Harem Startup : The Demon Billionaire is on Vacation-Chapter 713: Fear is Inefficient

Chapter 713 – Fear is Inefficient

"I am considering importing them," Lux said. "Very premium quality."

Solara pinched the bridge of her nose. "You are impossible."

Lux shrugged. "I am thorough."

Celestaria straightened slightly, pulling the conversation gently back toward relevance. Her presence settled the room again, divine authority smoothing out the lingering humor.

"You have already provided significant information," she said calmly. "Now... what do you need from us?"

Lux did not hesitate.

"Vaeloryn," he said. "What are you going to do about him? His offense is clear. Cross-realm assassination attempt. Unauthorized limbo construction. Collaboration with hostile sovereign influence. I assume there will be punishment... or at least a bounty issued to capture him."

Celestaria held his gaze evenly.

"We need to investigate further before any official declaration is made," she said quietly.

Vizreel exhaled heavily. "That will be difficult," he admitted. "Celestial law contains... many constraints."

Lux laughed softly. "Great. At least I know someone suffers more paperwork than me."

Vizreel shoved another cookie toward him, this time successfully pushing it between Lux’s lips mid-laugh.

"Shut. Up."

Lux chewed indignantly.

"...Assault. Again," he mumbled.

Vizreel folded his arms. "Repeated offenses."

Solara leaned forward slightly, studying Lux now with warmer curiosity.

"You are unusually calm for someone who just confirmed his sovereign may want him dead," she said.

Lux swallowed the cookie and considered the question.

"...If I panic," he said slowly, "I lose leverage. If I lose leverage... I lose survival probability."

Selena watched him carefully again. "And fear?"

Lux shrugged faintly. "Fear is... inefficient."

Vizreel shook his head. "Fear is informative."

Lux glanced at him. "...That is annoyingly wise."

"I know," Vizreel replied calmly.

Celestaria leaned forward slightly.

"You do not have to carry this alone," she repeated gently.

Lux met her gaze again, and for just a moment the joking CFO mask flickered.

"...I know," he said quietly.

Then he cleared his throat and looked back at Vizreel.

"Still going to die a virgin though."

Vizreel slammed the cookie tray onto the table with celestial judicial authority.

Solara burst out laughing.

Selena collapsed into her chair, shoulders shaking.

And even Celestaria... despite everything... allowed herself a very small, very brief smile.

It lasted exactly three seconds.

Then Lux’s vision flickered.

A familiar cold shimmer slid across the edge of his sight. The faint hum of infernal interface code threaded through celestial suppression runes like a glitch in a holy operating system.

[System Alert: Incoming Authority Presence Detected]

[Threat Classification: Political / Judicial Tier – Extreme]

[Estimated Rank: Equivalent or Above High Custodian Level]

[Recommendation: Transition to Formal Diplomatic Survival Protocol]

Lux blinked once.

"Oh, for the love of quarterly audits," he muttered under his breath.

Celestaria’s smile vanished instantly.

Solara straightened. Selena’s laughter died mid-breath. Vizreel’s wings shifted slightly as his aura tightened into pure Archon composure.

They felt it too.

Lux could see it in the subtle tightening of Solara’s shoulders. The way Selena’s moonlight aura condensed like frost forming across glass. Celestaria’s fingers folded into steepled stillness.

Vizreel snapped his fingers sharply.

The two hovering star-spirits beside Lux blinked out of existence. The tray. The tea. The forbidden coffee blend. The cookies. All of it dissolved into harmless celestial particles like it had never existed.

Lux stared at the empty air.

"...At least let me drink first," he complained.

Vizreel ignored him completely.

Selena moved quickly, stepping forward and grabbing the napkin resting against Lux’s collar. She wiped the cookie crumbs from the corner of his mouth with surprising efficiency, then reached down and plucked the half-crushed cookie resting in Lux’s lap.

Solara stepped in beside her. Without a word, she ignited the napkin and cookie in a tiny burst of contained solar flame. They burned to harmless dust mid-air, scent of warm sugar vanishing instantly.

Evidence gone.

Lux watched the coordinated clean-up operation with mild offense.

"You people erase snacks faster than assassination attempts," he muttered.

No one responded.

They were already transitioning into official posture.

Celestaria straightened, aura expanding into High Custodian authority. Solara moved back into regal sunlight composure. Selena returned to silent, unreadable moonlight stillness.

Vizreel stepped beside Celestaria, armor glowing with formal judicial resonance.

Lux exhaled slowly and rolled his shoulders back as much as the restraints allowed.

Lobbying mode engaged.

CFO of Hell online.

The chamber doors opened.

The temperature shifted first. Not physical. Existential. The air itself seemed to weigh more, like reality braced for inspection.

A figure entered. Tall. Radiant. Draped in layered judicial sigils that hummed with ancient authority. Wings unfolded slowly behind them, each feather etched with oath-binding scripture. Their halo burned steady, unwavering, severe.

Beside them walked the chief.

Of course, he reported it.

Lux gave the chief a pleasant, corporate-grade nod.

The High Judicial’s gaze swept across the chamber, reading aura signatures like financial statements.

"What is the progress of the interrogation?" he asked.

His voice carried absolute clarity. No anger. No warmth. Just law.

Celestaria stepped forward smoothly.

"Productive," she said calmly.

She raised a hand. A projection formed above the table. The captured scroll evidence shimmered into view, floating in radiant display.

"This artifact at the ambush site...," she continued. "Initially presumed to be greed-origin authority signature."

The High Judicial studied it silently.

"And?" he prompted.

Celestaria gestured toward Lux.

"Prince Lux assisted in identifying structural inconsistencies within the sigil matrix."

Lux straightened slightly in his chair restraints, expression professional and perfectly neutral.

"The symbol is aesthetically accurate," Lux said calmly. "But functionally counterfeit."

The High Judicial’s gaze turned toward him.

"Explain."

Lux nodded once.

"Authentic Greed sigils operate through layered contract recursion," he said. "Each spiral node feeds into a debt loop anchored by existential covenant logic. This one..." he tilted his head toward the projection "...uses linear authority mimicry. Decorative. Convincing to untrained observers. But structurally hollow."

The chief frowned. "You are suggesting it was fabricated to frame infernal authority."

Lux shrugged lightly. "I am suggesting whoever made it understands infernal aesthetics but not infernal accounting."

Solara’s lips twitched very slightly.

The High Judicial stepped closer to the projection, analyzing it with slow, precise authority pulses.

"And you verified this personally?" they asked Lux.

"Yes," Lux said. "I carry the original Greed core imprint. Pattern recognition is... instinctive."