The Demon Lord's Bride (BL)
Chapter 562: Good sibling compensate each other

Chapter 562: Good sibling compensate each other

The next day, after digesting my breakfast, I visited Shwa while Natha had a further meeting with his vassals to quell a little bit of unrest within the citizens’ minds.

After all, while we wanted to be feared by our enemies, we didn’t want to be seen as a tyrant by the innocents.

"...and so, Natha recorded the punishment and made this tor--oh, I shouldn’t say torture--oh, no...don’t remember that word, Shwa!" I swung my hands in panic, shaking my head, and put two index fingers in front of my lips. "Uhh--anyway, Natha made this documentary and showed it to everyone! Yaaay~"

The flower in front of me swayed and shook; the petals moved as if it were dancing. Glowing flowers blinked beneath the shade, and I could smell a fragrant scent fill the garden--fresh, warm, and lovely.

"Are you happy?" I stroked the dancing petals and giggled. The erratic flow of mana climbing up the green vines kind of looked like a blinking neon glow, and a soft, inaudible whisper caressed my soul. "That’s right, that’s right, it’s a good thing," I laughed. "All those demons who were scaring Shwa that night are punished!"

Right. Except for the Spectre, who was still under Angwi’s ’observation’, the rest of them was dead. Even the two Lords I had never met before. One of them was Natha’s old academy nemesis; someone who won the tower ’contest’ but lost a lot of money in the process.

This time, Natha learned from his mistakes.

He did not show any mercy. Some of the perpetrators were people who had grudges against him because of their past contestation, so this time, he would make sure not to pardon anyone. No banishment, just death. No chance for them to take revenge.

"Now, you’re safe," I leaned down and whispered at my flower. The memory of hearing my child’s fearful scream was not something that could be easily erased from my head. But that would be the last time. That should be the last time. "Now we’re safe."

As if feeling my mood, Shwa trembled slightly, and the petals swayed gently until they touched my bowed face.

Immediately, I pushed away all the grim thoughts out of my head. Let’s not have any bad thoughts on this beautiful day when everything has been solved already. Looking at my child, who was already so thoughtful even before coming out fully into this world, my lips curled by themselves.

Ah...I really couldn’t wait for the day I could hold Shwa in my arms.

"So, grow up well, okay?" I stroked the gently swaying petals. "Grow up healthily, and we’ll see each other soon."

Tiny flowers around us trembled and started popping like confetti, and I couldn’t help giggling. The door opened at that moment, and more flowers popped up in greetings.

"What a nice thing to see you laughing so happily in the morning," Natha smiled as he walked toward us. Shwa trembled in excitement, and I giggled again.

"Hehe...are you done with your morning court?" I raised one arm to welcome him.

"Mm," Natha hummed against my lips, and then again against one of Shwa’s petals. "The situation is stabilized now, and the Lords have received their Keys."

"Did you hear that, baby?" I clasped my hands. "It’s all good now."

Pop! Pop! More flowers sprouted and filled the area around us. Not as many as before, perhaps because Shwa didn’t want to absorb my mana more just for a celebration, and the good kid received praise from the father.

"Shwa is very smart," Natha stroked the white petal, and Shwa trembled happily.

"Rii~ght?"

I laughed and we talked about random things with Shwa, including the New Year worship and the progress of the nursery. Especially the nursery.

While Natha was gone, we started building the nursery again. Since we knew the one who made the spell formations around the room was a traitor, we stripped everything down. We did not even try to see if anything was a miss--we just assumed everything was a miss. Magic formations were so sensitive that even a tiny, nearly invisible mistake in the line could render it useless, so we didn’t want to take any chance.

Thankfully, our trustful, talented, brilliant, miserable jack of all trades La Lesta had returned! Yay! And so, we piled work after work on his ass the moment he came back--teehee.

"Would you like to stay longer, or should we return now?" Natha asked when I drank the water I brought with me.

Phew--talking for so long was pretty exhausting.

"Mm..." I fiddled with the water bottle while looking at Shwa. The petals were dropping slightly, and my heart ached at the thought of leaving. "M-maybe...just ten more minutes?"

Fortunately, Natha had become more permissable these days, and patted my head in agreement. "Alright."

I perked up and turned toward our flower with a wide grin. "Oh, oh--do you know, Shwa? I was talking to the Demon God during the New Year worship, and--"

"Papaaaa!"

And my story had to abruptly end as the door opened with a bam, which startled both me and the flower. But more than the surprise of the door, I was shocked by the little boy running toward me.

"Huh?" I blinked in confusion.

"Jade?" Even Natha sounded surprised.

With a bright sound of laughter, Jade leaped and hugged me tightly. "Papa!" the little boy gave me a peck on the cheek before letting go and hugging the flower next. "Shwa!"

"Jade? Why are you in this form?" I held Jade and pulled him back to make sure Shwa wasn’t getting squeezed. "I thought you were not supposed to transform while..."

I looked at D’Ara, who followed behind with a casual gait and a smirk on her lips.

"Could it be?" I gasped and looked back at Jade.

"Hehe--Jade did it!"

