Harem Startup : The Demon Billionaire is on Vacation

Chapter 967 – Take Your Own Advice

Fiera was next.

Her nine tails made logistics complicated.

Lux lifted her carefully, but two of her tails curled around his wrist as if claiming him in sleep. He gave her an amused look. ”You moved in today and already act like this house owes you possession rights.”

Fiera, asleep, smiled faintly.

He teleported her to her room, laid her down among her newly moved belongings, arranged the tails so she wouldn’t wake tangled, and put the fox-clan book on the bedside table.

Ely took the longest.

He lifted her gently.

Ely stirred.

Not awake.

Just enough to whisper something.

”Ancestor...”

Lux looked down at her.

His face became very still.

”I’ll find her,” he whispered back, though she probably didn’t hear it.

He brought her to her room and tucked her in. Her healed hand rested on top of the blanket.

Lullaby was easy.

She practically weighed like a pillow herself.

Lux lifted her, pillow and all. The upside-down Sloth archive book followed them through Telekinesis. He tucked her into her bed, surrounded her with pillows like a proper Sloth princess nest, and put the bookmarked book on her desk.

Lullaby mumbled, ”Don’t work too much...”

Lux froze.

But she was asleep.

He stared at her for a moment.

Then quietly left.

Yue was last in the living room.

When Lux approached, her eyes opened.

Not fully.

Just enough.

”You don’t need to carry me,” she said softly.

”I know.”

A pause.

Yue studied him.

Then closed her eyes again.

Lux smiled faintly.

He did not carry her like the others. Instead, he teleported her directly to her room while she remained seated, letting the bed receive her gently. Her scroll landed on the desk. The crystals near her bed pulsed once, recognizing her presence.

She opened one eye. ”Thank you.”

Lux gave her a small nod. ”Rest.”

”Take your own advice.”

He vanished before he had to answer.

Back in the living room, everything was finally quiet.

Empty, almost.

Only the scattered warmth of their work remained.

Lux stood there for a second longer.

Then went straight to the kitchen.

And there, at the counter, sat Gula.

She was hugging a large chocolate marshmallow like it was a sacred creature. Her cotton-candy hair was slightly messy. A plate of sweets sat beside her, along with several scribbled notes, crumbs, and one open tablet.

She looked up when Lux entered. ”They are fighting with you.”

Lux said nothing.

Gula hopped down from the counter and walked toward him slowly. Not playful this time. Not entirely.

”For you,” she added.

Lux still said nothing.

Gula stopped in front of him and looked up. ”I’m shocked, you know.”

Lux raised one brow. ”That I can walk into my own kitchen?”

”That you can make people like this without binding them as servants.”

Lux stared at her.

For a moment, something passed through his expression.

Then he gave a small, dry smile. ”That is supposed to be my line.”

Gula smiled back.”True.” She squeezed the marshmallow. ”But... I really find this interesting. A bunch of people fighting for a Greed heir.”

Lux’s gaze sharpened faintly.

Gula’s smile softened. ”Not under contract. Not under command. Not because they’ll be punished if they don’t. They’re just... doing it.”

Lux looked away. ”Sentiment is inefficient.”

”That’s a lie.”

”Yes.”

”At least you admitted it,” Gula giggled softly.

Lux glanced at the notes beside her. ”But same goes for you.”

Gula blinked.

”You were searching too,” Lux said. ”I saw your scribbles.”

She looked back at the counter.

Her notes were messy. Very messy. Half of them were food metaphors, but beneath those were names, old Gluttony ledgers, family records about ”territories,” and one phrase circled three times ”houses eaten from the inside first”.

Gula’s expression shifted. ”Yeah, I guess.”

Lux waited.

She looked down at the marshmallow. ”But I did it mostly because I don’t want the king to erase Gluttony House.”

”That’s all?” Lux asked.

”That’s all.”

He looked at her.

She did not look back.

Lux’s mouth curved. ”I know.”

Gula glanced up.

Lux leaned closer, one hand resting against the counter beside her, his smirk returning with slow, unfair precision. ”But you’re also interested in me.”

Gula’s eyes widened slightly.

Lux’s voice lowered. ”You can’t deny that.”

For a moment, Gula stared at him.

Then her grin appeared.

Bright.

Sharp.

Sweet enough to rot teeth.

”Yeah.” She hugged the chocolate marshmallow against her chest. ”I won’t deny it.”

Lux smiled. ”Honest.”

”I’m Gluttony. When I want something, pretending otherwise is inefficient.”

”Dangerous philosophy.”

Lux reached past her for his tea.

Gula watched him lift the cup. ”Tea? No coffee?”

”Temporary moral development.”

”Sounds fake.”

”It is.”

She laughed quietly.

Lux took a sip.

The tea was warm.

Gula tilted her head.

”So what now, Greed?”

Lux looked toward the hallway where his women slept. ”Now,” he said, ”I make sure all of you don’t regret fighting with me.”

Gula’s smile faded into something gentler. ”That sounds like another workload.”

”It is.”

She studied him for a moment.

Then broke off a piece of the chocolate marshmallow and held it up to him.

Lux stared. ”Is this binding? Poisoned?”

”No.”

”Gluttony diplomacy?”

”Yes.”

Lux took the piece.

Ate it.

Paused.

It was good.

Gula smiled knowingly.

Lux sighed. ”Fine. Your house has value.”

”My desserts have value.”

”That too.”

Gula turned and hopped back onto the counter, hugging the rest of the marshmallow.

For a few minutes, the kitchen stayed quiet.

Not awkward.

Just quiet.

Lux stood by the counter with his cup of tea, the steam curling up against his face.

Gula sat there swinging one leg lazily, looking less like the daughter of Gluttony and more like a sleepy girl who had eaten too much sugar and decided the world was temporarily acceptable.

Then she yawned.

A full, shameless yawn.

”I guess that’s all.”

Lux glanced at her. ”That’s all?”

”For tonight.” She slid off the counter. ”Nite, Lux.”

He watched her walk toward the pantry door instead of the hallway.

”Your room is that way. That’s the pantry.”

”I know.”

Lux stared. ℯℯ𝑙.

Gula turned back with an innocent smile. ”Don’t die until you become a lord.”

Lux’s expression flattened. ”That is your goodnight?”

”It’s a very good one.”

Then she disappeared.

Not walked away.

Disappeared.

One second she was there, cotton-candy hair, oversized marshmallow, smug Gluttony innocence.

The next second, she was gone.

Lux stared at the empty space.

”You too,” he muttered.

No answer came.

Gluttony daughters apparently delivered ominous encouragement and vanished into sugar-adjacent darkness.

Lux huffed softly and looked down at his tea.

Still warm.

Barely.

He drank.

Then stayed there.

For a while, he simply leaned against the kitchen counter, cup in hand, looking like a busy accountant in tax season during a break he had absolutely not earned but badly needed. His sleeves were still rolled. His hair was slightly messy. His eyes carried too many windows behind them even when no system interface hovered in front of his face.

The mansion slept.

His women slept.

His system searched.

Lux closed his eyes.

He could still see the loophole list.

Not enough proof.

But enough direction.

Enough to move.

Lux opened his eyes.

The reflection in the dark kitchen window looked tired. He smiled faintly at himself.

”Yeah.”

A pause.

”I can do this.”

He set the cup down.

Dark-gold light folded around him.

Then he teleported back to his room.