The Demon Lord's Bride (BL)-Chapter 32: The Heart of Adventure is in the journey

"How is it?" Zia asked enthusiastically, as her hands finally left my head.

Hmm...how should I say this? I tilted my head at the reflection in the mirror. There was a new earring on my right ear, a green jewel that might be mistaken for Jade’s eyes. The earring contained Natha’s glamour enchantment that helped mask the scent of human in me, while transforming my appearance.

But...there was not much change?

I touched my ears, which had lengthened on the tip, making me look like an elf from those fantasy books on earth. My hair had also grown waist-long, and turned lighter in color, into that of a light brown, like a birch or maple wood. Zia was having fun taking care of my hair, braiding it and whatever.

But other than that, nothing had changed. Since Valmeier was part-Druid anyway, he always had fair, clear, unblemished skin that was the sign of someone with mana tangled on every part of his body—which was also the very reason this body almost died from mana blockage. My eyes were as green as ever, like a deep emerald, or rich spring leaves.

Since I still retained my face and everything else, it kind of felt... anti-climatic?

"I thought you’ll change my face too?" I asked Natha, who waited for my hair-do patiently with crossed arms.

"Why would I do that?" he tilted his head. "It’s not like people know what the Priest of Judgment looked like."

Oh, good then, but that wasn’t exactly what I meant either. "Hmm...shouldn’t elf or druid looked more...pretty? Beautiful?"

At least, wasn’t that how they were usually portrayed in the story? Like having ethereal beauty and whatnot? I was kind of excited about being turned into one gorgeous-looking specimen, but...

Zia, which had been smiling and fiddling with my hair, suddenly pursed her lips and frowned. She turned to look at Natha, and muttered in annoyance. "Is he bragging or something?"

Huh?

Natha laughed a little bit and walked toward my confused self. He rubbed my chin and pinched my cheek for a bit, before speaking in a light-hearted tone. "No, he’s just a bit dense."

Hey, why are you suddenly dissing me, Mister?

I pursed my lips at him, but he kissed the tip of my head and I couldn’t say anything then, just fighting the heat creeping up into my cheek. Glancing at him through the mirror, however, helped me cool down.

Just like me, he was wearing a disguise. Since Zia would come along, he changed into an incubus with purplish skin and dark hair so we would seem like a pair of siblings showing a tourist around. Of course, he still retained his face, looking handsome and alluring like usual, but it was just...different. He didn’t have that pair of horns anymore, or the gorgeous long blue hair. The marks on his body—the alpha seed—also vanished.

I wasn’t sure I liked it that much.

"What is it?" he asked, face hovering above me. "What don’t you like?"

"...just...doesn’t feel like you,"

He smiled at me, and while I was blinking at that blinding handsomeness, he changed again into his original blue self. "Should I stay like this until we arrive at another settlement?"

I pressed my lips and looked forward again, but the reflection inside the mirror showed me a smile that was carved on my face, even as I tried hard not to show it.

Well...it wasn’t as if he couldn’t sense it from me, so, whatever.

I didn’t have much time to dwell on that anyway, since Jade had been wailing so sorrowfully ever since I got ready to leave. The little bird even made a show of protest by pulling on my clothes and my hair. Natha had to call one of the adult elemental birds to hold Jade back, although it just made the sad chirping sound higher and louder.

What an interesting BGM to start a journey.

Anyway, I had been used to Natha teleporting me everywhere when we were together that the thought of using a vehicle didn’t really cross my mind. When I saw the carriage in front of the tower’s entrance, I flinched unknowingly.

Honestly, I had no good experience with carriages. Of the two months I spent in Valmeier’s body, I had ridden carriages a few times. Every one of them was followed by a sore butt and nausea, and frankly quite traumatizing. Granted, I only rode the low-quality one, since Valmeier’s besmirched reputation couldn’t grant me anything better. But how good a carriage could be, even if they were made for nobles?

"Don’t worry," Natha stroked my shoulder when I paused and just stared at the carriage in dread. "It’s not that bad,"

I looked at him with my best pleading eyes; couldn’t you just teleport us, Mister?

"Heeey, come on! Let’s go!" Zia’s enthusiastic yelling, however, shattered all my hope and prayer.

Yes. The biggest reason why we took the carriage ride was that we traveled with more than two people. Natha said that moving two people with magic was his limit, since he wasn’t a pure magic user. Besides, it would be a rare chance for me to see what the demon realm was like on the way.

And so, it was decided that we would take the hellish carriage ride.

Natha tugged me inside with a smile, although the twitching in the corner of his eyes told me that he hold back laughter. So I pinched his arm a lot before I climbed the cabin.

Zia was already comfortably sunk into the plush velvet couch of the luxurious cabin, humming gleefully. I guessed she really was bored staying in the tower all the time. Just looking at her enthusiastic face made my apprehension melt away. It would be bad to dampen the mood just because I couldn’t handle a ride, right?

So, bracing for incoming nausea, I took a deep breath, waiting for the familiar rattle of the carriage and—

It didn’t happen?

The carriage moved smoothly, and there was hardly any bounce, much less a rattle. It was so smooth that I thought I was riding a new car.

