MTLNOVEL Chapter 215: The Audacity
That stung a little. Mira hadn't even kissed him and she already wasn't sure she could pull away. And now he was saying the real danger came after the bond.
She sipped her water to cool the heat in her throat.
Then asked, too quietly. "Would you want someone like me?"
Lux blinked.
His expression didn't change, but his eyes darkened just a fraction. Sharper. Brighter.
"You're smart. Rich. Insufferably beautiful. You just kicked a demon to death in heels and summoned military-grade mana weapons from your thighs."
She blinked.
He grinned slowly.
"Yes. I would want someone like you."
Mira's pulse kicked.
She looked away.
Gods, what was she doing.
The check came like a lifeline.
She snatched it before he could.
He raised an eyebrow. "Really?"
"My treat."
"You just helped me. At least, let me pay."
"Still my treat."
Lux raised his hands in mock surrender, but he looked amused again. The kind of amused that held back something else.
Admiration.
Or maybe curiosity.
She stood, carefully adjusting her coat over her shoulders.
He stood too. Didn't touch her. Didn't crowd. Just watched.
"You're thinking too loud," he said.
She glared up at him. "No, I'm not."
"Yes, you are."
"I'm just wondering when you're going to kiss me."
The words slipped.
She froze.
Lux's eyes flared. Just a flicker.
Enough to feel like gravity reversed.
Then he stepped in.
Close.
Mira barely had time to process the distance closing between them before his fingers were in her hair.
Not pulling.
Not possessive.
Just brushing gently.
A soft graze near her temple, trailing through the strands as if memorizing them.
He didn't say anything right away.
Didn't kiss her.
She half-expected him to. Gods knew she basically asked for it.
But instead, his hand stilled… and his other one rose, the air shifting with that strange, silky weight—like gold getting ready to hum.
[Skill Activated: Wealth Rewrite — Boost]
[Target: Mira Xianlong]
[Applying Custom Boosts Based on Potential and Bond Status…]
[+20% Market Insight]
[+15% Magical Resource Detection]
[Temporary Incubus Protection Activated]
[New Trait Gained: "Gilded Foresight" – Temporarily sense the flow of wealth, investment shifts, and monetary fluctuations within a 3 km radius]
Mira blinked.
"…What?"
It wasn't painful. Wasn't even noticeable.
Just a low, invisible vibration running through her skin.
Like someone had rewritten the rules of her existence without leaving a scar.
Lux's hand dropped.
"That's my thank you," he murmured, voice low—right beside her ear.
Warm breath on skin.
Her heart jumped.
He didn't move back.
Not yet.
"Whenever you want kiss, tell me," he said, softer now. "No… I'll give you beyond a kiss."
His voice sank deeper, slower.
"You know where to find me. I'm a devil… but I know which woman is good for me. And which ones aren't."
Then he smiled—that smile—like sin dipped in velvet.
And walked away.
Not rushed.
Not cocky.
Just… certain.
He passed the waiters who still hadn't recovered from their last awkward postion, gave a nod to the koi pond like it was part of some long-forgotten ritual, and stepped through the restaurant doors without another glance.
No teleport.
No wings.
Just a man in a half-ruined designer shirt walking out like he owned the city.
And he probably did.
Mira didn't move.
Didn't call after him.
Didn't chase.
She just stood there for a long second. Frozen. Suspended in something sharp and hot and stupid.
Her pulse thumped.
Then again.
Then again.
Finally, she sat.
Back into the velvet-lined booth, hands resting on the table like she wasn't thinking about breaking it in half.
She picked up the tea again.
It had gone cold.
Didn't matter.
She sipped it.
Still sweet.
Still jasmine-infused.
Still annoyingly perfect, like the whole damn restaurant was part of some curated illusion.
She exhaled slowly.
The scent of roasted duck still hung in the air. The koi splashed somewhere nearby, uncaring. Waitstaff moved in the distance again, slightly faster now, trying to pretend they hadn't just seen a dragon heiress pin a demon heir beneath her like a scene out of a forbidden martial arts romance novel. Well, they didn't know Lux was a demon though.
Her hands shook.
Not visibly. Not enough to be obvious.
But she could feel it.
Under the skin. In the bone. In her chest.
She hated that.
And it wasn't because of the rat demons.
The rat demons had been terrifying. Vile, shrieking.
But she'd fought them before.
Not those exact ones, sure.
This was the first time she meet up with real demons.
But the type.
The threat level.
She could analyze. She could read movement. Adapt. Break them down piece by piece.
She knew the smell of dark power. She knew what a mana-overload signature looked like. She knew how to time her breathing between bursts of venom cloud so her lungs didn't blacken mid-swing.
They were horrible.
But not unknowable.
Lux?
He was something else.
Something designed to be unreadable.
The way he fought—like a businessman rewriting ledgers in blood. Efficient. Beautiful. Terrifying.
But what got under her skin wasn't just the power.
It was that he watched her.
Even while fighting.
Even while bleeding.
He watched.
Made sure she was okay.
Took blows away from her blindside. Nudged enemies just enough that they missed her by inches. Deflected a spell with a teleport. Slid between her and a collapsing column like it was just part of his lazy walk cycle.
And she hadn't even noticed most of it in the moment.
Now?
Now it pissed her off.
She clenched her jaw.
"What a bastard," she hissed under her breath.
How dare he be that powerful, that rich, that smug—and still play protector like some kind of dark knight on casual Friday.
She didn't need saving.
She didn't need looking after.
She—
Mira groaned and dropped her head into her hands.
"This is a dilemma," she muttered. "A literal, actual, hormone-induced dilemma."
The worst part?
She couldn't stop thinking about what he said.
That line.
"I want wives."
Not mistresses.
Not playthings.
Wives.
Like someone who wanted to build something that lasted.
Like someone who gave a damn.
The audacity.