The Demon Lord's Bride (BL)
Chapter 66: My Lord, we aren’t married yet

Chapter 66: My Lord, we aren’t married yet

How could he do this to me?

I mean...could he at least give me a heads-up or something? I thought we were going to his room, not to a place where his subordinate was waiting.

Gosh—how many are they? One, two...ten? I counted them swiftly, from the one who looked like a three meters giant to the one who looked like a boy. They were all staring—of course, they would be staring!

In a flurry of thoughts, I half expected someone would react strongly like that time during the festival. I didn’t really remember it well, but I was sure someone was trying to attack me then. I was too busy relieving bad memories of this body stabbing Natha to remember which one though.

But while they were staring, they also seemed to freeze in place, looking at me with widened eyes and stiff expressions. Almost like they also didn’t know they would see me there.

Or was it agitation?

Reflexively, I grabbed Natha’s arm and scooted closer, trying to half hide myself behind him. Or if I couldn’t...behind his aura?

Please look at him, your dashing and imposing Lord, not me, okay?

And then the dashing and imposing Lord suddenly hold my hand and addressed the demons in front of us. "As I informed you earlier, this is the one who shall be my mate."

Mate? Did he say...mate?

I looked up at him, totally flustered, and very much wanted to know how I could get the ability to maintain that cold and impassive face while saying something like that. He said it just like that, as if making an announcement about tomorrow’s meeting topic.

"You know his name, but you shall not address him by that—keep it in your mind,"

Oh...right—except for especially close friends and relatives, one shouldn’t call another’s betrothed by their given name. That was why other demons in the tower called me ’Young Master’...which kind of reminded me of my past life.

But hearing him banned others from calling me by name like that certainly made my heart tingle. Not to mention, I just realized he was speaking in the common tongue, so I knew he wanted me to know what he was talking about. He looked at me then, the cold face cracked slightly with a smile I was familiar with, and my grip inside his hold tightened reflexively.

"That was all," he said, and turned his body while pulling me gently, taking me toward the end of the dais where we stood.

"By your order!"

My sight was covered by Natha’s figure beside me, but I could see the demons go down on their knee, before we went through a door and I couldn’t see them anymore. But I happened to see the one who looked like a boy peeking at us and our eyes met. He was grinning seepehisly then, and I instinctively responded with a smile.

That was the only ’interaction’ I had with them—if it could be called that. Natha brought me through an almost empty corridor, with carved stone walls and a marbled floor that made our steps echo loudly. I looked up at the super-high ceiling and beams made of carved dark wood, and small chandeliers lighting up the way.

It had this cold and serious vibe, like a government building or something—umm...I guess this really was a government building. It felt very different from the tower which felt cozy and kind of like a vacation retreat. Or was it because I couldn’t see anyone around?

"Is it usually this empty?" I turned my head to ask him, and found out he’d been watching me all this while with a small smile, as if waiting for my reaction.

"This is the corridor I used to travel from my private quarter to the Lord Hall, so no one usually uses this," he answered, which explained why no one was seen here. Other demons probably came here just to clean the place, huh? Perhaps that was why the corridor also lack decorations and such.

It was nice though. "Kind of feel like a secret passage," I muttered while looking around once more, grinning.

"We have that too," he replied with a smirk.

"Secret passage?!" I turned to look at him fast, almost stopping from enthusiasm. "Is there a lot?"

It might sound childish, but wouldn’t everyone have that kind of romance? About walking through secret passages that led to somewhere mysterious, or finding some kind of treasure at the end of it.

"There are some," I could detect his laughter inside the answer, "I’ll tell you about it once you settle here for real,"

Well, that was certainly a motivation. He gave me a sneak peek by telling me where those passages led to as we walked through the corridor. At some point, I could hear the faint sound of voices and conversation from behind the walls, so it seemed like the pathway was a shortcut through rooms so the Lord didn’t have to take the long way to reach the Lord Hall.

