Harem Startup : The Demon Billionaire is on Vacation

Chapter 559 – Love Magic

Lux exhaled slowly and rolled his shoulders. His aura shifted, not aggressive, but sharp. Like something cold and ancient moving just beneath his skin.

Ely watched him quietly from behind, her eyes wide, hands gripping her sleeves.

Eros stood to the side, arms crossed, watching with a kind of raw, desperate tension that was hard to miss, even under the usual snark.

Lux walked forward. One step. Then another.

Closer.

Closer to the glass coffin.

Closer to Azithra.

His eyes narrowed slightly as he tilted his head, scanning her face. She looked like she was dreaming of something distant. Something just out of reach. Her lips were parted ever so slightly. Her fingers rested over her heart, clasped loosely, like she might sit up at any moment and stretch with a yawn.

But she didn’t.

She hadn’t for ten years.

He moved in until he was almost pressed to the side of the coffin, and then... he leaned.

Eros tensed.

Lux leaned closer.

His eyes dropped to her lips.

Just a breath away.

And then...

”What the fck are you doing?” Eros snarled.

A clawed hand grabbed Lux by the back of the neck and yanked him backwards with enough force to make Ely squeak.

Eros didn’t let go. His grip didn’t loosen. His claws pressed into Lux’s neck, not quite breaking skin, but close.

Lux didn’t flinch. His expression didn’t even change.

”Trying to wake her up,” he said calmly.

”By kissing her?” Eros hissed, his demonic aura flooding the air like black honey, sweet and furious.

Lux tilted his head, still dry as ever. ”You did say you wanted her awake, didn’t you?” He raised a brow. ”Ever heard of Sleeping Beauty? Mortal realm’s classic. Princess falls asleep under a spell. Prince kisses her. Boom. She wakes up. Love magic.”

Eros’s horns flared, and his grip tightened. ”You’re gonna wake my wife up with a fairy tale? That’s not even a real spell, that’s romanticized necromancy for kids! And she didn’t even die! She just—” Eros growled. ”If she could wake up from a kiss, don’t you think I would’ve done it already?!”

Lux blinked slowly. ”Did you try it?”

”Of course I did!”

”Well,” Lux shrugged. ”You’re not a prince.”

”I’m the prince of Lust!”

Lux gave a smug little smile. ”No, you’re not. You dropped your title. Remember? ’For love and peace,’ or whatever poetic shit you said when you married her.”

Eros’s jaw twitched. ”That was temporary.”

”Still counts.”

”You’re such a smug little spreadsheet.”

Lux smirked. ”And I’m still royalty. Prince of Greed.”

Eros’s face got dangerously close to his. Like half an inch away. Like ’I might murder you and resurrect you just to slap you again’ close.

”Tell me,” Eros said slowly. ”That you are kidding.”

Lux exhaled. And finally dropped the smirk.

”Of course I’m kidding.”

He brushed Eros’s clawed hand off his neck with practiced ease.

”Why would I kiss your wife?” Lux muttered. ”I have a mansion full of beautiful women. None of them are asleep. Most of them bite. I love someone who could bite me.”

Eros blinked. ”...Wait, bite?”

”Don’t ask.”

He straightened his cuffs and stared back at Azithra. ”Besides,” he added. ”She’s not even my type. I like ’awake’ and ’emotionally unavailable.’ It’s a thing.” He pointed to the sleeping beauty. ”That thing is too peaceful and less wild.”

Eros muttered, ”You’re a problem.”

”Tell me something new.”

Lux stepped forward again, this time with real purpose. The teasing dropped. His eyes sharpened. Ely recognized it instantly. That was his serious face. The one that meant the calculator had turned into a scalpel.

Eros hovered behind him warily, but didn’t interfere this time.

”So what are you going to do?” Ely asked softly.

”I’m going to examine her,” Lux said. ”I can’t manipulate dreams like Lullaby can, but I can slip a thread through the interface. Check via the system, read the soul binding, see what’s holding her mind in place.”

”Is that... safe?”

”Not really. But I’m not trying to change anything. Just get a reading.”

Lux leaned in again, but not toward her lips. This time, he reached out with one hand, slow and careful. His fingers hovered just above Azithra’s forehead. The air pulsed faintly. The candles above flickered like they recognized what was coming.

His voice dropped to that same smooth, low infernal register that always gave Ely chills.

”Examine... System.”

The second his fingertip touched her skin, a ripple passed through the space.

The rune candles dimmed. The floating petals froze mid-air. The warmth of the pavilion dropped several degrees.

Lux’s eyes glazed slightly.

Then glowed faint red.

His body went still, but the air around him shifted, like heat rippling off stone, except it was something colder. Deeper. Every breath in the room felt heavier.

The rune candles dimmed to a dull pulse.

Then, above Azithra’s body, glowing symbols flickered into view. Not from any ritual. This was something else. Something internal.

[System Access: Greed Core Linked]

[User: Lux Vaelthorn – Bloodline ID Confirmed]

[Infernal Privileges Activated: Greed + Lust ]

[System Function: Passive -Soul Analysis]

[Target: Azithra – Bride of Eros, High Elf, Lust-Affiliated Pactbearer]

[Soul Status: Bound, Stable, Strained]

[Consciousness: Active in Dream Layer]

[Anchor Point: Dream Core Sigil – Self-Sealed Access]

[Threat Level: Moderate – Internal Conflict Detected]

[Possible Contaminants: Unknown]

[Notes: Long-term soul fatigue imminent. Cognitive fragmentation risk rising.]

Lux’s lips parted slightly as the data streamed through his mind, the system whispering to his bloodline.

Eros stepped closer, his shadow stretching over the flowers and pearls scattered around the coffin. ”What are you seeing?”

Lux’s voice came slow. Quiet. But focused. His eyes didn’t blink.

”She’s alive. Soul’s still rooted to the body. Magical anchors intact. The preservation magic you layered worked better than I thought.”

Eros said nothing. Just clenched his jaw harder.

”But...” Lux’s fingers hovered again above Azithra’s forehead, barely touching the air like he was tracing invisible lines.

”She locked herself in. This isn’t a curse, Eros. No external hex. No poison. No decay. She did this. Voluntarily.”

Eros’s wings flexed slightly. ”Why would she do that?”