The Demon Lord's Bride (BL)
Chapter 574: Is it really a reunion without a bit of chaos?

Chapter 574: Is it really a reunion without a bit of chaos?

"Baby..."

Neel stared at Shwa, who was blinking slowly at her from my arms cradle. As far as I know, babies couldn’t see clearly at first, but they could still differentiate shapes and colors. In Shwa’s case though, he could also differentiate mana--that was how he knew if Natha and I came closer. After all, we had been feeding him with our mana since he was still inside the seed.

He seemed to recognize Jade somewhat since the little boy had a trace of my mana. For others, however, Shwa would just stare blankly, perhaps trying to register them. He managed to recognize his principal nanny who sang him a lullaby every night, but that was it.

Still...wasn’t that pretty good for a week-old baby?

Neel stood still, almost as if frozen. At first, I thought she was angry that we forgot to tell her directly, but then I saw the sparkle in her eyes and the slight tremble on the tips of her outstretched fingers.

"This...won’t break if I touch it, right?" she whispered hesitatingly.

Ah...it was kind of fascinating how everyone had a slightly different but also kind of the same reaction. I laughed and shrugged. "Depends on how hard you do it."

She gulped and moved her hand to poke the baby’s arm lightly; so lightly that it was barely a touch. Only after I told her she could touch a bit ’harder’ did she hold the curled fist and sway it slowly, as if making Shwa wave his hand. She slipped her thumb between the curling fingers and kneaded the baby’s palms, making Shwa wiggle from the ticklish sensation. He let out a small giggle, and Neel froze.

"Wow..." she exclaimed softly.

I never thought of Neel as one to get touched by a baby, but there she was, staring blankly at the wiggling and giggling baby. The amazement was clearly reflected in her eyes, which, in itself, amazed me.

"Babies are...amazing, aren’t they?" she said in a daze.

Oh, she even spelled it out loud.

"They are made by mortals, and receive a soul capable of growth..."

Huh?

She continued with a serious tone. "It’s like...an inventor’s greatest wish."

Ah...I just remembered how fascinated she was about the golems. It was a bit unsettling though, if she treated babies like golems. Did all inventors have this kind of thought? I looked at Izzi in concern, but he just shrugged nonchalantly.

"I’m not that deep of a person," the elf said nonchalantly. "I just want to make a gun."

My brow arched. "Because it looks cool?"

"You know it," Izzi smirked. But he still patted his ’business partner’ in a warning. "Well, that’s a profound look at things, but don’t ever cross the line, okay?"

The half-naga snapped at him with a hiss. "What do you see me as?"

"I don’t know, dude..." Izzi smiled wryly. "You act like a mad scientist sometimes."

"I don’t want to hear anything from someone who neglects the pact of invention to frolic with his girl," Neel sneered and looked at Izzi with a gaze of betrayal.

Obviously, Izzi gasped in shock. "Wh-what’s wrong with pursuing love?"

"T-that’s right! It might work as inspiration, you know!"

And naturally, his girlfriend--the pursuer of one true love--supported him wholeheartedly. Although while hiding behind him with reddened cheeks.

Izzi nodded and snapped his fingers. "Y-yes! T-that!"

"Hmph--doubt it," Neel clicked her tongue and turned back toward Shwa, who despite being surprised by the sudden increase in volume, did not cry--like the good boy that he was. Neel let out a rare smile and lightly tickled the side of Shwa’s tummy. "Well, at least, this one is worth going out for~"

Wow, even using a cheery tone. Babies sure are miracle makers. I used Shwa’s fist to pat her hand and laughed. "Well, we’re glad if it’s worth it."

"Aina’s here!"

Again, the nursery door opened with a slam as Zarfa rushed inside like a storm. Really--couldn’t these girls open the door like sane people?

"So unfair!" Aina stomped her way inside. "You should have told me right away!"

"Hehe, I said I’m sorry already," Zarfa stuck out her tongue and winked. Yeah, she wasn’t sorry at all. "I mean, can you blame me? You didn’t even budge when I called you before..."

"You should have just smacked me!"

"What if something breaks because of that?!"

"Eh--it’s fine~" the petite girl waved her hand dismissively. "It’s the baby’s father’s money after all."

"Oh!" Zarfa gasped and covered her lips with her fingers, letting out an evil witch snicker. "Huehehehe~"

Natha, who personally came to fetch Aina for time efficiency, shook his head in exasperation. "I’m going to let it slide this time."

"Hehe..."

Aina grinned and made a high-five with Jade before tip-toeing to us. She covered her mouth as she came close, but I could see the fireworks in her eyes. "Aaack! He’s so cuuutee! Even though he looks like the Big Boss, he’s so cutee!"

