The Demon Lord's Bride (BL)-Chapter 726: Forget about umbrella; we need to prepare a bunker before a storm

Chapter 726: Forget about umbrella; we need to prepare a bunker before a storm

"Alright, I’ll ask him," Aunt Nezja nodded when I told her my plan about the magic tower in the new city. She actually looked rather happy about it, too. "Thank you, Valen."

I shook my head and grinned. "I mean...I don’t even know if he’ll accept it. In my eyes, it’s more like an offer of responsibility rather than something to be thankful for..." freēnovelkiss.com

Aunt Nezja chuckled and stroked my cheek. "It is something to be thankful for. At least...I’m thankful that you thought about him."

"He helped us a lot," I whispered.

Not only giving us the floorplan of the church, we also managed to catch the Archbishops and aristocrats who ran away through the portals because of the information in that notebook. Honestly, he could have asked for a lot of rewards, or even sold the notebook to us instead of just giving it away--but he didn’t. It showed us that he was sincere and had integrity, and wouldn’t it be sad to let that kind of man get crushed by the system?

"Since he already knows how hard it is for magicians and researchers in general to thrive without money, I’m sure he’ll be able to devise a system that makes things more...equal," I shrugged.

"Equal," Aunt Nezja smiled. "Just how you want your new city to be."

I scratched my reddened neck in embarrassment, before running away using my baby as an excuse. Like a good boy, Shwa woke up at the right time and screamed for me. He rebelled against the nannies and only stopped when I came to hold him.

"You used to be such a gentle baby," I squeezed the adorable cheeks. "Why are you screaming around so often now?"

Shwa patted my cheeks as if he wanted to retaliate, but with a big laugh that made me think he could scream all he wanted. "Uh-bwaah!"

"It’s not that I don’t like it--you’re cute no matter what anyway--but..."

The nannies giggled, and even Angwi smiled in amusement. One of them told my confused self with a chuckle. "Little Master always calm and gentle, Young Master. He only acted like that to get his Papa’s attention."

Huh? I looked at my baby and narrowed my eyes, but he just patted my cheeks while laughing brightly again, straight into my heart and soul. How could I criticize him when he looked this brilliant?

"Hmph--you just like your daddy," I whispered and flicked his nose, to which he only replied with a giggle. I sighed and looked at Angwi, signaling for her to follow me as I took Shwa to the master bedroom.

She frowned slightly, but followed me nonetheless. Inside, I placed my baby on the mattress, letting him have a tummy time while I fetched something from the drawer. It was a small chest--like a treasure chest--and I handed it over to Angwi.

"I can’t trust anyone who might be influenced by the Demon God," I said, and Angwi frowned even more. I smiled and sat down beside Shwa, massaging his back as he tried to raise his upper body. "Of course, we are hoping for the best, but..."

I tried hard to not act like the world would end before the summoning. Most people didn’t know that the Demon God wanted to keep Shwa in the Sanctuary. They just thought we were preparing for a celebration. A hundredth day celebration.

As someone who had been betrayed so severely in her life and lost her faith in the Gods, however, Angwi knew very well where my pessimism came from. Truly, anything could happen. Everything could look rosy, Mother could promise help, but we never truly knew what the future would bring.

Even the Gods had no clear grasp on how the Fate worked.

So, she looked at me seriously as I continued. "There’s...some instruction inside. In the worst scenario, I would have to run away with Shwa and Natha somewhere, but I don’t know how far An’Hyang’s wrath would extend. I just..." I looked at the door and sighed. "I don’t want my people to get hurt."

Angwi, the nannies, Mara and Panne...I had to think about the other servants too, who might lose their jobs if we did not come back. I wanted to protect the Lair, and Neel, and sent Vrida to my hiding place. I wanted Zia and Izzi to be safe, get married, and had their own peaceful life.

For that, I had made many preparations and precautions. I wrote instructions on where my people should go, and the money they should take to survive. I asked for help from Amarein, and made sure Stan, as well as Zarfa, knew the worst scenario.

