章節 19: The Name on Your Lips
The first thing was a jolt. It was followed by a gasp, and soon, Val's whole body was trembling. The sound coming out of his throat was the struggle of airways desperately calling for oxygen.
Val remembered it was hot the first time he took the Amrita. But this time…this time was different.
It was scorching.
And it was painful beyond belief.
It was like the entirety of his veins were blazed by ancient fire and being hammered by a spectral blacksmith.
It was so scorching hot that every time he tried to inhale, his lungs felt like it was licked by fire and filled with ashes.
Why? How was it possible to feel this kind of pain? His mind registered the way his circuit was being reconstructed and it burned. It burned so bad that his mind whited out for a while.
Until a sound called out for him.
"Val," a soft voice, a gentle caress; a cold that he sought. "Val, come back to me,"
Where did he hear it before? The cold reminded him of winter, of snow, of sneaking out and touching the coldness he wasn't supposed to enjoy.
And the voice. Who was it? His mind was so blurry, but he remembered that sweet, gentle voice. He remembered that he liked it, he liked it so much. The voice that was calling out to him when he fainted amidst the cold snow.
He didn't hate the snow, he didn't hate the cold. He could hear the sweet and gentle voice because of it.
But oh...why was it so scorching hot?
In a pain-driven delirium, Val reached out his shaking hand, and another cold one held onto him. Tears were forming in his emerald eyes, wetting the long, thick, fluttering ebony lashes. His trembling lips parted to call out in between choked gasps.
"N-Nat..."
The Demon Lord, looking over the trembling human, stiffened. The silver irises shook like rippling water, gleaming sharp with shock, with longing, with complicated feelings.
But he had no time to dwell on those feelings right now.
Hands, still shaking, gripped into the Demon Lord's clothes, clawing and scratching as if they were seeking for something underneath. A coldness, perhaps, or was it protection?
"Nat..."
It was a desperate voice. The vibrant, green eyes were glistening with tears, and they flew down the fair cheeks.
"It...hurts..." the voice was sobbing, choking on words and tears and pain. "...urt...Nat, it hurts so much..."
The Demon Lord pulled the trembling priest into his embrace. The man was hot, but he wasn't sweating. All the heat was trapped inside, as if there was lava flowing inside his circuit, mending all the broken roads it could find, melting the wall around the narrow passageway.
And there was nothing the Demon Lord could do about that.
He couldn't help cooling down the man, or else it might hinder the process. All he could do was take the shaking and gasping figure inside his embrace, transferring some of the coldness his skin had.
"It's okay, you'll be okay," the Demon Lord whispered sweetly. "You can do this, you have to stay awake, sweetheart, just endure it a bit more, mm?"
He kissed the sweltering temple, and tightened his hold. It was like embracing a fire elemental, the heat felt burning even in his skin. The hands on him gripped even tighter, and a more desperate sound came out, quieter, like it took everything the man could do just to utter a single word.
"Nat..."
The Demon Lord inhaled deeply, harshly, with a frown and pressed lips. "I'm here, sweetheart, I'm here..." the hands gripping him grew even tighter, although the sobbing sound also grew that much louder. "Don't think about anything, yeah? Just focus on staying awake, I'll be here with you,"
He pressed the sobbing man gently into his body, caressing the trembling back and the ebony hair. His shoulder and chest were wet with tears, and his clothes were crumpled beneath the gripping force of the hurting man.
Every sob, every gasp, every choking sound sent painful stabs into the Demon Lord's heart. If it was possible, he would rather have Val go through this while sleeping. But they couldn't do that, for the moment Val fell unconscious, the Amrita, who used the mana channel as guiding pathways, would go into a rampage.
So Val had to stay awake until the Amrita was done with its work, no matter how painful it was.
"You're doing good, sweetheart, just a little bit more, endure it a little bit more,"
Amidst the kiss pressed on his temple and hair, Val opened his eyes slightly, green eyes flickered in an attempt to stay conscious. "...a...bit m-more?"
"Yeah, just a little bit more," the Demon Lord caressed the wet cheeks tenderly, planting a soft kiss on the priest's forehead. "You can do that, can't you sweetheart?"
"Ngh..." Val sobbed again, pressing his face into the Demon Lord's neck, who immediately caressed his nape, and massaged his clutching hand. "I...can..." he said slowly, brokenly. "I-if you...re here...I c-can..."
"Yeah...yeah, I'll be here, sweetheart, I'll be here,"
Inside the cold embrace of the Demon Lord, the former Priest of Judgement writhed and sobbed as the scorching heat blasted his circuit. The same sense of heat had destroyed it before, and with the same pain, it was restored.
