The Demon Lord's Bride (BL)-Chapter 640: Children should grow slowly

"He won’t suddenly turn into a toddler, right?" Neel eyed my son suspiciously.

"Isn’t that too much? I’ll be terrified too if that’s the case," I shuddered. "I don’t want to skip the whole process of him being all cute and wobbly!"

"Just making sure," Neel rubbed her chest slowly and sighed. "That’s a relief."

What kind of movies did she watch in the past?

"Anyway, I know he’s cute and such--but you’re not calling me here just to brag about him, right?"

"What’s wrong with bragging?" I pursed my lips. "Won’t you naturally want to brag if you have a son like him?"

My passionate declaration was met with enthusiastic nodding from Natha and the Tower staff, making Neel roll her eyes in exasperation. I laughed and patted her back before she really turned around back returned to the Tower.

"Alright, alright--I do have something else to talk to you about," I held her shoulder and seated her on the upper garden chair.

"What about? Do you want to request another tool, Boss?"

"Hmm...we’ll wait for Angwi before I tell you," I grinned at her exasperated eyes. "He’ll be back with our lunch, so just wait here."

Neel stared at the table, which was filled with not only Natha and me but also the twin guards and Doun. The reluctance was clear in her eyes, not because she disliked the other demons--she was just naturally a recluse.

"You’re always eating alone anyway, so let’s have lunch together while I’m here, okay?" I patted her arm. "My son needs to know the people who live in his house."

Neel glanced at Shwa, who was blinking slowly as if trying to remember who this aunty was. After all, they had only met once when he was still less than ten days old. Sighing in resignation, she shifted to a more comfortable position in her chair, staring at the pond and the garden while waiting for lunch.

Hehe...I knew I acted a bit nosey, but ever since Zia left and Angwi became Shwa’s nanny, she really only lived in her bedroom. The golem maid would send her meals there, so she rarely left her room unless there was something she wanted to search in the library. But since the other living demons worked outside, she never interacted with her too.

I mean...it was fine to just live without seeing anyone in her room, but as someone who had lived in loneliness for most of my life, I wanted her to have human--no, demon?--no, living interaction once in a while. After all, as her ’boss’, I wanted to take care of her to some extent. Moreover, she was also living in my house.

Once every few months was already low enough, right?

Fortunately, after I told her that Angwi personally cooked the lunch, she perked up and became a bit more eager to stay. I took Shwa from Natha so she could play with him and not think too much about the waiting time.

It was good that she considered people who couldn’t speak yet to be tolerable.

As expected of Angwi, it didn’t take her a long time to whip out a banquet for all of us. Ahh...no offense to the cooks in the Castle--who were superb, truly!--but nothing could beat Angwi’s food for me.

Perhaps it was a sentiment that built because her cooking was the one I ate right after I could properly taste food. Perhaps because she was the one who experimented with my palate the most. I had no idea. Her cooking was the equivalent of mom’s home-cooked meal for me, even if they looked fancy.

Seeing the glitter in Neel’s otherwise dull eyes, however, made me think that it wasn’t just a me thing. Shwa would grow up eating her cooking, wouldn’t he? I had a feeling that he would grow up big like Natha.

Haa...thinking about my bottle-sucking milk-drinking baby growing up to be a big man was somewhat disheartening. I looked down and peppered Shwa with kisses. He was confused, but also happy, curling my hair between his fingers.

...you wouldn’t turn into a toddler in a few months, would you? Please?

"Can we talk now?" Neel said the moment she swallowed her last mouthful.

Pfft--so impatient. But it distracted me from the disturbing thought...which she brought up in the first place. Before telling her, however, I observed her tired face and prominent dark circles. "Are you busy with something these days?"

There was something I needed for her, but that didn’t mean I could just stop her from doing what she was currently doing. Forcing someone to do a project when their mind was on other things would only lower productivity.

"Just continuing my research on the golems in this place," she shrugged, and then added in a quieter voice. "I want to make my own."

"Oh! What a coincidence!"

What luck! Was this how a protagonist felt when the universe was on their side?

Naturally, Neel looked at me suspiciously. "What do you mean?"

