Chapter 1176: Fortune and Calamity [Part 3]

"But Celestine doesn’t have anything to complain about." The voice came from behind them.

Lux turned.

Yue stood several steps away, arms folded beneath her chest, her long hair moving gently in the morning breeze. She looked composed again.

Mostly.

The tiny twitch near her eye suggested the calming session outside town had prevented at least one imaginary medieval estate from being burned to its foundations.

Yue approached. "And if this is a nightmare," she continued, "it should be Aurelia’s. Everything we’ve seen revolves around her suffering."

"True," Lullaby said.

Lux didn’t argue.

That made both women look at him.

He rested one ankle over his knee, gaze still fixed on the distant estate. "But you said the looping point happens whenever Aurelia tries to leave Celestine."

Lullaby nodded slowly. "Yes."

"So maybe we’ve misunderstood what the nightmare actually is."

Lux pointed toward the road where the carriage had disappeared. "We assumed the nightmare is Aurelia being trapped with Celestine because Aurelia is miserable." His finger shifted toward the estate. "But what if Celestine’s nightmare..." He paused. "...is Aurelia leaving her?"

Silence.

Even the cheerful noises of the marketplace suddenly felt strangely distant.

Lullaby blinked.

Yue’s expression changed.

Not disbelief.

Calculation.

She had apparently spent ten loops watching the sisters, which meant Lux had just handed her a different lens through which to reinterpret everything she’d already seen.

Finally, Yue murmured, "It could be."

Lux nodded.

"But..." Yue frowned. "Why?"

Lux looked at her.

"If Celestine doesn’t want Aurelia to leave, why would she do all that?" There was genuine frustration beneath Yue’s voice now. "Why humiliate her? Why manipulate her? Why let everyone treat her like filth? Why torture someone you desperately want to keep beside you?"

Lux stared toward House Valessa. "That..." His smile disappeared. "...is what I want to know too."

He’d seen possessiveness before.

Hell practically industrialized it.

Greed wanted to possess.

Lust wanted to desire and be desired.

Pride wanted recognition.

Envy wanted what belonged to another.

But possession didn’t always mean affection.

Sometimes people broke something specifically because they feared it could walk away intact. Make someone believe nobody else would love them. Make the outside world terrifying. Make independence feel like betrayal. Then stand beside the cage and call yourself their protector.

Lux hated how familiar the logic felt. Not personally. Structurally. It was the same architecture as a predatory contract.

Create dependency.

Restrict alternatives.

Increase the cost of leaving.

Then pretend staying was consent.

He clicked his tongue. "Annoying."

Lullaby tilted her head. "What?"

"Nothing. I’m beginning to dislike someone I haven’t spoken to yet."

Yue deadpanned, "That hasn’t stopped you before."

"Fair."

Lux stood and brushed imaginary dust from his coat. "But I’m assuming you two have already tried getting close to Aurelia."

Lullaby nodded. "Several times."

"More than several," Yue corrected.

Lullaby counted silently. "Nine?"

"We are on the tenth loop."

"I slept through parts."

Yue’s eyelid twitched again.

Lux decided not to investigate that marriage-threatening statement. "You’ve comforted Aurelia?"

"Yes."

"Protected her?"

"Yes."

"Convinced her Celestine is manipulating her?"

"Twice."

"Tried taking her away?"

Yue’s expression darkened. "Three times. And every route eventually causes a reset."

Lux nodded. "Then stop attacking the problem from Aurelia’s side."

Lullaby looked up. "What are you planning?"

Lux adjusted his cuffs. "You’ve spent ten loops getting close to Aurelia." His gaze drifted toward the hill. "I guess it’s my turn to get close to Celestine."

Yue stared at him.

Lullaby stared at him.

Lux stared back. "What?"

Lullaby’s mouth curved. "You want to try?"

"Yes."

"Getting close to the potentially obsessive woman who might unconsciously control an entire nightmare because she can’t tolerate her sister leaving?"

Lux smiled. "Just tell me my chance."

Yue considered it. "There will be a banquet tonight at Lord Valessa’s estate."

Lux’s eyebrows rose. "A banquet?"

"Yes. Nobles, merchants, military families. Celestine will be there. Aurelia too, although she’ll mostly be ignored unless Celestine keeps her nearby."

Lux’s smile slowly returned. "Perfect."

Apparently even nightmares understood Lux Vaelthorn performed best when surrounded by expensive alcohol, wealthy people and emotionally compromised nobility.

He took one step.

Stopped.

Looked down at himself.

His face darkened. "But first..." He turned toward Lullaby. "I need you to unlock my power." Lux placed a hand dramatically against his chest. "I’m the son of Greed, and I couldn’t even buy an apple."

Yue stared at him.

Lux continued, genuinely offended now. "Do you understand what that did to me? I had to put it back."

Lullaby’s lips twitched.

"The merchant wanted two copper. And I didn’t have two copper!"

"You’re crying over an apple?"

"I’m not crying. I’m experiencing economic humiliation."

Yue covered her face.

Lux pointed toward the marketplace. "I have managed infernal reserve systems. I’ve negotiated sovereign contracts. I own enough assets that Kaelmor is trying to weaponize government audits against my family. And five minutes after entering this dream, I became too poor to purchase fruit." He inhaled. "I feel more pathetic than a failure."

Lullaby finally laughed.

Not a sleepy chuckle.

An actual laugh.

"Fine."

Lux immediately straightened.

"But," she warned, "this dream world isn’t mine. I’m only an intruder with authority over dreams. Celestine or Aurelia, whoever the real host is, has far more control than I do. So I can only unlock a little."

Lux held out his hand. "A little Greed is still Greed."

Lullaby caught his wrist.

Her eyes glowed pale violet.

Dream energy curled around her fingers, sliding beneath Lux’s skin like cold silk.

The world trembled.

For one heartbeat, the marketplace blurred.

Buildings stretched.

Shadows lengthened.

Lux felt something inside him answer.

Faint.

Restricted.

But unmistakably his.

A tiny black-gold spark appeared above his palm.

Lux looked at it.

Lullaby released him.

"That’s all."

He tested the sensation.

No System.

But Greed was there. A fraction. A thread of authority. Enough for something.

Lux smiled. "Excellent."

Yue narrowed her eyes. "What are you planning to do with that?"

Lux looked toward the estate where the banquet would take place.

His smile became positively sinful. "First?" He glanced toward the fruit stall. "I’m buying that fucking apple."