Chapter 640: Affair Partner

Several platforms began descending from the skies, their enormous shadows sweeping across the buildings surrounding the intersection. Each carried a different Prince, and the moment they emerged from the clouds, the people gathered below raised their heads to watch.

The moment the platforms touched the ground, the reporters surged forward.

"My Prince, what was the ultimate decision of today’s Council meeting?"

"Is the Demon Race going to war against the Heavens or Earth?"

"Does the Council intend to retaliate against the recent attacks on the Underworld?"

"Prince Damian! Is it true that three Dukes have been executed following the attack on your residence?"

The questions came from every direction, each reporter shouting louder than the next. Recording shells spun through the air, capturing every word, while a few particularly bold journalists attempted to push past the Imperial Guards to get closer to the Princes.

The guards struggled to maintain order, but the crowd had already begun to swell around the descending platforms.

Damian paid them no attention.

His expression darkened as he stepped down from his platform, his white robes shifting around his legs.

A wave of demonic pressure rolled out from his body.

The reporters nearest to him immediately stumbled backward. Several recording shells dropped toward the ground before their owners hurriedly recalled them, while the more sensitive demons felt their knees weaken beneath the invisible weight.

Damian continued walking without slowing down, forcing a path through the crowd as the Imperial Guards scrambled to clear the way.

"Prince Damian, please give us a moment!"

"Just one question, my Prince!"

"Is the war declaration connected to the incident at your mansion?"

Damian ignored them all.

His palanquin stood a short distance away, Two attendants waited beside it, their heads bowed as he approached. One immediately stepped forward to open the door.

Damian was already reaching for it when he noticed something unusual. Someone was sitting inside.

He paused.

A familiar young woman sat comfortably on the cushioned seat, her leopard ears standing upright above her head. Her spotted tail curled lazily beside her, and her golden eyes brightened the instant they met his. She wore an elegant dress that suited her noble upbringing, though the mischievous smile on her face was hardly appropriate for someone who had entered another person’s private palanquin without permission.

Laura.

She raised a hand and waved at him as though she had been waiting for an old friend.

Damian stared at her for several seconds. Then he stepped inside, slid the door shut, and settled onto the opposite seat.

The noise from the reporters faded into a muffled roar. Inside the palanquin, the atmosphere became considerably quieter, leaving only the faint creaking of the wooden frame and the occasional vibration of the platform’s levitation array.

Damian crossed his arms and regarded the young woman with a cold gleam in his eyes.

Laura, naturally, seemed entirely comfortable.

"Congratulations on getting your heart’s desire," she said, cupping her fists in a polite gesture.

"Thank you."

His expression did not soften.

"However, you should understand something. I’m a married man with two wives and seven concubines. You can’t simply sneak into my carriages and palanquins whenever you feel like it. You’re sending the wrong message to my women."

Laura tilted her head.

"Then make me one of your women. You won’t have a problem then," she said, leaning forward with a smile that suggested she had just offered him a perfectly reasonable solution.

For a moment, Damian said nothing.

Laura possessed a particular kind of shamelessness that deserved its own classification.

He leaned back against the cushions and crossed one leg over the other.

"Are you aware that your father refused this on our very first meeting? He said he had a better suitor in mind."

Laura’s smile vanished.

"He wha—"

She shot to her feet so quickly that her head struck the ceiling.

Thud!

"Ah!"

Her ears flattened against her head as she dropped back onto the seat, both hands flying to the top of her skull. Her tail lashed violently behind her, betraying the anger that had momentarily been eclipsed by pain.

Damian watched her without moving.

"He did what?" she demanded, staring at him in disbelief.

"Your father refused the idea of you becoming one of my women."

"That old—"

Laura stopped herself halfway through the insult, apparently remembering that she was speaking about her own father. She rubbed her head, her expression twisting between indignation and disbelief.

Damian continued as though nothing unusual had happened.

"He said you deserved someone who would love you and only you. Someone who would make you his first priority rather than treating you as one woman among many."

Laura’s ears lowered slightly.

"And I agree with him," Damian added.

That caught her attention.

She looked up, her golden eyes narrowing as she tried to determine whether he was mocking her. However, his expression remained composed, and there was no trace of amusement in his voice.

"You’re too beautiful to become just one of my many girls," he explained. "You deserve someone that would love only you."

For the first time since he had entered the palanquin, Laura seemed uncertain about what to say. Her cheeks warmed faintly, and her tail stopped moving.

Then she remembered what they were discussing.

She almost stood up again, but her gaze drifted toward the ceiling. Apparently unwilling to suffer a second injury for the sake of her outrage, she remained seated and continued rubbing her head.

"It’s not for any of you to decide!"

