The Demon Lord's Bride (BL)
Chapter 586: Battlefield of the Mind

Chapter 586: Battlefield of the Mind

When the wyvern and her rider vanished inside a glowing light, Natha could not fathom what had happened. He stood there, stunned, frozen, with an outstretched hand reaching out to an empty space.

That emptiness, on the tip of his fingers, felt devastatingly familiar. A feeling he struggled against long, long ago.

"What...what..."

For a second, his vision went dark. Amidst the cold and darkness, Natha instinctively sought a source of light, and turned toward the only light left in his life.

"M-my son..." the Demon Lord--no, the nightmare who just experienced a nightmare, scrambling forward with staggering steps. "My flower..."

But his advance was halted by a blazing wall of Salamander’s fire.

Startled, Natha widened his shaking eyes. "What...are you doing?"

The Demon Lord of Greed, known to be cold and calculative, charged into the fire like a mindless lunatic. "He is my son!" Natha roared into the entities shielding his son from him. "Give me my son!"

"No," the Vampire Progenitor spoke sternly while holding the peacefully sleeping son covered in his papa’s soothing mana.

"Teacher!"

The ruby eyes flashed. "You think I’ll let you have him when you’re like this?"

"Like this?" Natha stopped and hissed. "Why do you think I’m like this?!"

"Valen--"

When the name was uttered, the Demon Lord paused and stiffened as if a button had been pressed.

"--had risked his life to have this child," the Progenitor looked at Natha sharply. "I will not hold your wish higher than him in this matter."

At that moment, all the roughness and toughness that the Demon Lord had shown evaporated, as if snow melted under the Salamander’s fire. His eyes, wide and blurry and trembling, were unblinking, staring blankly at the singed ground.

"Haa..." the Progenitor exhaled heavily, glancing at the confused guards and Castle staff. "Let’s move for now."

Again, Natha could only stare at her blankly, so she added an incentive.

"I will not let you touch him, but Valen said nothing about letting you in the same room with him," the Progenitor said.

With that, they swiftly moved to the Lord’s Quarter, sitting in the room across the nursery. They looked like a civilized bunch, but there was an invisible barrier around the baby, while a Salamander and a druid looked at the Demon Lord vigilantly with mana cranked up to the maximum.

After all, the Demon Lord didn’t seem like himself.

"Why..." the Lord, who had always been steadfast, was clutching his head in a confusion-mixed agony, murmuring. "Why..."

His head was throbbing; sharp pains assaulted his brain, which felt like dunked into a lava pool before being thrown into the blizzard. Countless thoughts jumbled in his head, clashing against each other.

"Natha..."

Amidst the throbbing assault, he heard the voice of his teacher. The Progenitor was no longer holding his son. The sleeping little flower, instead, had moved to a cradle of red arms in the corner, and Natha subconsciously felt relieved.

And then, his teacher sighed.

"Honestly, I don’t have a clear idea of what is happening between the two of you," the Progenitor said, looking at Natha’s feeble eyes keenly. "So tell me everything, in the exact words, what he said to you."

"Ah..."

Fortunately, Natha was born with a gift of near-perfect memory. Even with head throbbing like crazy, he managed to retell everything that transpired inside that carriage ride. The more the story progressed, the deeper D’Ara frowned. In the end, she let out a heavy sigh.

"Haa..."

Natha mumbled while fiddling with his fingers roughly. "Why...why did he go away..."

"Why do you think?" D’Ara asked calmly, but in a sharp tone she usually used to test her disciple.

"He was...angry," Natha bit his cheek, frowning deeply. "He doesn’t want me to touch our son, he...he said he wouldn’t let me if I’m...if I’m more loyal to...His Majesty? Ugh--"

Again, the sharp pain assaulted his head, and Natha grabbed his temple while groaning.

Still, the interview did not stop.

"Why do you think he said it?"

"Huh? He..." Natha frowned, the hazy silver eyes wet trying to focus. "He said...he was afraid that...His Majesty will keep our son in the Sanctuary..."

"And you didn’t believe him?"

"But that--that’s absurd! That--ugh!"

Again. Why is it so painful?

"Why did Valen think so?"

"Ugh--he..." Natha shook his head, trying to get rid of the pain. But it was persistent, as if a war was happening inside his head. Still, he tried to recall what Valen said again. "He said...it’s in His Majesty’s eyes, but--"

At the persistent refusal, D’Ara asked sharply. "Did you see it?"

"...What?"

"The King’s eyes."