As I gave the chest to Angwi, Natha must have also been briefing his vassals. They were his people, they worked for him instead of the Realm of Greed. But that didn’t mean they could just disappear and abandon the realm without stabilizing the territory first.

You know, until a new Lord took Natha’s place.

The world wouldn’t end just because we lost, so we needed to prepare for its continuation. After all, even if we had to go, who knows...we might be able to return later, right? In that case, we didn’t have to act like the world would end, but there was also no harm in preparing for such a thing.

"I’m sorry to burden you with this, but..." I took a deep breath and held Angwi’s hand. "You’re the only one I can trust with this, Angwi."

She looked at my eyes and, wordlessly but reassuringly as usual, squeezed my hand and nodded.

No matter what happened, even if we had to hide from the Demon God, I had no intention to let what I had been fighting for crumble.

* * *

I had no idea if it was because of Natha’s briefing, but Arta was extra keen during the morning of Shwa’s hundredth day. She carefully encased the clothes we were going to wear in a glass showcase, as if they were going to be put inside a museum.

I had to say though, they were looking nice.

As Shwa had chosen--randomly--for us back then, we had dark green attire, like the central color of the Heart of the Forest. Flower embroidery was carefully sewn with golden thread along the hem, collars, and the bottom part of the coat. The inseam was enchanted with temperature control that would keep us comfortable even while using the attire in the early summer.

When they first came, I spent a lot of time stroking every flower embroidery. They carefully embroidered every flower in the castle garden that bloomed on the day Shwa was born. Arta even personally made a cute pair of socks and knitted shoes in the same color and flower pattern. It was really the cutest thing.

"Awaah!"

"Oh, you like that, baby?" I let Shwa hold his own clothes, which looked like a little robe.

"Mwaah!" he smacked the clothes energetically, which was his way of saying he loved it. The green eyes curled, and he looked at me as if telling me he was the one choosing them.

Pfft--this baby was just like his brother.

"Jade also love this!" the little boy nodded in approval. Well, the stuff that Shwa chose was also the one that went through Jade’s vetting process first.

[Shiny! Where one for Shiny?]

The mole jumped and nudged at Arta, who laughed and showed a deep green vest with a golden ribbon. It was quite hard putting it on through Shiny’s metallic claws, but we managed to do it in the end. The mole ran around the room happily, even looking for a mirror to take a look at its new appearance.

Jade didn’t want to lose and asked the seamstress to dress him too, even though we were supposed to wear it after the big luncheon we were about to have with all the vassals.

Oh, well.

"You don’t want to wear some clothes, Ignis?" I asked the Salamander who finally dared to play with Shwa--only with its tail, however. "I’m sure we can find a fire-proof fabric."

"Hmph! This skin and fire is the most majestic attire," the Salamander said.

As proud of itself as always, our good Salamander. We could learn a thing or two from Ignis.

I looked at Natha and smiled helplessly. "Should we just change now?"

Natha shrugged and I left Shwa to Arta and the nannies so we could change. The clothes were rather extra for a luncheon, but perfect for a banquet and a battle against divinity. It didn’t make sense, but I felt empowered somehow, made me feel like I had to fetch my crown and fit the Heart of the Forest in it.

"You look stunning as always," Natha smiled and kissed me briefly.

"You can say that about yourself," I whispered in return. Arta intentionally made Natha’s clothes darker than the rest, so it blended well with his hair and skin.

He chuckled and held my hand, leading me back to the drawing room. There, we were greeted by the most beautiful creature in the entire world.

"Uwaah!"

In a deep green robe that hugged him snuggly, the emerald eyes sparkled like a pair of twinkling stars. The tiny hands peeking up from the wide sleeve beckoned me closer, asking for a hug.

I embraced him tightly, peppering kisses on his handsome face. "Of course, the most stunning one is Shwa!"

Oh, but...what if him being so stunning made Lord An’Hyang extra keen to keep him?

What a dilemma...