Chapter 952: Has Doomsday Arrived Already?
Chapter 952 – Has Doomsday Arrived Already?
Lux turned toward her.
Yue looked away faster.
Sira gasped. "Oh, she admitted it."
Lux rubbed his forehead.
Gula finally seemed to remember she was holding a tray. She walked closer, still looking at him with curiosity far too intense to be casual, and set the sweets on the table. "I forgot something."
Lux raised an eyebrow. "That I exist?"
"No." Gula’s gaze dipped once again, then returned to his eyes. "That you are also Lust."
Lux smiled faintly. "Yes. I do remind people occasionally."
"Not like this."
Sira flopped back onto the sofa dramatically. "That’s why I fell hard for him."
Lux looked at her.
Sira smiled sweetly. "What? It’s true."
"I thought it was my intelligence, reliability and emotional maturity."
They stared at him for that last one.
Lux slowly lowered his hand. "Fine. Partial emotional maturity."
Sira grinned. "Better."
Gula took a cream puff from the tray and bit into it, still watching Lux like he had become a newly discovered dessert category.
Lux looked at her.
Gula chewed slowly.
Her fluffy cotton-candy colored hair bounced slightly as she tilted her head. There was cream at the corner of her mouth, but she didn’t seem to care. Her eyes, however, were very awake. Too awake. Usually Gula’s gaze drifted toward sweets, food trays, snacks, rare ingredients, expensive desserts, or people who might become providers of said things.
Now her gaze was on him.
Specifically him.
Lux narrowed his eyes. "What?"
Gula swallowed.
Then hummed.
"Hm..."
That hum had weight.
Not "this chocolate needs more bitterness" weight.
Royal Gluttony bloodline weight.
Lux’s instincts immediately sat upright and filed paperwork.
Gula smiled faintly. "Somehow, you made my Gluttony tingle."
The room went silent.
Lux stared. Then very carefully asked, "You aren’t going to eat me, right?"
Gula blinked.
Sira’s lips twitched.
Lux lifted a hand. "Important question. Very reasonable. Gluttony royal bloodline can eat anything. Literally anything." And it included him.
Gula licked cream from her thumb with completely innocent eyes. "Not really."
Lux’s eyes narrowed further. "That did not comfort me."
"I know." Her gaze moved up and down Lux again, slower this time. Not like she was about to bite him. More like she had found a rare dessert in a forbidden bakery and was trying to decide whether the price was worth diplomatic collapse.
Lux did not move.
Mostly because running away from a Gluttony princess in his own living room felt bad for brand consistency.
Gula tapped one finger against her lips. "Hmm... But I will ’eat’ you someday."
Lux’s expression became more suspicious.
"Maybe," she said, "for the sake of the alliance between Greed and Gluttony."
Lux slowly lowered his hand. "Excuse me?"
Gula smiled.
Lux pointed at Gula again. "You usually only care about food."
"I still care about food."
Lux took one slow breath. "And now you are mentioning an alliance." He stared at her in disbelief. "Has doomsday arrived already?"
Gula bit into another cream puff. "Not really."
"Then why are you speaking like a responsible heir?"
Gula chewed thoughtfully. "Maybe because everyone else started moving."
Gula continued, "My house looks lazy from outside because we eat, sleep, feast, and ask whether war has snacks. But Gluttony doesn’t survive by being stupid." Her voice softened. "We consume information too. Movements. Hunger. Fear. Desire. Empty plates in noble houses. Sudden shortages. Overfull banquets during political panic. Who eats more when scared. Who stops eating when guilty."
People underestimated them because they smiled with full cheeks and asked for a second dessert while discussing murder. But hunger was one of the oldest instincts in existence. Older than pride. Older than greed. Older than lust. Hunger knew weakness before language did.
And Gula, despite the cotton-candy hair and innocent smile, was royalty.
Lux looked at her more carefully.
Gula noticed.
She smiled brighter, as if she had not just casually reminded him that her house could read political collapse through appetite.
"Anyway," she said, lifting one finger with a half-eaten sweet between it and her thumb. "I will come to you when I decide to."
Lux raised an eyebrow. "That sounds either diplomatic or threatening."
"You’re welcome."
Sira, still on the sofa and still not done staring at Lux’s bare chest like it had personally wronged her, tilted her head. "So you’re not joining officially?"
"Not yet." Gula popped the rest of the sweet into her mouth, chewed, swallowed, then looked back at Lux. "But just so you know... You already have my attention."
Gula smiled with the kind of innocence that somehow made everything worse. "I dislike hot desserts," she said. "I prefer cold ones."
Lux stared at her.
Gula tilted her head, eyes bright. "But I guess..." Her smile deepened. "I will make an exception for this."
Her smile returned to pure innocence.
Bright.
Cheerful.
Almost childlike.
"Enjoy your bath, Greed."
Lux narrowed his eyes. "I never said I was going to bathe."
"You smell like battle, smoke, and trouble."
Sira immediately inhaled like she wanted to confirm.
Gula giggled and turned toward the hallway. "See you later."
Then she walked away happily, humming a soft little tune, tray in hand, cotton-candy hair bouncing with each step.
For a while, all three of them watched her disappear.
Then Sira slowly turned to Lux.
Her grin was horrible.
Beautiful, but horrible.
"Congratulations, Lux. You’re getting another one."
"I didn’t even seduce her."
Sira burst out laughing. "That’s the funniest part!"
Lux opened his eyes and looked at Yue, seeking support from the ancient dragon.
A mistake.
Yue set down her tea cup with calm precision. "You know you reek of charm and seduction, right?"
Lux stared at her.
Yue continued, merciless in the softest possible voice, "That alone is enough."
Sira slapped the sofa. "Thank you!"
Lux looked betrayed. "You were supposed to be the responsible one."
"I was imprisoned under a mountain for centuries. My standards for responsible company may be damaged."
Sira wheezed.
Finally, Lux sighed. "I need to bathe."
Sira immediately perked up.
Lux looked at her.
She looked back, already rising.
"So you’re going alone?" she asked, voice sweet.
Lux smiled. "No."
Sira’s grin widened.
Before she could pounce, Lux moved.
Fast.
One smooth sweep of his arm.
Sira let out a startled yelp as he caught her, lifted her effortlessly, and carried her like a princess against his bare chest.
Her arms immediately went around his neck.
Sira beamed up at him. "Oh?"
Lux adjusted his hold on her like she weighed nothing. "Come on." His smile turned wicked. "We’ll settle this in the bathroom."
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