Chapter 1013: Intruder
Chapter 1013 – Intruder
Lux’s jaw tightened.
Actually, Fenrir and Veyra had deflected several attacks since Lux stationed them as mansion guards. Veyra used her deadly plants, letting roots, thorns, and poison blossoms erase intruders before they even reached the outer garden. Fenrir had his own subordinates too, shadowy beasts that moved without sound and left no bodies unless Lux allowed it.
Lux knew.
But all those attackers had still been within their level. Even the assassination attempts aimed at Lux and his harem had disappeared quietly, without trace or alarm.
This warning meant something beyond them had arrived.
Gula peered around Lux’s shoulder at the system window, though she could only see parts of the glow. "Who is it?"
The system answered.
[Trace Analysis Complete]
[Origin Signature: Envy House]
[Identity Probability: Cyrinne Karess]
[Status: High-Rank Envy Heiress Candidate]
[Intent: Unknown]
Gula’s eyes widened. Then brightened. "Oh! She is here!"
Lux slowly turned his head toward her.
Gula smiled, suddenly much too innocent for someone with sauce on her cheek and political chaos in her lap. "It’s faster than expected."
Lux’s eyes narrowed. "You told her to get here?"
Gula nodded as if this was obvious. "Yes."
Sira pinched the bridge of her nose.
Mira leaned toward Fiera. "Is everyone inviting dangerous women here now?"
Fiera whispered back, "It’s becoming a theme."
Lux looked at Gula. "When?"
Gula licked sauce from her thumb, then said, "I told you before. Cyrinne wants to know about you. Maybe drop you a visit and pay her debt." She pointed at him with her fork. "You gave her a second chance to be Envy’s official heir. Without that, she might still end up as servant or discarded pawn."
He exhaled. "Right..."
Lux’s system flashed again.
[Unauthorized Portal Attempt: Redirected]
[Forced Landing Assigned: Outer Gate]
[Perimeter Guards: Holding Position]
[Threat Level: Contained]
Lux adjusted his robe. "I will meet her."
"All of you wait here," Lux said.
Several women immediately objected.
"No," Sira said.
"Absolutely not," Naomi added.
Rava stood. "Lux—"
Mira’s eyes flashed. "You were just healed."
Yue’s voice was calm but firm. "At least take one of us."
Lux looked around the table. He softened his voice. "This is my gate. My guest. My ward violation. I am not walking into a battlefield. She landed where uninvited guests are supposed to land."
Gula swallowed another bite and raised a finger. "Cyrinne won’t kill him. He saved her."
He stepped back. "Wait here." Lux lifted two fingers.
Dark-gold light wrapped around him.
[Teleportation Initiated]
[Destination: Outer Gate]
[Ward Access: Authorized]
Aela watched him carefully. "He goes alone often?"
Ely sighed softly. "Too often."
Sira’s smile was tight. "And then acts surprised when we worry."
The teleport snapped.
Lux vanished from the dining room.
The mansion gate appeared around him in the next breath.
Night air greeted him.
Cool.
The outer gate of Vaelthorn Mansion stood between two black stone pillars, each carved with Greed sigils hidden beneath decorative elegance. The perimeter wards shimmered faintly across the sky, invisible to normal eyes but blazing in Lux’s system view.
Fenrir stood to the left, massive and silent, eyes glowing under the darkness.
Veyra stood to the right, blade already drawn, expression unreadable.
Between them, near the center of the gate path, a woman in Envy green stood with one hand on her hip as if being denied entry by a mansion ward was personally offensive.
Cyrinne Karess.
She was now elegant in a sharp way, dressed in layered dark emerald fabric trimmed with black lace and silver envy-thread. Her hair fell over one shoulder, glossy and perfect despite the failed portal breach. Her eyes glittered like jewels stolen from someone who deserved it less.
Around her, the remnants of her portal smoked in thin green cracks across the stone.
She looked at Lux.
Then at his robe.
Then at his damp hair.
Then back at his face.
Her smile curved.
"Well," Cyrinne said. "I expected danger, politics, maybe a knife at my throat."
Her eyes drifted once more over his robe. "But I didn’t expect Prince Lux Vaelthorn to receive me looking like a scandal after bath."
Lux stared at her. Then smirked. "You also surprised me."
Cyrinne’s eyebrow rose.
Lux let his gaze move over her once, not with lust, but with assessment. The posture. The lifted chin. The deliberate confidence. The way she stood before his gate like she owned the road beneath her heels and merely tolerated the existence of the mansion.
"The last time I saw you," he said, "you managed to kill Vira and gain Livia’s recognition."
Cyrinne’s smile thinned slightly.
Lux continued, voice calm. "But you still had traces of your past. Vira had made you her servant for your entire life. Even after you won, some part of you still moved like someone waiting to be ordered."
The night breeze slipped between them.
Fenrir did not move.
Veyra’s plants rustled softly around the gate pillars, as if they were listening too.
Lux tilted his head. "Now?" His smile deepened a little. "You act like a real Envy princess."
For a heartbeat, Cyrinne’s expression did not change. Then her smile became sharper. "Indeed."
There was pride in that word.
But not happiness.
Lux caught it.
Envy was never just hunger for what others had. Sometimes, it was hatred toward the version of yourself who had nothing.
Cyrinne stepped closer, heels clicking softly against the black stone path. "But to raise power in Envy House, I need to do this," she said. "I have to." Her fingers curled once at her side. "I need to throw away that soft side of myself. Otherwise, I will end up as someone’s servant again."
Lux said nothing for a moment.
The mansion wards hummed above them, bright. Every layer recognized her as hostile, guest, debt-holder, political variable, possible threat, possible opportunity, possible headache.
His favorite category.
Unfortunately.
Finally, Lux nodded.
"I understand."
Cyrinne studied his face.
For some reason, that answer seemed to bother her more than mockery would have.