Asmo arched a brow. "Cover?"
"That 'off-limits' declaration. Telling the court I was unavailable."
"Oh, that." Asmo sipped his wine, looking smug. "That wasn't to protect you, kiddo. That was to protect them."
Lux blinked.
Asmo gestured lazily with his chalice. "You walked in with the scent of six lovers on your skin, each from a different royal bloodline. Sloth. Pride. Kraken. Dragon. Elf. Human. If anyone here so much as touches you the wrong way, one of them might declare war."
Lux smiled, slow and dangerous. "You say that like it's a bad thing."
"Oh, it's terribly inconvenient," Asmo said, but his eyes were gleaming with pride. "But also incredibly hot. You're a disaster. I love it."
Lux lowered his voice slightly, glancing around. "You know they're gonna start rumors."
"They've already started. By the ti you leave tonight, half of Hell will believe you ascended through orgasm alone."
"Not the worst headline. Better than die."
"Better than the ti I was accused of summoning a Lust Beast to my bedroom."
"…Did you?"
Asmo paused. "That depends. Does Raxion count if she was in human form?"
Lux groaned. "Grandpa."
"What? It was consensual. And creative."
They shared a brief, amused silence. Then Lux exhaled.
"You're not gonna ask where I've been?"
Asmo looked at him then. Really looked. Past the hickeys and charm. Past the smirk.
"I already know," he said softly. "You needed to rember who you are. And I'm glad you found people who got your back."
Lux's chest tightened a little. Just a little.
He hated how much that line hit.
So he did what he always did when things got too personal, he hid behind a sip of wine and a cocky smirk. "You getting soft on , old man?"
Asmo chuckled, swirling his glass. "Please. I'm only soft in places that matter, and never in public."
Lux huffed a short laugh. "Gross."
"I'm still hotter than half the court."
"Unfortunately true."
They stood side by side again, looking out at the ballroom, the swirl of skin, glamour, perfu, and envy. Laughter bubbled, and power crackled beneath every flirt and glance. But between them, the air held weight.
"So…" Asmo began, casual as ever but his tone dipped just slightly into sothing older, heavier. "I assu that little pulse of collapsing Greed power we all felt?"
Lux didn't answer right away.
He watched a Lust noble try to seduce a Pride noble and fail spectacularly before finally sighing.
"Yeah," he said. "Zoltarin."
Asmo's hand stopped swirling.
"All of him?"
"His consciousness and core, yeah." Lux's voice dropped lower. "His body should still be in the old Greed tower ruin. Trapped. Sealed. I haven't checked it yet. Didn't feel like poking the corpse of soone I just killed with my d*ck still hard."
Asmo turned to look at him. Really look. The kind of look that ca with centuries behind it. The kind of look that rembered what Zoltarin was.
"…You actually killed him," he said.
Lux didn't respond.
Just sipped again.
Asmo's voice dropped, sharp with disbelief. "Despite your age. Your status. The fact that he used to eat people like you for breakfast."
Silence.
Then Asmo exhaled slowly, eyes drifting back to the party like he was watching mories instead of dancers.
"Your other grandpa," he murmured, "Seredor. He never saw your father as his successor. Not really. Zoltarin was always the favorite. Always the heir. Your father…" He shook his head. "He stayed in the back. Quiet. Dull. Not a drop of proper greed in him."
"I know," Lux said.
"I once told your mother not to marry him."
That made Lux blink.
"I figured the legacy would end with your father," Asmo admitted, voice softer now, eyes lost in the wine. "He didn't fight. Didn't want the throne. He was too weak for the Greed throne. And after Zoltarin was exiled, I thought… well. That's it. Greed's finished."
"But you let her marry him anyway."
Asmo smirked. "Of course. It was Lust's turn to make a stupid mistake for love. Just like your cousin."
Lux laughed once. Then looked down at his wine.
Asmo kept going. "Then you were born. A miracle. Greed and Lust in one body. And not just a pretty fusion. A real royal demon. Sharp. Strategic. Lethal when you want to be. You do better than anyone expected."
Lux stayed quiet.
"I saw it back then," Asmo murmured. "And I see it now."
Lux finally smiled.
But it wasn't smug.
It was… softer. Grateful. Quiet in a way that felt rare on him.
Still, Asmo ruined it with a dramatic sigh.
"But Lust is disappointed."
Lux blinked. "Why?"
"You work," Asmo groaned. "That's all you do. Work work work. Always in that little office, barking at spreadsheets, planning contracts like it's foreplay. You're going to die filling out a budget spreadsheet."
"I kinda thought the sa," Lux muttered, grimacing.
"Good," Asmo said, jabbing his glass toward him. "At least you're aware. You treat Lust like it's a side effect, not a core trait."
"I've been busy," Lux argued.
"Kiddo." Asmo turned and pointed at the fading hickeys and scratches across his chest. "Those are trophies. Sothing I need to see more often."
Lux raised an eyebrow. "You're proud of the fact I got fucked to exhaustion?"
"Yes!" Asmo said, like it was obvious. "For the first ti in years, you showed up to a Lust function looking like Lust. Do you know how many tis you waltzed in here wearing your Greed suit and that deadpan tax auditor face? You looked like you were here to do soul repo."
"I—" Lux opened his mouth. Then paused. "I can't even deny that."
Asmo leaned in with a smirk. "And now look at you. Half a shirt. A dozen marks. Aura still dripping with post-orgasm glow. You belong here."
Lux sighed, rolling his eyes, but his lips curled upward. "You make it sound like being a slut is political strategy."
"It is," Asmo said. "It's Hell. Sex is diplomacy. Aura is reputation. And nothing says 'I'm still in the ga' like walking in slling like six won from six different lineages who all survived you."
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