The Demon Lord's Bride (BL)
Chapter 82: Forgetfulness is a part of mortal nature...right?

Chapter 82: Forgetfulness is a part of mortal nature...right?

I dreamt of countless specks of light.

I was one of them, floating in swirling darkness that felt like it was suspended and in motion at the same time. It felt like I had a dream quite like this before, but I didn’t really remember when.

While floating, I realized that each speck of light was different; some glow bright, some dim, some had jaded edges, and some felt hollow. Me...I was cracked, but not too much.

At least, I felt like I wasn’t as damaged as before, although why I knew that, I had no idea.

I was floating and floating, rotating like a little star in a massive solar system. Gradually, I realized that there was indeed a core in this darkness, although I was pretty sure it wasn’t a sun. But it felt like it had a gravity that kept us specks of light existing inside this darkness.

And the more I moved forward among the many specks of light, I felt the core watching me; keenly, sadly, eagerly.

[Soon...]

I heard a ringing voice, as the darkness churned and I woke up with a start.

Gripping my blanket tightly, I took a deep breath to calm my breathing. How weird—it wasn’t even a nightmare, didn’t feel terrible in the slightest, but my heart was pounding so fast as if I was just out of a horror show.

It was so confusing that I started to panic. And then, the anxious feeling grew when I realized I was alone. Natha wasn’t there. I couldn’t feel his usual temperature beside me. I sat up in fright, looking around frantically.

Climbing off the bed, I scampered toward the dressing room, which was empty. And then to the large bathroom, but there was still no Natha. My heart was pounding wildly, and I ran to the stairs, calling out his name.

"Nat...Natha!" I could hear the anxiety in my voice, and when I felt his mana and heard his voice, I called out again. "Na—!"

I froze in the middle of the stairs, as the living room became visible. Natha was there, on the couch in front of the fireplace, but he wasn’t alone. There were some demons with him—three, four?—and they were all looking up at my sudden yelling.

"Sweetheart?" Natha stood up from his seat, looking at me in surprise.

"Oh..."

I retreated, stepping back and stumbled down the stairs step. Losing my balance, I dropped onto the hard surface and stayed there, still feeling frozen and realized that my legs and arms were trembling.

"Val!" I heard Natha’s voice, calling out to me, and when I lifted my face, he was already in front of me. Feeling his cold hands upon my cheek, I sighed in relief as my trembling limbs were calming down. "What...what’s wrong?"

He still looked surprised, the silver eyes staring sharply beneath furrowed brows. He cupped my face, and I could only blink at him for a few seconds.

Oh...now that I saw him, my heart was no longer running wild. But perhaps because of the sudden surge of relief, I lost strength in my legs, which was why I ended up falling on my butt. "Oh..." I finally manage to make a sound, after just staring at the silver orbs silently.

"Yes?" he stroked my cheek, patiently waiting for my answer.

"Ah...I think...I dreamt of something weird?" I told him quietly, too conscious of the other demons’ presence down there.

"What dream?" he breathed a sigh of relief, but his eyes were still sharp and worried.

"It’s..." I opened my mouth, only to pause without anything coming out. Wait...what was my dream again? I realized that I couldn’t remember about it now.

Just that it was weird, and I felt like I needed to see Natha right away

"I...don’t know," I shook my head in confusion. The feeling was so strong, lingering, but the content itself was covered in a thick fog of darkness—blurry, a little bit unsettling. "I don’t remember..."

I looked at him again, and he stared at me deeply, as if trying to see if I was telling him the truth. "Oh, it’s okay now," I suddenly remembered he was in the middle of something earlier. "I’m sorry...even though you have guests—oh!"

Before I could finish my words, Natha suddenly picked me up, and I had to scramble my hands, clutching into his shoulder for balance as my body was lifted off the ground. Without wasting any time, he started to carry me up the stairs, back to the bedroom.

"Uhh—but you have—"

"They can wait," Natha said firmly, arms around my body, cool and secure. It calmed my mind, but gave my heart another jolt of palpitation.

