The Demon Lord's Bride (BL)
Chapter 564: Counting the due date is both nervewracking and fun

Chapter 564: Counting the due date is both nervewracking and fun

"Thank you."

Walking down the corridor connecting the Lord’s Quarter to the office, Lesta muttered quietly. Eruha glanced at the demon, who was looking absentmindedly at the patterned tile of the floor. His Eternal, usually looking calm and collected, seemed to be a bit restless, and it was rather adorable.

"I know you don’t want them," Eruha replied nonchalantly. "Kids."

Just like before, Lesta flinched. "It’s...not like I don’t like them, just..."

"Eta," Eruha gently held the demon’s hand as they turned to an empty corridor. "You don’t have to justify yourself to me."

As Lesta’s Eternal--no, as someone who had been watching the demon for decades until he fell so deeply, Eruha knew that Lesta loved children. They were honest with no pretense, and even the little liars were easy to read. In front of them, Lesta didn’t have to work hard to interpret anything, unlike during his works, which were filled with people hiding their agenda.

But liking children did not mean he would want to have them for himself. After all, being a playmate and a babysitter was different than being a parent with responsibility. Lesta, someone who was thrown away on the street by his parents, had no confidence in providing what a child would need from their parents--something he never truly had in his life.

Eruha knew enough of it. It was a sentiment shared among the siblings. A scar festered so deep and influenced their whole psyche. Eruha didn’t think he had the right to change their mind, nor did he see the need to.

Above all else, for him, what Lesta wanted he would provide, no matter what.

Hmm...perhaps he shouldn’t criticize the Lord much.

Lesta pressed his lips and, unlike how he was usually, allowed himself to tighten his grip on the vampire’s hand. Still staring at the tiles and anything else but those ruby eyes, Lesta asked quietly. "How about you?"

Eruha tilted his head to ponder. Honestly, he never really thought about it. "Realistically, reproduction is a way for mortals to avoid extinction," he said, sending Lesta into confusion because the vampire sounded like he was about to start a whole lecture on reproduction. "Once the possibility of extinction was avoided, they did it as a way to leave a trace of their existence, since their lifespan is limited."

"Pfft--why are you talking as if you’re out of the equation?"

"Because we do," Eruha said, pausing Lesta’s chuckle. The vampire smiled in amusement at his Eternal who had yet to register the fact that he would live just as long as Eruha. "We can live as long as this world persists if we want."

Lesta halted his steps, staring at the ruby eyes at last. How long had it been since they became an Eternal? For some reason, he didn’t think there was any change except for their stronger relationship. It flew over his head what the meaning of ’Eternal’ was.

"Oh..."

Eruha couldn’t help it anymore; taking advantage of the deserted corridor during lunch hour, he pulled his Eternal for a deep kiss, sealing the adorable, surprised lips. He only let go when Lesta stomped on his foot.

Despite the flush spreading all the way to his ears and neck, Lesta glared at the vampire. "Not here," he hissed.

Eruha licked his lips and chuckled slightly. As if there was no interruption in their conversation, he continued. "Since we can live for so long anyway, I don’t see the need to leave any legacy or preserve our bloodline. There’s no practical need to create offspring or an emotional one to chase away loneliness like what my Mother did since I have you anyway," he stroked the persistent blush on the demon’s cheek. "All I need is your wish, your desire. If you want one, we’ll have it. If you don’t want to, I am perfectly happy spending eternity with just you."

Lesta stared at the unwavering gaze of the deep ruby, always managing to pierce his heart and soul ever since their first meeting. How the hell he managed to delude himself that there was nothing more in those these past few decades, Lesta had no idea.

Well, what did it matter now? He snatched the vampire’s hand and turned around, going in the opposite direction of the office.

"Hmm? Where are you taking us?"

"...my old room..." Lesta mumbled with flaming ears. "It’s still left empty without a new owner."

Eruha raised his brow, a simple smile dancing on his lips.

Yeah. His Eternal was truly an adorable specimen.

