Harem Startup : The Demon Billionaire is on Vacation
Chapter 136: Jewelry Queen

Chapter 136: Jewelry Queen

Chapter 136 – Jewelry Queen

Lux leaned back in his seat. The lights dimmed slowly, transitioning from post-show glamour into something darker, quieter—more dangerous. The kind of dim where fortunes changed hands in silence and the air smelled like ambition, ancient cologne, and far too many secrets wrapped in perfume.

The auction was beginning.

And just when he thought the chaos might take a breath—

[System Notification – Emotional Scan Complete.]

[30 Wealth-Ranked Females within 50-meter radius have developed elevated interest in you.]

[Estimated Net Worth Range: $89 million – $122.3 billion.]

[Action Suggestion: Start your own show. Or strip on the stage. Your choice.]

Lux blinked.

"What the hell?!" he thought. "No. I’m here for a date!"

[A date? Sir, you are flanked by four heiresses. Your pheromone range is currently maxed. You are, by appearance and behavior, establishing what mortal realm tabloids call a "soft-launch harem."]

Lux rubbed his temple, jaw tightening.

"Don’t remind me. I’ll f*ck who I want to f*ck, not whoever drools loudest."

[Are they within your standard? Please specify parameters.]

He glanced down the row casually.

Rava was crossing her legs in that violently elegant way she always did when she was annoyed but intrigued. Her fingers played with the rim of her second wine glass, tentacles sneaking just barely out from under the tablecloth.

Yeah. Rava was his. Already tangled up in him. Officially.

"She’s mine," Lux admitted internally. "Now it depends on the others."

Fiera sat closest to the stage, legs crossed tight, eyes fixed on the display of artifacts being wheeled out under velvet. Her fingers tapped lightly on her thigh in a tempo only she understood. But she hadn’t looked at him again. Not since they got off the stage. Not once.

Which only made it worse.

She was trying not to look.

Trying not to want.

Fiera Ninevyn didn’t want to share. She wanted to own. Claim. Wrap him in silk and sin and keep him. And if it weren’t for the very public setting and the billion-dollar audience, Lux suspected she’d have already dragged him back behind the curtain and made him model the suit on her couch. Naked.

Then his eyes slid to Mira.

Oh yeah.

The dragon heiress.

Still unreadable. Still too quiet. But watching.

Mira Xianlong had the resting gaze of someone who could crash a bank with a whisper and buy your hometown just to shut it down. She sat poised, perfectly aligned, but her pupils dilated just a bit too wide every time she glanced at him. Her nostrils flared—not subtly—when the wind shifted and his cologne hit her.

She looked like she wanted to devour him.

But wasn’t going to do it.

Yet.

Because Mira couldn’t pounce on him here.

Too much pride.

Too much image to maintain.

But the moment the lights dropped and the event ended...

Yeah, she’d be in striking distance.

She was playing slow-burn predator.

Lux smirked to himself, reaching lazily for the glass of dark whiskey on the table.

Then—

[System Alert: Unknown Signal Detected. Emotional Flare – High-Rank Intensity.]

[Classification: Royal-Class – Identified Affinity: Envy / Covet.]

[New Threat or Interest? Scanning...]

[Designation: Lylith Seravelle. Status: Lamia. Jewelry Queen. Auction Overseer. Flirt Probability: 57%. Acquisitional Intent: 83%.]

Lux’s eyebrow twitched.

"Coordinate."

[System Response: Directly behind you. Second row. Royal section. You’re being watched. Closely.]

He didn’t turn.

Didn’t shift.

Just blinked slowly and tilted his head slightly, angling his face toward the stage like he was watching the next item being revealed... even though his mind was spinning like a coin mid-flip.

Lylith Seravelle?

That Lylith?

She was watching him.

Hard.

The air got warmer. Or maybe it was just his skin.

He shifted in his seat, but smoothly. Casually. Not like a man hunted. But like one very aware that he had just become the most expensive thing in the room.

Again.

On cue, the host took the stage.

A man in a sapphire-trimmed coat stepped into the spotlight—tall, grinning, with that smooth theatrical voice trained by years of lying to rich people.

"Ladies and gentlemen," he purred. "Welcome to the Midnight Auction. As always, we open the bidding with an item pulled from the deepest vaults of forbidden territory, blessed and cursed by three religions, and—if the rumors are true—capable of making your rivals weep in twelve languages."

A chuckle passed through the elite seats.

Rava scoffed. "That’s not even the record."

Elyndra muttered, "Not impressive unless the tears are flammable."

"Tonight’s first item..." the host continued, as velvet curtains drew back, revealing a floating pedestal orbited by soft golden light, "...a Seer’s Eye. Untouched. Unnamed. One of a kind."

A hush swept the crowd.

Lux didn’t even blink.

Because right now?

He had a predator behind him.

A fox beside him.

A dragon watching him.

A kraken curling around snacks.

And an elf pretending not to care while clearly caring way too much.

His head tilted slightly toward Rava. "If I jump out that window now, will you cover for me?"

"Nope," she said, sipping her wine. "But I’ll send flowers to the crash site."

Fiera turned slightly, sharp eyes cutting through her lashes. "No one’s jumping anywhere. Sit still and look pretty."

"I always do," Lux replied without missing a beat.

Mira didn’t say a word.

But her phone had stopped scrolling. And her fingers were no longer on the screen.

She was watching now. All in.

Lux exhaled slowly, lips twitching at the edges.

He was here for a date.

Really.

That’s how this started.

And now?

He was bait.

Or the baiter.

Possibly both.

His system chimed again—annoyingly cheerful.

[Sir, with current interest levels and threat potential, we suggest: Building your own auction. Possibly selling pieces of clothing.]

Lux groaned internally.

"Oh, please—"

[Or yourself. Sir, do you know how much your jacket is worth now that you wore it on that stage?]

"I swear, if you suggest stripping one more time—"

[Just checking. Emotional resonance across the room still climbing. Suggest monitoring the Lamia. Her tail’s tightened twice.]

Lux took another sip of his whiskey, eyes never leaving the stage.

He could feel it.

The heat of it.

Every gaze. Every breath.

The rest of his vacation might get very, very expensive.

Or deliciously stupid.

Or both.