Chapter 641 – You’re Not Qualified
He didn’t even look away from her while it happened.
"I’ll turn your limbs into gold," he said calmly. "One by one."
Her heart pounded.
"You wouldn’t—"
"I would."
The air sizzled.
She tried to pull back. But his hands were still up. Still glowing. Still burning gold into her favorite reading chair.
"I made an example of so thugs last week," he said, like he was talking about the weather.
"You’re bluffing."
He raised an eyebrow.
A small shimr of Greed aura slithered down her side, across her waist. She looked down and scread.
Her tail. The tip of it. It was glinting.
Only a few scales, just a shimr of mana, but it was real.
Real enough.
She slapped his hand. "Stop it!"
He smirked.
"Then agree."
Her breath was shaking. Her mind scrambled. Her pride scread no. But the danger was real. Too real.
And worse?
So was the arousal.
Because damn him.
Her body still wanted him. Even now. Even like this. Even with his magic seeping through her coils and his scent clogging her throat like pure possession.
"You want to be your little assistant?" she spat. "Bring you coffee? Fold your infernal shirts?"
He grinned.
"No. I want you where I can see you. Where I can control the damage. Where you owe ."
He leaned closer, whispering again.
"I want you as an asset."
Her entire body shivered. It wasn’t the cold.
She glared. "Fine."
He stepped back, hands lowering.
The gold stopped spreading.
She looked down. Her tail shimred, but the glow faded. The scales weren’t solid gold. Not yet. Just kissed.
Her chest rose and fell with every ragged breath. Her skin was damp. Whether it was sweat or magic or sha, she couldn’t tell.
"You can’t own ," she hissed.
Lux smiled again.
"I already do."
He turned toward the bar again. Took another drink. "Don’t worry. The contract will be full benefits. Glamour clause. NDAs. Perks package."
"I hate you," she hissed.
"Most of them do at first," he replied cheerfully.
She narrowed her eyes. "Them?"
He looked back, innocent like sin. Fake as hell.
"My servants," he said, sipping again. "Contracted. Loyal. Occasionally defiant. All with good taste."
Her eyes narrowed further. "You think I’m going to be one of your girls?"
Lux tilted his head like he was pondering it. "Hmm. No. You’re not qualified."
That stung more than it should have. She was a damn queen. A Lamia Monarch with her own empire. n groveled for a sliver of her scales. And here he was, tossing that judgnt out like a quarterly report that didn’t et expectations.
She bared her fangs.
He didn’t even flinch.
Instead, he raised his glowing hand and whispered sothing she didn’t catch.
A second later, the air shimred in front of him.
A golden contract erged, thick parchnt lined with black-gold thread. The scent of ink and infernal authority rolled off it like heat from a furnace. A header of Greed script flared across the top, bound by golden mana that pulsed like a heartbeat. Each clause seed alive.
He walked over and handed it to her like a waiter passing a bill.
"Read it," he said. "Tell if you’re ready to sign."
She took it, hands trembling despite herself. Her tail coiled tighter under her. Her pride in tatters, but her eyes scanned the lines quickly, professionally. Old habits die hard.
Clause One: She would not interfere in any way with Lux Vaelthorn’s business, political, or personal interests. Including his girls’s.
Clause Two: She would provide assistance to Lux when summoned, compensated either in gold, services, or "other agreeable terms."
Clause Three: Lux would ensure her protection and preserve her reputation, so long as she did not breach the contract.
Clause Four: Rewards, boons, and financial restoration were entirely at Lux’s discretion.
Clause Five: Any violation would result in full soul forfeiture, imdiate incarceration in the Greed Vaults, and the freezing of all known assets across interrealm markets.
Her breath caught on the last one.
"You want my soul," she muttered.
"I already have it," he replied with a smirk. "This just makes it official."
She looked up at him. "You’re enjoying this."
"Imnsely."
He reached into his dinsional storage and pulled sothing out.
Her breath hitched again.
It was a pen.
But not any pen.
A sleek, black-gold fountain pen tipped with obsidian. Greed runes etched along its barrel. Mana curled around it like smoke from a dragon’s nostril.
[Item: Infernal Ledgerbane – The Contract Pen]
[Grade: Relic (Bound to Lux Vaelthorn)]
"Do we have a deal?" he asked, voice casual, but his eyes weren’t.
She hesitated. She wanted to say no. Wanted to spit in his face and slam the contract into a fire.
But she looked down at her tail.
The shimr of gold still lingered on the tip.
Her lips pressed into a line.
"...Deal," she said finally.
He offered the pen.
She took it. It was heavier than expected. Warm to the touch. Like it rembered every soul it had ever bound. The mont the tip hit the parchnt, a pulse of mana surged up her arm.
Her hand moved, slow but steady.
She signed.
Lylith Seravelle.
The mont the last stroke was finished, the pen flared.
So did the contract.
Greed mana burst like a soft fla, golden and infernal, wrapping around her wrist and then surging back into Lux’s body like a tethered thread.
The contract folded in on itself and vanished into Lux’s chest. Literally. It pressed against his sternum, then lted into his skin like ink being swallowed by paper.
Another small rune appeared on the tip of his hand, glowing briefly.
She stared.
Even through his slacks and the edge of his shirt, she could see them. Dozens of runes. Hundreds, maybe. Coded in lines and marks... each one a contract. So faint. So pulsing strong. And one... near his heart... glowed with both infernal red and celestial gold.
Her voice was small.
"You..."
"I’m a control freak," he said smoothly. "Especially when it cos to economy and business. So yes... I made a lot of contracts."
His hand reached out. Touched her cheek. Light. Almost... reverent.
"With this body," he said softly. "This soul."
Her heart thudded.
He leaned closer, lips barely above hers.
"Pardon for it."
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