The Demon Lord's Bride (BL)
Chapter 65: There’s something called a heads-up, but our Lord doesn’t know that, apparently...

Chapter 65: There’s something called a heads-up, but our Lord doesn’t know that, apparently...

There was a difference between knowing ’oh, I’ll live there someday’ and ’oh, we’re going there now?’ and it was apparent in my dazed expression as I stared at Natha blankly.

"Like...right now?"

He caressed my hair and answered with a smile. "Mm, right now. Doesn’t have to be long," he paused while tucking the hair blown by the wind behind my ear. "Just a night is fine. How about it?"

"Oh..." I blinked to ponder about it. So it was kind of like his weekly visit, just that I would be the one visiting there. Perhaps he just wanted to see if I found it okay there. "So...like a trial?"

"We can call it that," and then he leaned down, not toward me, but to talk to Jade. "Unfortunately, the little bird had to stay."

Obviously, the little guy chirped angrily at the Demon Lord. "Then get strong quickly, brat," Natha smirked childishly at the baby bird.

"Do we depart now?" I asked curiously.

"Yes," Natha nodded while holding his finger up, surrounding Jade with an air bubble that suspend the bird in the air. "No need to worry, I have a trunk-load of your clothes in all my abodes."

I looked at the Demon Lord’s dubious smile and asked with narrowed eyes. "How—why?"

I had been quite curious about it for a while, but forgot about this matter altogether after some time. From the moment I first step foot on this tower, there was already a closet filled with clothes in my size. I didn’t know much about style, whether it came from the human side or the demon side, or even brought from elvendom—but they were fitted for my body.

It was as if I had been living there for a long time already. Everything, down to shoes and undergarments was ready for me to wear.

As if he had been planning to bring me here before I even requested to meet with him.

And by me, I mean Valmeier.

"I—" he put a finger under my chin and lifted my face, leaning so close that all I could see was the silver of his eyes. "—like to be prepared."

"Mm..."

"Hmm," he stared at me, humming, before looking up as if trying to remember something. "I think I emptied out about five different stores after you send me that letter..."

Oh...I looked up, sneaking my arms around his torso. He smirked and knocked my head lightly with the end of his chin. "Why? You think I prepared it for someone else?"

Well...

I giggled against his chest, and felt his lips on the crown of my head. "So? Shall we go, then?"

"We’re not even telling the others?"

"Angwi will tell Zidoa for you—we won’t be too long anyway," he put his hand on my waist, and even then, still held up his hand for me to take. "Shall we?"

As I reached out to grab his hand, I was flooded with the memory of our first encounter; on that balcony, with him in his human disguise. I didn’t know then that taking that hand would lead me this far, not just surviving, but enjoying the life he managed to save.

The moment I took his hand, the same black wings surrounded me, and all I could see then was Natha and darkness. My body felt light—or rather, weightless. My senses, which had always connected with the elements around me, suddenly felt lost. Like a phone without a signal.

It was as if time had stopped—how fascinating. This was the second time I experienced long-distance teleportation with Natha, but I was drunk and in a daze the first time. Now, I could feel it better, the feeling of leaping through space on a greater scale.

When I finally felt the gravity was upon me again, I was smiling delightfully at the experience. Looking up at Natha with a grin, I suddenly froze when I saw his cold face—his ’Lord’ face.

It was then I realized, that, unlike the first time when he brought me to his private chamber where there was only us, this time he brought me inside a hall.

The Lord Hall.

Which was equivalent to a throne room in a palace.

In front of his retainers.

Oh...fuck.

* * *

Once upon a time, in the Lord Castle of L’anaak Eed, the Lord of Greed, Matsa Ra Natha gathered his ten loyal vassals and announced that he had taken a bride.

Well—that, in itself, wasn’t something so shocking. In fact, it was news worth congratulating for. After all, the Lord had lived close to a century without any lovers. There were rumors, scandals, and speculations—especially with people he was sexually involved with—but none had been proven true. His vassals knew best that the Lord had never brought anyone inside his private chamber, even during his rut. The Lord preferred for such business to be done elsewhere.

So when their lord announced the news, it was supposed to be a joyful occasion.

That was, if it didn’t come with one of the vassals being restrained because he was attacking said bride.

How should these loyal vassals react when they found out that said bride was a human? And not just any human, but an enemy to their kin?

Scratch that—an enemy to them, since said human also happened to almost killed their Lord in the past.

