CHAPTER 30: WOMEN TROUBLE

Lucius sat at the small but neatly arranged dining table, the faint scent of roasted herbs and spiced vegetables lingering in the air.

Steam rose from the dishes Elara had prepared, filling the room with a homely warmth.

The food tasted unusually sweet today — almost as if she had gone out of her way to tweak the flavors but Lucius wasn’t complaining.

His fork moved with steady rhythm, the clink of cutlery and the occasional sip of water the only sounds breaking the tense silence.

What he couldn’t ignore was the tension stretching across the room like a taut bowstring.

Luna had already freshened up, now wearing a thin white singlet and shorts that revealed more skin than Lucius expected.

She shifted in her seat, deliberately leaning back in a way that made her casual attire impossible not to notice.

He wondered what she was doing.

On the other side, Elara was seated with her legs crossed, sporting a loose black shirt that dangled all the way down to her lap.

Lucius recognized it immediately.

That was one of his shirts — hell the onr he wore yesterday.

Seeing her draped in it, possessively even, was... complicated.

’That’s definitely my shirt,’ he thought, stabbing at a piece of roasted potato. ’And she knows it too.’

Every now and then, he noticed Elara’s lips curl into a smug little smirk directed at Luna, who only responded with a visible scowl.

Clearly, something had happened while he was in the tub, but Lucius didn’t bother pressing.

If women wanted to have silent wars across the dining table, who was he to interfere?

He chewed slowly, shrugged inwardly, and moved on.

"Elara," he said after washing down his food with a sip of water, "were you able to get it?"

Her eyes lit up instantly, a victorious gleam dancing in the green depths.

It was subtle, but Lucius caught the way she turned slightly to shoot Luna a triumphant smirk, the kind of look that said: I handled business while you just sat pretty.

"Yes, Master," she replied, her tone smooth and confident. "I routed the funds through multiple offshore accounts, layered them so thoroughly that even if the sender gets released and hires every investigator in the city, they’ll never trace the trail back to you. Finally, I deposited it into your new account — and mine as well, just as you asked. The paper trail is nonexistent."

Lucius leaned back in his chair, genuinely pleased.

That was why he kept Elara around.

She wasn’t just beautiful; she was very reliable.

From the way Mist pulled out those funds, he wouldn’t be surprised if she was a billionaire working part time for fun, this Universe’s Batman.

’So she pulled it off cleanly. Good.’ He nodded, a rare smile tugging at his lips. "Perfect. That’s exactly what I wanted."

He already knew Valerian was involved with the bounty, it was common sense... who the hell places a bounty of billions on the head of a guy that awakened a day ago?

Besides it sounded just like the stuff that would happen in Romance fantasy so Lucius decided whatever schemes the man or the clan threw at him, he’d find a way to turn profit from the chaos.

"All according to plan," he muttered under his breath, before turning his gaze to Luna, who seemed far less interested in the meal than in him.

"And how are you settling in, Luna? Comfortable enough? We’ll be switching locations tomorrow, most likely."

Both women perked up immediately.

"To where?" they asked in unison.

Lucius smirked.

"Northcrest City. I’ve got a signing scheduled with Grimmaw GUILD. We’ll meet the GUILD Master tomorrow, so ideally we should leave tonight to keep things smooth."

At the mention of Grimmaw, Elara remembered the research she had done and smiled triumphantly.

While Luna got a look of awe. Grimmaw was one of the few guilds that still adhered to old Awakener principles, they wanted to protect.

’And he’s leaving the top GUILDS to join Grimmaw?’ She wondered, remembering that he had wanted to protect civilian lives even when they were getting attacked.

Her heart beat wildly in her chest.

"Leaving right now would just complicate things," he continued calmly, spearing another bite of meat. "So we’ll rest here until evening, then make the trip under cover."

"Alright," Luna said softly, almost in relief, while Elara nodded with her usual efficiency.

Then came the pause.

Lucius noticed Luna fidget with her fork, her eyes darting to him, then to Elara, then back again.

Something was bubbling inside her, a question perhaps, and finally, she set her fork down and leaned forward.

"But... can I ask you something?"

Lucius tilted his head. "Go ahead."

Her cheeks were flushed, her hands gripping the edge of the table tightly. "Do I... belong to you?"

The words lingered in the air like smoke.

For a moment, silence swallowed the room whole.

Lucius blinked.

He hadn’t expected such a direct question.

But why would he refuse such a lob?

He chuckled lightly and gave the simplest answer he could.

"Absolutely."

Her face lit up, but before she could bask in it, she immediately pointed across the table at Elara. "Then what about her?"

Elara raised her brows, crossing her arms, lips curved into a smile.

She didn’t need to speak — the way she stared at him said enough.

’Ah, so this is what’s been going on,’ Lucius realized with a sigh. ’They’re competing over who’s mine, sounds childish though.’

The solution, at least in his mind, was obvious.

He set down his utensils, leaned forward, and delivered the line as casually as if he were discussing the weather.

"Both of you do."

The reaction was priceless.

"E-eh?!" they both stuttered at once, their faces a mixture of shock, embarrassment, and confusion.

Lucius shrugged, pretending it was the most natural thing in the world.

"I don’t feel comfortable handing either of you over to another man. And honestly... I don’t want to lose either of you. So yes. Both of you belong to me."

He said it smoothly, but inside? He was dying.

’God, I’ve said more cringe in these last few days than in my entire past life combined,’ he groaned inwardly, feeling the weight of secondhand embarrassment pressing on his chest.

’I can’t keep pulling lines like this forever. My soul won’t survive it. Please tell me there aren’t people seeing this.’

But outwardly, he maintained composure, picking up his glass of water like nothing had happened.

The girls were silent, still processing, but silence meant no rejection — and that was a victory in itself.

Lucius took the win.

Standing, he stretched lazily, rubbing at the back of his neck.

"Elara, I’ll be sleeping for a bit. Wake me up in the evening, around sundown."

"Yes, Master," she said immediately, inclining her head with a curtsey.

He disappeared into the bedroom, leaving the two women staring daggers at one another across the table.

The silence between them was heavier than steel.

Finally, Elara spoke first, her smirk returning. "We’ll just see who matters to Master more, won’t we?"

Luna’s jaw tightened, but she lifted her chin stubbornly. "Fine by me. Just don’t think you’ve already won."

The two of them shared a silent agreement.