Damian rolled his eyes. "But it has already been decided."

Laura’s ears twitched.

"What do you mean?"

"It was a verbal agreement made in the presence of Lord Astaroth himself. Your father expressed his wishes, and I accepted them. The matter was settled between us." He paused briefly before continuing. "If you act recklessly and force your father to go back on his word, don’t you think that would be a major blow to his image?"

Laura’s expression changed.

Her father was many things, but careless with his reputation was not one of them. Lord Paimon had spent countless centuries building the standing of his clan, cultivating relationships with influential nobles, and maintaining his position among the powerful figures of the Underworld. His word carried weight precisely because he did not make promises lightly.

A verbal agreement witnessed by Astaroth was not something he could casually dismiss.

Worse, the issue concerned his own daughter.

If Laura openly pursued a married Prince after her father had declared that he intended to find her a more suitable husband, the matter would quickly become public knowledge. The reporters outside would feast on the scandal. Rival clans would whisper about the Paimon family’s inability to control its own household, while their political enemies would find endless opportunities to question Lord Paimon’s authority.

Laura understood all of that.

She also hated every second of it.

Her father had made a decision concerning her future without consulting her, and now Damian was using that decision to keep her at a distance.

She folded her arms and glared at him.

"Then let’s do this. I came here to give you something that could help you, but you must first agree to make me your affair partner!"

The palanquin fell silent and Damian blinked. He stared at Laura as though he had begun to suspect that her father had somehow raised an entirely different creature from the daughter he claimed to know.

He had not expected her to propose an affair as though she were negotiating a trade agreement.

Laura, however, seemed determined to discover just how far she could push him.

"You’re seriously asking me to cheat on my wives and concubines?" Damian asked, raising a brow.

Laura looked genuinely offended. "How can someone who has seven concubines and two wives talk about cheating? Are you trying to frustrate my efforts?"

Damian laughed. It began as a low chuckle, but the sheer absurdity of her argument quickly overcame him. He leaned forward, covering his mouth with one hand, yet the laughter continued to escape between his fingers.

Laura puffed out her cheeks.

"What is so funny?"

Damian shook his head, still smiling.

"You really are something else."

He finally managed to compose himself, though the amusement remained in his eyes. The tension that had filled the palanquin when he first entered had disappeared, replaced by the sort of ridiculous conversation he would never have expected to have with the daughter of the High Censor.

"You gave my wife a hard time the other day," he said, his smile becoming more pronounced. "Isn’t it only reasonable that I stress you out a little?"

Laura’s expression stiffened.

"Fine. I’ll behave around your women from now on."

"And you won’t sneak into my palanquin again?" Damian raised a brow.

She hesitated and Damian’s smile disappeared.

Laura quickly raised both hands.

"Fine! I won’t sneak into your palanquin again without permission!"

"Better."

He settled back into his seat, satisfied that he had extracted a reasonable promise from her. Laura continued glaring at him, though the effect was diminished by the way her ears twitched every few seconds.

"All right. You will be my little affair partner."

Laura’s ears immediately perked up.

"Really?"

"Don’t look so pleased. This arrangement exists entirely because I’m curious about what you’ve brought me. If you disappoint me, I’ll reconsider the agreement." Damian said

Her expression fell slightly, but she recovered quickly.

"You’re a terrible man."

Damian extended a hand toward her, resting it on the space between their seats.

"Now, tell me about this thing that can help me."

Laura’s smile returned, though this time there was a hint of seriousness beneath it. She adjusted her dress and reached into the small storage pouch hanging at her waist.

Laura withdrew a small, dark object from her pouch. It was wrapped in a piece of silver cloth, bound with a thin golden thread. She placed it on the seat between them but did not immediately push it toward him.

"It’s connected to the old records of the Underworld. And according to the information I obtained, it may help you with the problem you’ve been trying to solve."

Damian did not touch it immediately.

His gaze remained fixed on the crystal as his mind began to turn over the possibilities. Laura had been reckless, shameless, and frustrating since the moment she entered his palanquin. Yet she was also Paimon’s daughter, and her clan possessed access to information that rarely reached the public.

If she had brought him something genuinely useful, then enduring her company for a few minutes was a small price to pay.

He finally lifted his eyes to hers.

"Explain."

Laura leaned forward, her earlier playfulness giving way to a more focused expression.

"First, you have to promise me something."

Damian’s eyes cooled.

"Laura."

"Just listen!" she protested. "I’m not asking you to marry me. I’m not asking you to abandon your wives. I only want you to hear me out before you decide whether to accept it."

He studied her for a moment.

Then he gestured toward the crystal.

"You have my attention. Don’t waste it."