The Demon Lord's Bride (BL)-Chapter 718: Sometimes, holding back is harder than letting go

We marched at dawn.

Sounded rather cool, not gonna lie. Natha gathered the shapeshifters and some of the agents who used to guard me in the past. I sent a message to Amarein, and a squadron of familiar druids and drows secretly came to the island--you know, the ones guarding Shwa after that midnight attack.

The elves, unfortunately, were too far from our position to be arriving before dawn. But it was okay; they said they’d still march toward the city to secure it afterward--after all, we still needed more people to stabilize the city after kicking out all the authority.

While waiting for their...good gesture--which never came--our agents investigated the whole city. Not only for the palace’s floor plan and the city landscape but also for the authorities, the key figures, and the wealthy. We had to know if there were people useful enough to be spared from the purge.

Well, I said ’purge’ but actually, all we were going to do was kick them out.

"Don’t kill any of them," Natha told the troops behind him as we stopped in front of the other end of the tunnel. We had detected a lot of people inside the building above us, so it was most likely the palace. "Incapacitate anyone who resists and tie them. Gather them around the Grand Hall," he paused for a few seconds before adding. "Be gentler with the children."

Oh, look at our father.

Since we were in a narrow space, everyone simply nodded with serious gazes. Before I raised my hand to unlock the door, Natha spoke to me. "Once the door opens, let the shapeshifters enter first to assess the situation."

"Okay," I nodded. I wanted to say that he was such a worrywart--which was rather weird because he knew and admitted that I was stronger--but this was not the time and place to argue about petty things. "I’ll start."

Just like before, the stone ’door’ vibrated slightly before collapsing, showing an almost empty room. There were a few sacks and boxes filled with junk, and aside from the wall with a wooden door on our left, the other three--including where we were coming from--were made of stone. Perhaps they thought it was just a corner warehouse made from leftover space.

"Go," Natha ordered swiftly. Fog, shadow, and small creatures rushed past me, starting their surveillance.

We went there at dawn, but some of the servants were probably up already. Patrol guards should have been there, too, but the rest of the residents were probably still asleep. Fortunately, this Principality was also a city-state, so the authorities were centralized in the palace. There were no other ’lords’ since the estate around the palace was cut off from the rest of the realm of nature by the fleeing druids back then.

Based on the investigation, there were four important figures we had to secure: the knight captain, the treasurer, the leader of the vassals-- who was the Prince’s right-hand man--and, of course, the Prince himself. Except for the knight captain, the other three lived in the palace, while the captain stayed at a residence in the border overlooking the border.

Well, all I needed to do was ’talk’ to the Prince.

While waiting, I crouched to talk to Shiny. "There will be a lot of tall creatures outside, Shiny. Strangers. Maybe bad guys. Do you want to stay down here or come with us?"

"It might be dangerous," Ignis warned the mole. I didn’t think it would be dangerous for me, but it might be for Shiny.

Chii--the mole curled up slightly to contemplate, but the answer I got a few seconds later was a bit different. Chii!

[Papa, contract! Shiny wanna make contract!] Jade jumped on my shoulder in excitement.

Well...that was one way about it. I had yet to offer the mole a contract because, at the end of the day, Shiny got its power from the Goddess--unlike Ignis and Jade. I had no idea whether the mole wanted to stay with me or the humans--or, you know, Stan. I was meant to ask after we met the Goddess’s vessel, but then the busy schedule made me forget about it.

"It wouldn’t take a long time, right?" I held the mole and stroked the shiny, metallic fur. freewēbnoveℓ.com

"Shiny is still a child and low level, so it will only take a second," Ignis said.

Low level in a Salamander’s standard, huh...I chuckled and stared at the round, bead-like black eyes. "Let’s do it, Shiny."

Chii!

I brought the mole to my face and pressed our heads together. Our mana met, and it didn’t feel as strange as I thought it would be as the power of the Goddess inside my mana core--the one from Valmeier--took over the contract.

Oh, right. Sometimes, I forgot that I was also a human.

Chii! Chiiii!

The mole suddenly made an exciting noise as its body vibrated softly on my palms. The dark grey fur glowed and turned brown instead. That wasn’t very surprising; the surprising part was the mole shuddering, and a slit appeared on its forehead. It opened to show a green iris that almost made me drop the mole to the floor.

