The Demon Lord's Bride (BL)

"Do you...have feelings for me?"

I didn’t ask while expecting a positive answer. No, even if he only answered me with a smirk, I wouldn’t mind.

I just wanted to know, where all of this kindness he showed me came from. The kindness and display of affection that brewing something inside my heart. Brewing hope, brewing fear.

He was already so merciful by giving an enemy a life-saving cure. And yet he showered me with comfort. He smothered me with affection. He told me he would not abandon me.

He treated me like a lover. Like a proper bride.

Why?

If he wanted to taste me, and devour my body, then it was all in his power to do so from the very start. He was every bit more powerful than me—at least the me now. And yet, he had not even kissed my lips properly.

If he wanted my loyalty, he should have known that I held no goodwill towards Valmeier’s old kingdom. I had surrendered myself, and I never showed any ounce of rebellion. I had told him I could devote my power to him.

So why? What do you want from me, my Lord?

If it wasn’t my body, then perhaps, the one he wanted, was my heart.

But why?

He looked as if he was caught off guard for a second, the silver eyes rippled slightly. But everything, like a beautiful movie, vanished like a lie. The bewilderment was replaced by a soft gaze, as his hand continued to hold and stroke me, and his lips parted in a smile, so beautiful it was almost blinding.

"Do you—"

"Mommy! Is that an elf?"

The excited voice startled me, and I instinctively turned my head to look for the source. It was a trio of a mother and her two twin children. The twins were looking at me with literal sparkles in their eyes, just like those children in front of the candy shop.

That was fine on its own, but the little girl’s yelling attracted sudden attention from our surroundings which confused me, since I thought children of nature were pretty common in the realm of Greed since it focused on commerce and directly bordering the elven land.

"No, Helga, elves have golden eyes because their blessing comes from the sun. The beautiful green eyes mean that person is a druid," the mother explained thoroughly to her children.

Oh, was that the case? Honestly...I had no idea, hahaha.

Hmm...but it was nice being told that my eyes were beautiful. These eyes were the ones who told me that yes, this was still me. They were the exact same eyes I had in my previous life. So even inside Valmeier’s body, I still felt that these eyes were exclusively mine, like my soul.

"A Druid? Isn’t druid becoming elusive these days? It’s so rare seeing one in person," the other pedestrians started to talk among themselves too, looking at us.

"Wow, mommy, are all Druid that pretty?" the little girl exclaimed again, and I blinked dumbfoundedly.

Who? Me? I turned my face toward Natha, who suddenly looked cold. He calmly yet swiftly pulled up my hood again. I tried to look around, trying to find out whether another elf or druid was wandering about, because certainly, that girl isn’t talking about...me?

I mean...I had the same face as Valmeier, but my family and the nurses used to call me ugly and unappealing back then. Granted, no sick person would look good, but just because I became healthy in this world, didn’t mean I would magically fall into that ’pretty’ category, right?

Not while this whole gorgeous specimen was standing in front of me, surely?

"Oh, he looked in our direction, look! So beautiful,"

...Um?

"Where, where, I want to see too!"

...Umm?

"Hey, don’t crowd! What if we startled the pr—oh, they’re gone!"

Before I could comprehend it, my sight suddenly became blurry as I felt a cold touch on my waist and the back of my head, and the next thing I knew, we were already inside a building. A shop, it seemed, with my hood dipped low and my face planted on Natha’s firm chest—oh, how nice.

"Let’s hide here for a while," Natha patted my head gently, startling me from the unavoidable perverted thought.

"Oh, okay," I stepped back, turning around to hide my fluster. "I didn’t think people here would be that interested in Druid?"

"Well, just as you heard, the Druid tribes have become elusive. Ever since the biggest tribe fell to the human, the rest are hiding themselves," he explained briefly, taking my hand again and pulling me deeper into the shop, where a uniformed clerk had been waiting patiently and greeted us politely.

The shop we teleported into turned out to be a jewelry store. But rather than ready-made accessories, the store seemed to be mained in dealing with raw materials instead. Sparkling gems and stones of various colors were adorning the inside of the magically protected shelf.

The clerks used the colorful palette of the festival, but still styled in elegant uniforms. They beamed with welcoming smiles as we walked inside—me with my heart still pounding from the sudden crowd and sudden, umm...chest pillow.

God, how shameless! You were supposed to be a priest, Val!

I patted my cheek hard with my free palm before Natha could catch any of that embarrassing thoughts.

"Is there any particular article you had in mind, Sirs?"

At the clerk’s question, I turned my head toward Natha, who seemed to be pondering the question seriously. Huh? What? Were we really going to buy something? I thought we were just here to hide?

"You know, now that I think about it, isn’t it mannerless for me to not give my bride an engagement ring?"

What the hell? Why were you looking so forlorn, like some kind of lead actor in anguish, Sir? Who needed a ring when I had a whole-ass brand at the back of my hand?

"Oh, you’re engaged? Congratulation!" the clerk bowed politely with a trained beaming smile that made it feel so sincere.

"Haha, thank you," the Demon Lord threw a smile worthy of his incubus disguise in response. "Perhaps you can start with measuring his finger?"

"Certainly, Sir."

Huh? Wait—what? "Are you serious?"

"But of course," Natha titled his head, acting like he couldn’t understand why I bothered to even consider it.

Well, of course, why would the wealthy man who declared he would buy the entire street If I wish so even joke about impulsively buying an engagement ring? It was just that...

