Harem Startup : The Demon Billionaire is on Vacation

Chapter 546 – Malware with a God Complex

Sira cringed hard enough to visibly spasm.

Lullaby clapped like it was a school play. ”Yay, Corvus~!”

Lyra smiled politely beside her. The servants echoed the applause, though half of them looked as though they were mentally checking off ”cheer for master’s infernal pet” from their chore list.

The rest of the girls?

Deadpan.

Rava arched a brow. ”Why are we applauding a bird with the personality of a broken search engine?”

”Hey,” Corvus chirped, wings ruffling dramatically, ”this broken search engine just saved your lover-boy from getting reformatted into spreadsheet soup by his undead uncle. Show some respect!”

”I’ll show you something,” Mira muttered darkly, cracking her knuckles.

”Enough,” Lyra said, hands clasped like a diplomatic maid with too much power. ”Breakfast is ready. Lord Lux, I’ve made something gentle for your stomach. You’re not allowed coffee today.”

”What?” Lux blinked, still sitting on the couch. ”No coffee?”

”No coffee,” she repeated, unbothered. ”You burned through mental barriers and half your nerve matrix in ten minutes. Your body is recovering, but caffeine will agitate the regeneration effect. You get broth. Steamed eggs. Maybe toast.”

”I’m not six,” he muttered.

”You’re acting like it.”

Sira crossed her arms and smirked. ”She’s right.”

Lux groaned and made the mistake of shifting too fast. Pain flared through his side like someone poured molten finance reports into his ribs.

”Ow. Okay. Ow. I said ow—damn it—ow.”

And then he felt it.

That glint.

The one they always gave him.

The ”we’re going to carry you to breakfast like a royal invalid” glint.

Oh hell no.

He bolted. Not physically, but a pulse of Greed magic snapped around him, and his shadow flickered.

’Shadow Step.’

Reality warped.

And he landed in his seat at the dining room.

Lux exhaled hard, leaning on the back of the chair like a man who just escaped ritual humiliation. ”Hah... That was close. I knew it. They were gonna wrap me in a blanket like a burrito, carry me here like a noble sacrifice, and spoon-feed me like I’m recovering from a fever.”

He sagged into his chair with dramatic exhaustion.

”I’m the CFO of Hell, for godsake.”

The door opened three seconds later.

And five sets of very unimpressed eyes met him from the entrance.

”Well,” Naomi said, hands on her hips. ”At least he still has enough energy to teleport.”

”I was going to carry him,” Mira muttered. ”Bridal style.”

Lullaby pouted. ”I was going to feed him...”

”Exactly,” Lux grumbled, picking up the silver spoon and staring at it like it might bite him. ”This is why I escaped.”

Lyra glided in after them, expression calm as ever. ”I expected you would. Fortunately, the meal has been pre-warmed for your rebellious tendencies.”

The table looked... beautiful. Steamed eggs glistened softly under morning light. The broth shimmered, golden and slow-boiled with herbs that smelled faintly of mana roots, garlic, and something soothing. A small tray of toasted bread slices sat beside him with a saucer of jam. The drinks? Milk. Just... milk and tea.

The horror.

Lux sighed, poked the egg with his spoon, and mumbled, ”I miss espresso already.”

”Eat,” Lyra said without room for argument. ”Or I’ll call Celestaria and have her bless this room with a Redeeming Light.”

”You wouldn’t.”

”I would.”

Lux winced. ”Okay okay. Eating now.”

The girls finally joined him.

Mira took the seat beside him, legs crossed, one arm tossed lazily over the chair like a queen staking territory.

Sira sat opposite, arms folded, her eyes watching him like a predator pretending not to care.

Naomi sat to his left, close enough that her shoulder brushed his. She didn’t say much. Just stared at his plate like she wanted to check every bite for poison. Or sadness.

And Lullaby plopped beside her with a giant grin, grabbing a bread roll and biting it like it was a marshmallow.

Corvus landed on the windowsill.

”Ugh,” Lux muttered between spoonfuls of egg, ”even this food tastes like I’m being grounded.”

”It’s nourishing,” Lyra said from the kitchen.

”It’s betrayal with parsley,” he countered.

Naomi snorted softly. ”You’ll live.”

He glanced at her.

Yeah.

That smile.

That tightness behind her eyes.

They all looked relaxed, but not really. They were still shaken. Still pissed. They saw the blood. The glitching mana. The way his mouth bled before the system pulled him out.

He sighed.

”I’m sorry.”

The table quieted.

”For real. I didn’t... I didn’t expect it would get that bad.” He rolled his shoulder. ”But I had to try. That bastard is hiding in the network like malware with a god complex. And now I know. Now I know exactly where to strike.”

Sira narrowed her eyes. ”You’re planning to go back.”

”Eventually, yeah. But I’ll bring backups next time. Improve the firewall. Maybe set a counter-tether.”

”You almost died,” Mira said. Not loud. Just... steady.

”I didn’t though.”

”You could’ve.”

”I didn’t.”

”You bled out of your mouth, Lux.”

”Which was dramatic but survivable.”

Lullaby whispered, ”Don’t do it again...”

That one hit harder.

He stopped.

His spoon froze halfway to his mouth.

”I... I’m not used to having people who worry.”

Naomi reached over and squeezed his wrist.

”You do now,” she said.

And then the warmth hit him.

Sira reached across and grabbed his other hand, firm and proud, but not cold.

Mira leaned her cheek against his shoulder with a huff.

Lullaby scooted closer, nudging his ribs with her forehead.

And even Rava, who was holding a cup of sea-salt tea, muttered, ”If you do that again, I’ll personally drag you to a kraken bathhouse and soak you in recovery slime until you regret all your choices.”

Lux blinked.

”...You all love me too much.”

”We do,” Naomi said without flinching.

”That’s why it’s really annoying watching you try to die like an idiot,” Sira added.

”You’re not alone anymore,” Mira muttered.

He swallowed.

Lowered the spoon.

Then smirked.

”...So dramatic. You’re making it hard for me to be a cold, evil, emotionally unavailable bastard.”

”You were never good at that anyway,” Naomi muttered.

Lullaby beamed. ”You’re our favorite warm snuggle CFO!”

”I take that as an insult.”

”It’s a compliment!”