Chapter 686 – Legacy Burdened
Lux stepped in.
"You should’ve just told ."
Both won jumped like they’d been caught naked, which, knowing their usual state in his mansion, wasn’t far off.
Lullaby turned on her side, eyes wide, her hair sticking to her lip balm. "Lux— how long have you been standing there?"
He walked in casually. "Long enough to hear about the King of Hell."
Sira stood slowly, eyes narrowed, expression unreadable.
"It’s just a theory," she said. "An analysis. I don’t have any proof. You know how Kaelmor works."
Lux smiled. Not his seductive one. Not the playful, ’CFO gonna ruin you’ smile. No, this one... this one hurt to wear.
"Yeah," he said quietly. "I know."
He walked across the room, grabbed the nearest bottle of wine from the tray, and didn’t even bother with a glass. Popped the cork with a flick of his thumb, tilted it back, and downed a third of the bottle in one smooth go.
The liquid burned. Not in a good way.
His brain was spinning. Racing. Wrecking itself against the walls of possibility. If Kaelmor had truly made him obsolete... if the Crown itself had nudged the old lords into action...
Then what was left for him?
Lux Vaelthorn. CFO of Greed. Prince of Lust. Sinborn. Legacy-burdened, blood-oathed, cursed with debt, crowned by power he never asked for and couldn’t refuse. He’d built an empire from contracts, from secrets, from blood and silk and seductive whispers whispered too close to angelic ears.
But this?
To be marked for replacent?
He squeezed the neck of the wine bottle, veins in his hand glowing faint gold under his skin.
He couldn’t step down. Not by choice.
He was bound, soul, flesh, contract and magic, to the Statues. To Greed itself. He didn’t just run the system. He was the system. A living node. A breathing vault. A fucking battery for the hell’s economy.
If he dropped his position, it wouldn’t be like resigning. It would be like carving out his lungs with a fork.
Everything was a dead end.
Unless...
Unless he took the throne.
But even thinking that felt wrong. Made him want to claw his own skin off. That was Zoltarin’s fantasy. That was what he wanted.
And now here he was. Backed into the sa impossible corner.
Be replaced... or beco the thing he swore he wouldn’t.
The King.
A king.
His vision blurred for a second. Not from the wine. From the irony choking him.
He didn’t realize he’d gone quiet for too long until Lullaby got up and padded barefoot across the room. Her clothes brushed against his leg as she stepped beside him. She reached out and touched his wrist, gentle. Her fingers were soft. Always were.
"You seem stressed," she said.
Lux blinked. Then looked at her.
And without missing a beat...
"Lulla," he said, "wanna bang?"
Her lips parted, shocked.
"Threeso?" he added. "Like... a more hardcore one? I need sothing to get this out of my head."
She stared at him.
Sira groaned and slamd her wine glass on the table. "See? That’s why I didn’t tell you."
He looked at her, eyes tired. "Yeah," he said. "I get it. I understand your point."
He didn’t argue. Didn’t deflect. Not this ti.
He just looked hollow.
But still Lux. Still sin in a suit, even if his tie was loose and his world was crumbling.
Sira stepped forward. Her long black hair glead like an oil spill in the candlelight. Her eyes, too sharp to be fully human, narrowed.
"Fine," she said. "Let’s bang."
Lullaby blinked. "Wait, what—"
"I’m serious," Sira said, walking straight toward Lux. "You’re an incubus. You get power and clarity through sex. It stabilizes your aura, helps you regulate. I get it. Maybe it is safer than you storming into a war council and killing another High Lord."
She reached for his shirt. Touched the edge of his collarbone.
He didn’t stop her.
"It’s not just lust," Sira added. "It’s... who you are. You use sex like others use strategy."
Lux smirked faintly. "I do strategize my way into a lot of thighs."
"Exactly."
Lullaby stepped closer too, her brows still high but her cheeks already flushed. "Okay but... like, are we talking calming sex? Or like, the kind that breaks furniture?"
"Both," Lux said. "I need to clear my head. And maybe blow it off too."
His voice was low. Dry. Laced with sothing cracked at the edges... desperation dipped in silk.
Sira stared at him, eyes gleaming like a predator who just found a wounded stag too proud to admit he was limping. "Then... let’s get started," she said, stepping forward, letting her heels click against the marble before sinking into the plush velvet rug near his bed. "It’ll be a bit rough. But yeah. I guess..."
She brushed her fingers along his collarbone, curling them under the open edge of his half-unbuttoned black shirt.
"We’ll make you feral."
He chuckled softly, tired, but hungry. "Do your worst," Lux whispered, his lips tilting into that familiar smirk. "Make hard. Make lose my mind."
Sira yanked his shirt down with one sharp motion, letting the fabric slide from his shoulders. His toned chest caught the low ambient lighting from the chandelier above.
"You’re already halfway gone," she muttered.
Lullaby floated silently into view, like a dream wrapped in silk. Her pale lavender hair shimred in loose waves. Sleepy eyes blinked slowly, but there was no confusion in them, only knowing. Knowing exactly what kind of night this was becoming.
"You’re full of tension again..." she murmured, but she was already drifting close, fingertips feathering across Lux’s stomach.
He reached out and gripped her wrist, tight, but not rough. "Lulla... ruin ."
She exhaled slowly, a smile curling her lips. "That’s your job, Lux."
Sira had already circled behind him, her hands trailing down his spine, then up again, nails dragging lightly along his back. "You sure you can handle us?" she whispered in his ear, hot breath tickling his neck.
"That should be my question," he growled.
Lullaby giggled and kissed his sternum. Her lips were soft, but her nails weren’t; they teased his waistband, tracing the line of his belt. "Hard already," she whispered, biting her bottom lip. "Good."
Lux closed his eyes, letting their touches bleed into him.
Their scent wrapped around his senses.
And finally, his thoughts stopped screaming.
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