The Demon Lord's Bride (BL)
Chapter 401: First Night Out is an important business

Chapter 401: First Night Out is an important business

The situation in Dailamy wasn’t caused by the civil war--not exactly. What starting it was a coup.

A military general or something seized the throne and tried to kill all the successors. One of the children managed to run away, however, although their whereabouts were unknown. Thus, a conflict between those who were loyal to the crown and those who stood behind the general ensued.

Normally, people were prone to side with those opposing monarchy, because it was a symbol of oppression. But what difference would it be if the new reign oppressed the people even more? Quite a few aristocrats stood against the General, even if they did it for their own benefit. Rallying with Marchioness Indria as the lead, they fought with the one supporting the dirty crown, while looking for the lost royal blood.

I was told that the power ratio was around 60:40, which made the conflict go on for years with no apparent winner. The palace had power and logistics, but the noble faction had more people on their side. Ironically, this made the civil war go on longer and longer because there was no tipping power on either side.

Until the Hero came with a power in his hands and Midas’s money on the other.

Bringing reinforcement from another state and more logistics, including weapons and a troop of mages, the noble faction managed to win the years of conflict as the Hero beheaded the General.

But the end of the war did not mean the end of the instability. The people who sided with the General before were still reluctant to accept the noble faction’s rule. The people who were loyal to the royal blood also wanted the lost heir to sit on the throne.

Unfortunately, they still couldn’t find the lost royal blood, and the devastating result of the civil wars made the citizens unsettled.

Thus, the current regent, Fatia’s mother, wanted the purification of the land not only for the good of the people, but also to solidify the winning faction’s rule.

Well, the intention did not matter much to me.

But I told her I didn’t want to meet any nobles. I was there to purify the land and nothing else, including being paraded as a trophy of some sort. The Hero could do that--he was good at that. But I didn’t like it, because even if it was only for two months, I had developed hatred toward the nobles for how they treated me after the war.

This was why Fatia asked Tsalinade to teleport us to the outskirts of the Capital instead of the castle. I would not meet any noble nor attend any social dinner. It would be better to go straight to the area that I needed to purify, but Tsalinade had no marker near that place, so she couldn’t teleport us there.

That was why we still needed to come to the Capital to get the mages there to teleport us to the worst area where the biggest battle happened before. Rather than the castle, however, we would stay in Indria’s townhouse for the night, before heading to the site tomorrow.

"Oh..."

We landed on the hill on the outskirts. It was evening already, so the place was quiet, just as I wanted. Fatia and Jin left first to look for a carriage to bring us to the townhouse, and while waiting for them, we walked down the hill and toward the nearest plaza.

On the way, I took a look at the condition of the Capital. It had been a few months after the Civil War was over, but the after-effects were still lingering. This city was the site of the last battle where the Hero faced the General and the noble faction apprehended the other military officials and any sides with the coup, so the damage was pretty significant.

I could see that the city had recovered, but there were still a lot of places being renovated and rebuilt. I could still feel the sense of vigilance from the citizens walking past the plaza; sullen faces from the rationing that was still in place as the current regent had to try getting stuff from other kingdoms.

Unfortunately for this country, the biggest battle happened in the meadow right next to one of the biggest farmland. And so, they lost one way to feed themselves because of the destroyed crops and the defiled land.

Even without the scarcity of daily needs, the death and the cloud of hatred hanging above their head for years could not be rid of so easily. At a time like this, a symbol of hope was needed, and with the absence of royalty, the symbol fell to the Hero.

We had been disregarding him so much in the Lair, but I could truly feel that he was the Hero of how people in the Capital looked at him; the coachman who looked at him in reverence, and the maids of the townhouse who stared at him with hearts and flowers in their eyes.

That had nothing to do with me, though.

Indria’s townhouse was not as big as Natha’s mansion, and a part of it was also under construction, but there was enough room for us to stay. I never thought, however, that a simple room arrangement would become a little conflict in the middle of dinner.

Fatia was putting me in a room between the Hero and Ian, but Zarfa and Aina exclaimed together. "No!" they said at the same time with Jade’s aggressive chirping.

"W-why? It’s for his safety--"

"No, for your safety, he better sleep between my and Aina’s room."

"My safety?"

"Your safety," Zarfa repeated firmly with a nod.

"Don’t you know how scary the Lord of Greed can be?" Aina added.

When did this girl turn into another spy?

"Then what about his safety?" the Hero argued. "We tried to be discreet, but who knows if there are people watching over us. The remnant of the General’s people might try to sabotage us by attacking him."

"Don’t concern yourself with Valen’s safety," the Salamander on my shoulder flicked its tail proudly. "I and Jade are enough for his protection."

[That’s right! That’s right!]

I didn’t even say anything during this whole thing, just quietly eating my dinner. Personally, I did feel it would be better for me to stay away from the source of Natha’s jealousy, especially because there were a lot of snitches around me.

And just like that, Fatia finally put me between Zarfa and Aina.

"Please have some rest. I’m going to visit my mother and make a report," she left the townhouse after finalizing our room arrangement.

There was another reason, however, why Zarfa wanted our room to be nearby. She slipped into my room at night, just as I was reading a children’s book for Jade.

"Can I sleep here, tonight?" she asked quietly, sitting on the edge of my bed with her pajamas on while holding a pillow with both hands. "I...I want to talk a lot with you, but...you know...you’ve been sleeping with your fiance and talking to everyone else, and--"

"Sure," I patted her head. "Just like the old days."

She brightened up and nodded. "Like the old days," she giggled and climbed to the bed.

I looked at Jade and Ignis and asked them. It’s fine, right? Since it was the home of a high-ranking noble, the bed was big enough for four people to sleep in. Surely...Natha would understand, right?

We used to sleep together in the hospital bed sometimes, because...there were times when it felt unbearably lonely. Although we would get scolded the next day, the sliver of temporary warmth kept our minds strong enough to face the next day and the next.

[She’s fine. She doesn’t see you like that]

[Ceci is fine!]

O-ho, they were pretty generous that night. Perhaps because they knew I might cry again. Tonight would be the first night I spent truly away from the people I knew. It was different from the time I spent in Amarein’s house. This time, there was no Natha staying in the same area, no relatives to make it feel like home.

All I had was...yeah, all I had here was Zarfa--Ceci, who knew me longer than anyone. Longer than Natha, even. Without her here, I would feel so lonely at a time like this.

We read Jade a few children’s books until the little bird was satisfied--since I had been sleeping with Natha the last two nights. And then we lay down in the bed together, with Jade between us, rolling around until it satisfied and fell asleep from being too tired.

We talked a lot, throughout the night. I listened to what happened to her here after she remembered her past life. We talked about the old days. We talked about our little act back in the magician’s tower. We talked until the owl was hooting and we couldn’t talk anymore because we were so sleepy from the constant activity today.

That night, I did not cry.