Chapter 1021: I Need Your Silence
Chapter 1021 – I Need Your Silence
Lux’s voice remained quiet. "No."
Cyrinne’s eyes returned to Aela. Then to Yue. "You..."
The word did not finish.
It did not need to.
Lux lifted one hand.
Then he smiled and pressed one finger to his lips.
"That’s why I need your silence."
Cyrinne went still.
Lux’s smile did not move, but the room felt the edge beneath it. "What you see here, and what we talk about here, stays between us."
The invisible brand on Cyrinne’s wrist pulsed once.
A soft burn.
She looked down at her hand.
So that was why.
Not because Lux distrusted her personally.
This was high-level treason.
Cyrinne had come here thinking she had a valuable secret.
She had thought herself useful.
After all, she knew something Lux might not. She knew the king wanted to take over Lux’s contracts with Heaven. She knew Kaelmor was trying to erase Lux from the negotiation board, take over his work, wear his success as royal legitimacy, and leave him as nothing more than a name footnoted under "former representative."
That was why she had come.
To repay a debt.
To give Lux a bargaining chip.
Find the legendary demon.
Reveal it.
Use it.
Force Kaelmor to step back.
But instead...
Cyrinne looked around the table again.
Aela.
Yue.
Lux already had bargaining chips.
No.
That word suddenly felt too ugly for the room.
He had living proof.
Proof with names, emotions, scars, appetite, sarcasm, spears, tails, pillows, and opinions.
Cyrinne swallowed.
Lux Vaelthorn was not looking for a weapon because he lacked one.
He was hiding an arsenal at dinner.
Sira’s voice cut through the silence. "A question, Lux."
Lux turned his head toward her.
"You took a long measure for Cyrinne," Sira continued.
Cyrinne’s eyes flicked toward her.
Sira’s gaze stayed on Lux. "Yet you didn’t do anything to Gula."
Gula, who had been about to put another spoonful of dessert into her mouth, froze.
Lux looked at Sira. "You mean the branding thing?"
"Yes."
Gula slowly lowered her spoon.
Very slowly.
Like a criminal trying to become part of the furniture.
Lux looked at her.
Gula immediately decided her plate had become the most important political document in Hell and needed urgent study. She leaned over it, eyes down, cheeks puffed slightly, pretending she had no relation to the conversation.
Lux stared.
Gula took one tiny bite.
Innocent.
Sira’s eyebrow rose.
Lux sighed. "Gluttony House owes me a lot."
Gula chewed slower.
Lux leaned back, fingers around his coffee cup.
"Debts. Old arrangements. Financial rescue packages. Supply chain favors. Market stabilization. Emergency liquidity during one of their... appetite incidents."
Gula mumbled around her food, "It was not that bad."
Lux looked at her. "It ate three districts’ worth of emergency grain reserves."
"That was one time."
Lux’s expression said the ledger disagreed. "It was five times."
He continued, "And I know one or two things that could trouble them if I opened it to the public."
Gula’s chewing stopped.
Lux smiled. "Or to the king."
Gula swallowed.
For once, she looked very interested in silence.
"So yeah," Lux said calmly. "No. Gluttony is better on my side than on the king’s side."
He glanced at Cyrinne. "Simply put, going to him would be suicide."
Naomi lifted her cup, eyes thoughtful. "Being a CFO means you have everyone’s secrets, huh?"
Lux’s answer was immediate. "Yes." Then he added, "I’m not an asshole, though."
Several women looked at him.
Lux narrowed his eyes. "I’m not."
Sira said, "You weaponize ledgers."
"I weaponize ledgers against people who deserve ledger violence."
Mira nodded thoughtfully. "That sounds like something an asshole with principles would say."
Lux pointed at her. "That is not a category."
Gula pouted and finally looked at him. "You don’t need to say it out loud."
Lux turned to her. "You tried to become invisible behind the cake."
Lullaby, still nestled against her pillow, opened one sleepy eye. "And that’s also the reason why she came here."
Gula glanced at her.
Lullaby yawned. "Paying debt."
Lux looked at Gula.
Gula looked at her plate.
Then at Lux.
Then back at her plate.
Lux sighed again, deeper this time. "But instead, I became her snack provider."
Gula brightened instantly. "That too. I am loyal to those who feed me."
Lux stared at her. "That is not how you pay debt."
Gula tilted her head, expression suddenly far too sweet. "What do you want, then?"
Lux’s instincts screamed before her mouth finished shaping the next words.
Gula glanced at him from under her lashes. "Want me to pay my debt now?"
Sira’s eyes narrowed.
Fiera’s tails perked up.
Mira leaned forward with interest.
Naomi quietly put down her cup, as if preventing laughter from shaking it.
Gula lowered one side of her dress just a little, enough to reveal her smooth shoulder under the dining room light. It was not vulgar. Not even truly bold compared to half the things Lux had survived in this mansion.
But it was devastating because Gula’s face did not match it at all.
She smiled shyly.
A soft, bashful little smile.
Like an innocent maiden offering herself with great embarrassment.
Except her lips were covered in crumbs.
And she was still holding a spoon.
Then, without breaking eye contact, she took another bite of dessert.
Lux looked at her shoulder.
Then at the crumbs on her mouth.
His expression became deeply tired. "I feel like I have already been betrayed by the food before even starting."
Fiera laughed first. A bright, wicked sound.
Gula blinked. Then pouted. "What? I can be seductive."
Lux leaned back and looked at her very seriously. "You can."
Gula’s face brightened.
Then Lux added, "But not while chewing."
Gula looked at her spoon. Then at him. "Are you sure?" She slowly licked the spoon clean.
Lux closed his eyes. "Gula."
"What? No chewing."
Sira laughed properly this time. "Gluttony seduction is a war crime."
Mira pointed at Lux. "He looks like he has seen a tax audit wearing lingerie."