Chapter 958: Worse
Chapter 958 – Worse
Naomi’s eyes remained on the book, but her mind was clearly already moving through the implications.
"So she is there by her own wishes," Naomi said slowly, "and will keep staying there until the king dismisses her?"
No one answered immediately.
Because yes.
That was the ugly shape of it.
Yue’s expression became colder, older. "I guess," she said quietly, "her condition is worse than mine."
That landed hard.
Coming from Yue, who had been trapped, cursed, parasitized, and left beneath a mountain for centuries, that sentence had no right to be casual.
Rava looked at Lux.
Sira looked at Lux.
Ely looked at Lux too.
But Lux didn’t say anything.
Not yet.
He stepped forward.
Straight to Ely.
The motion broke the stillness more than any words could.
Ely blinked as he reached her. "Lux?"
He took her wounded hand gently.
No flirtation. No teasing. No dramatic CFO commentary.
Just careful fingers around hers.
Dark energy gathered at his palm, soft and controlled.
[Dark Healing]
[Injury: Minor Cut]
[Additional Condition: Emotional Shock Detected]
[Healing Output: Minimal / Stabilizing]
The cut closed.
A faint dark glow swept over Ely’s fingertip, then faded into warmth.
Lux did not release her hand right away.
Ely looked up at him. "You didn’t say a thing."
Lux’s face remained calm. Too calm. "At least," he said, "we got the place."
Ely searched his expression. "And how are we going to help her?"
Lux finally looked toward the book.
His gaze was not warm.
Not furious either.
It was the kind of gaze a man gave a locked vault when he already knew the vault would open eventually. Maybe not today. Maybe not with force. But it would open.
"We’re going to find a way."
Sira exhaled slowly, and the tension in her shoulders loosened just a little.
Gula, who had been silent for far too long, hugged her sweets plate close to her stomach.
"Hm..."
Lux glanced at her.
She wasn’t eating.
Gula looked at the book, then at Lux. "I’m shocked."
Sira raised an eyebrow. "You?"
Gula nodded. "All I thought was rumor about the king turned out to be true."
Her voice was softer now.
Less playful.
"Or at least, close enough to true that it tastes the same."
Lullaby, still at the southern point of the circle, hugged her pillow tighter. "I was shocked too."
Her sleepy voice drifted through the room like a warm blanket.
Then she looked at Lux.
"But I trust Lux."
Lux turned his head slightly.
Lullaby blinked slowly. "He is a hardworking demon."
Gula looked at her and said, "He is. But it doesn’t mean he can’t lie."
Lullaby tilted her head.
Sira answered before Lux could.
"He could."
Sira’s arms were crossed, her Pride aura still faintly burning around her like a crown that refused to dim.
"He absolutely could lie. He’s Greed. He can make lies wear suits and sign documents."
Lux stared at her. "That was almost a compliment."
"It wasn’t."
"Tragic."
Sira ignored him and looked at Gula. "But not at a time like this."
Gula studied her.
Sira’s eyes did not waver. "Not about this."
Rava stepped closer to the barrier line, her voice gentle but steady. "What are you going to do, Lux?"
Lux was quiet for a moment.
The system windows flickered faintly around him, waiting. Deep search still running. Location fragment now saved. Archive seal partially understood. Ancient elven debt confirmed. Willing imprisonment confirmed.
A nightmare.
A beautifully structured legal nightmare.
He almost laughed.
Instead, he dismissed the containment warnings with a flick of his finger. "I’ll see tomorrow."
Mira frowned. "Tomorrow?"
"I’m still searching for the loophole."
He looked at the book again. "She said she will only answer if the elven race faces danger. She said let her pay the debt until he says it’s enough. That gives us three points."
Naomi’s gaze sharpened. "The elven race faces danger."
Lux nodded. "Condition one."
Yue added, "The debt."
"Condition two."
Ely whispered, "Until he says it’s enough."
Lux’s eyes narrowed. "Condition three."
Sira smiled faintly. "And you love conditions."
"I respect them professionally."
"You hunt them."
"Also professionally."
Gula’s appetite seemed to return just enough for her to take a small bite of cake. "So what’s the loophole?"
Lux shook his head. "Not sure yet."
He hated saying it.
Actually hated it.
But he said it anyway.
The women heard the honesty in it.
"I need the system’s deep search. I need the location cross-check. I need to know who ’he’ refers to. Kaelmor? A dead ancestor? A bloodline authority passed down like debt ownership? Or the original contract-holder?"
Yue nodded slowly. "If the one she owes is dead, then the obligation should have shifted."
"Maybe," Lux said. "Unless the promise was attached not to a person, but to lineage. Or sigil. Or title. Or a stored authority that Kaelmor inherited or stole."
Ely’s face tightened. "So she may not know the difference."
"Exactly."
Lux looked at her again.
Ely held his gaze.
Then she said, "Do I need to prepare something for you? In case you need to go?"
Lux’s expression softened. "I will need you."
Ely went still.
Lux did not make it sound romantic.
That made it heavier.
He looked at her properly.
"The place is sacred. Only for elves. The system already flagged elven bloodline access. If I go there without you, I might trigger every defense in the grove, the mountain, the spring, and whatever shrine is sleeping under that cursed poetic location."
Gula raised a finger. "Cursed poetic location is accurate."
Lux continued, "Also, the first elf answered your blood. Not mine. Not Yue’s chant alone. Yours."
Ely swallowed. "So I have to come."
"Yes."
The honesty again.
No pressure. No command. No Greed pulling her into his vault.
Ely nodded slowly. "I will try my best and see if I can take a break tomorrow."
Lux’s eyes narrowed slightly. "Don’t push yourself."
She blinked.
"It hasn’t been decided yet," he said. "We don’t rush into an ancient sacred site because one dead-voiced memory gave us an address and emotional damage."
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