The Demon Lord's Bride (BL)
Chapter 571: Only leave your baby with someone you can trust with your life

Chapter 571: Only leave your baby with someone you can trust with your life

The first ’guest’, if you could call her that, was neither Zia nor Zarfa;

It was Angwi.

It had been weeks since I saw her, and Natha only told me that Angwi was fine; that she ate and drank properly, and that someone always checked in. I was curious, but I refrained from asking what Angwi had been doing to the Spectre, because it felt like peeking into her wound. I had delivered my punishment in that forest, so the rest was for her to own.

This would be the first time we saw each other again after that fateful night in the dungeon.

She came on the second day of the third month, just two days after Shwa’s birth. While the nursery was ready, I still couldn’t let him away from my sight, so we put Shwa in the Master bedroom. One of Zarfa’s gifts was this cute baby carrier that we placed in our bedroom, and it was nice to be used before we moved to the bassinet.

Thanks to my natural rejuvenation and Natha’s constitution, we had no qualms about waking up every few hours to feed the baby with the sap of the Great Tree. While it was called ’sap’ because it came from the tree, it looked just like milk, and was traditionally given to baby druids to enhance nutrition intake. Amarein had generously provided us with several bottles--enough to sustain the baby until we had a wet nurse.

It couldn’t be helped since this conceiving effort did not equip me with breastmilk.

It was during one of these feeding times, sometimes after lunch, that Angwi arrived. She didn’t look any different; still in her maid outfit that was different from the Castle’s staff. Still with a stoic face that softened a little bit as I welcomed her.

"Angwi! Come, come!"

Jade jumped off the couch and grabbed the hesitant demon closer, pulling on one of her six arms. I waved at them and pulled the baby bottle away. Just like when he was still inside the flower and absorbing my mana, he was still a greedy little one when it came to food. Feeding time was always done in a flash, and even after we finished, his little mouth would still pout and make a sucking motion for a while.

It was always fascinating to watch it, and never ceased to make Jade giggle. "Look, look--isn’t baby cute?"

Arta nodded silently, staring at the baby without blinking for a minute, before shifting her gaze to me.

"Me? I’m completely fine now," I told him with a smug grin. "How couldn’t I when my baby’s here now? But...thank you for worrying."

I had no idea if she heard anything about that day, but everyone had been worrying and treated me like I went through a real childbirth. But I felt completely fine--if anything, I was back to my peak now that our little flower had drank milk instead of mana.

Angwi stared into my eyes for a while, probably looking for a sign of weakening or something. But she must have seen that I was healthy, since she nodded in satisfaction and patted my head as if praising me.

While I was giggling bashfully, Jade tugged on the demon’s hand. "Angwi, baby is closing his eyes now, but baby have Jade’s eyes!" the little boy bragged. Probably because it was the only feature that Shwa shared with him. This morning, I heard Jade asking D’Ara if his hair could change color. Cute.

I laughed and nodded enthusiastically. "That’s right! He also has these very cute horns--do you want to touch them?"

Angwi blinked and her fingers twitched. Her hand moved for a few centimeters before two others grabbed it.

My eyes widened in surprise at her hesitation. "What’s wrong?"

What I got, however, was a wordless frown. It was clear that she felt conflicted about something, but I could not yet see what it was about. I wanted to ask, but she didn’t seem ready to share it with me.

In that case, I’d just tell her what I wanted to tell her.

"Angwi," I fixed the baby’s blanket and held Shwa closer to my chest. "Can you be Shwa’s principal nanny?"

After I finished my request, Angwi stood frozen for two seconds before stepping back in shock. I had never seen her eyes widen that much before. It wasn’t just a surprise though; I could also sense dread. Fear. I had felt it so much from Natha yesterday that it became the easiest emotion I could detect.

"Umm...I understand if you don’t want to meet anyone. We’ll also prepare a room just for you, and you can go back to the Lair anytime you want," I added swiftly, waving my hand frantically in the air before fiddling with Shwa’s blanket. "I just...I don’t really trust anyone but you to take care of him."

I wanted to ask her about it once she finished her revenge, but since she was here already, I decided to just ask. Seeing her reaction, however, it seemed like I was being too hasty.

