The Demon Lord's Bride (BL)
Chapter 86: Unintentional encounters always happened in the most mundane places

Chapter 86: Unintentional encounters always happened in the most mundane places

I thought the library in Natha’s Lair was already big, but I knew now that it was because I had never seen other libraries.

Yeah, especially the one situated on the castle.

Because it wasn’t just big—it was massive. I couldn’t see past the rows and rows of shelves, and as we reached the center of it, I could see the library stretched upward over many floors. Turned out, the library itself took out a whole tower on the eastern side of the castle. It received a lot of sunlight, which flooded in through the tall windows and mosaic glass on the roof.

Perhaps because it was still morning, there weren’t many people there—not that library was a place people visit often, I think. But even if I didn’t want to read, I felt like I’d still like to come just for the building and the abundant sunlight.

But then again, they were all supposed to work here, unlike me.

"There are twelve floors up, but four topmost floors are for private rooms, so those who want to concentrate deeply wouldn’t get disturbed," Lesta immediately act as a tour guide, explaining the structure after gushing out about the interior and architecture. "There are also discussion chambers with soundproof formations."

Since they acted like tour guides, I decided to respond like a tourist too. "Is there like...any restriction for reading?"

"No," it was Eruha who answered this time. "Everyone in the Lord Castle can read the books on any floor. Whether or not they would be able to understand the book’s content is not for us to decide, after all. There are those who could learn quickly by challenging themselves for something above their level."

We were walking toward the shelves, and as we bypassed an elevator, Eruha added. "That being said, some books had disturbing or dangerous content. For that kind of thing, they were kept in secure places that could only be accessed by the librarians or the Lord. So if you want to check that out, you need to ask His Lordship first, Young Master."

Whoa...what kind of content would demons find disturbing or dangerous, I wondered. But while I was feeling excited, I also remembered that it was highly likely that I wouldn’t be able to read or understand them, with my level of comprehension.

"Ah," Lesta suddenly exclaimed as we reached the bookshelf, and took out a book. "Here is the one I told you, Young Master. The one talking about His Lordship’s fight with the Lord of Pride."

Lesta gave the book to me, and when I opened it, the pages felt like the confirmation of my dejection. Yeah...I could read some words, but it was like one in every fifty words there, mostly just articles and simple verbs, which was not enough to understand the context of the sentence being written, much less the passage.

"Is there like...no books in common tongue?"

"There are some," Eruha said while looking at some books. "But they are mostly about the human realm, since the ’common tongue’ as we call it comes from them. I don’t think you’ll be interested much in the content, Young Master."

Uhh...well, that was true.

"Besides, you won’t be able to learn more if you stick to the language you already mastered," Eruha continued, with a tone that reminded me of my teacher.

Yeah, that’s right. I felt embarrassed trying to look for a shortcut before even trying first. How foolish—didn’t I already determined to live here? Surely I couldn’t always rely on the common tongue? Actually, I should really advance my demonese until I could write, read, and converse with it. Wouldn’t it be silly if the Lord’s...spouse...couldn’t even speak in the Lord’s native tongue?

"Why don’t we teach you, Young Master?" Lesta said in the middle of my self-berating session. I lifted my gaze from the book and looked at them, who was smiling. "I can teach you some elvish, and Eruha can instruct you on the demonese."

"You will?" my brows raised on their own. "I mean...you can? Aren’t you busy?"

Lesta chuckled and replied with a wide smile. "Not so busy that we can’t spare one or two hours of lesson every few days," he shrugged. "I won’t say I’m a good teacher, but I can vouch for Eru," he pointed to the other demon with his thumb. "He used to teach in the Realm of Pride."

"Oh?" I raised my brow, looking at the tall demon in surprise. No wonder I felt like facing my old teacher when he talked sometimes. Seemed like the aura of instructors was still the same in whichever world.

Swatting Lesta’s pointing thumb, Eruha looked at me with a gleam in his eyes. "Would you like that, Young Master?" he returned the book in his hand to the shelf, and leaned slightly on it afterward. "But you might want to discuss it with His Lordship first. See if he is willing to spare you,"

When I tilted my head in confusion upon his remark, he smiled crookedly and added with a teasing tone. "Since he might prefer to have all your time for him."

"Don’t tease me!" I pursed my lips at that to hide my own fluster. While it might be true, wouldn’t it be embarrassing to admit it? As if announcing that someone was so infatuated with me—although, to be fair, the Lord in question did get jealous over failed products.

"But I’m not?" he laughed softly at the face I was making. How fortunate it was that the library was currently devoid of other presence, or he might get a reprimand from the head librarian—I heard it was a very scary old demon. "So, how is it?"

I looked at them; friendly faces of those who weren’t the Lair dwellers. If Natha sent them to accompany me, surely they were trusty, right? And I supposed having a good relationship with Natha’s vassals was also a must, if I wanted to live here.

And getting more proficient in two languages while at it? A great bonus, if I could say so myself. The problem was probably laid in telling Natha about it, but surely he wouldn’t object to it, right? After all, I did it so I could live comfortably here.

So I clutched the book in my hands and nodded. "I...would be very grateful if you can spare your time to teach me."

"Of course, we can!" Lesta responded with a wide smile and hearty laugh. Did this demon forget we were in a library, I wondered.

Eruha, meanwhile, tapped on his chin in contemplation, before finally looking at me with a meaningful smile. "Tell you what," he lowered his head and spoke in a quiet voice, prompting Lesta to do the same so we looked as if we were in a huddle. "Every time you do well in our lesson, we’ll give you information about the secret passage here,"

I gasped quietly. That’s right! The secret passage! Didn’t they lure me with that earlier? At my suddenly sparkling eyes, Lesta chuckled and added.

"No, no; passages," he whispered dramatically. "Not just the one that exists in the library, but all over the castle."

My Gods! How many secret passages were there in this huge place? Where would they end up to? Was there a passage leading outside too? Or...or...some secret rooms?

I heard the sound of their chuckle, probably because I made a face like a kid getting excited to visit a candy shop. Well...I probably made the same face while visiting a candy shop before.

But I was too excited to mind being looked at like a child—and to be fair, with my age, I probably looked like a very young friend to them, barely knowing anything about this world. So I just nodded enthusiastically at them. "Oka—"

"Lesta! Lesta are you here?" suddenly, a loud voice could be heard from the entrance, accompanied by loud footsteps. In the quiet and vacant library, it reverberated loud and clear toward our position. "I heard you’re in the library!"

I froze at the voice without even meaning to. My body felt like it reacted on its own and stiffened up.

It wasn’t just me though. I could see both Lesta and Eruha also stiffened. There was a flash of surprise and worry on their face.

"Lesta, where are you?!"

Another loud shout, and something in my head was ringing. My back, my spine, my nape felt cold, and I dove behind a bookshelf, clutching the book to my chest with my trembling hand. My mind felt cloudy, and while I vaguely registered Eruha calling out to me, I couldn’t respond.

Strangely, what triggered in my mind was a sense of panic and disgust over something that I had done—or not...it was confusing.

Ah...I remembered then...it was the feeling I got when I felt this body’s memory of stabbing Natha. That night of the festival.

Right.

It was the voice I heard that told me I was once trying to kill Natha.

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