The Demon Lord's Bride (BL)-Chapter 731: When you get an unexpected bonus from your quest

The portal immediately closed when all of us arrived at the other side. Natha let go of Jade, who immediately jumped to the ground and announced his appearance to the world.

"We’re baaack!"

His shout, traveling through the plaza on a bright, everlasting green afternoon, pulled the attention of the druids guarding the plaza. Harulean, who seemed to never leave this place except to shower, rushed toward us.

"Your Highness? I didn’t hear about--" he paused and gasped, clasping his mouth as he stopped in his track. "Oh! The Little Prince!"

"Uwaah?"

"Oh, Mother!"

The loud exclamation made the other druids turn their heads, but Harulean immediately told them off. "What are you doing? Keep your eyes to the front!"

"Oh, how stingy..." the druids whined, but they did not protest further and did what Harulean said.

Natha chuckled and looked around. "Isn’t it fine to let them rest for a bit? My people can watch the Tree for a bit."

"Thank you, Lord Natha. But guarding the Great Tree is our duty," the druid politely declined.

"If you say so," Natha nodded, but still called the shapeshifter commander. "Heraz."

The air shifted as the shapeshifter appeared out of thin air, as usual. This time, however, he paused for a few seconds before greeting us in a slightly shaky voice. "May I presume that everything is well, my Lord?"

"Indeed; please inform the others," Natha said while holding my shoulder.

"By your command!" Heraz replied, the most energetic I ever heard him, and disappeared like a fog.

Well...he was truly turning into a fog.

"Phew...it’s kind of relieving, don’t you think?" Natha chuckled, but I couldn’t make any reply. He looked at me and frowned. "Sweetheart? What’s wrong?"

Jade, who was about to run around the plaza, stopped and returned to me. "Papa?"

"Aa-uuh?"

"Haa..." I took a deep breath, and the adrenaline supporting my body dissipate, making me fall immediately.

"Sweetheart!"

"Papa!"

"Y-your Highness?!"

Since Natha was already holding my shoulder, I thankfully didn’t fall to the ground. But I truly lost the strength in my legs and asked to be put on the ground. Fortunately, my arms were still persistently holding Shwa, perhaps just driven by instinct.

"Sweetheart, what happened? Are you alright?" Natha held my head, while Shwa patted my cheeks as if he wanted to check my condition. How adorable.

"Nothing’s wrong with his body," Ignis commented. "Or his mana."

"I’m fine," I sighed, patting the green hair nuzzling my side worriedly. "It’s just...shouting at deities was rather exhausting, you know..."

I smiled wryly at the dumbfounded faces in front of me, but what could I do? It seemed like there was a repercussion for scolding transcendental beings. After calming down, I realized that I had even told them to shut up. Considering that, lethargy was a small price to pay.

It was just what usually happened to me after visiting a deity’s abode.

"Pfft--did you...did you really scold them?" a voice came from the air again, and D’Ara showed up with fluttering white petals around her.

"Teacher!" Jade raised his head upon hearing her voice, and answered her curiosity in my place. "That’s right, Teacher! Papa say ’you, shut up!’ and ’you, shut up too!’ and everyone quiet!"

That was your only take?! The ’shut up’ part? I closed my eyes and grimaced while D’Ara laughed until her shoulders were shaking. She even clutched her stomach and crouched down, making Jade laugh as well as Shiny, filling the plaza with cheerful sounds.

"Awaah!"

Of course, Shwa didn’t want to lose. I leaned back and laughed too, because...well, it was rather funny. "Haa...can’t believe I get away from doing that..."

"Because my sweetheart is the strongest." Natha stroked my head with a smile.

"Papa the strongest!"

"That’s not true," I said, shaking my head and looking down at my son. "Shwa is the strongest."

"That’s right too!" Jade gasped and turned toward D’Ara to make a report again. "Teacher, do you know? Shwa smack the black God!"

"Pfft--what?"

"Smack! Smack! And grip hair! Right?" Jade looked at me, and I could only nod while squeezing my innocent-looking baby.

Once again, D’Ara laughed while clapping like a seal. "Oh, why do I feel so satisfied about this?"

"Maybe because you can’t do it yourself, Teacher," Natha shrugged.

"True," D’Ara smirked and looked up. "This is a nice tree."

I took a deep breath and felt the rich mana similar to the one I breathed in the tribe. "Yeah, it’s ni--" I paused and looked up, staring at the green canopy that surely wasn’t there before. "Wait--"

I turned my head and realized that I had been leaning against a sizable trunk--wide enough for me to lean comfortably.