Whether it was because he finally got used to it or because the treatment was nearing the end, the painful sound of sobbing and choking, as well as the trembling subsided considerably after a while. And with a sweet voice, the Demon Lord whispered the words Val had been waiting for.
"It's over now. You can rest, sweetheart,"
And with that, Val let himself fall deep into the starry darkness again.
* * *
The Demon Lord's bedroom opened softly, and Angwi came inside without a sound, wordlessly picking up the scattered clothes wet with sweat and tears. She looked at the bed, and watched her Lord stroke the human's cheek tenderly, soft gaze tracing the pale skin that slowly regained its color.
"He's sweet, isn't he?" the Lord moved his fingers to hold the warm hand that had been clutching onto him since earlier. "So sweet...so pitiful..."
Angwi lowered her gaze—it wasn't her place to observe her Lord's heartfelt gesture. She didn't know much about relationships, whether it was between demons or between humans. But she knew enough about humans, and by the standard of the human she knew, then yes...the Lord's bride was a sweet human.
The human looked at her and the other demons with a clear gaze—not of scorn, not of fear. He looked at them like normal living beings, and went as far as studying them to know the demon kind better.
It was truly hard to imagine that the same person had slaughtered a lot of her kin, and destroyed five of the Demon Lord of Wrath's hearts.
"It's weird isn't it," the Lord continued to speak, and Angwi continued to listen, just like usual. "He's always trembling with the smallest tease, like an innocent maiden," there was a gentle smile on the Lord's face, but it was gone in the next second. "But he reacted nonchalantly when he was being touched. As if he'd used to it..."
Angwi fixed her gaze on the floor, because she was sure she'd have a nightmare if she looked at the Lord's face right now. "How hateful..."
There was a cold air piercing the maid's skin, filling up the room with dreadful feelings. "To be able to casually touch him, when I had to wait for so long..."
The cold, dreary air persisted for a while, and it was only after Angwi felt like she couldn't breathe that the cold vanished, and the room returned to its warm origin.
"Give him his favorite tomorrow," the Lord spoke without tearing his gaze from the man's sleeping face.
The maid bowed and went out of the room, leaving the Lord still staring at the human, hand caressing the ebony hair and brushing the stray strands away from the human's face.
When the maid had gone from the bedroom, the balcony creaked open, and a robed figure entered this time. If Val was awake, he would be able to recognize them as the spy he cornered to deliver his letter to the Demon Lord.
They had a human appearance, but as they shoved their hood down and kneeled beside the bed, their skin changed to a light blue one, and their hair and eyes turned pearly white, almost iridescent.
"How is it?"
The robed figure took out a box the size of a small suitcase, and put it respectfully on top of the bedside table.
"Just this?"
The robed figure lowered his head and spoke with an androgynous voice. "Yes, My Lord. He had sold most of his possessions to pay for the debt. What's left are mostly keepsakes from his past," they explained carefully, eyes fixed on the floor.
"Haa..." again, there was a barrage of cold air filling the room. But this time, it was harsher than the one Angwi felt. The robed figure gritted their teeth, face scrunched up to withstand the pressure coming out of the Lord.
At that time, the human stirred and let out a little sigh. And just like that, the pressure vanished, and the robed figure gasped quietly in relief. They stayed kneeling on the floor as the Demon Lord pulled the blanket to cover the human better. Softly, tenderly, as if the piercing, cold fury he let out earlier was a lie, the Demon Lord patted and caressed the human's sleeping figure.
"And the church?"
"It seems like they put someone to watch him from time to time, and they started to notice that the priest hadn't been seen for the last few days," the robed figure answered swiftly.
"To wait for his death and retrieve the spear?"
"It seems to be so, my Lord,"
The Demon Lord chuckled, but it wasn't the sweet sound that the human usually heard. It was eerie, cruel, and induced the latent fear inside one's mind.
Such was the true nature of a Nightmare.
"Does Sohram manage to infiltrate the palace?"
"Yes, my Lord,"
"Good," a deep smile carved on the Demon Lord's cold face. "You should proceed with the plan."
"My Lord?" the robed figure lifted his face, white eyes widened in surprise.
The Demon Lord, for the first time after a while, turned his head to look outside the window, at the night that stretched far and wide. His silver orbs rippled, piercing the space to stare at a certain kingdom.
"Let's show the 'Hero' how dirty the real world is."
