The Demon Lord's Bride (BL)
Chapter 74: A merry gathering made for a lonely parting

Chapter 74: A merry gathering made for a lonely parting

The breakfast truly reminded me of mealtime in the tower. While Natha received his report from Opti, I made small talk with Dhuarta. She told me to call her Arta, and asked me about what kind of snacks I liked.

When I told her that I didn’t know much about the food here—or anywhere else, for that matter—she told me she’d send me a whole lot of it from various places, since apparently, she was in charge of managing the castle’s logistics.

I just didn’t know that personal snacks were part of the castle’s logistics.

And then she started to list some of her favorite ones, where they came from, and how they tasted. Listening to her talk about snacks reminded me of Zia even more. Apparently, I spelled that out loud, since she giggled while replying.

"Oh, it’s been a while since I saw the princess. I used to be the one showing her around the city when she first came here," she said, propping her chin with a palm and looking up in reminiscence. "She still sends me a copy of her books every time."

"It’s called babysitting," Natha suddenly chimed in, eyes scanning my plate like an inspector of a strict dorm, and smiled when he found I emptied it already. "You want anything else?"

"Not now," I shook my head a bit. Perhaps because I couldn’t digest much food in my past life, I still couldn’t eat a lot in one sitting. But since the food coming into my stomach wasn’t much, I also got hungry easily. So rather than eating a lot in one sitting, I ate more frequently.

"Alright," he patted my head before standing up, so I guess the morning report was over, as well as their breakfast. "Just ask the servants if you want to eat. Pinne here..." he pointed to the footman that had been serving our breakfast, who immediately bowed his head, "...will take care of you during your stay. Just treat him like a more talkative Angwi."

Even the most reserved person would be more talkative than Angwi, as long as they weren’t mute. But I just returned the demon’s smile and stood up to follow Natha like a habit—like what I always do every time he had to get back to the castle.

It was quite silly since we were already in the castle, and he worked like...three floors below and a few hundred meters far. But thankfully, no one seemed to question it, and Natha took my hand as usual, just like when we walked together to the balcony.

"What are you going to do today, Young Master?" Opti asked as we entered the pristine, model-like reception room.

"I’m going to plunder His Lordship’s treasure room," I answered while looking up at the smirking Lord, giving out my mischievous wink.

Actually, Natha was supposed to get me back last night, but since I got a dramatic episode and ended up staying the night, we decided to just prolong my stay. Also, we ended up spending the whole day inside the greenhouse yesterday, although it was supposed to just be a short visit.

So I planned to do what I was supposed to do yesterday. Just...I had to do it alone since the tour guide had a lording to do.

"Ooh~that sounds fun!" Opti chimed in energetically. "I’m only allowed to go inside when I bring something that His Lordship assigned me to get..." the boy made a dejected expression.

"I’m not going to let an unruly child like you touch my possession," Natha replied nonchalantly.

"Huuh? So that means everyone aside from Malta is an unruly child in your eyes, my Lord?"

"Did I stutter?"

"How mean!"

Once again, I marveled at the way Natha acted casually with his vassals, and couldn’t help but giggle at their interaction. It was quite refreshing too, to see people who didn’t seem to be scared in front of him. Even Zia had an inherent fear of a niece toward the older generation when he faced Natha.

I started to wonder about the other vassals too, and what kind of attitude he had in front of them. Just then, Arta leaned down and turned her face to me.

"Young Master, may we speak to you again sometime?" she asked with a smile. "Me and my siblings, I mean."

"Siblings?"

"Yes, my twin brother and older sister," she grinned, and as if recalling something, suddenly snapped her fingers. "Ah, I think you’ve met her already?"

Me? With who? When I tilted my head in confusion, she explained to me. "It was during a festival, I think? Ah, she was the one who restrained that stupid Caba—you, know, the one that...ah..."

She stopped talking and pressed her lips, suddenly stepping back with a rather pale face. "Forgive me,"

I didn’t know this Caba, or Arta’s older sister for that matter, and couldn’t remember ever seeing them. But I got the clue when she mentioned the festival, and from how she reacted after that, it was probably that time when Natha’s vassal almost attacked me.

"Oh, I wasn’t in my right mind that time, so I can’t remember her, sorry..." I told her apologetically.

"No, no, you don’t have to, Young Master—I’m..." she looked even paler now, to the point that it felt weird. Her energetic countenance was gone and she lowered her head like a child being punished for wrongdoing.

Oh, it felt familiar. I knew that reaction, since I already experienced it myself. So I turned my head to look up at Natha, and I caught his cold eyes looking at Arta. When he shifted his gaze to look at me, however, the coldness was already gone.

"I’m alright now," I told him with a genuine smile.

I truly was. Despite the ache my heart felt from knowing that his affection for me was originally reserved for Valmeier, the root of my distress was the vivid feeling of stabbing Natha that I got from the shared memory. The self-loathing and disgust.

But I got through that after I managed to resummon Alveitya, and accepted the fact that I wasn’t the one who did that to Natha, and that I didn’t have to feel guilty anymore, especially because the victim himself told me not to dwell on that.

And I told myself yesterday, while crying my heart out, that I wouldn’t get burdened by that kind of thought again.

Only nice thoughts, only nice things from now on.

"I’m also okay talking more with you and your siblings, Arta," I told the demon, while clutching Natha’s hand and rubbing his cold skin with my thumb.

"Thank you, Young Master," Arta replied, albeit still in a weary tone, still with her gaze on the floor.

I looked at Natha again, and saw his eyes curled then. And even though he didn’t point it at me, I could feel his coldness retract from the room. Through my peripheral vision, I could see Arta slowly regain her color, and we continued to walk toward the door.

It was different than the door we used to reach here from the Lord Hall. We went through a big foyer that almost felt like a lobby; Natha said that it was for the guest’s attendants and guards to wait while their charge was in the reception room. The door there was much bigger, and spanned from the floor to the ceiling, probably around five or six meters. Looked majestic and awfully heavy.

There were servants and guards there, two of which immediately moved to open the door. I glimpsed other guards outside too from the gap. I stopped just a few steps from the door, as Arta and Opti walked outside first. Natha turned around then, brushing my fringe and tucking stray hairs behind my ear.

"I’ll see you at luncheon if I can," he said, before lowering his head and giving me a gentle kiss. "Have fun," he swept my lips with his thumb and gave me a charming smile, before following his vessels.

While the door was closing, I gave them a little wave, and Opti returned it enthusiastically with a big one on his own, which prompted me to laugh.

But when the door was closed, I suddenly felt a bit lonely. Perhaps because the breakfast turned into a merrier event, the absence felt even more imminent. As I walked back to the living room, I suddenly missed the loud chirping noise that always accompanied me.

Ah...I missed Jade. If the little bird was a bit bigger, our bond would allow us to communicate telepathically even within long distances. Alas, Jade was still but a toddler a few months old. For now, I had to wait for the bird to evolve once more, so I could bring it anywhere.

I wondered how long should I wait for Jade to evolve, and how much mana essence should I purify to feed the glutton. Perhaps I should start venturing deeper into the forest, maybe somewhere with different composition. If I recalled correctly, Doun said there was a spring deeper in the forest. I had to ask him about it though, so I wouldn’t get lost. While I managed to befriend the younger trees, the older residents of the forest were like stoic, scary elders still.

But that was a concern for another time.

For now, it’s a treasure hunting time!