Harem Startup : The Demon Billionaire is on Vacation-Chapter 747: Scapegoat Positioning

Chapter 747 – Scapegoat Positioning

He stripped off the jacket and shirt, dropping them onto the marble floor carelessly. The fabric landed soft but heavy.

The bathroom was wide and open, steam vents built into the walls. The bathtub sat near tall frosted windows, water already preheated to his preference through mansion automation.

He turned the faucet slightly anyway.

Hot water cascaded into the tub, steam rising slowly, curling against the ceiling.

He stepped in without hesitation.

The heat wrapped around him immediately.

Muscles he didn’t realize were tight finally loosened.

He sank down slowly until the water covered his chest.

Silence.

Just water.

Steam.

And breath.

He leaned back, closing his eyes.

The heat of the water pressed gently against his skin. Steam curled around the edges of the marble tub and blurred the gold-lined mirrors into something softer.

Just warmth.

His muscles finally unclenched enough for him to notice they had been clenched at all.

He exhaled slowly.

Then...

"Tell me, boss. Do you want me to investigate this?"

Lux didn’t open his eyes immediately.

He recognized that tone. Dry. Slightly smug. Slightly annoyed. Intelligent.

Corvus.

Lux cracked one eye open.

The raven was perched on the edge of the bathtub, black feathers sleek, head tilted just enough to suggest he already had fifteen data streams open somewhere.

Lux huffed softly.

"Not yet."

Corvus clicked his beak once.

"You’re serious."

"Yes."

Lux shifted slightly, water rippling around his chest.

"I need you to do it," he continued. "But not now. Too obvious."

The raven’s eyes glinted faintly.

"We are talking about the King. And the King owns half the surveillance arrays in this realm," he added.

Corvus fluttered his wings slightly.

"So you’re telling me to sit still."

"For now."

Lux let his head rest back against the cool marble edge.

"If you move too fast, you get caught. And if you get caught, it points to me."

Corvus went quiet.

That was agreement.

Another voice floated in from the side.

"Never thought the King also wants to kill you."

Lux didn’t need to look.

Zehar.

The slime sat on the counter like a glossy dark puddle with an opinion, faint ripples moving along his surface as he lazily sipped coffee from a cup he had absorbed into himself.

"I thought you were kinda his golden boy," Zehar added.

Lux snorted.

"What can I say?"

He closed his eyes again.

"I’m that famous even my King wants to kill me."

Corvus tilted his head.

"That’s not a flex."

Lux smirked faintly.

"Half flex."

Steam curled upward.

His chest rose and fell slowly.

The image of that spear flickered behind his eyelids again. The pressure. The weight of it. The stillness of the King’s gaze.

He didn’t say that part.

Instead he said, "Anyway."

He opened both eyes now and looked toward Zehar.

"Do you know who the dead ancient lord’s name is?"

Zehar’s surface stilled slightly.

"The King didn’t tell you?"

"No."

"That’s weird."

Lux nodded faintly.

"I bet someone powerful. But not flashy."

He lifted a hand out of the water and watched droplets slide down his fingers.

"No common lord uses infernal teleportation to pull a seraph out of limbo."

Corvus muttered, "That was insane, by the way."

"Yes." Lux’s jaw tightened slightly. "That requires authority. Huge power. So the king needs a big name."

Zehar let out a small bubbling sound. "Rhaevor."

The name landed heavy in the steam-filled air.

Lux turned his head fully now. "Rhaevor?"

"The Lord of Debt," Zehar clarified.

Corvus went still.

"...Damn."

Lux stared at Zehar.

"Even among the ancient Abyss Lords," Zehar continued, "he was one of the hardest to kill."

"How old."

"Older than you. Older than your father."

That hit.

Lux leaned back slowly.

Rhaevor.

The Lord of Debt.

Of course.

Of course it would be someone like that.

Debt was power.

Debt was control.

Debt was the spine of half the Abyss economy.

Lux exhaled.

"The good thing is," he said slowly, "Rhaevor also didn’t like me."

Corvus blinked. "That’s not good."

"The King did my work."

"That’s worse," Corvus replied.

Lux smirked faintly.

"Depends how you look at it."

He stared up at the ceiling.

Rhaevor had opposed him quietly. Subtle resistance in cross-realm funding. Shadow pressure on certain contracts. Nothing open. Nothing dramatic.

Old power protecting old structures.

Now he was dead.

And the King had done it.

Narrative control.

Scapegoat positioning.

Message sending.

Corvus spoke again.

"Other ancient Abyss Lords will come to you."

Lux’s eyes sharpened slightly.

"For revenge."

Steam thickened briefly as the water shifted around him.

He was quiet for a long second.

Then...

"Good."

Corvus’s head jerked slightly.

Zehar rippled.

"That’s not the reaction I expected," Corvus muttered.

Lux’s lips curved slowly. He turned his head toward Zehar. "I guess I’ll get a nice slime army after this."

Zehar made a loud, offended bubbling sound. "PU!"

Lux laughed softly.

"Now, now. Don’t be mad."

He leaned one arm over the edge of the tub casually.

"It’s better than dying."

Zehar’s surface flattened slightly.

"You cracked my core."

"And yet," Lux said lightly, "you’re here."

He gestured vaguely at the coffee.

"Sitting on my counter. Drinking my coffee."

Zehar made another displeased sound.

Lux’s smile softened just slightly.

"Life is good, Zehar. I will take some of your friends to serve me. Just. Like. You." 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

That line wasn’t a joke.

He sank deeper into the water.

The heat wrapped around him again.

Zehar didn’t say a thing this time.

The slime just went very, very still. A slow ripple passed through his surface like something thinking far too hard.

"...You’re serious," Zehar muttered.

Lux didn’t answer.

He didn’t need to.

Corvus let out a low whistle. "You really are the only bastard I know who says something like that after almost dying."

Lux cracked one eye open.

"Correction. After surviving."

Corvus laughed, sharp and amused. "Yeah. That’s why I like you."

Zehar bubbled quietly. He knew Lux wasn’t posturing. If ancient Lords started circling, Lux would harvest the opportunity. Recruit, bind, convert, absorb influence. That was who he was.

Greed didn’t waste a crisis.