Harem Startup : The Demon Billionaire is on Vacation

Chapter 966 – Outthink a King

At first, he thought the lights had been left on.

A warm glow spilled from several lamps. Soft, golden, low enough not to wake anyone. The table in the center of the living room was cluttered with devices, papers, old books, open tablets, half-empty tea cups, one abandoned plate of sweets, and several blankets.

Then he saw them.

His women.

Asleep.

All of them.

Gula wasn’t there.

Probably in the kitchen.

Or pantry.

Or spiritually communing with cake somewhere.

But the others...

Lux stood at the doorway, silent.

Sira had fallen asleep on the sofa with a tablet resting against her thigh. Her head tilted sideways, hair spilling over one shoulder, lips slightly parted. One hand still held a stylus, and on the screen were notes about Pride archives, old royal announcements, and a highlighted phrase ”pre-royal witnesses of oath.”

Naomi sat in an armchair, asleep with her laptop open on her lap. The screen showed Delacour estate records, old survey documents, property anomalies, and a map of the strange ruins she had mentioned. Her posture was still elegant even asleep, but her fingers rested near the keyboard like she had tried to keep working until her body betrayed her.

Rava was curled near the low table, blue hair falling like a wave over her shoulder. Beside her lay old sea maps projected from her tablet, overlapping with modern coordinates. Several points were circled in deep blue.

Mira had fallen asleep upright.

Dragon pride apparently refused full collapse. She sat with arms crossed, head slightly lowered, tablet still glowing beside her. The screen showed Xianlong family archive requests, mountain prison records. Even asleep, she looked like she might judge someone for breathing incorrectly.

Fiera lay across one end of the couch, nine tails tucked around herself like a living blanket. One of her hands rested on an open old clan book, the pages covered in fox symbols and family marks. Her laptop displayed searches about forgotten nine-tail matriarchs, spirit courts, dream clans, and sealed illusion shrines. A pen had rolled onto the floor near her feet.

Ely slept with her head on folded arms at the table.

Lux’s gaze stayed on her longest.

An old elven book lay open beside her. Not the ancient manuscript. Something from her own family records, filled with elegant script and ceremonial references. Her healed finger rested near the edge of the page. She had probably tried to continue searching for anything tied to the first elf, even after what happened.

A blanket covered her shoulders.

Naomi’s, likely.

Or Rava’s.

Lullaby was asleep on the floor near the sofa, half-buried in pillows, with a book open upside down on her stomach. Sloth archives. The title looked painfully boring. She had not made it far. But several bookmarks stuck out from the pages anyway, meaning she had tried. That mattered.

Yue sat near the window, eyes closed, posture still elegant. Not fully asleep perhaps, but resting in that cultivation-like stillness of hers. A small scroll rested in her lap, ancient characters inked across it.

Lux did not move.

The room was full of quiet breathing.

Soft light.

Abandoned research.

Proof.

Not proof against Kaelmor.

Proof against something inside him.

That ugly old belief that work followed him because no one else would carry it.

That if he stopped, everything fell.

That if he rested, someone he loved would become collateral.

But here they were.

Asleep in his living room.

Laptops open.

Tablets glowing.

Books scattered.

Searching through their family histories, old maps, ancient rumors, and forgotten bloodlines while he locked himself in his room trying to outthink a king.

Lux’s throat tightened.

Just slightly.

Annoying.

He looked away for half a second and focused on the tea objective.

Tea.

He came out for tea.

Very simple. But found something else.

Then his mouth moved before he could stop it.

”What have I done...”

The whisper barely touched the room.

No one woke.

They were exhausted.

Because of him.

Lux slowly exhaled.

”I came to this realm for vacation.”

That had been the plan.

A deeply reasonable plan made by a demon who had spent centuries being crushed under responsibilities that weren’t supposed to belong to him.

He came here to drink coffee.

To sleep.

To breathe.

To wear expensive mortal clothes and pretend market crashes were not his problem.

To have fun.

To maybe make an heir, because apparently even his vacation goals were aggressively infernal and biologically dramatic.

To live like a man instead of an institution.

And now?

Now the women around him were asleep under research notes because he had dragged them into another war made of kings, ancient contracts, hidden bloodlines, trapped beings, and political extinction.

Lux’s jaw tightened.

He knew what they would say if they were awake.

They would say he didn’t drag them.

They would say they chose.

They would say they loved him.

Lux moved carefully.

He went to Sira first.

She was closest. That was his excuse. A poor one, but available.

He crouched beside the sofa and gently took the tablet from her hand. The screen dimmed under one flick of his finger. Her notes were saved automatically.

Lux’s expression softened despite himself. ”Show-off,” he murmured.

Sira shifted slightly, but did not wake.

He slid one arm behind her back and the other beneath her knees, lifting her with practiced ease. She curled instinctively toward his chest, even asleep, cheek brushing against him.

Dark-gold light folded around them.

A blink later, Sira was in her room.

Lux laid her on the bed, removed her shoes with Telekinesis, tucked the blanket around her, and placed her tablet and stylus neatly on her desk. He paused only long enough to brush a strand of hair from her face.

Then he teleported back.

Naomi next.

Naomi’s head rested against his shoulder, her breathing soft and steady. Lux placed her in her room with care, tucked the blanket beneath her chin, and set the laptop on her desk beside her notes.

Rava followed.

He looked down at her.

His chest tightened again.

”You too, huh?”

Mira was harder.

Because when Lux tried to lift her, her dragon instincts almost reacted. A faint golden aura flickered around her before his hand touched her shoulder.

Lux stopped.

”Mira,” he whispered.

Her aura settled.

Just like that.

He carried her to her room, and even asleep, she looked faintly offended by being princess-carried. Lux almost smiled. He tucked her in anyway and placed her tablet on her desk with the Xianlong archive request still saved.