The Demon Lord's Bride (BL)

Rather than in front of an inn, the carriage stopped in the central plaza. It was because Zia suddenly asked me if I wanted to get some snacks. And of course, my excited mind approved.

We attacked the Demon Lord with sparkly eyes full of pleading, and Natha caved in with a sigh. So the carriage stopped just outside the central plaza, and we planned to tour the night market while Angwi went to book rooms in a nearby inn.

Natha put on his incubus disguise and alighted from the carriage first. When I came out of the door, he reached out his hand, like an escort. It was kind of weird because as a man, Valmeier would never receive this kind of treatment.

But...well, I guessed I was technically his...fiancé?

So I took his hand, and a strange wave of relief came over me when I felt the familiar coldness of his hand, that I couldn’t help but smile. It was nice that even though he looked different, he still felt like the Natha I knew.

As I stepped on the pavement, my eyes darted around the town’s scenery. Ever since coming to this world, I had only ever visited the capital city of Lenaar. But Valmeier had visited much more, in his capacity as a High Priest and the kingdom’s secret agent—or rather, secret cleaner. From those memories, I could safely say that there wasn’t much difference between a demon and a human settlement.

If I had to mention one thing, then it was the fact that the building was mostly constructed out of stone—whether it was different size stones being stacked together, or giant stones carved into buildings. But aside from that, I couldn’t spot any difference. Greeneries and flowers adorned the plaza and the roadside, while colorful garlands and flags, and banners decorated the whole town.

There was a scent of festivities in the air, even if it wasn’t the central city for the festival. But the citizens were crowding the plaza and the night market, celebrating the festival on their own local customs.

It wasn’t even the main venue yet, but it already looked wonderful. That was probably why I couldn’t stop smiling as we walked toward the plaza.

Some people glanced at us, and some even stared openly, and I had thought that my cover was blown. But I didn’t see any hostilities from the gaze, and some of them even looked as if they were in a daze.

Well, A pair of gorgeous-looking incubus and succubus was surely a magnet for attention. It was quite uncomfortable, although I guess, the attention did play well in determining the effectiveness of my disguise.

Vaguely, I also heard them whispering about me, perhaps because I wasn’t a demon. "Hey, look, isn’t that an elf? Wow, how could someone look so be—"

Baffling? Weird? Different? I couldn’t catch the rest of the voices because Natha snapped his fingers and suddenly I couldn’t hear anything at all around us. When I blinked in confusion and glanced up at him, he just smiled and said simply; "It’s getting noisy."

"Lord Cousin...you’re so mischievous," Zia commented with a smirk and a side glance, before adding gleefully with a hand over her mouth. "So possessive..." fгeewёbnoѵel.cσm

"Well, I am the Lord of Greed," was Natha’s reply, confusing me even more.

Oh, but I had another concern too. I tugged on Natha’s sleeve, and whispered, "Is it uncomfortable for you?"

When Natha mentioned about it being noisy, it reminded me of his note inside that book, and an uncomfortable feeling spreading inside of me. Was it worry? Guilt? I didn’t really know, but I wanted to make sure.

He stared at me silently for a while, before his eyes curled into a crescent. "It’s okay, I can handle this much."

"Really?"

He took the hand I used to pull on him, and kept it inside his hold as we walked across the plaza. "Of course, I’m a big boy now," he winked, and I pinched his arm until he winced and laughed. "But it seemed like no one see through your disguise, so it’s okay."

He looked around, eyes glowed and lashes fluttered a little bit. Perhaps he was scanning all the thoughts of the people inside this plaza? Sometimes his eyes would twitch, and his lips curled up sinisterly. Looking at his expression made me dizzy, so I turned my head to look around instead, trying to spot anything that seemed tasty—

"Oh..." my eyes fell on a pretty big, vibrant sign with a picture of a candy wrapper. There was a throng of children looking over the display window and whispering enthusiastically among themselves. The various hair and skin colors made them look like an assortment of candies.

It was cute. It fired up my inner child.

I could not remember much of my childhood, and I had no particular memory of enjoying candies or chocolates or sweets in general. I remember that I was allowed to have candy after having a very bitter medicine, and it was such a joyful memory that I grew to like them so much, even when I couldn’t consume them however I wanted.

So before I knew it, my steps already brought me to the shop. The colorful heads of the children looked up at me as I stood behind them and stared at the candies being displayed. Colorful, sparkling things of various shapes and sizes which would take children’s breath away.

I wasn’t a child, but I thought my breath also got taken away.

What woke me up from my daydream was the crowding children. I still couldn’t hear what they were saying, but their colorful eyes looked as sparkly as the candies. Those sparkles, however, were now directed at me rather than the candies. It was weird because they seemed to be pretty excited about something, but I couldn’t hear them at all.

Oh—was it because I looked like an elf? A small town like this probably rarely had other races visiting. My appearance must have intrigued them more than the candies now. It would be more fun if Jade was here; the little bird and little demons would look adorable playing together.

Although...would they still look at me with those sparkling eyes if they knew I was a human too?