"What do you mean ’even though he looks like’ me?" Natha narrowed his eyes, but Aina kept muttering as if she didn’t hear anything.

"Mm, mm--but since he has Valen’s gene too, I’m sure he will still grow up cutely. Yes, yes--not scary at all," Aina nodded fearlessly, grabbing the baby’s feet in greetings. "Don’t worry, baby--you won’t grow scary like your father. Please stay cute like Valen and Jade."

"Don’t worry, Aye! Baby is flower, and flower is cute!"

"Right~? I know Jade will agree!"

What even was that conversation? The fearless inventor and the fearless little boy kept talking about how cute Shwa was and how scary Natha was. But why did they talk this way when they knew Natha was scary? Perhaps because they were a pair of brave souls. Or perhaps because they knew Natha was too tired to argue with two kids.

I giggled and placed the baby in Natha’s arms to heal his exasperated mind, and ushered the rest of the girls to the room across the hall while asking Izzi to babysit Jade for a bit.

"It’s been a while since we were all gathering like this, right?"

"You’re right," Aina nodded, grinning toward the succubus. "When we came here the last time, Zia and Izzi already eloped--"

"W-what are you talking about?!" Zia coughed on her tea.

"Eeh~but it’s romantic, isn’t it? Eloping?"

"Well, it is..." the romance author mumbled, before snapping back to reality and shaking her hands strongly. "B-b-but we did not elope!"

Zarfa sunk herself into the chaize lounge while clicking her tongue. "Tsk--I had wished for some juicy tea."

"T-tea?"

"Isn’t an inter-race couple already juicy enough?" Neel tilted her head.

"It’s not that uncommon among lust demons," Zia fiddled with the handle of her cup.

The one that wasn’t her anyway.

"Hmm? But I heard you don’t usually do it with elves though?" I tapped my chin, recalling our conversation with Aleena back then.

"O-ho?"

My eyes squinted as I tried to recall the content. "Something about elves not liking the promiscuous nature of lust demon?"

Zia groaned and Aina clapped her hands. "Ah, like those strongly religious people?"

"Elves are indeed religious," I nodded. "Remember that Izzi was considered blasphemous because he wanted to make guns?"

"Whoa..."

My mischievous nerves were suddenly tingling. "But didn’t you say you’re going to visit his family next time?" I looked at Zia.

"U-umm..."

"O-ho?"

"Did he say anything about why? Are you going to take things further?" I asked curiously. This was one of the reasons why I made Izzi stay in the other rooms.

Zarfa shook her head and moved to sit beside Zia. "No, no--first; tell us how far have you gotten?"

"W-w-what do you mean b-by that?!"

Aina took the place where Izzi was a minute ago and stroked the succubus’s cheek. "This deep blush is very telling, isn’t it, Miss Goldbel?"

"That is true, Miss Aina."

Zia covered her face and screamed quietly. "H-how can you ask me that?!"

Ah...I kind of understood why those courtesans were so curious about me back then. It was this fun, huh? I couldn’t believe I was once in that position, being teased to no end by a bunch of experienced older sisters and brothers.

Unfortunately, before we could get any answer, the sitting room’s door creaked open and Izzi frowned with Jade sucking on candy in his arms. "What are you doing whispering among yourself there?"

Ah, darn it!

Zarfa shrugged. "Nothing."

"It doesn’t look like that," the golden eyes narrowed as he saw the flustered succubus. "Please don’t corrupt my girlfriend."

Zia twitched and mumbled bashfully. "M-my girlfriend..."

"Kyaah~look at him making a claim!" Zarfa hugged the succubus from the side, as if caging her. "Usually, that kind of thing is said to the boyfriend, you know~"

I joined in the game and pointed at him. "Don’t corrupt my young matriarch, Elf!"

Izzi was quick to his defense. "I did no such thing!"

"Ah, they aren’t that far yet," Aina stroked her chin.

"Shut it!"

Naturally, that kind of reaction only garnered some more laughter--even Neel smirked and snickered at Izzi. Jade, who was thankfully clueless, jumped onto my lap and giggled together with us.

Ah...I knew it already, but it was so much fun when we were together like this. Perhaps because mentally, we were all not that far in age from each other. Not to mention, five of us were from another world, and the other one already knew about it. It was truly different with people who knew each other’s secrets, without feeling the need to tip-toe around each other.

I wish, one day, I could tell this story to my child. Relaying how his parents met and how he came to be.

I hope, we could one day divulge this secret to him without incurring understanding, so none of us would have to bear a heartbreak.

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