"Uhh...but if you don’t want to--"

Angwi swiftly crouched and grabbed my hand, shaking her head strongly. Rather than surprise and dread, she looked rather...sad. She bit her lips and kept shaking her head, as if disheartened.

"What do you mean you’re unqualified?" I frowned deeply. "You took care of me, you took care of Zia, you took care of Jade. Who else would I trust to take care of my child but you?"

She paused and, after a few seconds, slowly raised her head to look at my eyes. Her eyes were filled with self-doubt, and it broke my heart to see her, who was usually full of assurance and certainty, look like this.

That damn Spectre!

"Of course, I’m sure!" I replied to her wordless concern firmly. She wavered for a bit, but there was still a lot of doubt in her eyes. So I turned toward my trusted ally. "What do you say, Jade?"

"Angwi is the best!"

As expected of my first child. I returned to Angwi and scoffed. "See?"

It might seem like I was forcing her into agreeing, but honestly, if it was because she felt it would be too much of a burden or if she wasn’t comfortable around children, I would have relented. But Angwi was feeling inadequate and doubting herself instead, which I knew surfaced from facing all of her past scars.

In that case, I did not want to give up.

"So, will you do it?"

I looked at her without averting my gaze at all. I wanted her to see how much I trusted her. We had arranged for two nannies and two battle maids to stay by Shwa’s side always, but...truthfully, even if they were chosen from the most trustful source, I was still traumatized by Uncle Sol’s discipline. I wanted someone who I completely trusted, my own people, to be there too.

Perhaps, this fiery spirit and desperation reached out to her since she took a deep breath and finally nodded.

I gasped and looked at Jade with a wide grin, who immediately jumped around us while cheering. "Yasay!"

"Yaay!"

We laughed and hugged Angwi together as I pretended I didn’t see her glistening eyes. I let her go after feeling she took another deep breath, and swayed Shwa gently in my arms. The baby had wriggled and was woken up by the noise. I giggled and tilted my head. "Would you like to hold him?"

Angwi was hesitant at first, but finally nodded and took Shwa, cradling him gently in her arms. She was more proficient than I initially thought, which made me think she had done this before; taking care of babies, I mean.

Well, didn’t matter. I giggled quietly with Jade as we saw the small smile appeared on her lips.

"Oh-ho! So this is where the baby at?"

As we watched Shwa sway back to sleep in Angwi’s arms, the door opened and someone I hadn’t seen in a long time appeared with Natha in tow.

"Ah!"

Ears and tails swaying as she sauntered inside, Rubha gave me a little curtsy. "Good day, Young Master," her eyes and lips curled prettyly. "Ah, Madam Angwi."

Angwi looked at me inquisitively. "Oh, Rubha is--"

"I’m going to be the little prince’s wet nurse," the fox said in a singsong voice.

"Don’t use that term!" I hissed.

She tilted her head. "Wet nurse?"

"No, ’little prince’!" I pursed my lips and crossed my arms. "The druids still use that to call me, so it sounds weird."

She laughed loudly, filling the room with a bell-like sound. "What shall I call the little lord, then?" she walked closer and stopped in front of Angwi. "Little Master?"

Rubha reached out to stroke the baby, but Angwi shifted slightly that her hand missed. I raised my brows in surprise at this sudden display of protectiveness, but Rubha simply retracted her hand with a giggle.

"My, my," she covered her lips and turned around, waving her hand as she went out to go to her own room. "Just give him to me when he’s hungry."

I looked at Natha, who was as surprised as me. But we ended up giggling silently to not disturb Angwi’s effort to put Shwa to sleep again.

That night, with Angwi there, we finally had enough confidence to let Shwa out of our sight. The baby slept in the nursery instead of the Master bedroom, with the troops of nannies waiting upon him at all times.

But I had yet to get used to not having Shwa near me, so I couldn’t help but wake up in the middle of the night when I heard his little cry. Together with Natha, we crept toward the nursery, only to pause in front of the door as the most beautiful voice grazed our ears.

And from the little crack of the door, against the soft light of the mana sconce, I saw my baby swayed gently in the cradle of red arms. The most beautiful lullaby, like a heavenly choir, flew softly from someone who had vowed to never sing again.

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