Chapter 140 – Phoenix Egg
Mira’s voice cut through next, cool and sharp. "But why would he suddenly send you a drink?" she asked, tilting her head.
Lux didn’t even look at her. "Not for a good thing."
Fiera raised an eyebrow, her eyes narrowing slightly. "What do you an?"
"Relax," Lux replied, sipping his freshly delivered, actually-safe whiskey. "I already handled it."
He didn’t elaborate. Just smiled.
But it wasn’t the smile he usually wore—teasing, smug, full of seduction and sin. No, this one had sothing colder behind it. A silent promise. A shadow of ’don’t think I’ll forget.’
Because the duke had tried to play him.
Play a devil.
And that?
That didn’t end well.
Not in this realm.
Not in any realm.
Lux’s fingers tapped idly against his thigh. He was already calculating which vault the duke kept his generational heirlooms in. Already picking through future punishnts like a bored god thumbing through plagues. Maybe his estate could catch fire. Maybe his mistress would suddenly grow wings and fly off with all his gold.
Or maybe—
Lux would smile at him again.
Next ti?
With fangs.
He was just about to say sothing quietly threatening to Rava, sothing in the range of "You know how easy it is to collapse a bloodline, right?", when the stage lights dimd further and the host’s voice rang out again, overly theatrical and gleeful.
"And now, for tonight’s crown jewel," the man said, clearly savoring the words. "A one-of-a-kind artifact. Rare. Primal. Revered in myth and in fla. A phoenix egg—with a 12% chance of still hatching."
The air in the room shifted. Audible gasps. So leaned forward, others whispered like the announcent had struck a chord in their soul. Even Mira’s eyes flicked toward the stage with sothing like curiosity—rare for her.
Lux, however, didn’t move.
Didn’t blink.
Didn’t even twitch an eyebrow.
But his smile?
Gone.
Extinguished like a candle under ice.
The egg was rolled out on a floating velvet platform, suspended in a prism of glowing protective wards. It shimred under golden spotlights.
The shell looked etched with molten lava lines, pulsing with light like it was still alive. Fire magic danced around it in illusionary spirals—harmless to the crowd, but deeply convincing to anyone who didn’t know better.
It looked magnificent.
Which was exactly the problem.
Lux’s system flared quietly in the back of his mind.
[Scanning Artifact: Phoenix Egg – Grade ???]
[Data Analysis: Exterior – Modified]
[Internal Composition: Core Fossilization Detected]
[Status: Deceased. No Soul Trace. No Ashes. Rebirth Function: Failed.]
[Conclusion: Hybrid Origin Suspected. Not True Phoenix.]
[Projected Value: Artificially inflated via spell-glamour and illusion enchantnt. Warning: Fraud Probability 84%.]
Lux exhaled.
It was a fake.
A very expensive, beautiful, ticulously glamoured fake.
But still a fake.
And worse? It had a story crafted around it. Soone out there wanted this to be believed. A phoenix egg that didn’t hatch ant one thing—it wasn’t a phoenix at all.
Phoenixes didn’t die in their eggs. If anything, they cracked out early. Screaming, burning, reborn and ready to incinerate whoever dared to witness it.
This one?
Dead.
And not even gracefully.
If Lux had to guess—it was so bastard blend. A phoenix and maybe a griffin. Or a sunbird. Or gods forbid, a chira with bird blood and a glamour complex.
Still, the room watched in reverence.
People were already murmuring about the honor of raising a phoenix.
Lux sipped his drink again and resisted the urge to groan.
The bidding started at $8 million.
Imdiately—
"Ten," soone said behind him.
"Eleven-point-five," a duchess in a ruby headdress announced.
"Thirteen," from a masked noble with void-black eyes.
Then—
"Fifteen," Lylith Seravelle purred from the royal box. Her voice echoed through the chamber.
Around Lux, the won tensed.
Even Rava sat forward slightly.
He felt her interest spark and turned to see her expression—calm, but eyes gleaming.
She was tempted.
Ready to raise her hand.
But before she could, Lux’s fingers slid gently over hers.
She turned to him, confused.
He shook his head once.
Silent.
Rava narrowed her eyes. "Why?"
His voice was barely a whisper. "It’s not even a pure phoenix."
She blinked.
The heat in her fingers cooled, the tension leaving her posture as she leaned back and folded her arms. Tentacles curled beneath her seat—not in frustration, but retreat. Calculated, cold, her kraken instincts taking over.
She believed him.
anwhile, Mira’s brows had furrowed. Her long, lacquered nails tapped against her glass as she stared at the egg with growing detachnt.
"It’s unusual," Elyndra said beside her, tilting her head like she was admiring artwork with a knife hidden behind her back. "The shell... doesn’t pulse the way a true egg should."
Mira didn’t answer right away.
Then—quietly—she spoke.
"Dragon blood recognizes phoenix," she said. "And this?"
Her eyes narrowed.
"This isn’t even close."
That got Elyndra to blink. The elf looked over at Lux. "That’s why you so unimpressed?"
Lux didn’t answer her.
Fiera, however, had been watching him.
And her lips parted in understanding.
"I see," she said softly. "That’s why you haven’t looked away from it once. You were analyzing it."
Lux leaned back, bored again. "I’ve seen real ones. This is a story with a glow filter."
Mira’s gaze snapped to him. "You’ve seen a real phoenix egg?"
He didn’t answer.
f.(r)eewe/bnov\ll
Because he didn’t have to.
The look on his face said it all.
’He’d seen them. He’d priced them. He probably raised one.’
Rava pressed her lips together and tried not to smile.
Fiera looked both impressed and irritated. "You really are full of surprises."
"You have no idea," Lux murmured.
Lylith placed a new bid—$17 million.
The crowd gasped.
Soone countered at $18.5.
Lux didn’t move.
Didn’t blink.
Didn’t offer a single word.
But his mind?
Already spinning.
If soone was trying this hard to sell a false phoenix egg in a forbidden auction with royalty in attendance... Then sothing else was happening behind the scenes. Either it was a front. A test. Or worse—bait.
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