The robed figure immediately lowered their gaze and let out a faithful reply. "Yes, my Lord,"
They moved back, still with their body bowed low in the ground. They put up their hood and only stood up once they arrived in front of the balcony door. With a soft clicking sound, the door closed, and the figure vanished into the dark.
Soon, the room was filled with silence again, and the only sound that could be heard was the soft breathing of the sleeping human. Slowly, carefully, the Demon Lord climbed into the bed and laid down beside the former priest, caressing the cheek until it regained the healthy, soft pink color. The Demon Lord watched the lashes flutter as the human dove into the dreamland, wondering what kind of dream the pitiful child had.
Softly, he rubbed the corner of the human's eyes. The eyes that were filled with tears. His thumb slid down into the now dry cheek, and stopped at the slightly parted lips, stroking ever so gently.
The lips that had been letting out pitiful sounds, and uttering a single name.
"Val," the Lord whispered in a soft tone. And yet, there was something sharp, something sad inside the low voice. "Whose name were you calling?"
創作者的想法 
Aerlev
Aerlev it’s full of sugar
章節 20: So…Is this what people called a date?
Ah…a familiar ceiling.
Again, I woke up feeling drained yet comfortable at the same time. Again, the sun had drowned the room in a brilliant light, and by the condition of my stomach, it was way past breakfast already.
For all I knew, I had skipped lunch too.
"Haa...I feel so lazy..."
Sinking my body into the soft mattress, I turned my head to the space beside me. But this time, I wasn't greeted by the sight of the Demon Lord's exposed chest and sculpted abs like before.
Too bad.
Instead, the Demon Lord made his presence known through his voice. "Feeling alright?" he was standing at the entrance leading to the bath chamber, and I had to crane my neck to be able to feast upon his handsome visage.
He was not in a nightrobe anymore, already in a proper outfit, albeit more casual than his usual attire.
Still...too bad.
"...hungry," was what I said after a long pause. "What time is it?"
"A little bit after lunch," he walked to the bed, but instead of approaching the mattress, he stopped in front of the bedside table instead.
It was then that I realized there was a box sitting atop the table. Natha drummed his fingers on the box before informing me of its identity. "I retrieved your belonging."
Belonging. I couldn't help but stiffen at that.
I didn't have any belonging.
I stared blankly at the box, the gears in my mind turning so sluggishly in the morning—afternoon. Or maybe it was because I was hungry.
The Demon Lord, seeing my blank reaction, kindly put the box, as well as himself, on the mattress. He brushed my fringe, and the cold hand stopped there for a while, probably checking my temperature.
"You should eat something," he said finally. "Let's just have a meal here."
He rubbed my chin for a bit, and then stood up and walked out of the room. It gave me a chance to open the box and perused the content without any observing eyes. Once I saw the stuff in the box, I immediately recognized this jarring feeling of dissociation.
Of course. It was Valmeier's belonging.
No wonder I couldn't register the word 'belonging' when I heard it the first time. Because none of it 'belonged' to me. They were things I had no emotional attachment to.
An old picture of little Valmeier and the priest who took him in. A notebook filled with Valmeier's study on light attribute magic and the way to utilize the Spear of Judgment. The debt contract that I'd rather burn to smithereens. Letters and postcards from the nuns and the old—now dead—priest, as well as some from his old frontline unit. A few trinkets, probably souvenirs from the soldiers and some people he saved in the past.
But the one taking the most space was another box. It was a plain wooden box without any decoration, but had been kept well. There was only one thing stored in there; the military tag of the dead soldiers under his command.
I stared at those tags, hoping that probably some kind of emotion would be stirred inside of my heart. Some kind of reaction, from the remnant of the supposedly dead Valmeier's soul.
But there was nothing.
I knew the memory, I could recall every face of the owner of the tags, and recite the letters with Valmeier's perfect memory. But they felt like a scene in a movie, or a text in a novel. While they invoke some kind of emotion, nothing felt personal.
This box, and the stuff within it, just reminded me that I wasn't Valmeier. That I had nothing. That I had no one. That I was in a completely strange place, in a strange body with a power that I didn't really understand.
"Why are you making such a difficult face?"
Without being aware of it, Natha had already sat himself on the edge of the bed, tilting his head to peer at me. His fingers reached out to rub the crease between my eyebrows, while his lips stretched into a gentle smile.
I wonder what kind of thought he sensed from me this time.
"Do you want me to put that away?"
Wow. That much?
Wordlessly, I closed the box, and he swiped his hand over its surface. And just like that, the weight vanished from my lap; the same weight dissipated from my heart.
