The Demon Lord's Bride (BL)
Chapter 594: A portal is the magical world equivalent of a private jet

Chapter 594: A portal is the magical world equivalent of a private jet

The portal to the human realm was located in the main headquarters of Natha’s merchant guild. It was hidden deep underground, where the vaults for valuables were being kept.

Well, I guessed an inter-realm portal was also a treasure.

Of course, it wasn’t located in the same room as the other valuables--just on the same floor. We were using a merchant carriage instead of the Castle’s, so others would think it was just one of the staff coming back from reporting to Natha. Naturally, we didn’t want people to find out that I would be away for a long time.

If the tokens could be made, I would only use the portal once more, and that was it. Probably.

"Have you sent a message to the other side?"

"Yes, Your Lordship. She said she would be waiting in front of the portal," the staff stationed to solely maintain the portal answered swiftly.

"Good."

Natha nodded firmly, acting all cool and collected despite clinging to me since yesterday. Actually, he still held my waist tight as we walked to the portal room. Lesta, who was accompanying us to the merchant guild, narrowed his eyes as he glanced back.

"I’m telling you now, but please don’t make a scene, Your Lordship."

"You’re saying that made me want to make a scene," Natha curled his lips and raised his brow in challenge.

Naturally, Lesta just rolled his eyes with a fed-up expression and turned away to face the portal’s operator. "Activate it."

"Yes, Sir!"

The portal did not look very different from the one connecting the Castle and the Lair in terms of size--big enough for two Natha side by side but not more. But the frame was thicker, and the rune formation was at least three times denser and more complicated. Of course, the power needed for just a one-way journey was massive.

I hadn’t realized it before since the Lair portal was fueled by the elemental birds’ mana, but a barrel of mana stones was needed to open the portal just once. For comparison, a barrel of mana stone was enough to feed the power needed to run the amusement park for three days.

So...yeah...

While the money was nothing for Natha, I felt a bit guilty for the power consumption. I could use my own mana, but Natha did not allow it--after all, it would deplete a quarter of my reserve, and the thought triggered a lot of traumatic memories for our Demon Lord.

Ah, my husband was so endearing. I would probably return the next day, but...thinking about going a week or two without seeing him at all made my legs feel heavier as if they didn’t want to step into the portal.

I tugged on his hand and pulled him down slightly, whispering into his ear. "I kind of want you to make a scene though."

Just a bit wouldn’t be a problem, right?

The silver eyes rippled, and Natha smirked. His hand on my waist gripped tighter and pulled me closer, fast and rather harshly. Just like his kiss. He grabbed the back of my head and pushed me to his face, kissing me as if he was about to send me to the bedroom instead of a portal to another realm.

"Oh, come on!" Lesta groaned and snapped his fingers. "The portal’s ready."

"I’ll see you soon," I giggled against his lips. "Play a lot with our son."

"I’ll show him my office sometimes."

"Isn’t it too soon for an internship, my Lord?" I laughed and stepped back.

He shrugged with a smile, taking my hand and kissing my knuckles one by one while staring straight into my eyes. "I love you so much."

"Yeah, I love you too," I held his hand tightly for the last time. The last time that day, I meant.

"Ahem!"

I laughed at the busy warden who became more and more impatient. "I’m going now."

I pulled my hands from his hold before my legs felt even heavier and hurriedly stepped into the portal. A careless move, since my balance was already wacky without me trying to move fast, so I stumbled and almost ungracefully fell to my face on the other side.

"Val!"

Fortunately, someone pounced on me the moment I appeared on the other side, giving me an excuse to be wobbly and rebalanced myself while hugging her back. Zarfa laughed and jumped happily for a few seconds before stepping back and scrutinizing me.

"Are you alright?"

"More or less," I shrugged.

"Alright!" she squeezed my cheeks before dragging me out of the vault. "Now, tell me everything."

