Chapter 367 – One Very Bored Demon With a Calculator and No rcy
Her lips parted like she wanted to argue—but nothing ca out.
"I don’t see you as so broken thing I have to fix," Lux added, quieter now. But yeah, she needed a fix. "You’re not my charity case. You’re not here to impress anyone. You’re here to rest. To breathe. That’s it."
Ariel stared at the floor. Her chest tightened in unfamiliar ways.
He lingered in the doorway a mont longer, voice softer than before. "One step at a ti, alright?"
She nodded. Slowly.
And for the first ti in a long, long while—
She almost believed soone ant it.
"Oh. One thing."
Ariel looked up.
"You might et soone tonight. Another sea being. One of my won."
Ariel blinked. "...Another one?"
"Mm-hmm." He tilted his head. "Her na’s Rava. She’s a kraken."
Ariel choked on air. "A kraken?!"
"She mostly eats caviar and fucks like an underwater earthquake."
Ariel flushed so hard she thought her brain might reboot.
"Don’t worry," Lux added, laughing at her expression. "She might know sothing about your family."
She simply nodded again.
She stared at him, flustered and flailing, while he leaned lazily in the doorway—looking every inch the smug bastard son of a sin and a saint.
Her heartbeat hadn’t slowed since he walked her down the hallway.
And now?
It was just ridiculous.
"Why are you being so nice to ?" she asked, before she could stop herself.
Lux tilted his head. "Because I can."
"That’s not an answer."
"Sure it is. Just not one you’re used to."
Ariel hesitated. Then said, "You don’t know ."
"I will," he said.
The way he said it made her insides twist.
And then, just like that—he turned.
"I’ll send soone to check on you later. Or you can roam the halls. Or scream into a pillow. Whatever helps."
And with that, he left.
The door closed behind him with a soft, final click.
Ariel stood there for a long ti.
Then she sat on the edge of the bed, fingers gripping the sheets, trying to calm the whirlwind spinning in her ribs.
He was... too much.
Too kind.
Too confident.
Too dangerous.
And the worst part?
She didn’t want to run.
She wanted to stay.
Even if it made no sense.
Even if her instincts were screaming she was already in too deep.
She touched her chest. Her heartbeat still hadn’t slowed.
Maybe it never would.
Down the hall, footsteps faded into silence. The air was still. The mansion’s magic dimd itself in the far wings around this ti—light crystals humming low, spell-laced glass whispering a lullaby of security around the upper levels.
Lux walked with his hands in his pockets. He didn’t rush. He rarely did. But this ti, his pace wasn’t lazy. It was thoughtful. asured.
As he turned the corner into the main hall, he spoke without moving his lips.
’System.’
[Yes, sir?]
’Send a ssage to the Avariel family. Include full intel packet. Status report on Ariel. Cross-reference her biotrics with Delmar registry. Demand a et-up. Enforce neutrality clause and request DNA verification. Top priority.’
[Confird. Sending requests to the Avariel patriarch and estate chamber. Estimated response window: 12–36 hours.]
Lux exhaled through his nose. That was fast. And not fast enough.
Ariel.
A ss.
And yet—
She stuck.
Like a thorn under the skin of his mind. She was supposed to be a blip. A pitstop. Soone he helped because she was a stray with wide eyes and no survival instincts.
He should’ve passed her off to the police or maybe a hospital. Branded her with a favor, filed her away like a liability with soft hair and sad stories. At least, that’s what his Hell’s CFO instinct told him—if he was thinking in that mode.
But he didn’t pick liabilities.
He wasn’t one himself.
And he sure as hell didn’t keep them around.
So why was she still here?
Instead, he walked her to a guest room himself.
Instead, he threatened an entire bloodline for her.
Instead, he looked back—twice.
Lux rubbed his temple as he made his way down the stairs toward his private lounge, the heavy scent of wood polish and faint hellsugar wine still clinging to the lower air.
What was it about her?
The fragility, maybe. Or the fact that she didn’t know how broken she was. That kind of innocence was rare in the demon realm. Rarer still in the parts of the world Lux frequented.
But there was more to it.
She listened.
And not the way people listened to him when they were afraid or awed or trying to impress.
Ariel listened like she was trying to understand him.
Which was terrifying.
Because Lux had spent his entire life—his entire existence—making sure no one did.
And now here she was. Sitting in his guestroom. Wrapped in silence.
And for the first ti in a long ti, he hoped she’d be okay.
Not because she was valuable.
Not because she was unique.
But because...
He wanted her to be.
That was the most dangerous part.
[ssage delivered, sir. Awaiting response.]
"Good," Lux muttered aloud.
He glanced toward the high balcony where the moonlight cut through the drapes.
"Let’s see if they still rember the daughter they buried."
And if they didn’t?
He’d dig her legacy back up himself.
Lux’s eyes glead.
He grinned—slow, wicked, sharp.
Not the charming smirk he wore like a tailored suit. No. This one was real. The kind that curled with promises and old sins, the kind that tasted like numbers bleeding red across enemy ledgers.
His mind rolled through a dozen strategies like cards in a deck: hostile acquisition, bloodline sabotage, divine legal blackmail, debt inflation, public humiliation campaigns... Oh, the possibilities were endless when the moral brakes were off.
Lux chuckled darkly, his fingers brushing the edge of his cufflink. "Well... this will be a nice ga."
One lost heiress.
One very bored demon with a calculator and no rcy.
Yeah.
This was going to be fun.
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