Chapter 879 – Coffee Brotherhood

Zehar wobbled angrily. "He said sworn brother. I never agreed."

Corvus leaned closer. "You drank the coffee."

"That is not a blood oath!"

"It was dark roast. Close enough."

Sira covered her mouth with her fan, shoulders shaking. Lullaby whispered, "Coffee brotherhood," like she had just discovered a religion.

Lux rubbed his temple. "Corvus."

The raven snapped upright. "Boss."

"What’s the news?"

Corvus puffed his chest. "The narration moved deeper into the Infernal darknet."

Lux’s expression changed immediately.

No more comedy.

Not gone, just folded away behind focus.

Corvus continued, "I didn’t give the information blatantly. That would be amateur work. I dropped hooks. Partial files. Old references. Half-corrupted reports. Enough to make every paranoid bastard think they discovered it themselves."

Lux’s lips curved faintly.

Good.

Very good.

"And then," Corvus added, eyes gleaming, "if they want complete information, they need to pay."

Naomi blinked. "You monetized a conspiracy rumor?"

Corvus looked offended. "Obviously. Free information looks cheap. Paid information looks valuable."

Lux laughed once, low and pleased despite himself.

"Beautiful."

Sira pointed her fan at Lux. "That’s your bird."

"Painfully."

Corvus bowed. "Thank you."

Lux’s gaze sharpened again. "You used your account?"

Corvus stared at him.

A long, wounded stare.

"Boss."

"They could track you down."

Corvus opened his wings dramatically. "Oh, c’mon. I’m not that dumb."

Lux said nothing.

Corvus slowly lowered his wings. "Okay, I’m sometimes that dumb. But not today."

"Good."

"I used a fake account," Corvus said proudly. "Layered identity. Dead noble shell. Sixteen proxy chains. Three sacrificial routing tunnels. If they trace it all the way back..."

His beak curved as much as a beak could curve.

"It leads to Kaelmor himself."

Silence.

Then Sira slowly stood up halfway. "I want to kiss your bird."

Lux looked at her. "No. Except my ’personal bird’."

Corvus preened. "Understandable reaction."

Mira crossed her arms tighter. "So you made it look like the king leaked information about himself?"

"Not directly," Corvus said. "More like one of his inner circles is leaking. Which is worse."

Ely’s eyes brightened with intellectual horror. "That creates internal suspicion."

"Exactly," Lux murmured.

His fingers tightened slightly around the cup.

That was nasty.

Very nasty.

And effective.

Kaelmor would hate this. Not because of the attacks. Not even because of the rumor. But because distrust inside royal networks was poison. Kings didn’t survive by being strong alone. They survived because enough people believed betrayal was more expensive than loyalty.

Corvus hopped once. "And yeah, Kaelmor got at least five assassination attempts this morning."

Naomi’s eyes widened. "Five?"

"Confirmed," Corvus said. "Two ritual curses, one shadow blade, one poisoned tribute, and one idiot tried to rush the royal gate with explosive worms."

Lullaby blinked. "Explosive worms sound stressful."

Rava hummed. "Creative though."

Lux stared at nothing for a moment.

Five attempts.

That was not enough to threaten Kaelmor. Not yet. But enough to force reactions. Enough to pull attention. Enough to make him waste mana, time, loyalty checks, and political capital.

Good.

Very good.

Corvus continued, "And... Royal stocks dropped this morning. Others went up."

Lux’s eyes lifted.

Now that hit the right part of his brain.

He swung his hand outward.

"System. Hell stock charts."

The air flared black-gold.

A translucent panel unfolded in front of him, lines of burning data slicing across the mansion air.

[HELL MARKET INDEX DISPLAYED]

[Domains Listed:]

[Royal Authority Index: -8.7%]

[Greed Domain: +4.2%]

[Pride Domain: +2.9%]

[Sloth Domain: +1.1%]

[Lust Domain: +3.6%]

[Envy Domain: +5.4%]

[Wrath Domain: +0.8%]

[Gluttony Domain: +0.3%]

[Shadow Corridor Speculative Index: +14.9%]

Lux stared.

Everyone else stared too, though most of them didn’t fully understand the data.

He did. 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂

Oh, he did.

His mind moved fast, following the lines, mapping panic, greed, fear, opportunity. The Royal Authority Index dipping almost nine percent in one morning was not collapse, but it was a public bruise. Envy rising made sense because chaos created appetite. Shadow Corridor speculative index exploding? Expected. Monsters loved opportunity the way investors loved insider trading.

And the crazy part?

Royal stocks almost never dipped this hard.

Ever.

One percent down was already considered alarming in Hell’s market. The kind of thing that made analysts sweat through tailored suits and nobles start whispering over wine glasses.

Because historically?

When all other domains crashed, Wrath burning itself into recession, Lust overspending during festival season, Greed manipulating three markets at once, the Royal index still usually stayed green.

Even if barely.

+0.3%.

+0.7%.

Something small.

Something symbolic.

Because the throne represented stability. Fear. Continuity.

Kaelmor’s authority was treated like a fixed law of reality itself.

Which meant this?

-8.7%.

That wasn’t just financial movement.

That was psychological damage.

Someone, somewhere, looked at the king and thought, ’He can bleed.’

Mira stepped closer. "Royal is down."

"Not enough," Lux said.

His voice came out quiet.

Sharp.

"But it’s visible."

Yue’s gaze moved from the chart to him. "That matters?"

Lux smiled faintly.

"It matters more than an injury."

He pointed to the royal line.

"When power looks untouchable, everyone kneels. When power bleeds in public, everyone starts calculating."

Sira’s grin widened. "Weaponized perception."

Lux nodded. "Exactly."

Ely studied the chart. "Envy rising fastest among the houses."

"Cyrinne’s position," Lux said. "Her artifact claim, plus destabilization. Investors think Envy benefits from uncertainty."

Rava tilted her head. "And Greed?"

Lux smiled.

"Greed always profits from movement."

Naomi whispered, "That sounds terrifyingly sexy as a business slogan."

Lux glanced at her. "Write that down."

Mira gave him a look.

He shrugged. "What? Branding matters."

Yue stepped closer to the projection, eyes locked on the Shadow Corridor line. "They’re gaining."

"Speculative gain," Lux said. "Not true stability. But yes. They’re becoming relevant again."

Zehar jiggled proudly. "My people are recovering dignity through market volatility."

Corvus snorted. "Your people are buying rumor futures."

"Same thing."

Lux almost smiled, but his mind was already elsewhere. Kaelmor would respond. He would punish internal leakage, tighten prisons, lock down branded servants, maybe execute a few minor nobles publicly to restore fear. But every hard response would confirm anxiety. Every soft response would invite more attacks.