The Demon Lord's Bride (BL)
Chapter 293: my child is my child no matter what shape they take

Chapter 293: my child is my child no matter what shape they take

Vrida had chosen a spot for her nest, I had brought Ignis to make its own cave, and still...Jade hadn’t woken up.

I had toiled with many prototype outfits, speed-learning the language of the druid from Lesta, and even involving myself more in the planning of the ceremony. Natha took me out on another date, and would take a walk with me more often. Everything to distract me from the worry of having to wait for my little bird; sleeping, unmoving.

It was getting harder after two weeks passed. I had this horrible thought that it would be better if Jade was sleeping from sickness. At the very least, in that case, I would know what to do, and I could see if the situation was getting better or getting worse.

"Is this...how you feel when I was in a coma back then?" I asked Natha, who was only responding with a subtle smile and a caressing hand.

Oh...I guessed that was it. That or worse. Mm...he didn’t even have an assurance from D’Ara like me, so he would have been in even more distress at that time. With this thought, I scooted closer to him and buried my face in his chest.

"I’m sorry," I whispered. Even though I knew it wasn’t my fault back then, I couldn’t help but feel guilty. Perhaps I had been too dismissive of people’s concern about me.

I felt his lips on the top of my head, and I sighed into his embrace, falling into a nice sleep I rarely had these days. Perhaps that was why, I was so startled when Panne came to the bedroom in a hurry the next morning, and for a full minute, I could only blink confusedly at him with sleepy, bleary eyes.

"Young Master!"

"Huh? What?"

It took me a while to realize that Panne’s expression was a bit weird. Was it agitation? Shock? I couldn’t discern it much because I was too sleepy, although the sunlight had poured generously into the bedroom.

"Young Master, I think you need to check on Sir Jade right now," Panne said hurriedly.

The moment he mentioned Jade, my brain whirred instantly. I jumped out of bed and ran straight to the stairs with Panne following me behind.

"What happened?" I asked the demon. "Is Jade awake?"

"N-no, Young Master," Panne shook his head. "It’s...umm...I think Sir Jade has changed..."

The hesitation and confusion in his voice only further my anxiety. Change? What change? Well, it was supposed to be an evolution, so it wasn’t weird that Jade’s appearance would change. But it wasn’t the first time Panne had seen Jade shifting into the true elemental bird form, so the fact that he seemed unsure made me unsettled.

And it was unsettling that I still couldn’t feel our connection opened.

I hurried myself even more, even though Panne told me to be careful. I had no mind to be careful right now!

"Jade!" I opened the gate to the little bird’s room, hurried over to the cradle, and froze. I stood there, staring at the cradle and feeling flabbergasted as I watched the...little bird?

I blinked in confusion for a few seconds, before lowering my body to touch the figure curling up in the cradle. "Jade?" I called out, but there was no reply. I could feel the heartbeat, however, pounding steadily, which was good.

It was just...

"Are you really...Jade?"

When Panne told me Jade had changed, I thought Jade would grow into a majestic elemental bird like those living above the Lair.

But, no; in front of me, sleeping soundly inside the cradle, was a little child.

* * *

"I have to say I did not expect this," Natha stroked his chin, staring at the child in my embrace.

The child—Jade—looked like a boy around five or six, curling in my hands with steady breathing, wrapped in a blanket as if he was just taking a nap. The only reason I had no doubt about the boy’s identity was because of the connection I still had, and the fact that the boy had green hair with colorful streaks the little bird used to have on its wings and tails.

"Me too," I caressed the fair, pink cheek, and the boy shuddered, nuzzling closer into my chest—just like Jade.

Yeah, the boy is Jade, I was sure of it.

"It’s Jade," Ignis stroked the boy’s hand with its tail. "Not a little bird anymore, but still Jade."

There was a curiosity in Ignis’s tone, and I wondered if the Salamander was tempted to have a humanoid form too. But I wondered more about when the boy would open his eyes.

"Young Master, I get the child’s clothes," Arta came in hurriedly with a box in her hands, which I presumed contained the clothes I requested. Right now, Jade wore nothing beneath the blanket, because...well, he was a bird who wore nothing before.

