Chapter 111: The Weight of Parenthood and a Demon Lord’s Pity

Uh… well…

Wade gazed at Lamia’s earnest expression, pondering how best to approach the topic.

“So… are you ready to raise a child?”

Wade, unsure how else to phrase it, simply stated the obvious.

“Of course! Shouldn’t we have children after we get married? Our children will be incredibly adorable, and I won’t want them to leave my side.”

Lamia beamed at Wade, her smile so charming it was as if she were a young girl envisioning her future.

Indeed, for a fleeting moment, Wade found himself wondering.

‘Is Lamia truly like a young girl at heart?’

As the Black Demon Lord, a demon, she had undeniably lived for an immense span of time. Yet, as a human, her journey had only just begun.

Perhaps…

Still, it felt strangely peculiar that a Demon Lord was now so fixated on having children with him. Could sworn enemies truly become husband and wife?

Though he was reluctant to admit it, it had undeniably happened, hadn’t it? And… their current life seemed rather pleasant.

Initially, Wade had vehemently refused to accept it. How could that tall, dark figure, two heads taller than himself, ever become his wife?

But now, it seemed… he could indeed accept it.

Lamia was, without a doubt, the transformed Black Demon Lord. However, humans are visual creatures, and seeing her take the form of such a young woman had certainly swayed Wade’s perception.

Nevertheless, if they were truly to have children, Wade recognized the need for significant psychological preparation.

“Lamia…”

After much deliberation, Wade finally spoke.

“Do you know everything that’s involved after a child is born?”

His focus was on the aftermath of childbirth; discussions about conception or preparation for making a child were best avoided for now.

“After having a child, we raise the child, of course.”

Her words certainly held a ring of truth.

“Exactly! The key is that after having a child, we must raise them well. Do you know how to raise a child?”

“Of course! First, we’ll bring the baby into our room. That’s why I just told you I think this room should be bigger, otherwise there won’t be space for the baby’s bed here.”

Wade’s expression became somewhat awkward as he discussed the topic, yet Lamia was genuinely and earnestly exploring the matter with him.

“No, I’m not talking about those things. I mean something more long-term, or perhaps, a matter of awareness. For example, if you have a child, you’ll need to spend a very long time raising them. You know, as you just said, children need companionship. So… you’ll need to be by their side for a very long time. One or two years, three or four years, or even ten years isn’t enough. You need to be by the child’s side, by my side, for a very long time—twenty years, thirty years, forty years, fifty years. Like that…”

By the end, Wade’s ‘scheme’ had been laid bare.

Indeed, more than the act of having children, he was truly trying to address how long Lamia would stay by his side.

The reason he offered was sound. Children genuinely require companionship; being by their side for merely ten years wouldn’t suffice. How could it?

“Are you saying we need to stay with this child for decades?”

“Yes, precisely. It must be decades. Consider that in their infancy, when a child is first born, they absolutely need the help of both father and mother, our love and care. Even after they grow a little, during their teenage years, they still need their parents’ companionship and assistance. After all, they aren’t adults yet. And once they become adults, they’ll need even more guidance.”

“The same goes for when they get married. If the child needs anything, as their parents, we’ll certainly have to support their family. And finally, when the child has children of their own, we’ll still need to help them raise *their* children, won’t we!”

Wade spoke at length, making the responsibilities of parenthood sound incredibly complex and burdensome.

While some of it stemmed from his own selfish desires, his primary aim was to keep Lamia by his side. Nonetheless, it was undeniable that parents indeed have many responsibilities, much to bear on their shoulders concerning their children, and the sacrifices they make are immense.

Listening to Wade’s words, Lamia surprisingly fell into deep thought.

Wade’s initial reluctance to have children with the Demon Lord had been purely psychological. It just felt too strange to engage in such intimacy with this ‘fellow,’ and then to conceive and raise a child together.

However, his feelings had subtly shifted, and Lamia’s significance in his heart had changed. Thus, he seized this opportunity to directly express his desire for Lamia to remain by his side for a longer period.

[Do humans really need so much time to raise children? It seems a human’s entire life is spent accompanying their child?]

While a few decades weren’t particularly long for Lamia, she was astonished that humans tied most of their lives to their children.

For demon beasts, children didn’t require much time to raise.

As Lamia herself had mentioned, staying by a child’s side immediately after birth was already a demonstration of a unique maternal love, distinct from other demon beasts, stemming from her role as the ‘Mother of the Earth.’

But her thoughts had only extended to accompanying the child until they gained self-sufficiency.

She hadn’t realized that even after growing up… children still needed their parents?

“Did you also spend your life like that? What about your parents?”

Lamia instinctively asked the question. She held no ill will, merely curiosity about Wade’s life, hoping that if it were so, she could find a way to ‘copy his homework.’

This topic made Wade slightly uncomfortable. He offered a strange, stiff laugh, a quick “Ah, haha.”

“I don’t have parents. I… was an orphan from a young age.”

Upon hearing Wade’s words, Lamia’s eyes widened slightly.

“So you were alone your entire childhood?”

“Not exactly. I met my grandfather when I was a teenager, and he stayed with me.”

However, he hadn’t stayed for very long. Wade spent most of his time in the orphanage, with Osias occasionally visiting to chat or do things with him. Their time together at the orphanage lasted only three or four years before Wade became the White Knight.

“I see.”

Lamia looked at Wade, observing his awkward smile. Wade, in turn, looked up and glanced at Lamia.

For some reason, Wade felt he saw… pity on Lamia’s face. A Demon Lord, showing such an expression.

“It’s alright, Wade. It’s okay.”

With these words, Lamia opened her arms and pulled Wade into an embrace.

“It doesn’t matter if you didn’t have parents. You have me, Wade. I will love you like a mother, too.”

Lamia believed that since Wade had just emphasized the importance of parental companionship in childhood and then revealed he had no parents and was always alone, her words, driven by concern, were meant to convey, ‘It’s okay that you didn’t have parental companionship as a child; I will compensate you with that love.’

But to Wade’s ears, her words sounded…

‘Why does that sound so strange?’

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