Hmm...I wondered what the layout of this castle was. I felt like we had walked quite far, including climbing some stairs. If this was a shortcut, I wondered about the route one should take through the normal path. But then, I guess, having a private quarter so close to one’s working space wouldn’t be nice.

While I was wondering about that, there was suddenly a nice-looking engraved double door at the end of the pathway. "Oh, is that your private quarter?"

Instead of answering, he pushed the door open and turned his face with a dashing smile. "Welcome," he said, like a proper guide.

As I stepped behind the door, I was greeted with brightness. Perhaps because we had been walking through a stonewalled corridor that felt quite dark and dreary, the room felt like another world altogether.

It was bright, and what one would expect a palace room to look like. You know—one of those fantasy aristocratic homes. It looked luxurious, but still elegant. An expensive-looking crystal chandelier hung in the center of the room, reminding me of grandpa’s house. The room seemed to be a sitting room, a reception area for a guest, with all the big velvet couches on elaborate carving frames, and decorations that served no other purposes than to sweeten the room.

"Is this where you receive private guests?" I asked curiously. I was sure though, since the room didn’t feel like Natha at all. It didn’t even have a fireplace, as if to prevent people from staying in the room for too long. Like a display room where no mess should be made.

"Yes," he confirmed my guess, and added further. "I didn’t use this place much, but I can’t really reject VIPs."

"VIPs?"

He pulled me toward another door while explaining. "Like other realm’s representatives, ambassadors...there’s other Lords too, sometimes."

"Are those people staying in the Castle too?"

"Most have their own building in the city, but some who stayed temporarily prefer to be in one of the annexes around the Castle’s compound," he opened the other door, which led to a room that looked like a library.

I said it looked like a library, but it was because there was a huge bookcase in a wall behind a seating area. But this one felt more casual, more comfortable than lavish, although the quality of the furniture was still obviously high. There was a huge fireplace on the other side of the wall too, which had already been lit, giving the room more of that warm vibe I felt in the tower.

I could see a desk in the corner, with a set of papers and writing utensils, some books, and freshly changed mana lanterns. Potted plants and flowers in vases, as well as a cupboard filled with teacups. The life force from the fire and the plants, and the leftover mana of its occupant mingle in the air, making it familiar. Like home.

Now I really felt it, that this was the place where Natha lived. This was where he spent his time when he was away from me. I approached the couch and threw myself there, sinking in the soft fabric and feeling the warmth of the fire roaring energetically inside the hearth.

He leaned down from behind the couch, caressing my cheek and looking at me from above. "How is it? You think you’ll like it here?"

I think I’d like it anywhere if I was with him anyway, but yes.

"It’s nice so far," I replied with a grin, stretching out my hands to touch his face. "What else is there?"

"There’s our small library, our collection room, our bedroom..." he leaned down even more and kissed my face with every room he mentioned, emphasizing ’our’.

If he did it to make me feel like having a heart attack, then he definitely succeeded, since I could feel it drumming in my ears every time the word ’our’ left his mouth. How could he say that? I hadn’t lived here yet, we weren’t even married yet.

"If it has my name on it, then it’s yours too," he said with a smile on my red face, tickling my chin while I pursed my lips.

This demon seduced me so much these days. He laughed and kiss my pouting lips before walking around the couch and pulling me up to tour the rest of the apartment.

The real library was a little bigger than his study, also with a carpet to muffle footsteps. There was a nook below the window that seemed to receive a lot of sunlight, with a comfortable-looking plush bench and a lot of cushions. It felt like a really nice place to read or just...take a nap I guess? There was even a blanket there already.

"Did you..." I fiddled with the end of the soft blanket there, a place obviously too small for Natha’s figure to comfortably relax. "Is this..."

He just pecked my cheek lightly and pulled me toward another room. "I’ll show you my treasures tomorrow," he said light-heartedly, with a satisfied smile. "But let’s see where you’ll stay toni—"

I pulled him back for a bit and pulled on his coat, tip-toeing to reach his face, and kissed him. On the lips this time.

"Thank you," I whispered against his lips, as he held onto my waist to support me, smiling charmingly.

"Anything for my bride,"