The Demon Lord's Bride (BL)
Chapter 595: People follow the one with the money

Chapter 595: People follow the one with the money

An hour after the sun went down, the party started to gather one by one in Zarfa’s mansion. I was so busy trying to solve the maze box puzzle that I only came out after Zarfa picked me up in my room.

Well, not having to wait around for everyone to arrive was a plus on its own.

"It’s been a while, Sir Valen," Fatia made a small curtsy, needlessly stoic as always.

No matter how much I told her to call me ’Valen’ like others, she did not budge. I knew it was born out of respect for what I had done and also my ’status’--if you’d call it that--so it was harder to tell her off about it. All I could do was swallow my sigh and get used to it.

"It’s been a year, isn’t it?" I swept my gaze across the room to take a brief look at every one.

Aina was whispering with Zarfa on one side, and the Hero was on the other side with Ian and another person I had never seen before, covered from head to toe. Before I could scrutinize the person more, however, Fatia replied to me, so my attention returned to her.

"Has it been that long?" she smiled regretfully. "Maybe because we were so busy before, time doesn’t feel like it flows so much."

"Well, I just saw Valen a few days ago!" Aina jumped out of nowhere and clung to my back, laughing.

Sometimes, I thought she was just a bigger-sized Jade.

"Ah, right!" Fatia clasped her hands and beamed. "I guess congratulations are in order."

"Two at that!" Aina threw her arms, looking proud that she was there for both events.

"You’ve worked hard, my boy...you’ve worked hard," Zarfa even patted my back while acting like a wise old wizard or something, before giggling with Aina again.

"Thank you," I nodded in gratitude.

I was trying to take it cool, but I couldn’t help the corner of my lips twitch and eventually raise a little bit. Was it because I felt like everyone was happy about my happiness? I did have a hard time throughout the pregnancy and the birth, so it was nice to be praised and congratulated for the result.

"I heard it’s a son?" The hero, Jin, finally approached us and chimed in, along with Ian and that mysterious addition. Zarfa and Aina must have told them along with the ’stand-by’ order.

"Yes," I nodded with a smile--because I was yet to feel sad about staying away from Shwa at that point.

"Congratulations."

"Thank you."

Short, brief; Natha should be satisfied.

"Oh, does that mean I’m an uncle now?" Ian hit his palm in realization. Wasn’t it endearing that he still considered me as his ’brother’ despite knowing I was only half Valmeier? He was rather cute if you got past his temperament.

"You have to gain permission from his older brother first," I chuckled.

The one with the same temperament.

"For your information, Jade had already acknowledged me as the aunty!" Zarfa patted her chest proudly.

Ian clicked his tongue and sneered. "You were probably bribed him with toys and snacks, weren’t you?"

"So? Wealth is also a skill, you know~"

"Jade is materialistic, so that works well," I laughed. That bird-boy would be kind to anyone who gave him candy...which was dangerous, honestly, but we had a back door in which the person should also be kind to me. "But, uhh..."

I turned toward the cloaked figure standing behind Jin, tilting my head slightly.

"Ah, this is..."

With a slight flinch, the person hurriedly pulled down their mask, and I saw an ordinary-looking girl with brown hair and clear hazel eyes.

"We gained a new comrade the last time," Zarfa told me. "She’s one of the spies helping us sneak into the place where those girls were kept."

"Ah..."

Spy? Was she an assassin of some sort? I guessed it was time they had one of those kind. Ah, I guessed that was why I thought she looked ordinary. That was how a spy should be, right? Easily blending with the environment. You know, the type people would easily forget after a conversation, and wouldn’t make people turn or observe?

How should I say this? Like an NPC?

"Oh, umm..." the girl shuffled forward slightly, but still kept herself behind Jin. She bowed and stuttered slightly. "H-hello. My name is Renna."

Huh? Was she not an assassin type?

"Ah, yes. Hello," I swallowed my confusion and nodded. "You can call me Valen."

Perhaps feeling my confusion, Zarfa whispered to me the moment Renna retreated to her initial position behind Jin and Ian. "She might be like that, but she changes once she’s on the job."

"I see..."

Oh, oh--was it like an actress who changes the moment they had their script? Her being ordinary also meant she was easy to be transformed. I could see her turning pretty with just a slight makeover or being obscured into what others would call ’ugly’. Like a chameleon.

How interesting. I couldn’t wait to see her in action!

I looked at her in intrigue, but she was quick to hide behind the Hero, who was laughing and calming her, probably telling her I wasn’t going to eat her or something. So I leaned down and whispered back to Zarfa. "Anyway...something happens between them?"

