bookandnovel Chapter 928: You Appear Functional
Chapter 928: You Appear Functional
Lux opened one eye. "It isn’t time yet.""It is for me."
"That’s not how scheduled invitations work."
"It is when I say it is."
Lux stared.
Selena stared back.
Her expression remained calm, but there was something in her eyes. A faint glimmer. Barely there. Almost amusement.
Lux narrowed his eyes. "You’re enjoying this."
"I am performing my duty."
"You are enjoying performing your duty."
"Possibly."
Selena’s gaze drifted briefly to the shower wall, politely avoiding unnecessary detail now that the initial divine ambush had already committed several crimes against privacy.
Lux sighed. "Right. Give me five minutes."
Selena lifted an eyebrow. "Five?"
"I need to appear decent."
"You appear functional."
"I am not going to the Upper Celestial Office dressed like ’Accountant in Tax Season’ aesthetic."
Selena looked at him slowly. "What does that mean?"
"It means tired, underpaid, morally dead, and smelling faintly of panic."
"You are none of those things."
"I am emotionally all of them right now."
Selena actually looked amused this time.
Lux pointed toward the bathroom door without fully turning. "Out."
"I can wait here."
"No."
"I have seen—"
"Do not finish that sentence. You’re a goddess."
Selena’s expression remained innocent.
A goddess-level innocent.
The most suspicious kind.
Lux narrowed his eyes again. "You celestial women are much more dangerous than your public image suggests."
"We know."
"That was not a denial."
"It was not meant to be."
Lux stared at her. Then sighed in defeat. "Five minutes. Outside."
Selena looked at him for one second longer than necessary.
Not in a scandalized way.
Not even in a flustered way.
More like she was calmly confirming whether the troublesome demon in front of her could be trusted to obey a five-minute deadline without somehow turning it into an economic incident.
Lux did not appreciate being assessed like a celestial parcel.
"I can keep time," he said.
"I know."
"Then why are you looking at me like that?"
"Because you can keep time and still cause problems within the time."
Lux pointed toward the door again. "Outside."
Selena’s lips curved slightly, soft as moonlight and twice as dangerous because it looked innocent. Then she finally turned away, her silver-blue glow folding around her body as she walked through the bathroom door with the calm dignity of a goddess who had absolutely invaded someone’s shower and saw no reason to apologize for it.
The door closed.
Lux stared at it.
The water kept falling.
For three seconds, he simply stood there.
Then he muttered, "Heaven has no respect for privacy."
The system chimed faintly.
[Observation: You are scheduled for a formal Upper Realm meeting.]
"I am aware."
[Recommendation: Expedite grooming process.]
"Thank you, system."
He shut off the water and moved fast.
Efficient.
Lux Vaelthorn did not rush. Rushing implied lack of control. He optimized speed.
There was a difference.
He stepped out of the shower, towel in hand, and dried himself with the kind of automatic precision that came from having done crisis preparation far too many times.
Board meeting in five minutes? Done.
Assassination attempt interrupted breakfast? Fine.
Celestial summons while naked? Apparently also a category now.
His life had become a ridiculous spreadsheet where every disaster had its own tab.
He dried his hair, ran a hand through it, then paused in front of the mirror.
His reflection stared back.
Clean.
Awake.
Just a handsome, composed man with red eyes, damp hair, and the expression of someone who had already calculated five ways to weaponize a divine emergency meeting.
He stepped out of the bathroom.
Selena was waiting in his chamber.
Not outside the suite.
Not in the hall.
No.
Inside his chamber.
Standing near the window, hands folded neatly in front of her, silver hair falling like moonlight over her shoulder. The morning sun behind her should have made her look out of place, but somehow she turned the light colder simply by existing there.
Lux stopped for half a second. "Outside meant outside the bathroom?"
"Yes." Selena’s gaze flicked over him.
Only briefly.
So brief most people wouldn’t notice.
Lux noticed.
He was an incubus, not a decorative lamp.
She looked away again almost immediately, but there was something in that tiny stolen glance. Not lust, exactly. Selena was too controlled for something that simple. More like acknowledgment. A quiet, unwilling recognition that yes, Lux Vaelthorn fresh from the shower, half-dressed and still carrying that dangerous calm, was objectively a nice view.
Lux’s eyes narrowed slightly. "Did you just check me out?"
Selena’s expression remained serene. "No."
"Liar."
"I observed readiness."
"That is a very celestial way to say yes."
"I did not say yes."
"You didn’t need to."
He moved toward the wardrobe.
The motion was smooth, practiced, automatic. He took out his clothes like he had done this thousands of times before, because in many ways he had. Not this exact meeting, obviously. The category was new. But preparing himself before facing dangerous rooms? That was old. Ancient, almost. His entire life had been rooms full of people pretending not to threaten him.
Infernal boardrooms.
Noble courts.
House negotiations.
Same disease. Different furniture.
He chose a dark formal outfit first. Black shirt. Structured coat. Clean lines. Expensive but not loud. Mortal luxury tailored with infernal precision. It made him look less like a king and more like the person kings borrowed money from when their kingdoms started making bad decisions.
Appropriate.
He buttoned the shirt, adjusted the cuffs, and combed his damp hair back with his fingers.
Exactly five minutes.
Selena glanced at the time and gave a small nod. "You are punctual."
"I am deeply offended that this surprised you."
"It did not surprise me."
He turned toward the mirror again.
"Should I wear the holy robe you guys gave me last time?"
Selena’s answer came immediately. "Wear it."
Lux looked at her through the mirror.
"This meeting is formal," Selena said. "But the invitation did not mention the Infernal Realm or your king."
Lux’s expression sharpened.
He had noticed that too.
Personal.
Formal.
Private.
Sent to him.
To Lux Vaelthorn.
That mattered.