Harem Startup : The Demon Billionaire is on Vacation

Chapter 551 – Just to Flirt

”So... are you coming here just to flirt?” Lux said. It was too obvious.

Ely almost choked on her breath. ”What— no! I mean, not just to flirt.” She flailed for a second, cheeks turning pink as she glanced around, eyes catching on everything except him. ”I just... I heard the melody last night. It felt important. I was curious. That’s all.”

Lux didn’t say anything right away.

The table quieted for a second. Plates clinked. The scent of roasted tomatoes and herb-dusted eggs filled the space, anchored by the slow sweetness of fruit preserves and toasted bread. Ely’s nose twitched. The smells were too cozy for how tense everyone felt. Like the world was pretending things were normal when they definitely weren’t.

She glanced at him again.

Lux.

He looked like the aftermath of lightning. All sharp edges and smoldering ruin. And yet... she couldn’t look away.

He caught her staring. Eyebrow twitching up.

She startled. ”I didn’t mean to—”

”You didn’t act like this last time,” he said smoothly, tone casual but low enough to make her skin heat. ”When we met at the park.”

”Yeah, well...” She shifted in her chair, hands twisting in her lap. ”I was in the middle of business back then. You looked lost. Not like... this.” Her gaze drifted toward the faint marks near his collar, the dried blood that hadn’t been fully scrubbed away. ”Kinda not the right time.”

”Mm.” He sipped his milk without breaking eye contact. Not creepy. Not threatening. Just... deep. Calculating. Like every blink from her was a new puzzle he was quietly solving behind those red irises.

Sira rolled her eyes. ”He looks worse now. I mean, he’s bleeding. Not just ’lost’.”

”Was bleeding,” Lux corrected, trying to smooth his voice. ”I’m not anymore. Let’s not make everything sound so dramatic.”

Naomi sighed and passed her a glass of water like she was used to this brand of chaos. ”You’re making it sound worse.”

Sira didn’t even blink. ”You look worse.”

He tried to lift his chin, mock-pride in his voice. ”But I still look hot.”

”That’s too cheesy, Lux,” she deadpanned.

”Yeah, I know.” He huffed and rubbed his face like he was trying to wipe off a memory. ”I’m just... trying to cheer myself up. But not working.”

Ely’s heart did something weird in her chest.

Naomi saw it. Probably smelled it too. She coughed into her fist and muttered, ”Someone’s overheating.”

”I am not,” Ely hissed.

”You are,” Sira sang.

Mira just smirked, holding her tea like a high priestess watching mortals flail.

Ely cleared her throat. ”Anyway! Since Lux looks stressed, maybe... I dunno... he could come with me to my vacation home. Fresh air, lake view, no weird resonance melodies—”

The other girls stiffened at the same time.

”No,” Mira said flatly.

”I think that’s a bad idea,” Sira followed, voice like silk-covered steel.

Naomi didn’t speak, but she didn’t have to. Her fork clicked against her plate with surgical precision.

Ely blinked. ”Why not?”

But it was Lux who answered, voice calm and distant. ”Because I can’t.” He sat straighter. That casual, lazy aura dropped. Replaced by something firm. Weighty. Like a switch flipped behind his eyes. ”This mansion is the perfect place for me. Here. In the mortal realm.”

Ely tilted her head. ”You say that like you’re not from here.”

”I’m not,” he said simply.

She blinked. ”You are joking.”

Lux didn’t explain more. He just took another sip of milk.

She laughed nervously. ”Is this one of those metaphor things? Like... you mean you’re not from around the area, or—?”

”Mortal realm,” he repeated, voice flat now. ”As in... realm.”

Ely stared at him for a long second. Then her eyes widened. ”Oh my god. Is this about the underworld thing?”

He smiled. Cold. But polite. ”Something like that.”

”Oh.” She brightened. ”Yeah, that family funeral business?”

Naomi choked.

Lux’s mouth twitched, almost a smile. ”In a way.”

Ely nodded thoughtfully, brain trying to fill in the blanks. ’That makes sense. He got that whole... grim but sexy aura, afterall. Like a CEO for coffins,’ she thought.

”Ehm,” Naomi said finally, wiping her mouth. ”Ely. I think we need to talk. Seriously. Maybe at lunch. All of us have to head out for work after this.”

”I’m free,” Ely offered cheerfully, clearly still missing the point. ”We can have lunch! Just don’t pick that steakhouse again, last time I—”

”Ely,” Naomi cut in. ”No, I mean it. We need to talk.”

Finally, something in Naomi’s voice made Ely pause. She looked around the table again.

Rava’s usual elegance was quiet. Too quiet. Her gaze flicked between Lux and the rest, unreadable.

Mira wasn’t smirking anymore.

Sira had gone still. Her pride wasn’t gone, but it was tempered. Like she was guarding something.

And Lux...

He hadn’t said a word.

But his eyes?

Yeah.

Those eyes were wrong.

Wrong for this room. For this breakfast. For this reality.

They were eyes that had watched people die. That had caused it. That had judged and decided and punished.

Cold.

Beautiful.

Terrifying.

Ely felt her heartbeat shift again. Not in a fluttery way this time.

In a real way.

Like something in her gut finally noticed the difference.

She looked at Lux, really looked, and realized...

That man wasn’t a funeral director.

That man wasn’t even human.

Then what was him?

Her fork clinked softly against her plate. The eggs were suddenly too salty. The tea too sharp. Her tongue too dry.

His grip on the cup tightened.

”Lux?” Ely’s voice was small now. Uncertain.

He looked up. Smiled. Hollow.

”Eat, Ely,” he said gently. ”We’ve got a long day ahead.”

And when she hesitated again, Sira softly added, ”Don’t worry. He’s always like this. After battle.”

Ely blinked. ”I’m curious... What kind of fight? I mean... It wasn’t a brawl, right?” She couldn’t imagine it at all.

Sira leaned back, smirk returning. ”What, you thought it was something with rules?”