"...thank you," I lifted my head, and for the first time since waking up, looked into his eyes.
The silver orbs were warm today, as if the owner was in a good mood. And the thin lips parted for a chuckle, before landing a cold sensation on my gradually warming cheek.
"If you're grateful, then do something for me," he brushed a stray hair from my cheek, and combed my messy bed hair.
My eyes narrowed as I stared at the playful gleam in his eyes. "You still owe me a hit, my Lord," I pulled out a clenched fist in front of his laughing face, reminding him of our 'deal' last night.
I didn't remember anything after the first ripple of pain, but I still remembered the part before that.
Although...it was quite a wrong atmosphere to bring it up.
"Sure," he gave me a deep smile. "You want to do it now?"
"No, I'll save it until I'm in peak condition," I shrugged, and brought my fist down. "But what is it that you want me to do?"
The smile on his face deepened, but his eyes exuded something sharp and serious. "My name," he said in a gentle, but firm tone.
I blinked in confusion. "Your...name?"
"Call my name from now on," he leaned closer, enough for us to see each other's reflection in our eyes. "Not 'my Lord' or any other. What did I tell you to call me?"
Oh...now that I recalled, I had never called him by his name. "...Natha?"
"Again."
What was this all about? But was I crazy enough to argue with a Demon Lord?
"Natha," I repeated, staring at the silver eyes, trying to make my voice steady and not stammered like a fool despite the hard drumming sound inside my chest.
It was only after that, that the sharpness inside the silver eyes finally replaced with warmth again, and the combing fingers on my hair turned into a familiar caress.
"Good," the sweet and gentle smile he gave at that time felt like it brightened up the room more than the sunlight could. "Let's go on a date after you eat."
"...huh?"
* * *
What kind of flag had I triggered to produce this random event?
With a hand inside the Demon Lord's hold, I followed his step, climbing the narrow winding stairs to the top of the tower. No—not the room above the living quarters, but the very top. Would it be alright to call it a roof? Tower rooftop?
Anyway, I thought he would swoosh us again with that teleportation magic of his, but he just took my hand after I finish eating and showering, and led me to the stairs going up that I never used before.
When I was wondering why we didn't teleport like usual, he turned his head with a smile and told me before I could even ask it out loud. "Since this is a date, we should take our time, no?"
A date...a date...I kept feeling warm when I heard him saying that, even more than when he said 'bride'. Perhaps because 'bride' felt so distant and unrealistic, but something like a date...
I never did it before, and I couldn't help but get excited because of that.
Ignoring the fact whether we actually had romantic feelings toward each other or not, doing something new was always an exciting thing. And I was full of curiosity about what kind of 'date' a Demon Lord would—
Whoa...
The door to the towering peak was opened, and the first thing I felt was a swirling abundance of elemental mana. They swarmed at me like a gentle breeze, and I felt like I was plunged into a comfortable hot spring.
"Kueeekk!"
And then I heard the familiar screeches that always greeted me whenever I stepped out into the balcony.
There, in the open space of the tower's peak, was a gentle storm of rainbow. Dozens of ethereal-looking birds were flying around in various vibrant colors, each emanating different elemental magic that rather than clashing, were mingling harmoniously instead.
I remembered reading an encyclopedia, and seeing something called the bird of paradise there. Those birds, with vivid colorful plumes, and long feathers swaying elegantly from their tail, remind me of the bird of paradise. And with this kind of sight, where they were flying around circling the tower's peak, under the bright blue sky, I might as well glimpsed into a paradise.
"Wow..." I couldn't help but exclaim, holding my breath even as Natha led me to the center of the roof.
And it seemed like they heard my voice, because their head turned towards us the moment I let out a sound. Some were screeching, and a few of them swooped down towards the roof, perching on the ledge of the tower's peak.
When their brilliant eyes, which shone like jewels, gazed at me, my body responded with a flinch, and Natha stopped walking. He rubbed his thumb on my hand, and asked gently. "Are you scared?"
"No," I turned my head to look around. "It's just...I've never been surrounded by animals before..."
Now that I thought about it, I didn't think I had ever visited a zoo in my life. No matter how beautiful the sight was, it was still unnerving being surrounded by smaller living creatures in large quantities.
"Don't worry," Natha grabbed my shoulder and pushed me to stand in the center. "They won't harm the resident of the tower."
Huh? Would that mean they might harm outsiders?
"Also, it's quite incorrect to revere them as animals," Natha informed me, spreading one of his arms at the same time. "They are closer to 'familiar' if it came to distinction."