Ah, darn. Being told that it was an engagement ring made me feel...giddy, for some reason. Trying to put on a poker face and stopped my hand from fidgeting was quite a challenge, so I just stared hard at the various display of gemstones, reading their name in my mind while the worker measure my ring finger.

I thought the mark on my gloved hand was the norm here, but it seemed like this world also use rings as an icon for union, including stuff like engagement and marriage.

Hmm? Wait, now that I think about it, I didn’t manage to get an answer earlier. Damn. But it wasn’t like I could ask him again now.

Ugh...

While I was lamenting upon the lost chance, Natha suddenly came up behind me, his cold temperature felt so familiar. His lips hovered above my ear, and his thumb rubbed circles on the top of my hand where the mark was.

"What gemstone should we use? Something as rich as your eyes is quite hard to find,"

Upon hearing Natha’s words, the clerk perked up and immediately gave an insight. "Oh, what a coincidence, Sir. Earlier this month, we received a gorgeous piece of gem from the dwarf association. It’s such a rich shade of green, like the color of Sacment Forest’s tree."

Hmm, I had no idea what or where that was, but Natha obviously knew, because he immediately showed interest. But...

"Why should we use my eye color?" I looked up, and he responded with a smile and a caress on my cheek.

His thumb rubbed the soft flesh beneath my eyes as he answered. "Because it’s pretty, sweetheart."

You mean...my eyes, right?

"But I think your eyes are more..."

Oh—I suddenly realized that we were in public and I couldn’t help but feel self-conscious. What was I insinuating? When I saw his silver eyes ripple, my eyes instinctively avoided it, and I stared hard at the display gem again before I turned red from embarrassment.

"Um, nevermi—"

"Then what about this?" at that time, a middle age demon wearing a more muted uniform came to us with a small box. When he opened it, there was an uncut gem the size of a coin; a clear-looking gem with swirling white fog inside, rippling as if it was alive, like a reflection of the moon inside a lakewater—

"Oh..." I couldn’t help but exclaim softly.

The demon followed with an explanation as I showed some interest. "This is one of the last batches of diamonds found in the Heshfira mine, and contained the densest mana concentration," he smiled as I shifted my eyes to look at him. "It’s called the Moonlight Dew."

Ah damn, I couldn’t prevent the corner of my mouth from raising slightly. "Do you like that?" when Natha asked, all I could do just nod while pressing my lips.

"Hmm, as expected of Seven Starlight, you have a lot of interesting things," Natha chuckled. "Do you also enchant?"

"It’s because we have a lot of magician customers, Sir. And of course, we provide enchantment. Do I take it that you would like to proceed with the order, Sir?"

"Yes. Bring me that green one you talk about too. What kind of metal will you use in..."

Wow, was shopping supposed to be done this swiftly? I tilted my head and drowned in thought as Natha and the shop’s employees continued with specifications and whatnot. I had lost in what they talked about, as I did not recognize the names of gems and metals that they talked about.

I never cared about things like that before, since they had no use for me. But all these colorful stones reminded me of candies, and it was fun looking at the different types; the smooth one, the one with sharp edges, the one with multiple colors, the one with swirling patterns...

By the time Natha came to pick me up, I was crouching in front of a shelf with stones that change colors every time I shift the angle of my sight.

"Oh, it’s done?" I asked as he pulled me up gently.

"Seems like you’re having a fun little adventure," he smiled, tucking loose strands of hair behind my ear.

Yup, I was having fun finding out why people liked jewels and such. They were fascinating little things.

"Why don’t you wait for the products while watching the carnivals, dear Sirs? If you come before ten, we’ll have them ready," the middle-aged demon, who I suspected was the owner, smiled while putting the gems into his assistant’s hands. "I think the parade should have already started a few minutes ago, so the timing’s perfect."

Oh, it was already that late? No, more importantly, could a new order really be done that quickly?

"That’ll do," Natha fixed my clothes again, pulling up the hood to cover my head completely. And then, without saying anything anymore, he pulled me by my waist and whisked me away in a blink of an eye.

After that single blink, the classy interior and glittering gemstones turned into stone walls and sparkling lanterns.

"Whoa..." frёeωebɳovel.com

Yes, whoa. Zia had told me that the festival was the best at night, and I could see why. Natha had brought me to a rooftop of a tall building, and even as I stepped into the railing, I could see lanterns emanating lights in various colors adorning the sky. The same colorful lanterns spread out to the ground, adorning the streets like a night flower.

From our position, we could see the costume parade much clearer, the main characters stood on the open carriages, waving their hands to the cheering spectators.

Ah, I saw something like this before. From the window of the church’s tower, the victory parade of the hero and his companions. I was bitter then, in pain and debt, trying to put a lid on the bubbling rage of their unfair treatment.

"Haha..."

But now...

"It’s wonderful," I laid my head on the stone railing of the rooftops, as my eyes filled with glowing lights. And just in time, Zia’s favorite, the fireworks, launched into the lanterned sky, filling the space with resplendent flowers.

But even as the sound of the fireworks and the cheering of the spectators filled the air, I could hear Natha’s steps clearly, as he stood before me, grazing my temple with his lips.

"To answer your question, my sweetheart," he trailed cold fingers into my hand, slipping them beneath the gloves to stroke the mark directly. As I turned my head to look at his mesmerizing face, he smiled with that soft glow of moonlight inside his eyes.

"Yes," he spoke softly, and yet I could hear them clearly amidst all the thundering noises, as if he spoke directly into my mind. "I do have feelings for you."