Chapter 878 – What If?

Lux’s gaze lowered for a moment.

He could almost see the pattern.

The narrative he released. The accusation. The idea that Kaelmor’s power wasn’t absolute, that some of it came from stolen beings, chained mortals, ancient forces bound into his throne. A rumor didn’t need to be fully believed. It only needed to make ambitious monsters ask one beautiful question.

’What if?’

Lux exhaled.

"I see..."

His voice was calm.

Too calm.

"So Kaelmor is busy now."

Zehar nodded. "Very busy. Annoyed too, probably. I imagine his smile is doing that thin murder thing."

Mira raised a brow. "Do kings have a thin murder thing?"

Lux looked at her. "Kaelmor does."

"That sounds unpleasant,"Ely said.

"It is," Lux said. "Very aesthetic though."

Yue stared at Zehar, then Lux.

"You planned this."

Lux glanced at her.

"Mostly."

"Mostly?"

"The missing Abyss Lord wasn’t planned."

Everyone went quiet again.

Rava’s tentacles shifted once. "Missing?"

Zehar bobbed. "One died. One escaped. One vanished from my tracking."

Naomi slowly raised her hand. "On a scale from one to ’we should not sleep tonight,’ how bad is that?"

Lux smirked. "Somewhere around ’sleep with weapons nearby but still enjoy dessert’," he teased.

Ely sighed. "That is not a scale."

"It is in this house."

Yue looked at him for a long moment. Her expression didn’t soften, not exactly, but the fear in her gaze changed shape. Less guilt. More calculation.

"You used my supposed death to create pressure on Kaelmor."

"Yes."

"And now his enemies are moving."

He nodded.

"So he has less room to come for me."

Lux’s lips curved faintly. "Now you’re getting it."

She stepped closer, voice lower. "But if he realizes I’m alive?" 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

"Then he has to decide whether retrieving you is worth exposing that the narration about his power is right, while every enemy he has is already sniffing around his throne." Lux tilted his head. "And Kaelmor hates moving when the audience can see his hand."

"That is disgusting. I respect it," Rava smirked.

Mira exhaled through her nose. "So the mansion remains our safest location."

"For now," Lux said.

Yue’s gaze stayed fixed on him.

There it was again, that look.

Not trust exactly.

Something harder. Something newer.

The kind of look someone gave a bridge after realizing it might actually hold.

Lux felt it hit somewhere quiet inside him.

He hated how warm it felt.

So naturally, he deflected.

"Also," he said, turning to Naomi, "your dragon hotel idea needs a premium espresso lounge."

Naomi blinked. "We were discussing existential threats."

"Yes. And I’m coping through vertical integration."

Mira groaned softly. "Of course you are."

Lullaby raised her hand. "Add nap rooms."

Rava nodded. "Add private pools."

Sira smiled. "Add tiered status bracelets so guests can visually compare themselves and suffer."

Yue watched them all.

The fear didn’t vanish.

But it loosened.

Just enough.

Lux saw her shoulders drop by a fraction, and for some reason, that felt better than winning an argument with a dragon elder.

Zehar finished his coffee with a satisfied wobble. "So, good news delivered. I accept payment in caffeine and praise."

Lux looked at him. "Good ancient abyss lord."

Zehar puffed up. "Excellent."

That was apparently all it took to make an ancient abyss entity glow with satisfaction.

Lux stared at him for half a second and decided not to unpack that.

Some beings wanted territory, some wanted worship, some wanted the collapse of civilizations, and Zehar wanted bitter coffee and compliments.

Honestly? Manageable employee.

Lullaby, who had somehow found a cushion, wrapped herself around it like a sleepy noble cat and lifted one hand. "Anyway~"

Lux turned toward her. "That tone is dangerous."

Her eyes stayed half-lidded, sweet and soft, which made it worse. Lullaby’s dangerous ideas always arrived wearing pajamas.

"Are you going to release more?"

The room quieted.

Not fully. The mansion still breathed around them. Servants moved in the background with practiced silence. Cups clinked softly. But everyone’s focus shifted to Lux, and he felt it settle on his shoulders like a cloak made of expectations.

He knew what she meant.

Still, he asked anyway.

"You mean beings like Yue?"

Lullaby nodded, hugging her cushion tighter. "Mm. Other prisoners. Hostages. Ancient scary people Kaelmor hid in his basement of bad decisions."

Sira snapped her fan open. "That is absolutely what he would call it too. Basement of Bad Decisions. Very royal. Very murdery."

Lux leaned back. "I guess," he said.

Yue’s gaze sharpened.

He felt that too.

Not pressure.

Hope.

Careful hope, the kind that didn’t dare stand upright yet.

"Kaelmor is busy," Lux continued. "Which means this is the perfect time to release more hostages."

Naomi blinked. "That sounds good."

"It is," Lux said. "And bad."

Ely’s eyes narrowed slightly. "Because he’ll strengthen the prisons once he realizes the pattern."

Lux pointed at her with the cup. "Exactly."

Mira folded her arms, her expression shifting into that composed dragon-heiress mode again. "So the window is short."

"Very short," Lux said. "And worse? I don’t know where he hid them. Or what they are."

He leaned forward slightly now. This was the problem. Yue had been a lucky convergence. Dragon Mountain. Known lineage. Known binding site. Something he could track, gamble on, and cut open. The rest? Kaelmor wasn’t stupid. The king didn’t build obvious cages with nameplates saying ’ancient hostage, please rescue for political destabilization’.

A voice came from above.

"I can help with that."

A black blur dropped from the upper balcony railing.

Corvus flapped his wings once, landed on the back of a chair, and immediately struck a smug pose.

Lux closed his eyes for one second.

Corvus tilted his head toward Zehar. "Yo, slime guy!"

Zehar instantly vibrated with offense. "Pu! I’m an abyss lord!"

Corvus clicked his beak. "Oh c’mon. I paid for your coffee yesterday. We’re sworn brothers now."

Yue looked between the raven and the slime with the solemn confusion of someone who had survived ancient wars but not modern friendship rituals.

"So becoming sworn brothers is now as simple as exchanging coffee?"

Mira sighed. "Just ignore them."

Lux nodded. "That’s usually best."