"I guess?" she shrugged. "He falls in love easily, after all."

I couldn’t help but laugh in relief. "Oh, I have to tell Natha so he stops getting all cranky about this mission."

"Ah, right, the mission!" Zarfa gasped as if she had forgotten why we were in her mansion in the first place. "Okay--the greeting is over," she clapped her hands once and snapped her fingers toward the door. "Let’s talk business over dinner!"

Might as well, since working on that puzzle box drained my energy so much. Even after snacking a lot during our tea time, I was already feeling hungry. As expected, Zarfa treated this gathering like a party, and we were served good food.

Almost as good as what I had back in the Castle.

Sitting at the head of the table, Zarfa did not waste time to start speaking the moment our desserts were served. "I don’t think there’s a need for glib between us, so let me just lay it straight;" she raised her small spoon like a pointer. "Let’s go to the final dungeon!"

Naturally, all of them paused and looked at her in confusion. Even I would confused if I didn’t know the context beforehand.

"Huh?"

"Tsk--get your head in the game, Jin!" Zarfa clanked her spoon on the side of her pudding bowl, which made the butler grimace. "The final arc! The boss room! The top of the tower! The last quest!"

I don’t think that helps much, girly pop.

"...finding the Goddess?"

"Bingo!"

Oh, not bad. Fortunately, the Hero had been used to her antics.

"You can just say it as it is, you know..."

"Shut up," she scoffed and dunked her spoon into the pudding, finally using it as it was intended to be. "Anyway, we had met the Templars, so isn’t it time?"

Jin looked at the others, who responded with a shrug, before replying with uncertainty. "Well...I guess?"

"Wait--" Fatia raised her hand and looked at me. "Since Sir Valen is here, does it mean..."

Zarfa nodded with a grin as if she had been waiting for the question all this time. "Yes, Valen will go with us this time."

"R-really?" Fatia gasped, and her eyes were sparkling with joy.

"Oh, that’s great!"

Ian and the Hero chimed in with the same sentiment. Honestly, it felt nice to be welcomed enthusiastically like this in a group I only interacted with a few times at best.

"And of course, along with his husband’s money!"

Again, Zarfa made a dramatic reveal with her dessert spoon. The one who caught on the fastest was her partner in mischief.

"Gasp! The auction!"

Zarfa excitedly pointed her spoon toward the girl who had secretly finished two puddings by herself. "A hundred points for Miss Aina! You will be granted a material of your own choice in the auction!"

"Yaaay!"

Wow, it felt like we were in the auction already.

"Uhh...is that alright?" Fatia looked at me worriedly, perhaps because Zarfa seemed to be making a decision without even asking for my permission.

Or perhaps because the cost of a material in an auction could range from shit to absolute rip-off, which was risky unless you really knew the item’s worth. Not that it mattered much to me.

"Tsk, tsk--you don’t know how rich this guy is, don’t you?" Zarfa wiggled her finger at the future prime minister’s daughter. "I am but a peasant in front of him."

Aina made a fake dramatic gasp, but the new girl Renna was gasping for real. "T-that much?"

Of course, not...I think? Zarfa was just being dramatic about the comparison, but to be fair, Natha was the tycoon of the Demon Realm and I had no idea about the financial situation of the humans.

So I just replied diplomatically. "It’s not exactly my money."

"Tsk--your husband’s money is yours, don’t you know that?" Zarfa clicked her tongue.

"Well...he did say I could use however much," I shrugged.

"Excellent!" Zarfa snapped her fingers to slam a hammer on the sponsorship. "And that’s why, ladies and gentlemen, we will treat this mission as His Highness Valen’s commission."

I rolled my eyes and grumbled at the title usage. "Can you not?"

Naturally, she ignored me and continued. "And that is why, we have to finish this in three--no, in eighty days!"

"What?!"

"That’s--"

"We couldn’t even finish the last one that fast..."

Well, I already expected that, so I wasn’t disheartened. Zarfa also said to just trust her, so I let her proceed.

"So what? We have more capital now," the girl shrugged nonchalantly. "Just treat it as if we’re going around the world! Someone did it in eighty days, didn’t they?"

"What the hell are you even talking about?" Ian grumbled in reasonable confusion.

"At any rate, we will be departing the day after the auction, so prepare yourself accordingly," she clanked her spoon once again against the dessert bowl.

"Ugh--this is so sudden..."

"Auction~"

"We will be ready on time, Ma’am!"

And just like that, the talk was concluded and we would be departing on the morning after the auction.

"I told you," she glanced at me and winked after the others went back. "Money is the best."

Search the lightnovelworld.cc website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.