Chapter 1026: Hot Chocolate
Chapter 1026 – Hot Chocolate
Lux was silent.
Then the system added another line.
[Victory Probability: 18%]
Lux exhaled slowly. "Continue."
[Scenario: Kaelmor accesses moderate borrowed reserves]
[Survival Probability: 19%]
[Victory Probability: 6%]
[Recommended Strategy: Do not.]
Lux’s mouth twitched once. "Continue."
[Scenario: Kaelmor accesses major borrowed reserves]
[Survival Probability: 7%]
[Victory Probability: 1.4%]
[Recommended Strategy: Strongly do not.]
The room felt colder.
Lux kept staring.
"And if he has the Legendary Demon?"
The panel froze.
Not literally.
But the words stopped long enough for Lux’s stomach to tighten.
[Scenario: Kaelmor accesses Legendary Demon-class power source]
[Result: Calculation instability.]
[Survival Probability: Unknown.]
[Victory Probability: Unknown.]
[Commentary: An umbrella is not sufficient preparation for a meteor.]
Lux’s jaw clenched. "I guess it’s indeed that bad..."
[Potentially worse. Meteors usually lack political ambition.]
Lux gave a quiet laugh through his nose. The kind that did not make anything funny.
The system softened nothing.
[Important Note: These simulations assume direct confrontation. You are not built for direct throne collision at current confirmed strength.]
Lux looked at the panel.
"I know..."
His voice lowered.
"Lust and Greed demons aren’t built for the battlefield. Not the way Wrath, Pride, or Gluttony can be."
He exhaled quietly.
"We’re built to manipulate. People. Contracts. Economies. Feelings."
His gaze sharpened on the glowing numbers.
"But raw battle?"
A faint, humorless smile touched his lips.
"That was never supposed to be our specialty."
[Most demons are not challenging a king who may have spent centuries stealing from ancient prisoners.]
Lux said nothing.
[Your advantage is not raw power.]
Lux’s eyes shifted.
The system continued.
[Your advantage is information, contracts, loyalty, adaptability, unconventional alliances, and your persistent refusal to die when common sense requests it.]
Lux’s lips curved faintly. "That sounded like a compliment."
[Do not grow accustomed to it.]
The numbers shifted again.
[Indirect Conflict Projection]
[If Kaelmor’s prisoner network is exposed: Royal Authority Stability decreases.]
[If key prisoners are freed: Borrowed Power Access decreases.]
[If Legendary Demon is secured before Kaelmor reinforces control: Strategic Advantage increases.]
[If Envy cooperation is stabilized: Intelligence reach expands.]
[If Shadow Corridor ancient lords remain active against Kaelmor: Royal distraction persists.]
[If household members participate: Survival probability increases significantly.]
Lux stared at that last line. "If household members participate," he repeated quietly.
[Yes.]
"No."
[Predictable.]
"They are not shields."
[Correct. They are allies.]
"They are targets because of me."
[Incorrect framing.]
Lux’s gaze sharpened.
[They are already targets because Kaelmor’s system eats anything valuable. You did not create the danger. You interrupted its ownership model.]
Lux went silent.
The system’s voice remained smooth, deadpan, and painfully precise.
[You have a habit of treating danger as a personal debt because it is emotionally convenient to blame yourself.]
Lux looked away.
[It is inefficient.]
A pause.
[Also annoying.]
Lux gave a tired smile.
Then there was a soft knock at the door.
The system dimmed immediately, though not fully disappearing.
The door opened just a little.
Naomi’s voice entered first. "Lux?"
Lux quickly closed the system.
The hologram panel folded into nothing before Naomi fully stepped inside, but not fast enough.
She saw it.
Naomi had the kind of eyes that noticed unpaid emotional invoices from across a room. She didn’t need demon senses, a system, or ancient bloodline tricks. She simply looked at people properly, which was somehow more dangerous than most magic Lux had encountered.
But she said nothing.
No questions.
No are you planning something reckless?
No why do you look like a man who just calculated his own death probability and disliked the spreadsheet?
She only entered quietly, closing the door behind her with her hip.
In her hands, she carried a mug.
Steam curled from the top, soft and sweet.
Lux stared at it like she had brought him a suspicious political artifact.
Naomi walked to the bed and offered it to him.
He looked at the mug. Then at her. "Does it have coffee in it?"
Naomi tilted her head. "No."
Lux’s expression immediately became wary.
Naomi’s lips curved softly. "It will help you relax."
That sentence was becoming dangerously common in his household.
First Yue with tea.
Now Naomi with whatever this was.
Soon Sira would probably hand him a legal order titled Relax or Else. Lullaby already had the pillow-hammer. Gula might bake him into submission. Rava would probably sing him into calm like some terrifying ocean lullaby.
His vacation had become a wellness conspiracy.
Lux accepted the mug anyway.
Without complaint.
He brought it to his lips and took one sip.
Warmth spread across his tongue first.
Sweet. Creamy. Deep.
Hot chocolate milk.
Lux blinked.
He almost never drank this, except the angels gave it to him.
Coffee, yes. Tea, reluctantly. Wine, occasionally. Expensive demon liquor when politics required pretending poisoned conversations were social events.
But hot chocolate milk?
That belonged to softer nights.
He took another sip.
His shoulders lowered.
A tiny system notification appeared at the edge of his vision before he could stop it.
[Consumable Analysis]
[Item: Restorative Hot Chocolate Milk]
[Recipe Origin: Gluttony House (Secret Comfort Formula)]
[Secondary Infusion: Sloth Relaxation Method]
[Effects: Nervous System Calming, Core Heat Stabilization, Minor Fatigue Reduction, Emotional Guard Softening]
[Estimated Contributors: Gula and Lullaby]
[Commentary: Your household has discovered non-violent maintenance. Alarming progress.]
Lux stared at the invisible text.
Then dismissed it with the mental equivalent of a glare.
Naomi watched him drink.
And the sight was strange.
When she first met Lux, he had looked overworked and burnt out. Handsome, yes, but exhausted in the way people became when they treated sleep like a negotiable expense. Later, she saw the other version of him, the dominating CFO of Hell, sharp-eyed, untouchable, terrifyingly charismatic.
Those were the two masks she knew best.
The burnt-out accountant.
The charismatic prince.
But this Lux?
This one sat on the edge of his bed in a robe, holding hot chocolate milk with both hands, sipping it without complaint because the people around him had decided he needed care and he was too tired to fight all of them.
He looked almost obedient.
Just... willing to be handled gently.