* * *

I recounted everything that happened, from the naming ceremony to looking for an answer from Mother. As expected from someone who was transmigrated and not a demon, Zarfa was accepting everything without any hesitation.

"Damn it! If only I had seen more in my dreams at that time!" she stomped her feet on the carriage’s floor, clicking her tongue. "I died too fast, tsk--"

As much as I was happy she looked unfazed about her own death...

"I don’t think you could see it anyway," I shrugged. "It’s not really the Goddess’s territory, right? It’s not exactly correlated to the human realm--unlike the Amrita."

"Hmm...you might be right," she leaned back and pursed her lips, crossing her arms in forced acceptance. "Alright, so you’re saying we need the Goddess’s presence as a moral support, right?"

"More or less," I nodded.

Well, I wanted to bring both goddesses, but it wasn’t like I wanted a fight breaking out between deities. What I wanted to achieve was ultimately bringing out a negotiation table with a balance of power on both sides. At least.

I wouldn’t mind it if the power was skewed to my side. I was the bride of greed anyway.

"Okay," Zarfa nodded and snapped her fingers. "I’ve told the others to be on stand-by since you might visit anytime soon, so I can get them all here for dinner to talk about it."

"Thank you."

Without wasting any time, she immediately sent her people to convey the message to the Hero, Fatia, and Aina the moment we alighted from the carriage. Sometimes, I forgot that she was a conglomerate’s daughter, perhaps because she acted just the way she acted in our past lives.

"...Hey, I’m sorry I just sent you off last time without any explanation," I muttered on our way to the backyard for our tea.

"Eh, don’t worry," she waved her hand dismissively. "When I saw the other’s reaction, I knew something was happening. You were sending us back for security reasons, right? Since you won’t be there."

"Well..."

"Anyway, I know you won’t just do that without any reason, so don’t sweat it," she flicked my forehead lightly.

I nudged her sideways and laughed. "Thanks."

"Hehe..." she grabbed my hand and dragged me forward to move faster. "Anyway, why are you alone? You don’t have Jade and Ignis with you?"

"I was planning on getting back first before the real journey; they’ll come with me afterward."

Jade was throwing a tantrum, thinking I would actually leave him behind. But this time, I wanted to discuss the matter on my own, and...I wanted to have the time to talk with myself and my best friend--someone who knew me even better than Natha.

"Well, it’ll take time to get ready anyway," Zarfa shrugged, before pointing to a building I could see from the garden, which looked like a warehouse. "I already prepared in advance--just in case, you know--but since this is like the big big one, we still need more adjustment. Aina probably wants to sort out her inventions, and...well, Fatia will need a lot to sort out."

"I see..."

"Also, there will be an auction in the Capital."

It had been almost a year since I last visited this kingdom. I heard the lost prince had been found, and he was in the middle of royal education by the regent to take over the throne. The governmental business was still being taken care of by the regent, and I heard she would be made prime minister after the restructuring. Not my business.

What was important was people started to trust the kingdom again, and the wheel of the economy had been turning vigorously. As the market was booming, the influx of people and items called for auctions, and the kingdom was very much supporting it. The one she wanted us to check was the biggest one yet.

Or so Zarfa told me.

"I don’t know if there will be good findings, but I think it’ll be regretful to pass it."

Personally, I didn’t need any equipment or elixir, but the others might, so...fair enough. I was pushing the timeline, so the party probably lost the chance to collect some equipment from side quests or whatever. Might as well use Natha’s money to boost the troop’s morale.

"When do you think we can go?" I asked.

"The auction is in two days, so I think we can go the next day."

"Oh, that’s not too long," I clasped my hands in relief. I had thought we would need to delay it for a week or something. "In that case, I think I’ll go back tomorrow and return before the auction."

"Alright, that’s a plan," Zarfa clapped her hand as if to close this topic temporarily. "For now...what do you want to eat with the tea?"

Well, it was always nice to do some girl time. I laughed and followed her to the tea table beneath the red trees.