"Oh, my God!"

[Papa! Shiny take Papa’s color!]

Oh...so that was why it turned brown like my hair. But...what was with that added eyes? It closed again, though, maybe because Shiny could tell I was startled. The black eyes, unchanging, looked at me innocently.

[Master?] a high-pitched voice entered my mind, sounding like a child speaking after injecting helium. Weird and funny, but also fascinating.

"Oh! I can understand you better now, Shiny!"

[Master!] the mole hugged my hand the way Jade usually did. The little bird flew to my hand too, patting the youngest proudly.

[You’re our family now, Shiny!]

"It’s gotten at least twice stronger," Ignis told me. "I think that eye has a clairvoyant ability. At the very least, it gives Shiny spatial perception beyond normal."

[Ung!] the mole replied cheerfully. [Can Shiny go with the others too, now?]

"Okay, stay in my hood with the rest," I put the small mole behind my shoulder, and the other two followed.

"Another collection?" Natha commented with a chuckle. But it wasn’t like he did not predict this would happen from the start. "At least, our son won’t lack any playmates growing up."

"Yup!"

Jade and Shiny giggled in my head while Ignis scoffed as usual. None of them denied Natha’s assessment, however, including Ignis.

"The basement and the ground floor are clear," Heraz reported not long after, showing up out of nowhere. "There’s two mana sealing devices--one in the palace and one in the border keep. We had dismantled both of them."

Natha nodded and raised his hand, signaling the troop behind us. "Get ready."

I glanced at the druids, who were led by Harulean. "Are you sure about confronting the knight captain?"

When I told the druids about my infiltration plan, Harulean and his squad immediately requested this, which I could understand. While the current knight order was not the people who attacked the palace in the past, they were still educated by the Empire. Some of them, including the current captain, came from families of generational knights--meaning their fathers or grandfathers were part of the attacking force almost a century ago.

The anger and regret were just the same as what I felt toward the royal family or even Tsalinade. Weren’t those knights the ones who burned the notices we sent as a warning the whole week? It might not be revenge, but the desire to give them a lesson was fueling the once-pacifist race.

"We couldn’t do anything in the past, Your Highness. But this time...we don’t want to just stay still," Harulean replied with a sharp gaze. "Please don’t worry about us. We might not have a lot of combat, but--"

"What are you talking about?" I scoffed, crossing my arms. "I’m more worried about you failing to hold back and accidentally kill them."

Well, as long as they didn’t have a secret mana-sealing device somewhere that the shapeshifters had yet to disengage. But I trusted Heraz and his squad.

The druids widened their eyes before chuckling in response. "We’ll make sure to hold back, Your Highness."

"Okay," I nodded, and Natha clenched his raised fist.

"Go."

The joint troops of demons, druids, and drows moved past us silently. The soundless shapeshifters and shadow guards, as well as the children of nature who had used to move silently through the forest--in a covert mission like this, they were truly the best.

The first step was to take down the guards and secure the path. The regular, non-combatant staff wouldn’t dare to move when they saw a weapon anyway. And well, most of them were still asleep. It was swift, the way to the four keys.

"Shall I guide you to the Prince’s quarter, Young master?" Heraz asked.

I would normally say yes, but I had just made a contract with a magical mole built for mapping. "You can focus on securing the rest of the palace, Heraz. Shiny will lead me there."

[Yes, Shiny can!]

Oh, gosh--the mole had adopted Jade’s manner of speaking.

"By your command," Heraz bowed and vanished again.

With only my little companions and Natha, I walked through the quiet basement. I could see people getting tied and gagged in the kitchen and some rooms--probably the servant’s common room--but it didn’t seem like anyone got hurt. Most were still looking bewildered, and some even still dozing off.

The ground floor was a bit more chaotic because we started to see soldiers. Of course, they were also tied. But they were more aware of the situation and were rebelling. Not that it mattered. I merely glanced around to make sure that they were not beaten too brutally, and then moved on.

Shouldn’t give the Prince the chance to run away, now should we?

"What you said earlier..." Natha muttered as we leisurely walked through the corridor toward the Prince’s quarters.

"Hmm?"

"About holding back so they won’t accidentally kill the knight captain," Natha held my hand gently. "Are you talking about yourself?"

I stiffened slightly, gripping his hand tighter than ever. But it was sufficient for an answer.