Arta put the box on the table and looked at the boy with sparkling eyes. "Wow...I wondered if His Lordship was jesting before, but...wow," Arta lowered his head to look at Jade closer. "But, don’t you think he looks like you, Young Master?"

"Is that so?" I tilted my head. Honestly, I wasn’t the best judge in this department.

"Yeah, like a child version of you; so adorable!"

At that time, perhaps because of Arta’s loud voice, the boy stirred and whined, before the eyes blinked open. They were green, like Jade’s. Like mine. The boy blinked a few times, trying to focus his vision, before staring straight at me.

And then the boy’s lips stretched and the arms raised to touch my cheek. "Master!"

"Yeah, definitely the little bird."

"Definitely mini Young Master."

The little boy jumped to hug my neck and squealed in delight, rubbing his cheek on mine. "Jade miss Master!"

Oh, my baby...

"I miss you too, Jade," I hugged the boy tightly—my boy—the blocked connection immediately opened and filled the emptiness I felt for the past eighteen days. "Welcome back."

Jade giggled before pulling away slightly, looking at his hands and body. "Jade did it! Master, Jade success!"

"How do I say this," Arta tilted her head. "He’s exactly like how I imagine Sir Jade would sound like."

"Is this what you have been hiding from me?" I stroke the chubby, pink cheek; punching it slightly.

The boy grinned sheepishly. "Hehe...Jade don’t know if Jade can do it, but Jade work very very hard!"

"I’m sure you are," I squeezed his cheeks and kissed them proudly. "How did you do it? Was D’Ara teaching you about it?"

"Yes!" Jade nodded, the green hair bobbing adorably. "Umm...Jade can’t explain it well, but Teacher said elemental bird in...inhe...inherently free—umm...no shape!"

"Ah, you mean elemental energy inherently has no shape, right?" Natha sat on my armrest, curiously poking the boy’s cheek like he always did to the little bird. "The reason they became elemental birds was because the entity who gave the mana to birth the first elemental bird was the Goddess of Nature when she roamed the realm in a bird form."

Jade shrugged his shoulder to get rid of Natha’s finger and shifted to my other side, arms circling my neck. "So, you’re saying that elemental birds can change shape to anything?"

"Not anything, just the entity that gave birth to them," Natha chuckled at the little boy’s reaction—which was still the same as the little bird version. "The brat got the mana of the other elemental birds and you."

"Ah..." I nodded. "Is that what you mean, Jade?"

The boy nodded in confirmation. "Ung! Jade look deep deep inside Jade!" he put his small hand above my chest. "Look into Jade and Master’s connection."

"Ah, in that case," Arta chimed in from behind me, looking at the boy’s face, "do you take Young Master’s appearance, then?"

"Ung!" Jade nodded energetically, smiling brightly as the green eyes looked at me. "Jade see Master’s past! Jade see small Master with Princess!"

"Oh, you mean Grandma?"

"Yes! Princess like in the book elf give Master!"

"See, I’m right!" Arta clapped her hands. "I told you he looks like Young Master!"

Jade laughed joyfully when he heard that, throwing himself to hug me again. "Jade look like Master!"

My, my—are you that happy that you look like me? I patted the green hair, the only thing that differentiated him from the child version of me.

"Ah, I knew it! You look so adorable, Sir Jade; like Young Master!" Arta giggled, and her remark rewarded her with permission to pat Jade’s head.

"Whoa...so it’s true," another one entered the room, and Jade perked up at the voice of his sitter.

"Darky!"

Lesta raised his brow. "Is that what you’ve been calling me all this time?"

"Well, he calls this one ’Nightmare’," I pointed at Natha, who scoffed and pinched the little boy’s cheek. But he also caressed the child’s head, probably because he knew it was how I looked when I was a child.

"Umm..." Jade, realizing that he couldn’t use that kind of nickname again now that everyone could hear him, wiggled his head in contemplation. "Lesta!"

I could hear the demon chuckle and, after arriving beside Arta, put a piece of wrapped candy on Jade’s outstretched palm, who giggled in response. "Master, can Jade eat this?" the boy asked, but Natha spoke first before I could reply.

"Why don’t you put on some clothes first before doing that?"

Oh!