Natha blinked in confusion. Not because of the question, but because his mind felt blurry all of a sudden.

"...no, but--"

"But?" the Progenitor snapped. "Your husband is scared because of something he saw in someone’s eyes and instead of believing him, you dismissed it?" the ruby eyes flashed. "Did you also say that it was absurd? To his face?"

Natha’s eyes widened. "I..."

"When he was frightened?"

Something inside his heart was cracking.

"Did you say his fear was absurd? That it wasn’t real?"

"But..." an unknown power grappling inside his head. "there’s no way! His Majesty and Lord An’Hyang--they, they were the ones who sent me to meet Valen!"

The ruby eyes narrowed. "Why do you think they did?"

"What?"

D’Ara tilted her head slightly. "Was it for you to fall in love with Valen, or was it to make sure you recognize the one who will create the vessel with you?"

Natha blinked. His eyes were getting clearer, but his head was throbbing even harder.

D’Ara leaned forward slightly, staring into the rippling silver eyes. "Did you even see Valen’s eyes earlier?"

"What? He was...he was angry..."

"No," the Progenitor shook her head sadly, recalling the tremble in the sweetling’s voice and the frantic, reddened eyes. "He was scared."

"What..."

"He was frightened for your son," she continued mercilessly. "He was scared because he felt like he couldn’t trust the only one he thought he could trust."

The silver eyes shook and a bout of pain shot up Natha’s skull. "Ugh--"

"I..." Natha gripped his head; veins protruding in his temple. "What--what’s happening?!"

"Fight it."

"What--Urk!"

Clutching his head tightly, Natha gritted his teeth as a pain he never experienced before swirling inside his head. Front, back, side--every inch of his skull felt like they were being pummeled by a hammer.

"Fight it, Natha," the teacher’s voice guided her student firmly and surely. "You have an alpha seed. You can become the King. You don’t have to bow down to him."

What’s that supposed to--

"Aaaagh!"

Natha screamed as he felt a force rampaging inside his skull. The hands clutching his head were bruising his temple, but even that felt like a tickle compared to the pain inside his head. He heard the firm voice of his teacher, although he had no idea what was being said. The voice echoed inside his head--the head that felt like a field of war--before it faded, leading him into a path of another voice.

A warm, soothing voice full of affection and adoration.

The voice that had gone forgotten from his mind for a few moments earlier.

As the voice started to resound, the blue marks all over his body glowed, cementing, and the mark of eternal bond on his finger burned. It burned the haunting voice inside his mind, and scorched every bit of dark haze clouding his eyes.

"What..."

When his mind was clear enough to think, he had no idea whether the pain was coming from his head or his heart. Perhaps both. Definitely both.

"What...have I done?"

* * *

Even without me guiding the way, Vrida instinctively found the settlement quickly, and swooped down the Great Forest. Surprisingly, someone was already standing near the waterfall, as if waiting for us.

It was the librarian grandma who was in charge of managing the tribe’s archive, and there was a familiar bird on her shoulder. Ah, it seemed like Amarein had sent her messenger ahead of time.

"You’re here, my Prince," she bowed when I jumped off Vrida’s back.

"I need to see Mother," I said after taking a deep breath to calm my racing heart.

"Understood," she nodded and gestured toward the Great Tree. "I had cleared the plaza for your usage. Please take as much time as you need."

"...thank you."

Truly, I appreciated it. At that moment, my mind was so messy that I wouldn’t be able to act courteously with the other druids. But I also didn’t want to show that there was trouble, so the right answer was to avoid others altogether.

Swiftly, we arrived in front of the Tree, and I entrusted Jade to the librarian grandma.

"Wait for me here, yeah?"

[Will Papa be alright?]

I patted the green head while swallowing my sigh. "It’s fine. I’m going to chat with Mother and come back right away."

[Okay, Jade will wait]

And truly, Jade was behaving very well, staying still on the librarian’s shoulder with Amarein’s messenger. It helped ease my heart a little bit, steeling it further as I placed my hand on the trunk. The green mark on my hand glowed and the door opened.

When I stepped through the door, instead of the hall and the library, I was stepping into a garden. The Garden. I was right in front of the arched flower gate, and I could see Mother in the yard further down the way.

She wasn’t tending to her garden this time. She stood there, wearing a solemn expression, as if she had already anticipated my visit.

"Mother."

"Valen..."

I walked closer while clenching my jaw and fists. Suppressing my anger and fear as much as possible, I asked in a restrained voice.

"Am I delusional?"