The Demon Lord's Bride (BL)
Chapter 73: There is no better way to steel your nerves than practice

Chapter 73: There is no better way to steel your nerves than practice

The demons that appeared at the door frame were that boy—that wasn’t really a boy—and another one, female it seemed, with dark skin, black sclera, and pointed ears. They stood at the entrance proudly, with sheepish grins that spelled mischief.

They seemed to be older than Zia, but were still considered to be quite young. Perhaps that was why I heard Natha mumble ’unruly kids!’ under his breath.

"Did I not tell you to stop barging into my rooms?" the Demon Lord said. But rather than pissed off, he sounded more exasperated, like an uncle getting tired of his nephew’s shit.

"Eeeh~ but you only said not to come in your day-offs," the shape-shifter boy, I believed his name was Opti, replied wittingly. "This is not your day-offs, my Lord, and you weren’t there at the dining hall. How can I give you my morning report, then?"

Wow, I thought all of Natha’s subordinates were the serious type who always looked at the ground when speaking to him. I didn’t peg him to be someone whose room could be barged into by his vassals, not to mention them talking to him in a cheeky manner.

"You can give it to me later,"

"Then it’s not morning report anymore, isn’t it?" they started to walk inside then, perhaps because Natha did not outrightly kick them out. "Besides, I have to go out after this, so I can’t give it to you later, My Lord."

I looked at Natha, and saw his eyes twitch. I couldn’t believe this—the Demon Lord of Greed, which usually stayed nonchalant and hid his emotions really well, looked like he was struggling to keep his annoyance flared up.

So interesting.

"Also," they stopped a few paces from the table, and glanced at me briefly, both had a smile on their face. "We didn’t know the young master is still here,"

The female demon, who dressed sharply in something that looked like a medieval pantsuit, curtsied first. "It was rude of us to not greet you properly before, Young Master, please forgive me,"

The boy followed suit then, and I was quite...bewildered. "Ah, umm..." I tried to remember the description Natha gave me yesterday when he talked about his vassals, recalling her name. "Are you...Dhuarta? It’s alright, thank you for your courtesy."

The female demon blinked and slowly straightened her back while staring at me, and then the boy shape-shifter suddenly sprung up energetically with raised arms. "Me, me? What about me? Do you know my name too, Young Master?"

"Oh...Opti, isn’t it?" I replied, looking at Natha, who was smiling subtly despite looking annoyed.

"Yaaay!" the boy clapped his hands merrily, and I thought about how thorough he was with his cosplay. "I heard His Lordship give Heraz to you? Please use them well, Young Master. They’re my relative, you know," he grinned, scooting closer toward the table until Natha tapped on the wooden surface.

I looked at him, who was looking at the two with his now neutral face. "So now that you know he’s still here, why are you still not going?" he said it in a friendly tone, but his voice was a tad bit lower than usual.

"Morning report, my Lord, duh!"

I bit my cheek to suppress my laughter. It felt unbelievable that someone would use ’duh’ at Natha. And he said it so easily too, as if he was used to it. And by Natha’s calm reaction, it seemed like he did have gotten used to it.

Turning my head toward the potted plant to hide my twitching lips, I masked my desire to tease him by playing with the leaves. I could hear them talking in the background, Natha’s annoyed voice, Opti’s cheeky tone, and Dhuarta’s energetic reply. It almost felt like I was back in the tower, with Zia and Angwi—if Angwi would talk.

Asking the small flower buds to flutter, I thought to myself that it wouldn’t be so bad having breakfast in that dining hall if all the vassals were like those two—

Oh!

I let go of the plant’s branch and turned around to look at the two demons. "Umm...have you eaten?"

All three pairs of demon eyes shifted their gaze at me, the surprise was palpable in them. Well, I got them—based on how Natha had been proceeding so far, they must have been under the impression that I was to be treated carefully, that I shouldn’t get swamped by demon’s presence too much.

And honestly, he was right; I wasn’t ready yet. Just looking at Natha’s ten vassals got me pretty jumpy the first time, what with how they looked at me with agitated eyes.

But I couldn’t stay like that could I? Especially since I would be living here. And even if I didn’t go anywhere but the private quarters and the greenhouse—like some kind of attic wife—it would be inevitable to meet his vassals. So I thought I had to practice at least.

I was used to the demons in the tower, and I had no problem with them, or any demons I bumped into during the festival. My apprehension was coming from how intense their gaze was that first time. Intense and fierce, like they were repulsed by my presence.

But if I could feel like I would get along with a few of them, then probably...

The boy, as usual, was the fastest who respond, still with eyes blown wide. "No, I haven’t! I was going to eat on my way to the south!"

And then the female demon. "I have, b-but I can eat more!"

Natha looked at me, first with a raised brow, and then a slight contemplative frown. I gave him my determined face, and it seemed like he understood it. He smiled then, while pinching my cheek lightly, and snapped his fingers to summon the servants.

"Ooh, lucky~" the boy hummed, smiling widely at me with a friendly face. I had my apprehension before, but since Natha told me that he was on the ’save’ side, I didn’t think that smile was fake.

"You spoiled brat," Natha commented with a slight grunt, as the servants came with additional chairs and more food. It prompted Natha to move his seat closer to mine, which kind of felt like a bonus.

"Hehe, I wondered why Your Lordship is so worried...the young master is pretty chill," Opti said as he sat down, smiling teasingly while at it. I wondered if he used the boy appearance because it made him look innocent and harder to get annoyed at.

"You’re not the one I’m worried about," Natha replied off-handedly, putting a fruit he was peeling on my plate. "Eat your bread, sweetheart."

Oh, right, I neglected my breakfast thanks to the small intrusion. I picked my jam-lathered bread again, the sourness working well to woke me up even more. The two demons looked at me with interest from across the table, but it didn’t feel uncomfortable like two days ago.

"Arta, look at His Lordship acting attentive. He used to only look at papers during mealtime..." Opti whispered at Dhuarta, although he definitely made it loud enough for us to hear.

I glanced at Natha while munching on my bread, whose silver eyes twitched again. Although this time, he smirked rather than frowning. "It means none of you are worth my meal-time attention, Opti."

"Ouch?"

"Now get on with that report of yours, shall we?"

Swallowing my bread, I couldn’t help but stare at Natha as he conversed with the boy. It just felt so different from how I saw him usually. In the tower, it was mostly just the two of us plus a chirping little bird. With Zia, they were more like a stern uncle and careful niece.

When I saw him dressed up earlier, I thought he was the type to get all serious about work, especially if I recalled his cold face while facing the vassals two days ago. Kind of like those strict, scary commander in war movies back on Earth.

But it seemed like he wasn’t that rigid, if his interaction with Opti was any indication. While he kept his serious face, he also seemed relaxed and a bit casual. Hmm...maybe because he was still at the dining table and not in the field?

Oh! It made me wonder what he looked like working in his office. I couldn’t help but imagine him with some glasses...ah, monocle would be lovely too.

"Your meal, sweetheart," he lifted my chin to woke me up from my daydream. A slice of sweet fruit hovered in front of my mouth and my lips parted in reflex to welcome the juicy flesh. Natha put the fork in my hand and patted my head before turning to receive a stack of paper from Opti and continuing their conversation.

Feeling embarrassed, I willed myself to stop looking at him and daydreamed. Come on, Val—you could look at him however much later! So I focused my attention on the assortment of fruit on my plate. It was quite nice to have a sweet and refreshing breakfast once in a while.

Glancing again at Natha and his two vassals interacting, and then looking around at the nice and cozy living room, I bit the fruit with a smile.

Mm, yes, it was quite nice.