The little boy, who didn’t look any different than the usual five-year-old green-haired me, threw his hands in the air excitedly.

"Yes, Jade has finished training," D’Ara nodded in approval.

"Oh!"

Natha tilted his head and touched Jade’s green hair, rubbing the strands between his fingers. "Hmm...a denser mana core and more complex circuits, huh?"

"Look, look! Jade can turn like this without yummy balls and stones anymore!" Jade stepped out of my hold and twirled around.

"Oh?"

"Jade has enough mana reserve and regeneration rate to sustain a transformation," D’Ara explained.

"Yes! Yes!" the little boy jumped and ran around the garden. "Jade can also use magic now! Look!"

Abruptly, Jade stopped and pointed his hand toward Natha. A water ball shot out and Natha swatted it away, splattering a bucket of water at the grass.

"Why are you attacking me?"

Natha narrowed his eyes and Jade giggled while running to hide behind me. I laughed and snapped my fingers as a memory came out. "That’s just like the first time Jade can use magic--remember? When Jade was smaller?"

"Ah..." the corner of Natha’s eyes twitched, probably remembering how he was suddenly drenched while casually having a conversation with me on the bed. "In that case, you should just use it to water the flowers."

"But that’s boring..."

"This kid," Natha shook his head in exasperation.

Jade giggled and hugged me from behind, his small arms dangling around my neck. "Papa, Papa! How is it?" he swayed behind me in excitement. "Jade did good? Jade can do more magic if Jade not transform."

"Mm! What a smart kid!" I reached out to the back and stroked his head. "I thought you would grow bigger at the end of the training, but I like that Jade stays cute!"

Jade gasped and suddenly quieted down. His arms trembled slightly and his head laid down listlessly on my shoulder.

"Hmm? What is it, Jade?" I shifted Jade to my lap and stroked his sullen face.

"Jade already had a faster growing rate compared to other elemental birds, and I don’t think it will be good to let him keep growing without strengthening the fundamental," D’Ara said. "He should be spending more time with other elemental birds to train his mana, but..."

"Oh..."

Suddenly, I felt guilty. After all, Jade moved out of the Lair to follow me.

"Well, I’m not saying the current state is bad," D’Ara chuckled. "Anyway, I focused more on making the core denser rather than bigger."

"Quality over quantity, huh?" Natha hummed.

"Yes," she looked at me and suddenly patted my head. "Well, in your case, you have both quality and quantity."

Oh, you made me embarrassed! It felt good to be praised, though...

"But, umm...why is Jade suddenly like this?" I cupped Jade’s saddened face.

With a lower lip jutted out, the little boy replied weakly. "Jade...Jade can’t grow fast..."

Huh?

"Teacher say Jade can’t grow fast anymore..."

"Pfft--"

Jade gasped and raised his head. "Why Papa laugh?! Don’t laugh!"

"Oh, I’m sorry," I rained kisses on the annoyed face. "But Jade...didn’t you hear what D’Ara said earlier?"

"Huh?"

"You already grow faster than any other elemental bird," I flicked the red nose. "You’ll probably still grow faster than them even with the slower rate," I turned toward D’Ara. "Right?"

"That’s right," this time, she patted Jade’s sullen head. "Elemental birds without a contractor typically spend years before reaching the juvenile stage, and decades before becoming full-fledged adults."

"You hear that?" I squeezed the plump cheeks in front of me. "You’re already ahead by years compared to your peers."

"...really?" the little boy clutched on my lapel and fiddled with the fabric. "Jade still the best?"

I raised my brow in surprise. Was that what made him feel bad? He thought I wouldn’t be proud of him anymore?

I clasped the little cheeks and squeezed them again. "Of course, you silly! Jade had always been the best!"

The green eyes blinked and finally, he smiled. "Hehe..."

"Besides, you have friends in the Druid settlement, right?" I flicked his forehead softly. "Those friends also grow slowly, so won’t it be a pity if you grow faster alone? It’d be more difficult to play together with them when we visit."

"Oh..."

Jade blinked and a few seconds later, he jumped out of my lap, clenching his fists. "Alright! Jade understand!" the little boy nodded. "Jade won’t be impatient anymore!"

"That’s right!" I stroked his head and nodded proudly. "Growing up does not always equal getting stronger, you know."

"Mm...Jade want to be strong. Protect Papa and Shwa."

Natha tilted his head and smirked. "What about me?"

"What about Natha?" Jade grumbled while hugging my neck. "Natha should protect Papa and Shwa too!"

"Pfft," I laughed and hugged Jade again, but suddenly, I felt a slight throb at the base of my skull. "Nngh--"

Jade flinched and Natha held my back worriedly. "Sweetheart?"

"Oh, I think this is..." D’Ara muttered, and without needing to wait for her words, I could already feel what it was.

Turning my head to the side, I saw the flower tremble again. A strong fragrant scent filled the garden and the green vines were blinking and glowing. I felt the mana in my core disappear rapidly, and there was only one possibility as to why it happened.

"Shwa?"

Did you choose to grow because Jade couldn’t?