It kind of saddened me once I thought about it. If I could just become a full-fledged druid, things might not be this complicated. But if Valmeier was a full druid born in the kingdom’s territory...he might get persecuted from the moment he was born.

Well, I was originally a human anyway, so there was no way I could just shed that identity off.

"Don’t dwell on complicated thoughts," I felt Natha’s cold hand on my ears, and his lips on the crown of my head. "Not in front of a candy store at least," he whispered, and I could see his familiar, soothing smile when I looked up.

The children that had been surrounding me dispersed with Natha’s presence. Or rather, they were backing away into the wall of the shop, glancing at us and whispering vigilantly among themselves. It was funny when I thought about how Natha was supposed to be their Lord.

"Val, hurry up! They will close in an hour!" Zia was already in front of the shop’s door, one hand at the handle.

Despite me being the one who enthusiastically came closer to the shop—to the point that I shook off Natha’s hand earlier—she looked more eager than me to devour everything the shop could give.

I couldn’t help but grin, my feet felt light as I approached the door. It hadn’t been so long since I felt so childish, being so excited about candies, and I had been acting like that since yesterday. But...rather than feeling the usual guilt and apprehension, I felt...liberated, somehow.

Before I entered the door, however, my eyes fell on the children that were crowding in front of the display window again. I had wanted to call them, and bought them some candies, but then I remembered I had no money—in human or demon currency, for that matter.

I closed my mouth and pressed my lips since I kind of wanted to laugh right now. Living in luxury for a few months made me forget I was actually broke.

But you know what’s best about having someone who could sense your thought? I didn’t even need to say anything, and our gracious, super-wealthy Lord whistled and waved his fingers, signaling for the children to come inside.

They looked at each other with widened eyes, before their face lit up and they came running into us again. When Natha opened the door and pointed inside with his chin, their faces were filled with so much joy I feel like I could hear their excited voices even though the noise-cancelling spell was still at work. I stepped away to give them room to walk—ran—inside, and even while my body pressed against Natha’s coldness, my heart felt incredibly warm.

"Are you happy?" I heard a voice from behind, and I just nodded with a smile. "Can I get a reward, then?"

"...you become kind of cringy, my Lord," I narrowed my eyes, and he tilted his head in disappointment. It was cute and I was in a good mood, so I laughed and kissed his cheek lightly as we entered the store.

I couldn’t decide which was sweeter, the various candies we bought, or the warmth brewing inside my heart.

* * *

That night, I didn’t even feel apprehension about sleeping on the same bed with him. Perhaps because I was so dazed by all the various flavors of the candy. Although I was supposed to be restless from the sugar high, I felt satiated instead, and calmly let Natha tuck me into bed.

The candies weren’t just sweet, but also sour, and even bitter like a prank. It was fun eating them with Zia and Angwi after dinner, guessing what flavor would come next. Even then, she said that there wasn’t much variety because we were in a small, rural town. It got me even more excited and curious about the place we would be visiting for the festival. But...

"Why isn’t the main festival held in the capital?" I asked him while staring at the ceiling, feeling comfortable under the blanket and Natha’s patting hand.

He was laying on his side, propped on his elbow, while his other hand patting my blanket as if I was a baby. "Because it’s cumbersome. The capital is the center of various businesses, and while it’s good for tourism, the crowd and all events would disrupt the flow of activities there. Those whose ventures had no correlation with the festival business would lose out."

"Hmm...but didn’t the past festival held in the capital too?"

"That’s because normally, the three days before and after the new year are national holidays. People closed their shops and workers had their day off for the ritual. It’s different this year."

"Ugh...sorry, again..."

He laughed and brought his hand to my hair instead, brushing the strands sticking to my face and tucking them behind my ears. "I told you it’s not your fault."

"...yes, it’s not," I nodded after a while. Of course, I felt that it wasn’t my fault, since technically, I had no hand in the death of the Demon Lord of Wrath, or the entire war for that matter. But it felt better when I knew he didn’t blame me either. "But is it alright for you to be away from the capital for so long?"

"Well, it’s also the Lord’s duty to check how the festival going on, isn’t it?" his lips curved up into a rather mischievous smile. "Enjoying myself while at it is not a sin."

I turned my head to look at him clearly, staring at the silver orbs that shone slightly inside the dim light of the room. "Would you be able to enjoy yourself in the middle of a crowd?"

The town’s plaza was one thing, but what about a big city where people from other places would converge and saturate the area?

"It’s nice," his answer was confusing, but he added with a smile. "It’s nice seeing you worry about me,"

"Don’t tease me!"

"I’m not," he laughed, "I’m really happy. But like I told you, I’m used to it now, so you don’t have to worry about me. I wouldn’t be able to become the Lord if I can’t handle the crowd, would I?"

I couldn’t make any reply, because his face was hovering above me, and the closeness of our bodies reminded me of that time on the rooftop. As he continued to caress my cheek, and I started to feel sleepy, I was half thinking that he might kiss me.

And he did kiss me, slow and firm, on my forehead, as my consciousness drifted under, and my mind gave up to my drowsiness.

The last thing I remembered before falling asleep was his soft, sweet voice of ’good night’.