I handed Shwa over to Natha, before shifting my chair closer to her. "Do you think you’re able to reprogram a golem?"

"Reprogram?" her slightly widened eyes blinked slowly. "You mean...modifying the existing mana sequence of the commandment formation?"

"...yes?"

Whatever that was, it sounded right.

She leaned back and stroked her chin in contemplation. "That depends on how complex the formations themselves."

"What about you, Angwi?" I shifted my gaze to Angwi, who replied by signing with her hands.

Natha translated for me, and it seemed like Angwi only followed the manual that the golem creator gave her. Of course, she had at least intermediate knowledge about the golems, but stated that it would be better for a dedicated researcher like Neel to do any unique modification.

"Hoo..."

"But why are you asking that? Do you want me to modify a golem?" Neel tilted her head.

"Yeah; if possible, about the principal commandment--you know, the task it has to fulfill," I nodded enthusiastically. "And its size."

The moment I said ’size’, Angwi clapped her hands in realization. "Neel," I grinned at the half-naga. "Have I told you about Stan?"

The slit irises flickered. "...Stan?"

And so, I started to explain about Stan the golem. There was no need to tell her about the whole journey, so I just explained the ruin and the golem’s existence, as well as how I planned to take the golem and give it a new purpose so it wouldn’t have to perish so soon. Jade chimed in energetically after knowing I was talking about Stan.

The safest way would probably be asking D’Ara about the golem creator, but Eruha told me that she had been rather difficult to contact, and I knew she was in the middle of helping us too, so I didn’t want to disturb her for this.

I looked at Neel, full of hope. "How is it? Can you do--"

"I’ll do it."

That was fast. I blinked and looked at her, who was glaring fiercely--hopefully not at me?

"Perish?" she hissed--and, coming from a half-naga, came out way more aggressive. "It has to destroy itself after it achieves its goal?"

Jade climbed to my lap and hugged me tightly, peeking at the suddenly menacing-looking Neel.

"Unbelievable! How could they do that to something they created with their own hands?! Whoever made that commandment is wicked I tell you--a psychopath!"

Wow...

Let’s play to it.

"Yes, I agree! How heartless!" I nodded enthusiastically, and Jade nodded hard out of fear.

She smacked the table. "That! It’s unacceptable! I shall fix that golem and bring it here!"

Hey, who said anything about bringing Stan here? I actually didn’t have any plan for Stan beyond reprogramming it--and who knew if a golem created to protect the human Goddess’s relic would want to go to the Demon Realm--but I certainly didn’t want to break the great atmosphere, so I just raised my thumbs and kept nodding.

"That being said," Neel took a deep breath and calmed herself, but still looked more lively than before. "I’m not sure I can do it at my level now--I mean, it’s a golem in a ruin that carried a task from a deity, right?" fɾeewebnoveℓ.co๓

"Yeah..."

"It should be pretty complex, then," she frowned. "From your story, the golem also has a considerably advanced level of artificial intelligence."

"Right? If it wasn’t for the slightly robotic voice, I would think I was talking to a knight," I nodded in agreement.

Wait...so what now? I looked at Neel with anticipation, hugging Jade tightly as she contemplated hard.

"Alright," she returned my gaze with a firm one. "I said I wasn’t sure that I’m at that level yet. In that case, all I need to do is increase my level. Can you give me time?"

"Of course," I smirked and added proudly. "I already put a lot of decoys to make sure Stan was still there for a long time."

"That’s good," she shifted her gaze to Angwi. "Madam, are there more journals I could read? Also...would it be possible for me to do the maintenance here as practice?"

Angwi simply replied with a nod and a subtle smile, signing that she would look over some more documents. I hugged her, together with Jade, and grinned when she patted our heads. "Thank you, Angwi!"

"Uaa!"

Even Shwa let out a noise and raised his hand.

"Then, let’s start," Neel stood up and looked at me with a glint of maniacal spark a mad scientist would probably have. "Don’t look for me until I’m done, Boss."

"Huh?"

"Goodbye."

With that farewell, she disappeared quickly into the Tower, leaving a long trace on the ground from the energetic swipe of her tail.

"Huh..."

If it were not for her sparkling eyes, I would think she was running away from the luncheon instead.