Of course, there would be mixed emotions. Should they be happy that their Lord finally found someone, or should they get angry that an enemy managed to steal their Lord’s heart?

But they could see how much the Lord cared for this human from his sheer effort of explaining to them that this human wasn’t an enemy, that their past unfortunate encounter was all his fault. They knew the Lord would still keep this human by his side even if the whole Demon Realm opposed him.

So they couldn’t help but accept that decision. But accepting it and being happy about it was a separate thing. While there were those who delightfully follow whatever the Lord wanted and commanded, there were also those who remained skeptical, if not outrightly loathed the Lord’s choice.

It was apparent that soon, the Lord would bring over the one he desired to be his mate. He’d been renovating the Lord’s private quarter, redecorating it, filling the place with flowers and greenery. He’d been instructing the gardeners to fix the Castle’s park and greenhouse, and hiring an additional cook who had expertise in human culinary.

It wasn’t what he did that took their attention, but how happy he looked while doing it. While his face remained as cold and impassive as always, there was always a certain warmth in his silver eyes, a slight smile as he looked at the space he ordered to be changed—probably imagining the human walking around in it.

The vassals only had two thoughts regarding this sight—either the Lord was deeply in love, or totally under a dangerous spell.

And then, during one peaceful morning, the Lord suddenly said he’d bring the human over later that day, which made at least three of his vassals choke on their breakfast.

Just like that, as if he wasn’t just dropping a bomb, the Lord went on with his business as usual, until he disappear after his afternoon meeting. The vassals froze for about a whole minute before going wild between themselves.

"What—that human will be here? Just like that?" Caba, which supreme loyalty had torn him between hating the human or letting his Lord happy, grabbed his nonexistent hair.

"Calling him human is weird, though. Technically he’s a druid too," the ever-calm Lesta replied nonchalantly, walking calmly toward the Lord Hall.

"Hmm...but should we prepare something? You know...like a welcome drink or snack?" Dhuarta, who always acted like a secretary, tapped on her chin in contemplation. "How exactly we should act in front of him, anyway?"

"Like how you should treat your Lord’s partner, of course," the strict Malta said while leading them through the hallway, instructing the Castle’s staff to make sure the Lord’s private quarter was in a good state.

The three siblings were the ones who had been with the Lord since before his coronation, and they were the ones who accepted the whole situation the fastest.

"I wonder what he really looked like," another vassal who easily accepted the Lord’s bride was Eruha, the Lord’s chess partner and strategist. "The way people describe him made him seem to be so monstrous..."

"Well, isn’t he the one who destroyed five of Lord Metta’s hearts?" a boyish voice chimed in, coming from someone who, well, looked like a boy. Opti, however, had lived at least twice longer than the human they would meet soon.

"All of you are too easy," while there were quite a lot of positive reactions after the Lord’s effort to convince them, there were still some voices of dissent left. "I don’t think my uncle will be happy about it."

"Neither us nor His Lordship cares about whether your uncle is happy or not, though?" Opti grinned at his back, where Hagai, whose uncle was part of the elder’s council, frowned at him.

The taller demon clicked his tongue, but Malta already cleared her throat and opened the door to the empty Lord Hall. Not even servants were permissible to be there unless for cleaning purposes, and it was there the ten vassals waited for their Lord’s arrival.

Along with the half-human half-druid bride.

And then, finally, the flutter of black wings that announced their Lord’s arrival came. As the dark feather dispersed, the first thing they noticed was a completely different mana wave coming from the figure beside their Lord.

For a while, they couldn’t even breathe, couldn’t blink.

It was raw, pure, and massive. A force of nature that swirled around the man like an invisible barrier, wrapping so tight and secure that it felt like armor.

The sheer blow of that power made the innocent face of the man even more incredulous. The bright green eyes that shone like a pair of jewels blinked in surprise at their presence, as if he wasn’t expecting them to be there. He was smiling joyfully before, with a slight flush on his fair cheek, although the smile soon receded. In its place was a pair of coral lips pressed tightly in perhaps nervousness as the emerald eyes swept the room briefly. As he slightly lowered his head, the long ebony hair swayed like rivulets, adorned simply in a few droplets of silver gems.

How could such power come from something so delicately and innocently beautiful?

Perhaps because he felt all the gaze from the vassals—the curious one, the dubious one, the welcoming one—he moved closer toward the Lord in reflex, the hand that gripped the Lord tightly bore the oath between the two.

Ah...so he truly was the Lord’s bride.

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