CHAPTER 289: YOU CAN’T BUY LOVE

Chapter 289 – You Can’t Buy Love

He paused, tapping his cup thoughtfully. "...Should I invite the goddesses too?" He shook his head immediately. "Nah. Later. Ely and Fiera still don’t know I’m a demon."

Naomi tilted her head, curious. "Wait. Does that mean Mira knows?"

Lux nodded once, smirk thinning into something more serious. "She knows. She fought demons with me. Two days ago. We beat them together." He frowned suddenly, his eyes narrowing. "And... she hasn’t contacted me since. That’s weird."

Naomi and Rava exchanged a glance—an entire silent conversation in half a second.

Naomi cleared her throat delicately. "Oh, don’t worry about that. Mira rarely... makes the first move."

Rava leaned back, smirking knowingly. "She’s kind of like Sira. Prideful. Very prideful."

Lux exhaled slowly, drumming his fingers on the table. Pride. Of course. His lips quirked faintly.

"Also... I want to talk about the cars."

Naomi and Rava both glanced up. Rava tilted her head. "What about them?"

He set his coffee down, fingers curling around the handle like he needed the anchor. "What kind of cars do you want? That yacht with wheels? I can give it to you."

For a moment there was only silence—then both women broke into laughter. Soft at first, then spilling over into something bright that cut through the still morning air. Naomi covered her mouth, trying to be polite about it. Rava just grinned wide, her shoulders shaking.

"No, Lux," Naomi said finally, still giggling. "We don’t need that."

"Definitely not," Rava added, smirking at him.

He blinked, taken aback. "Why not? I mean—after what happened last night, I feel like..." He trailed off, fumbling for the words.

Naomi’s brows arched, her lips curving in a half-smile. "Feel like what? That you need to give us something? Like you owe us?"

Lux swallowed, the back of his neck prickling. "...Yes. Isn’t that how a relationship works? Give and take? Mutual exchange?"

Rava’s smirk softened into something gentler. She leaned forward, resting her chin in her palm. "And what makes you think you need to give us something just because we became your girlfriends?"

The question hit harder than it should have.

Lux froze, the words tangling in his throat. He wanted to answer, to pull something clever or flirty, but nothing came. Because the truth was—it sounded transactional. Like a contract. Like business. And wasn’t that all he knew?

He leaned back, exhaling, eyes drifting to the marble floor. "Because... I don’t know how else to make it mutual. This—" his hand gestured vaguely, helplessly, "—this is what I understand. Spoiling. Providing. Paying people back with things that hold value. Cars. Gifts. Money. That’s what a Greed does. That’s what I was taught. That’s what I am."

His voice dipped lower, rougher. "I don’t know what else to give. Unless..." His eyes flicked up, searching theirs. "...unless there’s something you want besides that."

Naomi’s lips curved softly, her voice quiet but steady. "Your heart."

Rava didn’t laugh this time. She didn’t tease. She just smiled, slow and gentle, her tentacle brushing his wrist under the table.

Lux stared at them. His first instinct was to scoff, make a joke, flirt it away like he’d done a thousand times before. He’d heard those words his whole life—in seduction, in contracts, in manipulations whispered in Lust’s courts. Sweet lines meant to sway.

But this didn’t sound like that.

No, this was different.

This was genuine.

And for the first time in a long, long time—Lux had no comeback.

"You’re speechless," Rava said softly, her smile curving sadder at the edges.

Lux let out a sharp breath that almost sounded like a laugh. "I am. Because..." His eyes burned faintly, though he masked it with a grin. "...because I’m Greed and Lust. My whole damn life, I’ve only understood how to pay people with money, and how to bond them with contracts. I don’t understand..." He hesitated, fingers tightening against the cup. "...any of this."

Naomi’s gaze softened. She reached across the table, brushing her fingers over his hand. "You mean... you’ve never accepted something that didn’t demand anything in return?"

Lux opened his mouth, ready to deny it—then stopped.

Closed it again.

Because she was right.

His mind flipped through two centuries of memories like ledgers in a vault. Every deal. Every alliance. Every gift. Every kiss. Nothing had ever been free. Everything cost something.

And when something looked free? It always cost double later.

That was the first law of Greed. That was what Zavros taught him. That was how Hell worked. That was the truth he’d built his empire on.

So when Naomi said your heart, when Rava looked at him like that... he didn’t know how to process it.

Lux leaned back slowly, his red eyes dimmer than usual. "Two hundred years," he muttered, almost to himself. "And I’ve never... I’ve never had that. Anything given without demand." He huffed a bitter laugh. "Hell. Even my birth wasn’t free. My parents. They bonded me to expectation before I could walk. Everything’s always been a transaction. I’m their biggest investment and asset."

The words hung heavy between them.

Naomi squeezed his hand gently. "We’re not asking for contracts, Lux. Or gifts. Or cars."

Rava tilted her head, voice quieter now. "We’re asking for you."

Lux’s throat tightened. He looked between them, his usual wit gone. Just raw, quiet confusion mixed with something deeper. Something dangerous.

Because he wanted to give them that.

But how did a man born of Greed and Lust even begin to?

The silence stretched. His heart pounded in his chest like a clock ticking too loud.

Finally, he let out a shaky breath and whispered, "I... don’t know how."

Naomi’s smile was sad but warm. "Then let us teach you."

Rava’s tentacle brushed his wrist again, tender, steady. "You don’t have to buy our love, Lux. Just... stay with us. Be here. That’s enough."

Lux’s hand trembled slightly as he pulled it away—not to retreat, but to cover his face. He laughed, but it broke in the middle, like his voice couldn’t decide if it wanted to joke or shatter.

"You two are going to ruin me worse than any contract."

Naomi leaned closer, her head tilting against his arm. "That’s the point."

And for the first time that morning, Lux felt something he couldn’t price, couldn’t calculate, couldn’t audit.

It terrified him.

And he never wanted to let it go.