One of the birds flew to Natha's arms then, the swaying tail feathers trailed the air like a pretty green ribbon. When it landed on the Demon Lord's arm, the dark green orbs stared at me sharply, as if observing. The rest of its plumes were in various gradations of green color, as if emphasizing the wood-attribute mana emanating from its body.
"Familiar?" even as I threw a question at the Demon Lord, I couldn't tear my sight from the crystal-like eyes. "Your familiars?"
"No, not mine," Natha moved his arms—along with the bird—closer to me. "They are the tower's familiar."
I blinked my eyes repeatedly—not because the bird suddenly moved its head toward me, but because of the revelation. "Tower...can have familiars?"
"Of course—try touching it, they don't bite—every prominent tower has familiars that protect it from harm or infiltration. You don't think I only stationed two guards for this place, don't you?"
Well...
Slowly, I tried to reach out my hand and touched the bird beneath its beak with the back of my finger. It craned its head, and I rubbed softly down its breast, unconsciously holding my breath while doing so. Gentle vibration ran across my skin by the mana emanating from the plumage.
The bird suddenly moved its wings to rub on my arm, and in a swift movement, jumped from the Demon Lord's arm to mine, making me almost step back in surprise. But Natha stood behind me, and hold me in place.
"They answer to the master of the tower," Natha ran his hand along my other arm, and held my hand up—the one with his mark on it. "And now, they will answer to you too,"
Just as he said it, the birds, which had been keeping their distance so far rushed to the center of the tower's peak.
Yep. To me.
The flap of their wings made a harmonious sound of the breeze, bringing forth the scent of fire and water and earth and every part of nature.
I supposed it should be a beautiful and majestic sight...but I panicked.
"W-wait! Wait! Ahh—time out! Time out!" I stepped back and sunk myself into the Demon Lord's sturdy chest. The birds hovered above me, beside me, all around me...flapping their wings and filling my vision with an outburst of vibrant colors.
But instead of doing something to calm those birds, he laughed instead, holding me from behind so I couldn't even run away.
'What kind of date is this?!'
When the birds started to poke me with their head, I flinched so hard my legs gave away, and disgracefully, I fell on my butt. But I had no room to even care about that since many of the birds landed on the ground and pushed their whole body into me, nuzzling my side and everything and...damn it!
"Uhh! Na...Natha! Help help what is thi—wait! Don't push—Natha!" I looked up and glared at his laughing face. It was only then that he whistled, and the birds retreated for a bit, even though they still crowding the floor around us.
"That's some interesting reaction," he crouched behind me and chuckled. "I told you they won't harm you, so what are you being scared for?"
"I...it's not—I wasn't..." I stammered like a fool and just decided to press my lips shut. A gentle nuzzling at my hand turned my attention back to the birds. "I just...surprised, okay?"
Various sparkling jewels stared at me, heads and wings pushing at my body. But it was gentler this time, and my initial panic subsided. Now that I wasn't as scared—I mean, surprised—my hands moved on their own, fascinated by the glow of mana and the sparkles of their eyes, carefully patting the birds' heads.
They nuzzled on my palms in response, and my heart fluttered at that. Without them frantically flapping their wings as if they wanted to attack me, these birds finally looked pretty and cute in my eyes.
Not to mention the soft vibration and the glow from the nature-attribute mana they emitted. They enveloped me like a blanket, and I felt as comfortable as bathing under warm sunlight on a nice spring day.
A cool finger brushed my cheek, and a soft, sweet voice rang from behind. "You look excited," he rubbed my cheek, and I craned my neck to peer at him. I was kind of forgetting that he was sitting behind me, or that my back practically touched his chest. "Do you like them?"
He was smiling so warmly, and this comfortable feeling made me feel good. So I answered him honestly, with a smile that I felt from my heart. "Yes,"
And then that heart of mine began to beat erratically as his silver orbs bore down on me. The hand that was rubbing on my cheek moved to tilt my face up, until my head leaned on his chest, and my vision was filled with his visage. Without saying anything, a cool thumb rubbed my lips, and my fast-beating heart felt like they stopped functioning.
There were no birds, no magic, nothing in this world seemed to register in my mind but the ripple of his silver irises. His face, which hovered above me with an expression I couldn't decipher, leaned down.
"Forgive me for this," his low whisper came first, and then his cold palm, covering my mouth.
But even through his palm, I could feel the familiar coldness of his lips.
創作者的想法
Aerlev
Aerlev
*ahem*
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