Still, this felt too much and I started to feel embarrassed about the situation.

"I’m alright now, you should—"

"No, you’re not," he cut me off quickly, squeezing my body in his arms until I yelped in surprise. "You can’t even walk on your own."

Oh, that was true. My legs were still numb after trembling so much earlier. Ugh—not only it was embarrassing being carried back like a child, but it was also frustrating not knowing what exactly put me in this state.

Grumbling quietly, I ended up just clutching into Natha’s neck and back, laying my head on his wide shoulder as we were back to the bedroom. He didn’t put me down, and kept me in his embrace as he took a seat on the armchair beneath the window.

Ah, it was bright outside, probably past breakfast time. No wonder Natha was in his formal shirt already.

Urk—it was getting even more embarrassing to still be in a nightshirt. My hair was probably messy too, since Natha started to comb it after we were on his chair.

We stayed in a calm silence as he fixed my hair, and he stroked my cheek after, looking at my face keenly while doing so. "Do you even know how pale you were?"

Not really—I had no time to look in the mirror before frantically searching for him. "I just...have low blood pressure..."

"Val..."

Uh-oh. It was always kind of scary when he started to call me by my name, not that sweetheart thing he always used with a sweet voice. I swallowed unconsciously, and realized that my throat felt dry.

Looking at me winced in response, Natha waved his fingers, and my usual morning drink—which was sitting above a warming stone on the nightstand—floated toward us. The steaming cup landed on my waiting palm, and I drank the content in relief.

Meanwhile, Natha stroked my hair and asked in a softer voice. "What is it? A simple nightmare wouldn’t have you running out calling for my name,"

Oh wow, you just had to pour my embarrassing act in the open like that? "It’s...it’s just something silly..."

"I’ll be the judge of that," he replied with a smile, taking back the cup I used to hide my blushing face with.

Well, damn. I pressed my lips and looked at his inquisitive but patient eyes, before finally opening my mouth and trying to explain it. "I just woke up feeling anxious and...umm...you weren’t there, so..."

Truly, it was such a silly thing. If I was just a little bit calmer, I would know to trace his mana prints, and would be able to sense Natha’s presence downstairs. It was embarrassing running around like a headless chicken just because he wasn’t beside me when I woke up.

"Anyway, it’s nothing. I know you’re here now, so I’m alright," I closed my mouth with a burning feeling on my cheek. The more I replied to that moment, the more I felt embarrassed by it.

Regretfully, Natha still looked at me with narrowed eyes, as if inquiring about something else. Did he still think I hid something? So I added persistently. "Really, it’s okay now, this just makes me feel so silly. I think I can feel my legs now, so you don’t need to worry,"

"...if you’re sure," Natha said finally, after stroking my head for a full minute.

"I’m sure," I nodded firmly, and only then his lips stretched into a smile. He leaned forward and kissed me, putting my mind deeper at ease, while sending my heart jolting faster.

When he parted his lips, the silver eyes already curled and gleam softly, so pretty under the sunlight coming from the window. "Good morning,"

Mm, it was indeed a good morning. I laughed quietly and gave him a peck on his cheek—those feelings of anxiety and fear had already been forgotten. There was a thought that the way I forgot about the dream was pretty similar to the way people forgot about the mysterious egg or seed or whatever. But that thought was quickly getting shoved into a dark corner.

"Oh, right—don’t you have people waiting for you downstairs?" I remembered suddenly, pushing myself away from his face. "I’m okay now, so you should head downstairs. Ah, wait—what time is it? Are you actually late?"

I looked outside the window, and while the sky was bright and beautiful, it also meant that I overslept. A thought came to my mind that he was waiting for me to wake up before going to work, and I felt ashamed because of it.

Was that why those demons were in the living room? Giving their morning report to the Lord because he wasn’t in his office yet?

"It’s okay, I’m not late yet," Natha pinched my chin lightly. "Now, why don’t we talk about your schedule for today while we’re having breakfast?"

I blinked at his words and tilted my head in confusion. "What schedule?"