Chapter 920: Controversial Announcement
Chapter 920 – Controversial Announcement
The daughter of Pride immediately wrapped an arm around his neck.
"Lux~" Her voice was cheerful.
Far too cheerful.
Which was usually dangerous.
She shifted until she was sitting comfortably on his lap like she’d paid rent for the spot.
Which she hadn’t.
Yet.
One hand lazily played with his collar.
The other traced his jaw.
Lux stared at the market charts.
Refusing to acknowledge the problem.
The problem being Sira.
Unfortunately, Sira had never respected denial as a strategy. "I’m bored~"
"Tragic."
"It is."
"You’ll survive."
"I won’t."
"You will."
Sira sighed dramatically.
The kind of sigh usually reserved for dying heroines. Then she leaned forward and kissed his cheek. "Let’s do something fun."
Lux already knew where this conversation was going. That didn’t stop him from regretting it. "What kind of fun?"
Sira smiled.
The smile of a woman about to become a public nuisance. "The fun kind."
"No."
"I haven’t even finished the sentence."
"You didn’t need to."
She pouted. "I think we should spend quality time together."
"We were. We are."
"No." She poked his chest. "I mean quality quality time."
Lux pinched the bridge of his nose.
"Sira."
"I want s*x."
"You already had your turn last night."
Sira immediately pointed at him. "And?"
"I haven’t even checked my level, status, rewards, or half the notifications my system has been throwing at me."
"Then do it again."
"Sira."
"You can grind more levels from me."
Lux opened his mouth.
Before he could answer, the system exploded.
[WARNING]
[MARKET VOLATILITY DETECTED]
[ROYAL HOUSE STOCK VALUE FALLING]
[Rapid Decline Detected]
[Rapid Decline Detected]
[Rapid Decline Detected]
Lux froze.
Sira froze.
Both immediately looked at the floating screen.
The numbers dropped again.
And again.
And again.
The fall wasn’t catastrophic.
Yet.
But it was fast.
Too fast.
[Royal House -0.1% ]
[Royal House -0.4% ]
[Royal House -0.2% ]
Sira sat up instantly.
The boredom vanished.
The spoiled princess disappeared.
Now she looked like the daughter of Pride.
Sharp.
Alert.
Dangerous.
Lux set down his coffee. "What caused it?"
The system responded immediately.
[Cause Identified]
[Public Statement Released]
[Source: Royal Palace]
[Classification: Controversial Announcement]
Lux blinked. "Show me."
The display changed.
Market data vanished.
A live stream appeared.
The camera focused on a familiar figure.
Kaelmor.
King of Hell.
Standing behind a royal podium.
The room around him was packed with nobles.
Officials.
Reporters.
Political observers.
The entire infernal public relations circus.
Lux immediately knew this was going to be stupid.
Years of experience.
Professional instinct.
The same instinct that warned him before hostile takeovers.
Before market crashes.
Before family reunions.
The king began speaking.
Lux listened.
For approximately fifteen seconds.
Then slowly leaned back.
"...Ah."
Sira covered her face.
"Oh dear."
There it was.
The announcement.
Kaelmor declared that future diplomatic negotiations with the Upper Realm would be personally handled by him.
Not Lux Vaelthorn.
Not the current Lord of Greed.
Him.
The King.
The camera zoomed in dramatically.
Which somehow made it worse.
Lux stared.
The room remained silent.
Then he laughed.
Not loudly.
Just once.
A short amused sound.
Sira looked at him. "You’re taking this surprisingly well."
"Why wouldn’t I?"
She pointed at the screen. "Because he’s stealing your position."
Lux immediately shook his head. "No."
The smirk returned.
The dangerous one.
The CFO smile.
The smile that usually cost people money.
"He’s trying to repair his reputation."
Sira watched the stream again.
Then winced.
Then winced harder.
Then physically leaned away from the screen.
"You know..."
"What?"
"This might be the most awkward possible way to do it."
Lux nodded. "Agreed."
Because everyone knew the truth.
The king wasn’t taking over an active role.
He was reclaiming one.
A role he should have been handling from the beginning.
That was the problem.
Not the announcement.
The timing.
Hell remembered.
Hell always remembered.
Especially when money was involved.
It was Lux who opened the path between the two realms. Lux who stood in front of celestial officials when nobody else wanted the responsibility. Lux who bound negotiations, agreements, and diplomatic frameworks to his very soul and core through infernal contracts. Everyone knew that. So seeing the king suddenly step forward now felt less like leadership and more like someone arriving after the battle was won and asking where the medals were.
The system chimed again.
[Public Response: Negative]
[Authority Confidence Decreasing]
[Royal House -6.3% ]
Lux took another sip of coffee. "Hm."
Sira stared at him. "Hm?"
"Hm."
She pointed at the chart. "Your king is actively losing money."
"Not my king. He is trying to kill me."
The chart dropped again.
He was trying very hard not to laugh.
The king was attempting to appear decisive.
Strong.
In control.
Unfortunately, the market interpreted it differently.
The market wasn’t emotional.
The market didn’t care about speeches.
The market cared about trust.
And right now?
Trust was expensive.
Sira shook her head. "The angels like you better."
Lux smirked. "I know."
Lux Vaelthorn might pretend humility sometimes for strategic reasons, but only when humility produced profit.
In this case? No. The data was obvious. Upper Realm officials answered his messages faster than they answered royal envoys.
Celestial bureaucrats had his contract seals registered. A goddess had personally dragged him through a therapy-adjacent diplomatic nightmare. Even the angels who distrusted him still treated him like a functioning negotiator instead of a walking throne tantrum.
But that only made this stranger.
Lux’s smirk faded slightly. "But I don’t get it."
Sira raised an eyebrow. "What?"
"Why take such a controversial decision now?"
His eyes stayed on the stream.
Kaelmor was still speaking like a man trying to sound inevitable while the market violently disagreed with his existence.
"This isn’t just pride," Lux muttered. "It’s too sudden."
Sira shrugged nonchalantly, still sitting on his lap like a bored royal cat. "Dunno. Maybe he woke up and chose embarrassment."
"Tempting theory."
"Very realistic."
Lux ignored her.
"System. Tell me what happened. Give me the most likely reasons the king made this move."
