact alone getting me giggling. I hugged his arm and leaned against his shoulder.

"So? Is something wrong?" Natha asked.

Oh--I didn’t even remember that something was wrong before.

[Papa is sad!] Jade informed him from D’Ara’s arm.

"Sad?" Natha looked at me with a frown at first, but after he scrutinized my embarrassed face, he gave me a gentle smile. "Because Zidoa left?"

"Mm..."

It was silly, wasn’t it? I acted like I would never see her again. What right do I have to tell Jade it would be alright and to not cry yesterday?

"...I’m sorry," Natha, who was stroking my cheek gently, suddenly spoke with a forlorn, guilty tone.

The confusion immediately shoved away the initially prevailing sadness. "Huh? Why are you apologizing?"

"Well...I was the one pushing her into that situation, in a way," he smiled wryly while brushing my fringe aside.

"Oh, you’re right," I almost nodded. Almost. "But no! It’s that incubus fault!" I frowned and pursed my lips.

Damn it--if it wasn’t for those incubi, Zia wouldn’t have to become the Clan Head and Natha wouldn’t have to feel guilty about this. I clicked my tongue and pulled him down to whisper in his ear so Jade wouldn’t hear. "Can I slap him once before you ship him back to Lust?"

Jade looked at me inquisitively, but I had enough of the little bird chirping around saying [Slapping time! Slapping time!] the last time. Imagined if it was the boy Jade and the little boy running around the Castle saying it was slapping time?

People would think I had a hobby of slapping people!

Natha laughed at my inquiry. "You can make a visit," he curled his lips, adding with an arched brow. "As a relative."

"Ooh..."

"Anyway, there’s another thing I need to apologize for,"

My frown formed naturally. "What now?"

"I said that thing about the portal to the human realm, but..." he didn’t finish his words, almost as if he was stopped by self-disappointment.

"No, no--" I shook my head swiftly and grabbed his hand. "It’s not your fault that they are not at home."

Remember when Heraz came to report that they were going to the Goddess loyalists’ church? They were supposed to go and save the captured virgins afterward, and it seemed like they had yet to finish that business.

"Who knew a quest to clean a blasphemous kingdom could take this long," I shrugged.

Just kidding; I knew it wasn’t easy to topple a whole kingdom--or at least the whole royal family and the nobles who stood by the tradition of sacrificing virgins for power. Even resolving a civil war took months, and this time, they even had to infiltrate the place carefully since they would fight the whole kingdom.

So, yeah...they would have to spend months if not years to have it done. Creating a rebellion wasn’t as easy and fun as in the games and novels you know...

I looked at Natha and we both laughed. I remembered thinking that Natha might want me for sacrifice, and it was so funny. Oh, the kind of thought I had back in the day; from becoming a virgin sacrifice to a part of Demon Lord’s harem...

"Ahh..." I leaned against Natha’s chest and let out a soft, relieved sigh. When did I even move to his lap?

And when did everyone leave the room?

It was just the two of us, leaning against a pile of pillows while staring outside the window. The sky looked bleaker than a while ago, but my heart felt so much lighter. The cold on my back felt more comfortable than a hot spring.

"Feeling better?" Natha asked while stroking my hair.

"Yeah..." I replied dazedly, because it felt so magical how fact I calmed down. "It’s amazing..."

"I’m glad," he chuckled and hugged my waist, settling his intertwined hand over my tummy. "For your information, you have the same effect on me."

I laughed and looked up to see his soft smiling face. "Is that why you sometimes leave your office to hug me for a minute and then return?"

"Oh, I’m caught,"

I giggled and turned around slightly to kiss his curled lips. When I turned to look out the window again, my head had become clearer. "I guess...when you grow up, you’ll start splitting up, huh?"

"It’s rare for a group of friends to have the exact same path all their life."

"Yeah..." I exhaled slowly. I just wished we had more time before it all happened so we could have a long talk and maybe go to the amusement park once more. "Will Zia have a hard time?"

"Depends on how she brings herself in front of them," Natha said. "But don’t worry; Aleena and Aunt will train her."

"I’m glad," I nodded. Aleena might be too busy with the Lord’s work, but Aunt Nezja should be an excellent teacher. "Oh, when will you send those incubi back? I need to see him first."

"The New Year isn’t far away, so probably next week."

"Oh, that’s fast!"

"There’s no reason to waste tax money on them," Natha scoffed.

Oh, I completely agree. Of course, Natha also had a lot of money, but why waste our hard-earned money for assholes?

Even if he was my best friend’s brother.

"Hmm...with this, we’re done with all of them, right?"

And by that I meant that we had decided on the punishment. Of course, it was still in progress, but there was no need for us to keep supervising them. Angwi and the other vassals would do a good job.

"The ones in our basement, at least," Natha muttered.

"Huh?"

"We still have the ones hiding; the sponsors and the ones behind the whole operation."

My eyes widened--oh, I completely forgot about that! I turned to face him, but someone knocked on the door before I could. I raised my brow curiously, and a guard entered with a report.

"Excuse me, My Lord," the guard immediately kneeled and stared at the floor. "Sir Eruha and Sir Lesta are back."

Oh!

I glanced at Natha, and something sinister flashed in his eyes.

...oh?

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