The Demon Lord's Bride (BL)
Chapter 104: Spilling some tea is fun, but not if it’s about yourself

Chapter 104: Spilling some tea is fun, but not if it’s about yourself

Sitting between new, energetic friends, I was suddenly being thrown into a plethora of exciting gossip about the demon realm--sometimes even about other realms. I didn’t really understand them, because I had no idea who they were talking about, but I got the gist of it.

After finishing a cup of fragrant tea and tasting at least a bite of every delicacy on the table, I was not only armed with the knowledge of who dated the librarian’s daughter and who had an affair with that famous singer, but also an update on what the citizens were thinking about the kingdom and humans in general, what the new Lord of Wrath was up to these days, and the upcoming Fallen Leaves festival.

All while only listening and nodding along as I munched on the cakes.

All in all, I got that the one who got the worst sentiment about humans was the citizen of Wrath, for the obvious reason that they were the ones who got impacted by the war. But it also seemed like they blamed their previous Lord for falling for the human’s provocation, so the new Lord was under strict surveillance to not start something moronic.

Meanwhile, the rest of the demon realm did not really care, apparently. As long as their regions were not impacted, they didn’t care much. It seemed like demons were more pragmatic than humans, since there wasn’t any religion brainwashing them about how hateful the other races were. And the demons were already busy enough trying to contend among themselves about who would be hailed King in the future.

The strong reaction toward humans did persist during and after the war, because there was still anxiety about the war being spread from the realm of Wrath to the other regions. Especially with the ’Hero’ being on the side of a warmongering kingdom. I did know from the novel that the kingdom, indeed, had the ambition to invade the entirety of the demon realm.

But now that the news about the Hero’s renegade had spread, their worry about a war happening had diminished, and the sentiment against humans had subsided slowly. At least, they wouldn’t just hack the first human they see anymore, just probably suspicious about whether the human was a spy or not.

But since Valmeier’s tragically painted story was spread, and the thought that it would be impossible for the Lord to bring over a spy, they didn’t see me in a bad way. At least, those who resided in the realm of greed wouldn’t think I’m a bad human anymore. Yaay!

"I think it’s basically safer for you here than in the human realm, Young Master," Arta told me. Yeah, I thought so too, since I heard the kingdom still looking for the Spear of Judgement, and someone might recognize me right away without disguise.

...or not? Since my hair had grown so much, and I had plumped up a bit with how much they fed me. But still, better safe than sorry, am I right?

"You probably can even try strolling in the Capital now, Young Master," Lesta followed a reply. "They might stare, but they won’t do anything more."

"Hmm..." the staring part already got me uncomfortable though. But then, it would be impossible for them not to stare at someone who looked different, so it should be understandable.

As I nodded in agreement, the oldest sister Malta, who was as expected mostly kept quiet, chimed in. "Is that mean you’ll be moving in shortly, Young Master?"

"Whaaat?" Zia snapped out of her toffy cake at that, looking at me with a frown. Apparently, she still didn’t want to let me live in a different place for good.

"You can just come and live here too," I tilted my head, for the umpteenth time saying the same things.

"No," and she rejected it without fail every time. "But you promise not to go anywhere before Jade came of age, so there’s that!"

"Jade?" the twins looked at me with eagerness in their eyes.

"His familiar," Natha answered their curiosity. He’d been mainly quiet too, listening to the boisterous youngsters and just sometimes talking with Malta on some more important and formal topic--works basically.

"Oh--you have a familiar, Young Master?" Arta perked up in interest. While Zia might telling her about me in the letter, she wouldn’t mention about Jade, since talking about someone’s familiar without the owner’s consent was unethical.

"A naughty little elemental bird," again, it was Natha who gave a reply. They would never get along, wouldn’t they?

I just laughed in response and nodded affirmatively. "Yeah, just a few months old, so I can’t leave the child for too long," I picked up a cookie that was shaped like a bird in the tray, and smiled. "I think Jade might evolve soon, though."

"Elemental bird! That’s rare," Arta exclaimed excitedly. "But then, it’s rare for demons. It’s more common with those elves, so I guess it’s understandable that Young Master has it."

"How soon do you think it’ll be, Young Master?" Malta asked me with a strangely serious tone. When I looked at her with a rather confused look, she added. "I would need an estimate to prepare better for your necessity here."

Ah, so that was why she suddenly talked about moving in. "Hmm..." I leaned back and stared at the ceiling to think of an estimate. Based on how things had been progressing in the past, Jade probably only need one or two sessions of devouring purified energy before evolving. And with the rate of mana regeneration in the forest... "Probably about twelve days?"

"What--that fast?!" Zia sprung from her chair, looking absolutely surprised.