"Mother--it’s already this big?" I gasped. It wasn’t as big as the other Tree--not yet, anyway--but considering it had only been three days, the growth was extraordinary.

"Thanks to Mother’s blessing and the energy from the Heart, Your Highness," Harulean explained with a full smile. "Ah, I shall inform the palace staff to prepare a welcome."

"No need for that." I shook my head quickly before he moved. "I just want to show this place to my son. We’ll just have some tea in the west tower."

After Harulean went to the tower, I looked at Shwa and grabbed him, raising him high. Perhaps because of the Tree’s mana, I was able to stave away a bit of the lethargy.

"Ughaa!"

"How is it, Shwa? This Tree will grow up along with you, you know!" I laughed as Shwa wiggled his hands excitedly. The leaves swayed, and the closest branch seemed to try to reach the small, outstretched fingers.

Natha chuckled and took Shwa from my hands; this time, the persistent baby did not reject it. With the new height, the young branch and young fingers could finally meet, and Shwa shrieked joyfully, making the trees and flowers around the plaza flutter.

Bzz!

"Ooh, Alvie is here!"

"Uwaa!" Shwa raised his hand and the spear flew to him carefully, letting the baby grip its shaft.

Of course, the short fingers couldn’t completely hold the spear, but Shwa was already happy about that. The spear buzzed lightly as if chuckling, but I warned it to not have Shwa fly around while hanging on its shaft like Jade.

"Heh, truly your child," D’Ara smirked and stood up, brushing fine dirt from her black dress. "Well, I have confirmed that everything is as planned, so I’ll return home for now."

"Oh, wait!" I held onto the trunk and stood up. "This brooch--"

"Just keep it," she chuckled. "I worked hard to get it, and I don’t think he’ll bother himself with technicality. Whether you do it for a vacation or for seeking a refuge, you can still go there if you’d like."

I gasped. "You mean...I can go see a dragon?"

D’Ara laughed and pointed at the green boy between us. "You even have two of them," she winked, before scattering into red mist and white petals.

Hmm...so Natha had his scattering feathers aesthetic from her.

"Are you alright now?" Natha asked, still looking worried even though I had already told him that it was only a simple lethargy.

He even stroked my forehead and cheeks to make sure I didn’t get a fever. But it seemed like he was never healed from the trauma of my ’pregnancy’ period, so I just let him be.

Besides, the coldness of his palm was very nice, so I leaned into his hand and sighed in relief. "I’m fine now, Alveitya gave me some mana," I looked at the tree and stroked the white bark. "What a good child; already so generous even though it’s still young."

The leaves shook again, creating a soft breeze that cooled down the bright afternoon. Ahh...even the scent was similar. I wondered if I could visit Mother’s abode through this Tree once it reached full maturity...

Hmm...since this Great Tree was kind of like a temple for the children of nature, should we build places of worship for the demons and the humans too? After all, I didn’t mean to create a place free of the deities’ influence--just one where the three could be in harmony together.

Oh, talking about that...I wondered how the ’talk’ was happening over there. I hoped Mother led them well as the oldest. Although I didn’t expect they would be buddy-buddy after all those times fighting, I wished they could be more civilized.

Oh, geez--let’s stop thinking about those deities. I scolded them enough, so it shouldn’t be my business anymore.

After all, we got custody of our son, and that was all I ever wanted!

"Okay!" I stretched my arms and exhaled slowly. "Should we take a walk and see the city for a bit?"

"Shwa, your Papa is tired, so I’ll carry you for now, okay?" Natha pinched the baby’s shin lightly.

"Aah..." the round green eyes looked at me in contemplation but nodded in the end. "Mwaah!"

"Oh, what a smart boy!" I kissed his cheek in praise, and he giggled until Natha turned his cheek toward me too--and Shwa smacked the blue cheek away.

"Ouch?"

"Ugaa!"

"What do you mean, no? Papa is mine," Natha lightly flicked the frowning baby’s forehead.

"Awaah! Uhh-aah!"

"No, I have him more."

"Gaah!"

"Don’t compete with me, boy. You’ve already have his time enough."

"Gagaah!"

Haa...why were you fighting with your son? Looking at them, who had the same face and personality arguing like that...I couldn’t help but laugh. "Pfft--whatever. Let’s go, Jade."

"Yes!" Jade took my hand, and we walked away, leaving Natha and mini-Natha to work it out between themselves. The boy tugged on my hand and muttered. "Natha and Shwa is so silly; Papa belong to Jade."

Oh, Mother.