"Oh?" I straightened my back, and looked out the window. The carriage did move, Angwi dutifully couching the dire wolves pulling at the cabin. But as I looked out keenly, I could sense magic formation at work all over the cabin, from the tires to the floor. "Oh...!"

I turned my head to look at Natha, who smiled while leaning his head back into the couch. "I told you it’s not that bad,"

Yes, Sir, I would not doubt you again! freēwēbηovel.c૦m

I gave him a salute and sank into the couch like Zia, finally able to relax my tense body.

What a nice start for a journey.

* * *

The demon realm...wasn’t that different from any other realm, it seemed.

Since the tower was situated on the mountain, the carriage went through places that felt like the countryside. We crossed the jungle first, which was filled with strange vegetation that I hadn’t gotten the chance to know yet. Some of the shrubs and trees were actually sentient, the mild types of magical plants. They were, in a way, the jungle’s guardian, and thus the tower’s first line of defense.

Hmm...I should probably try to befriend them, since it seemed to be beneficial for my awakening.

After the jungle was those wide wide prairie I could see from the balcony. It consisted of the same blue grass and purple bushes that appeared in the tower’s inner courtyard. Looking at the meadow that stretched out into the horizon and met with the sky was so nice and peaceful, almost dreamlike.

Right, I felt like I was falling asleep at some point as the carriage ran through the prairie. The constant scenery lulled me into sleep, and then I woke up with my head on Natha’s shoulder.

It was kind of nice, waking up to a cool sensation on my cheek and temple. Aside from the shock, it made me refreshed right away.

"Good morning, although it’s almost night already," I was greeted, once again, by the Demon Lord’s smile upon waking up. "Right on time too,"

He pointed outside, and as I blinked my eyes to chase away any leftover drowsiness, I caught sight of another meadow and fences. Despite the sky going darker, there were still a lot of sheep-like animals out there. Only, they had metallic black fur and glowing eyes that looked like fireflies.

"Why aren’t they inside yet?" I pressed my hands and face to the window, squinting my eyes to take a look closer.

"They are nocturnal," Natha said while securing my waist with his hand. "They just came out and will get back at dawn."

"Wow..." I had never encountered a nocturnal...sheep?...before, so it was probably only available in the demon realm. Those cute creatures also had curly horns that reminded me of mountain goats. Since it was growing dark, the farm was adorned with lamps, and the light bounced on the surface of their metallic-looking fur, making it sparkles. "That...looks heavy."

"It’s not, but the fur will harden when infused with magic, so it’s usually used to produce under armor," teacher Natha began his explanation. "We also took their blood and export them to Gluttony."

"Blood?" I turned my head, eyes widened for a bit, before I remember who was the Demon Lord of Gluttony. "Oh, for the vampires?"

Natha smiled and patted my head, as if praising me. "That’s right. The trill’s blood contained iron and mana, so it’s treated like a high-nutrient drink for them."

So the cute goth sheep’s name was trill—noted. "Hmm...like milk?"

"...you could say that."

It was fun looking at those trills running around. The ranch was so large that the sun was setting already when we reach the end. The descending dark made the light bouncing across their furs and their glowing eyes look like stars and constellations, and they were sparkling when the trills crashed against each other as they move.

"Looks fun..." I couldn’t help but let out a giggle. I had never visited a farm before, and I wasn’t sure about the zoo either, so it was nice being able to see things like this during the journey.

I was kind of regretting that we didn’t teleport to the festival, since I was getting rather impatient to see it. But things like this, a calm and peaceful journey with nice scenery, had their own charm.

In my previous life, I often read about those kinds of fantasies; making a journey and going on an adventure, visiting mythical places, watching beautiful sceneries, eating exotic foods, slaying dragons, subjugating demon lords...

Oops.

I straightened my back and my hand found itself on my cheek, slapping. How could my brain think about that last thing when I was clearly on a journey ’with’ the Demon Lord?

Not to mention in a relationship-ish with one.

"What is it, are you tired?" Natha rubbed the cheek I was slapping earlier.

Oh, it seemed like he didn’t catch that one last thing—perhaps he only sense the way my thought jumping around about adventures and whatnot. Since I had no reason to deny his assumption, I just nodded.

Well, it was true that my butt and legs were kind of sore. Although it wasn’t as rattly as the traumatizing cheap carriage I rode in the past, sitting still for half a day was pretty exhausting.

"We’ll get into the first town soon, so hang in there," Natha put his hand around my shoulder with a smile.

Zia, who already looked bored these past few hours—since looking at trills wasn’t that thrilling for her—perked up at his words. "Are we going to stay at an inn? Not going to ride the whole night?" her eyes sparkled with hope.

"Mm," Natha looked down at me while answering. "Since Val wasn’t used to carriage rides."

Gosh, how sweet of him.

"Also, we can test if anyone could see through his disguise," he added with a deep smile and a sinister glint in his silver eyes. "If it’s a failure, it’ll be easier silencing a small town that a big festive city."

Mister, that didn’t seem like something a Lord should say in their territory...