Harem Startup : The Demon Billionaire is on Vacation

Chapter 79 – Full Control

The bathroom lights flicked on with a soft hum.

Lux stepped inside, rubbing his face, still groggy despite never really sleeping. Incubus stamina was a gift and a curse. Even when he wanted to sleep, his mind kept running like a well-oiled profit machine.

He looked up at the mirror and paused.

”Oh, Holy Hell...” he muttered.

His reflection stared back at him like someone who had just walked out of a demon-fueled orgy — which, technically, wasn’t far from the truth.

Lipstick. Everywhere.

Rava’s dark red smudges decorated his cheeks, chin, collarbone, even a faint kiss mark just below his jaw.

His hair? Completely ruined — strands sticking in about six different directions like someone had run their fingers through it during round seven. Or was it eight? He’d lost count.

”So much for a wild night,” he muttered to himself. Then cracked a grin.

”Well... second wild night.”

The faucet hissed as he splashed cold water over his face, washing away the worst of the smears. The water felt good against his flushed skin, cooling the lingering heat of everything they’d done.

He leaned forward slightly, pressing both hands on the sink’s edges. The faint fog on the mirror started to clear.

And then—

”Uh—”

Lux froze.

Standing right behind his reflection in the glass was his father.

Zavros.

Disheveled. Tired. Coffee mug in one hand. Tie loosened halfway down his chest. His usually sharp infernal suit wrinkled like he’d been pulled out of a high-speed negotiation with Death itself.

The Greed Lord’s exhausted eyes locked directly with Lux’s.

”Uh... hello Dad...” Lux said slowly, raising one eyebrow like he’d just gotten caught sneaking back home past curfew. ”You look... fantastic.”

Zavros’s face twitched.

”Fantastic my ass.”

Lux cleared his throat, suppressing a grin.

Zavros took a long, painful sip from his mug, as if trying to pretend coffee alone could fix whatever existential spiral he was currently navigating.

”I nearly died here,” Zavros muttered flatly.

Lux blinked. ”You aren’t gonna die just because of this.”

He motioned vaguely at his own lipstick-covered face.

”Don’t worry. You’re the Lord of Greed. You’ve survived worse.”

Zavros’s jaw clenched slightly. ”You underestimate how close your power spike nearly crashed my entire financial monitoring network.”

Lux blinked again. ”I did?”

Zavros gestured toward the mirror like he could summon his pain into words.

”Do you have any idea what three simultaneous pact spikes in the mortal realm looks like when you’re sitting on the administrative side of Hell’s Greed Department?”

Lux scratched his head, still naked, still unbothered. ”I imagine... dramatic?”

”Apocalyptic.” Zavros hissed. ”I thought we were under multi-realm invasion. Do you know how many alarms went off? I was ten seconds away from mobilizing the enforcement division!”

Lux winced slightly but couldn’t help the chuckle that slipped out. ”Well... to be fair, I wasn’t planning on leveling ten times in two days either.”

Zavros stared. His fingers tightened slightly around the coffee cup like he was trying not to crush it.

”You... gained ten levels?”

Lux nodded casually. ”Yup.”

Zavros’s eye twitched. ”I thought you already maxed your level. You capped out centuries ago.”

Lux rubbed the back of his neck with that annoying relaxed grin of his, like this was a casual morning coffee chat and not a full-blown system violation conversation between the two most dangerous greed demons alive.

”I did max out,” Lux admitted. ”But... I might’ve found a little workaround.”

Zavros’s voice dropped flat. ”What kind of workaround.”

Lux shrugged innocently. ”You remember that last negotiation I handled with Heaven? They slipped in an artifact as part of the agreement.”

He exhaled like a man confessing to stealing the cookie jar while already halfway through the cookie.

”I... absorbed it.” He rubbed his chest lightly, almost feeling the burn again. ”It let me break my level cap.”

Zavros closed his eyes, processing.

Lux added helpfully, ”So yeah, here I am.”

The mirror glitched slightly as Zavros ran a hand through his already-messy hair, fingers threading through silver-streaked strands as he tried — and failed — to hide the growing horror and reluctant pride blooming inside his skull.

”Right...” He muttered softly, more to himself, ”Also... you’re breaking half the protocols I spent millennia writing.”

Lux’s smirk sharpened, voice dropping into that casually dangerous tone that always made Zavros feel both proud and mildly homicidal.

”I know,” Lux said smoothly. ”I rewrote them.”

Zavros snapped his gaze back at him.

”I made them better,” Lux added, eyes glinting. ”Your system’s out of date, Dad. It needs constant updates.”

Zavros exhaled heavily, pausing for several seconds as though searching the entire Infernal vocabulary for a professional version of ’what the actual fuck is my son doing?’

He failed. And simply stared.

Finally, he spoke, his voice dry. ”Explain.”

Lux’s grin softened into something more serious. The playful edge dropped, his tone shifting as his eyes sharpened.

”Some of these pacts aren’t just power plays, Dad,” he said quietly. ”They’re... safety nets.”

Zavros arched a brow, silent but listening now — fully.

Lux exhaled again, his voice growing steadier, deeper. ”I’m still Greed. Always have been.”

Zavros grunted. ”You’re expanding your influence.”

Lux nodded. ”And protecting my future assets at the same time.”

His gaze met his father’s in the mirror. ”You’ve always taught me: ownership isn’t about having more, it’s about securing what you have.”

Zavros’s lips twitched. A reluctant hint of pride flickered through the exhaustion in his eyes.

”...You learned too well.”

Lux smirked again. ”That’s your fault.”

They stood in silence for a beat longer.

Zavros finally shook his head, draining the rest of his coffee like he was drinking away all his remaining sanity.

”Be careful, Lux,” he said quietly. ”The higher you climb, the more attention you draw. From both sides.”

Lux’s voice softened too. ”I know. I’m not reckless.”

Zavros sighed. ”I didn’t say you were reckless. I said you’re my son.”

He paused.

”Which means you’ll attract both profit and enemies whether you want to or not.”

The mirror flickered again, the connection starting to fade.

Zavros’s final words hung softly as the glass shimmered.

”Be careful, okay?”

And just like that — the mirror returned to a normal reflection.

Lux stood there alone again, watching his own tired, lipstick-smeared face staring back.

He exhaled slowly. Then grinned.

”Well,” he muttered, running a hand through his messy hair, ”he looks... a little messed up.”

He glanced out the bathroom door toward the still-sleeping Rava, wrapped up in sheets like a tentacled burrito.

Then his eyes sharpened.

”System,” he whispered.

[Yes, sir?]

”Give me the reports. Full financial performance control.”

[Accessing Financial Core...]

A dozen digital panels materialized around him instantly, hovering in perfect alignment like floating currency graphs. Infernal energy hummed softly behind the data streams.

The numbers danced for him — clean, precise, stable — every sector of Hell’s financial department still running smoothly under his algorithms.

Lux grinned, voice dropping into a soft, dangerous whisper.

”Sorry, Dad,” he whispered under his breath. ”The system admin... is me.”

He glanced around at the glowing reports floating in front of him, eyes glinting.

”I have full control of Hell’s financial department, even from here.” His grin widened, teeth flashing.

”Not you anymore.”