"It’s already quite slow, since I didn’t feed the bird for the days I was staying here before," I told her.

Jade had been eating purified energy a few times before, as I trained with Alveitya in the clearing too, and ate more mana the more my mana circuits were healed. Its rate of mana consumption was already five times greater than before its growth, so a change should be expected soon. I looked inside the bird this morning, and Jade’s system had been so active, as if preparing for something. Just needed fuel, and even more fuel.

"Slow..." Zia narrowed her eyes and looked at me rather spitefully. "Do you know how long it took normally for an elemental bird to evolve into its juvenile state?"

"No," I shook my head. In the book that I read about them, it was only stated that the rate of growth for elemental birds depended on the amount of mana they consumed. If they lived in a place where elemental mana was a scarcity, they would grow slowly, and vice versa.

I assumed since I had been diligently feeding Jade with my mana, and the guy was living in a mana-rich environment, its growth rate was understandable. Both of us were actually rather impatient regarding that--I wanted to see my baby evolve, and Jade wanted to reach adulthood as soon as it could.

Well, adulthood was still far away, but its juvenile stage was just around the corner.

"So, how long does it usually--"

"Never mind," Zia pursed her lips and huffed in her chair, crossing her arms in annoyance.

"Umm..."

"Don’t mind her," Natha stroked my confused head with a chuckle. "She just wanted to say that you’re very diligent in taking care of your familiar."

That didn’t even remotely close to what she seemed to be implying, but I’d take it anyway.

"Twelve days..." Malta murmured across me, and suddenly nodded before shifting her gaze toward Natha. "I see, then would it be right for me to presume that the Young Master will attend the annual inspection, my Liege?"

"That would be up to him," Natha replied, and looked at me after with a smile. "I do hope that you’ll come, though."

Huh? Come where? What was this about an annual inspection? The confusion should have been palpable on my face because Lesta immediately offered an explanation.

"It’s what we in the Castle called the Fallen Leaves festival," he said, and I exclaimed at the familiar words.

Based on what they told me, rather than a festival, it was more like a relaxed event where they prepared for the winter. The winter in the realm of greed supposedly wasn’t as harsh as say...the one in the realm of sloth, so winter preparation became rather casual, community things where the neighborhood came together to make food preserve, distribute warm clothes, and eat the last of the fall’s bountiful harvest.

"Ah," I snapped my fingers after pondering about the difference in the phrase. "So are you going to tour the realm of greed to check on how the region was faring with the winter preparation?"

"That would be correct, Young Master," Malta replied, showing me that small smile again, that strangely made me rather proud, as if she was just praising me for giving out the right answer. "It’s also a chance for us to hear about the citizen’s concerns and check on the magistrates’ works."

"It would be more or less a month’s journey until the beginning of winter, Young Master," Lesta continued his sister’s explanation. "You can see most of the realm too if you come."

Oh...I perked up at that. A realm tour...other cities and sceneries! I was instantly recalling the journey we made for the summer festival, and couldn’t help but get excited about it.

"From this reaction, it’s safe to assume you’ll come?" Natha chuckled at the way my back straightened in attention. "We’ll be traveling in horses and mount beast, though, for efficiency. Will you be alright with that?"

"I can learn," I replied immediately. I mean, I even got to ride a fantasy mount? How sweet was that?

Natha raised his brow and smiled in response. "Don’t get too excited now and whined about your aching muscle later, okay?"

"It’s okay, I can heal myself fine now," I looked at him with a grin. After all, he was the witness of my successful attempt this morning.

"Oh, as expected of a druid," Arta giggled in response. "We’ll be going together then, Young Master. I’ll show you all the good stuff in the way and--oh, oh, won’t we go through Alk’din mountain too? We can show Young Master the volcano, then!"

"Volcano?"

"Oh, you might want to try training there too, Val," Zia finally decided to join the conversation again. Seemed like she was done sulking now. "There’s no strong source of fire elemental around the Lair, so it’ll be a good chance."

Now that would be a nice thing to look forward to! I had been wondering about how to add a streak of red to Jade’s tail. I wondered though...what would happen if I tried to purify the fire elemental mana?

"Would I transmorph into something again?" I muttered curiously, a little bit excited at the prospect. "Is it possible to morph into flame?"

"Again? Did you transmorph into something before?" Zia asked casually, and I just nodded in response.

"Yeah, my body turned aquatic when I go to the river the last ti--"

It was then that I realized what kind of mistake I just made. Maybe it was the nice vibe, maybe it was the excitement that I felt, maybe it was the casual tone of the question, but I answered it without thinking it through.

Forgetting that I was hiding the fact from Natha.

This foolishness was being paid with a cold voice. "You’re what?"