Chapter 783 – Lust and Pride

Lux Vaelthorn usually walked like a man carrying three hundred spreadsheets in his head at once. Calm. Controlled. Perfect posture. That smug little CFO composure like nothing in the universe could shake him.

But today...

For a few minutes...

He looked like a kid.

A tired kid.

Asmo leaned back further in the chair.

"...Yeah."

He took another drink.

Then spoke to the empty terrace.

"Lucaris... wanna join me for a drink?"

The air shifted.

It didn’t explode with dramatic magic.

Lucaris simply appeared.

Like he had been standing there the entire time and reality had just remembered to render him.

The Lord of Pride stepped forward with effortless elegance and sat down across the table, crossing one leg over the other like the chair had always belonged to him.

Perfect posture.

Perfect expression.

Perfectly unimpressed.

Lucaris picked up the second glass without asking. "It’s rare," he said smoothly, pouring wine, "to see Lux show that kind of face." He lifted the glass. "And it’s rare to see you make that kind of face."

Asmo blinked. "...What face?"

Lucaris sipped his wine slowly.

"That one."

Asmo frowned.

Lucaris leaned back, studying him like a painting in a gallery. "You look like a grandmother who just watched her grandson leave for the battlefield."

Asmo snorted. "Please."

Lucaris took another drink. "You were practically glowing with concern."

"I was not."

Lucaris tilted his head. "You absolutely were."

Asmo waved a dismissive hand. "Yeah, yeah I know, I know." He leaned forward and grabbed the bottle again, refilling his glass. "I was shocked too."

Lucaris raised an eyebrow. "Shocked."

"Yeah." Asmo took a drink and stared out toward the glowing gardens. "He usually has that... control."

Lucaris nodded slowly.

Lux’s reputation wasn’t subtle.

The entire infernal court knew him as the one demon who could make kings reconsider their decisions using nothing but logic and terrifying financial projections.

But today... Lucaris had seen it too.

That moment in the chamber.

That brief flicker where Lux looked... younger.

Asmo swirled the wine in his glass. "He usually acts like a lord. Like us...Yet today he acted like someone his age."

Lucaris exhaled through his nose. "Sad."

Asmo glanced at him.

Lucaris sipped his drink again. "Very sad."

A pause stretched between them.

Then Lucaris added flatly,

"But I don’t like him."

Asmo blinked.

"...What?"

Lucaris looked at him like it was obvious. "He slept with my daughter."

Asmo burst out laughing.

Not a polite chuckle.

A loud, obnoxious laugh that echoed across the terrace.

"Well he’s Lust!"

He wiped a tear from his eye.

"What do you expect?"

Lucaris clicked his tongue.

"He sleeps around."

Asmo grinned.

"That’s literally his bloodline."

Lucaris leaned back in the chair, clearly unimpressed.

"He is worse than the Lust itself."

Asmo pointed a finger at him.

"Cause he slept with your daughter?"

Lucaris took another drink.

"...Exactly."

Asmo laughed again. "You’re unbelievable."

Lucaris stared at the wine calmly.

Then he added casually,

"I should challenge him to a duel."

Asmo choked on his drink.

"You absolutely should not."

Lucaris shrugged.

"It would be educational."

"You’d lose."

Lucaris glanced at him.

"Excuse me?"

Asmo grinned.

"You heard me."

Lucaris leaned forward slightly. "Pride does not lose."

Asmo waved a hand. "Yeah yeah, sure."

Then he leaned back again, staring toward the horizon.

For a moment neither of them spoke.

Then Lucaris broke the silence.

"The king."

Asmo’s smile faded slightly.

"Yeah."

Lucaris tapped a finger lightly against the glass.

"He’s getting strange."

Asmo nodded slowly.

"I know."

Another sip of wine.

"I don’t like it."

Lucaris tilted his head.

"You think he’s planning something."

Asmo shrugged slightly.

"Maybe."

He stared at the lanterns drifting in the air.

"Maybe not."

Lucaris watched him carefully.

"You never say maybe."

Asmo exhaled.

"...Fine."

He leaned forward.

"I feel like Kaelmor is getting weird lately."

Lucaris waited.

Asmo tapped the table lightly.

"Insecure."

Lucaris didn’t answer immediately.

Then he slowly nodded.

"...Yeah."

Asmo looked up.

"You caught that too?"

Lucaris swirled the wine again.

"I did."

A long silence followed.

The kind that meant both of them were thinking about the same uncomfortable possibilities.

Finally, Lucaris spoke again.

"What will you do?"

Asmo leaned back in the chair.

He looked out over the palace gardens again.

Lanterns.

Music somewhere far below.

Life moving normally while the infernal court slowly drifted toward something dangerous.

Asmo lifted the glass again.

"...Dunno."

He took a slow drink.

Then shrugged.

"I’ll watch."

Lucaris studied him for a moment.

Then he nodded once.

Because watching was sometimes the most dangerous thing a Sin Lord could do.

And both of them knew it.

The terrace stayed quiet for a while after that.

Lanterns drifted lazily over the gardens below. Somewhere in the palace, distant music pulsed through velvet corridors and echoing balconies. A few servants passed quietly through the hall behind them, pretending not to notice that two of the oldest sins in Hell were sitting outside like retired uncles sharing wine.

Asmo leaned back in his chair and stretched his arms over the backrest.

Then he sighed again.

"Well..."

He swirled the wine in his glass lazily.

"I might make a move."

Lucaris raised an eyebrow.

"Depends on what he does."

Lucaris took a slow sip of his drink.

"You want his throne?"

Asmo blinked.

Then burst out laughing.

The sound echoed through the terrace like someone had just told the world’s funniest joke.

"Ha!"

He waved his hand dismissively.

"No."

Lucaris tilted his head.

"No?"

Asmo leaned forward and refilled his glass again.

"I love pleasure."

He took a drink.

"I love parties."

Another sip.

"I love attractive demons doing questionable things in expensive rooms."

He pointed a finger toward Lucaris.

"What I do not love is more responsibility."

Lucaris hummed.

"Reasonable."

Asmo leaned back again.

"That sounds like paperwork."

Lucaris smirked faintly.

"Kingship usually does."

Asmo gestured lazily toward him with the glass.

"That question should be for you."

Lucaris didn’t answer immediately.

Asmo watched him with a small grin.

"...Lucaris."

Lucaris slowly leaned back in his chair.

One hand resting on the armrest.

Wine glass balanced effortlessly in the other.

The lantern light caught the edge of his smile.

Sharp.

Amused.

Dangerous.

"That," Lucaris said smoothly, "is a dangerous question."

Asmo chuckled.

"Oh I know."

Lucaris stared out over the glowing gardens below, silent for a few seconds.

Then he took another slow sip of wine.

Neither of them rushed the conversation.

They didn’t need to.

Because the throne of Hell...

Was a topic that always moved slowly.

And when Lucaris finally lowered his glass again, the smirk hadn’t left his face.