* * *

After receiving four containers of mana, I started to feel...bloated.

Ugh, I knew that wasn’t the right phrase, but that was the only word I could describe it with. D’Ara said that might be my limit on receiving other’s mana all at once. But since my mana pool climbed up past fifty percent, it was good enough. We would try another container the day after to see if it was possible.

When we finished the transfusion, Jade had fallen asleep due to boredom, and our Eternal couple had left. Natha moved the little boy to his room in the spacious attic, and came back with a chest of clean containers.

"What? You’re going to draw more right away?" I put my fork down. "We still have four more, aren’t we?"

"Naturally," Natha said while rolling his sleeve. "I need to replenish it right away while I have mana. We don’t know what will happen in the future, and I’m not taking chances."

What a worrywart and hardworking husband you were, my Lord, making my lunch taste even more delicious.

Although it was probably something I shouldn’t say while someone was drawing mana in front of me.

"This should be the last growth, shouldn’t it?" I leaned back while nibbling my winter berries for dessert, giggling.

"It should be," Natha nodded. "We can already see the pulsing nucleus inside the bud."

I felt so giddy; everything seemed to be good this time. While Shwa still sucking my mana like crazy, we already found a way to supplement me with enough mana, so I would not black out again from lack of mana. Even if the mana Natha provided wasn’t enough, I had a list of donors already. Unlike blood, which had to be of the same kind, the mana was neutralized by the spell on the regulator.

Everything bad that plagued us ever since that attack had been cleared. Our enemies had been eradicated. Sure, there might be more we didn’t know of, but I was sure after taking down two Lords, those enemies would never dare to step out of the shadow.

We were healthy, we were safe. It was blissful. It was a perfect environment to welcome a baby.

Lesta quickly finished engraving the formations all over the nursery and the whole wings. Furniture, after going through tight-knit scrutiny stricter than an airport custom, filled the rooms one by one.

The nannies’ room was the fastest to be done, even before we got any nanny. We didn’t need to be too picky about the furniture or the decoration, so it was easier to fix. We just picked comfortable beds, nice vanity desks, and adequate wardrobes. The wallpaper was chosen by Arta’s staff to be cozy and induce good rest.

The playing room, which was also a seating area, as planned, had one side of the wall fitted with wide glass windows overlooking the garden. Lesta worked extra to make sure the window was unbreakable. Unless it was a high-level destructive magic, the room wouldn’t be breached.

But then again, high-level destructive magic would just destroy the Castle anyway, so...

And the baby’s room--oh, the baby’s room...

I couldn’t help but smile every time I thought about that room. When I visited the room, I would unconsciously skip around, sometimes with Jade. We carefully picked every kind of flower in Shwa’s garden, and had one or two pots for each kind. We decorated the room with flowers, so there would be a real one aside from the fluttering white petals on the wall.

Ignis gave me a bright red stone and told me to install it on the fireplace. It kept the room warm if it was too cold, and it would absorb heat when it got too hot. Essentially, it was like the temperature control function from our contract in my body, but in a more tangible form. As if taking ideas from that, Natha removed the dangerous chandelier and installed a few stones on the room’s ceiling that night. When we snuffed the mana sconce and the room darkened, the stones glowed in various soft colors.

"Papa, it’s like cave city!"

Jade clapped his hands excitedly at the glow-in-the-dark stone, planted like stars in a night sky. There were small ones, there were slightly bigger ones, and when I observed them better, they seemed to form constellations.

Natha, who installed all of those stones with his own hands all evening, crossed his arms and nodded in satisfaction. Oh, gosh...this husband of mine.

Soft carpets were laid down, blue and green like the Lair’s grass, and chosen by the baby’s older brother Jade to match the attic room. Within this small garden, the white bassinet stood beautifully, ready to welcome the prettiest flower in our family.

By the time we were done with the nursery, the days had rolled into the second month of the year, and Heraz came one night bearing exciting news.

The Hero and his companions had returned from their mission.