Harem Startup : The Demon Billionaire is on Vacation

Chapter 371 – None of us is Built to Heal

”You don’t need to fix it,” Lux said, tone calmer now. ”We just want to see it. Understand it. You play with dreams. If you can touch the source—maybe we’ll figure out what she really believes.”

”I’ve never handled trauma before,” Lullaby said, voice barely above a whisper. ”I put people to sleep, Lux. I don’t go in.”

Sira snorted. ”We’re demons. None of us is built to heal.”

”That’s not true,” Lux murmured.

Sira looked at him sideways.

Lux didn’t explain.

Lullaby looked up at him again. ”Then why are you helping her?”

He shrugged once. ”Just curious.”

”Only curious?”

Lux smiled. Quiet. Dangerous. Just enough to make her blush.

They reached the door.

It was slightly open.

Lux pushed it gently, and it creaked with the soft protest of old hinges and heavy silence.

Inside, Ariel was curled on the bed. Not asleep. Just... small. Wrapped in the edge of a blanket that barely covered her knees, like she didn’t know if she was allowed to get under the sheets.

The room was the same—warm lighting, sea-toned decor, balcony cracked open to let in a breeze that carried jasmine and salt.

But Ariel didn’t fit in the room.

She looked like she’d been dropped into it by mistake.

And the moment the door opened fully, she flinched.

Her body tensed. She shot upright, eyes wide.

”I—I’m sorry,” she said quickly. Too quickly. ”I wasn’t doing anything— I swear. I won’t do it again.”

Lux frowned. ”Why are you saying sorry?”

Ariel froze. Then quietly, ”...I don’t know.”

He exhaled a long breath through his nose. ”See?” he muttered.

Sira stepped in, arms crossed. ”She looks fragile.”

”She looks like no one gave her a chance,” Lullaby said softly. ”Like she was born in the wrong place and punished for surviving it.”

Sira’s gaze flicked toward the mermaid girl, then back to Lux. ”She looks like no hope.”

Lux didn’t respond to that.

Ariel’s hands were balled in her lap, her knuckles pale. She didn’t even look at Lullaby properly.

Just another person. Another guest. Another stranger.

Lullaby stepped closer.

No shoes. No threats. No sharp words or posture.

Just a sleepy girl in a dress and messy hair, looking at Ariel like she was a puzzle missing its corner pieces.

Ariel blinked when Lullaby sat beside her on the bed.

The mattress shifted.

So did the air.

Lullaby smiled gently. ”Can I see you?”

Ariel looked down at herself, confused. ”I... I’m not hiding—”

Lullaby shook her head. ”Not that way. I mean inside. Not your body. Your dreams.”

Ariel’s shoulders tensed. ”Why?”

”To understand,” Lullaby said, placing a hand over Ariel’s. Her fingers were soft. Cold like silk, not like ice. ”Not to change anything. Not to fix. Just to see.”

Ariel’s lips trembled. But she didn’t pull away.

Lullaby closed her eyes.

The air shimmered.

And suddenly—Ariel slumped forward. Still breathing. Still whole. Just... asleep.

But not ordinary sleep.

Dream-sleep.

Her body relaxed like she’d collapsed into herself.

Lullaby’s lashes fluttered, her breathing syncing. She went still beside her—both girls now leaning against each other, unmoving.

Sira watched in silence.

Lux stood near the wall, arms crossed, saying nothing.

And then—

It began.

The room didn’t shift. Not physically. But in them.

They saw it. Not with their eyes. But with something deeper. Pulled in through Lullaby’s tether, shown the memories like projections smeared across dreamspace.

It started in a room.

Cold. Stone. No windows.

A child. Ariel. Small. Barely able to stand upright. Her hair tangled, eyes too big for her face.

A voice. Harsh.

”You’re crying again? Good. At least you’re useful for something.”

Hands grabbed her shoulder. Shoved her down. She bit her lip to stay quiet.

”Don’t spill them! If you waste a pearl, we’ll starve you.”

Then another voice—feminine. Cruel in a different way.

”She’s cursed. We should’ve thrown her back into the sea when we had the chance.”

The memory shifted.

Ariel, maybe eight. Alone in the corner of a dining room, watching the others eat. She had a crust of stale bread on her plate. Mold along the edge.

The maids laughed.

”She should be grateful. She’s still here, isn’t she?”

”She should cry more. That’s when she’s worth something.”

Shift again.

Fifteen.

Locked in a closet. Wet floor. A single candle flickering above.

Her eyes swollen. Her lip bleeding.

”Stop crying,” a servant hissed. ”Or you’ll ruin your own market value.”

Lux clenched his fists.

Sira didn’t speak.

Lullaby’s breath caught.

Back in the physical room, Ariel stirred faintly in her sleep. A whimper. A twitch.

Lullaby leaned forward and whispered—not with her voice, but her aura. A wave of calming mana spread from her chest like perfume.

The dream settled.

But the pain didn’t go away.

It was carved into the girl’s memories. Into her bones.

Lux stepped closer to the bed, watching Ariel twitch slightly beneath the dream.

”She doesn’t even know how to exist without guilt,” he muttered.

”She was taught to apologize for breathing,” Sira added quietly. ”And rewarded when she broke.”

Lullaby opened her eyes. Her voice was soft.

”She thinks she’s only worthy when she hurts.”

Silence.

Heavy. Suffocating.

Lux looked at Ariel’s face.

Peaceful.

But only because Lullaby held the storm down.

And he made a decision.

”I’m burning Delmar to the ground.”

Sira tilted her head and gave him a slow, pleased smile. ”Oh... now you’re mad. You like her?”

He didn’t answer immediately.

Just kept staring at Ariel’s sleeping face like it was a ledger full of red ink and unpaid debt.

”I thought you didn’t like drama,” Sira added, voice teasing but soft.

”I don’t like those shits,” Lux muttered, tone dry. ”They remind me of those Lords and Wraiths from when I first took over my father’s duty. All bark, no book balance. Full of pride, but couldn’t budget for shit. And they beat me like I was a bad investment. Like I was a burden.”

Sira gave a low hum. ”Ho~? Is this the rage?”