NOVEL NEXT Chapter 303: I Want to See You Win
Lux knew the look.
It was the same look his father used before revealing someone owed the Vault a favor they forgot they signed. It was the same look his mother wore before making a deal sound like love.
He straightened slowly. "Celestaria."
Her voice was quiet, but crisp. "He's not the only one."
Lux blinked once. Then sat again, this time leaning forward, one arm draped over his knee, fingers steepled. "Go on."
Celestaria exhaled, soft. Tired. Like she'd been waiting to say this to someone for too long.
"I can't confirm if Aelius ordered the attack," she said. "But I've been tracking a series of fund shifts—disguised donations—through smaller planets aligned to Heaven's Justice Wing. Not public realms. Hidden ones. The kind used for strategic resource transfers… and off-record enforcement."
Lux's jaw tightened. "Contractless zones."
"Exactly."
She turned her palm up, and a thin strip of light floated above it—a holographic thread of signatures, faded seals, blurred crests.
"All of this," she said, "started moving just before your bounty notice surfaced. Which, by the way, wasn't formally approved by any known Council channel. It was tagged, but not registered."
"So rogue."
"Yes."
"And they let it through?" Lux asked. "The wards didn't flag it?"
She gave him a thin smile. "The wards flagged it. I had to dig into the suppression logs. Someone force-muted the alert."
He ran a hand through his hair, breathing out slowly. "And you're just now telling me this?"
"I had to be sure."
His gaze snapped to hers again. "So what? You waited because you didn't want me to storm Heaven in my battle form and slap someone with a soul-finance audit?"
"No," she said softly. "I waited because I knew you would figure it out. And because I needed more than a theory before I presented it to the Court."
Lux watched her. Really watched her.
And saw it.
The lines under her eyes. The restraint in her posture. The weight.
Celestaria hadn't just been waiting.
She'd been protecting him. In her own way.
Lux leaned back, shoulders rolling in that lazy, infuriatingly fluid way of his, white suit stretching just right across his chest. "So. It's Kaelis and Aelius, possibly more. We both know they wouldn't act unless someone upstairs gave them indirect clearance."
Celestaria's lips pressed together. "Yes."
"Means," Lux murmured, "someone higher is playing a longer game."
She nodded.
Then Lux smiled again—but it wasn't charming. It was cold. Almost cruel.
"Time to start moving the board."
Celestaria tilted her head. "I assume you've already started?"
He gave her a playful look. "Oh, sweetheart. I'm always playing."
She stared at him. And for a moment, her face softened. The formal veneer cracked just a hair.
"I don't like seeing you like this," she whispered. "In white. Playing nice. Smiling like everything's fine."
He paused. "And yet here I am."
"Yeah." Her voice dipped lower. "You're here. Wearing angel's clothes. Hiding your real scent. Drinking tea that tastes like guilt. Pretending to be calm."
Lux stood again, slower this time. He approached her.
She stood too.
They were too close now.
Not scandalously so—but enough that the distance felt... fragile.
Lux reached out, fingers brushing hers for just a second. Not a grab. Just a contact.
"Then tell me what you do want to see," he said, voice low.
Celestaria's breath caught. Barely.
He could feel the pulse at her wrist.
Fast.
She looked up at him, all restraint and sharp elegance.
And then—she looked away.
"I want to see you win," she said. Quietly. "Even if it's not with me."
Lux didn't flinch.
Didn't mock. Didn't smirk.
Just watched her.
And for once, said nothing.
Because yeah.
That hit deeper than most confessions.
Before he could answer, there was a knock at the door.
"Lady Celestaria," a voice said, feminine, lilting. "The goddesses have arrived."
Celestaria stepped back, adjusting her robe with the smallest shift.
She cleared her throat. "Let them in."
Lux took a long sip of milk, brushing away the tension with practiced ease, even as his heart still echoed her words.
'Even if it's not with me.'
The doors opened.
And in stepped—
Selena.
And Solara.
The Moon and the Sun.
Both radiant.
Both looking directly at him.
And Lux?
He was already sipping his milk like this was just a brunch meetup and not an extremely awkward convergence of goddesses who had, at some point, each tried to discreetly—and not-so-discreetly—flirt with him between divine councils, realm audits, and demon-extermination campaigns.
The moment Selena stepped in, the room temperature dropped by two degrees.
Then came Solara.
And naturally, the room flared again.
They both saw Lux.
And their expressions faltered.
Just a little.
Just enough.
Lux leaned back, leg crossed, white suit glowing under the lights like he belonged there. Like he wasn't a devil wrapped in sanctified fabric. Fake blue eyes gleaming. Aura suppressed. Smirk optional.
"Ladies," he greeted smoothly, setting his glass down. "Didn't expect both of you."
Selena gave a soft nod. "We asked to join this meeting."
Solara's voice was tighter. "We needed to."
Celestaria, now back in full composed mode, gestured for them to sit.
They did.
On either side of Lux.
Oh.
Well then.
He didn't comment. Didn't flinch. Just blinked once and gave a very quiet exhale. Because yeah—he felt it. The tension. The warmth of Solara's thigh brushing his left. The ghost of Selena's moonlight brushing his right. Both of them… very close.
And nervous.
Which was rare. Rare enough that Lux clocked it instantly.
He tilted his head slightly, voice dropping just enough to be intimate. "Alright. What's got Heaven's poster girls looking like they just walked into a heresy trap?"
Solara cleared her throat, brushing invisible dust off her lap. "We were reviewing what happened in Aurealis."
"With me?" Lux asked, brows raised. "Or with the other little disasters you've been pretending not to notice?"
Selena answered first. "With you. With the ambush. And the moment you and I were separated."
Her voice was soft. But there was a steel edge under it.