Chapter 133

Velrathis Empire – Lightning Peak Building

Tuf stood motionless at the edge of the open-air veranda of his office, jaw clenched so tightly that his teeth threatened to crack. The wind whipped past him, sharp and electric at this altitude, but he didn't feel it.

Next to the Dark Tower Castle, the Lightning Peak was the tallest structure in all of Velrathis, rising 333 floors above the ground. His private penthouse occupied half of the entire top floor. The other half was his domain: the heart of his business empire, his command center.

From where he stood, the world below was a blur. People looked like insects. Private transports hovered like silver fish in the skies, zipping between buildings like threads in a moving tapestry.

The empire had thrived for over a thousand years under their father's rule. Progress surged through the demi-human lands like wildfire, outpacing the slow, sluggish crawl of human kingdoms that clung desperately to outdated magic and fractured politics.

And soon, Tuf would be leaving it all behind, crossing beyond the Mist, assuming a false identity to live among humans.

Creatures he so deeply despised.

To observe them. To study them. Because one of them, some unknown insect, had awakened one of the six Holy Beasts.

Until his father issued the next command, Tuf didn't know when, or if, he would return. He would have to leave everything behind, his empire, his network, his influence.

But that wasn't what infuriated him.

No. The Lightning Peak could run a hundred years without him, and none of his enemies would dare bankrupt his holdings.

It wasn't the thought of leaving… but the elf approaching him that made his blood boil.

"Master Tuf," Naelira called softly.

"Master Tuf," he repeated mockingly, spinning to face her. His voice was soaked in venom. "You call me that… and yet you undermine my authority."

His eyes locked onto hers, cold, glowing, merciless.

Naelira froze.

She had seen Tuf direct this gaze at enemies, those unfortunate enough to challenge him. None of them had fared well. But in all her five centuries of loyal service, he had never looked at her like this.

Not until now.

Naelira saw it in his eyes, rage, fury, sadness... and finally, disappointment. And then nothing.

His gaze turned hollow.

It was the nothingness that shattered her. He stared at her as if she were a stranger.

"Did it make you happy?" Tuf asked, voice low and steady, the rage simmering beneath his skin. "Talking to Luna? Letting her know you've always known about us? Threatening her?"

His eyes flashed again, anger rekindling for a brief second, then extinguishing.

"Did it make you happy to threaten my Luna?"

That broke her more than anything else.

He wasn't raising his voice. He didn't need to. His silence screamed.

Naelira's heart cracked at the edges.

There was no playful mischief in his expression now, no warmth in the curve of his lips, no familiar spark in his gaze. He wasn't even hiding it anymore, now that he knew she had discovered the truth, he spoke of Luna openly, possessively.

'My Luna.'

There was no room left for subtlety.

"I didn't threaten her," Naelira said desperately, voice cracking. "I only spoke to her… to ask her to let me stay. I begged her."

Tuf growled low in his throat, like a storm rumbling on the horizon.

"You've got your position back now," he said coldly. "But let me remind you, I didn't put you there."

He took a step forward, every word deliberate and sharp.

"You're standing beside me because Luna allowed it. So make sure you remember your place," he said, voice turning colder than the wind swirling around them. "Know exactly where you stand."

With that, he turned and walked away, back into his office, the heavy glass doors sliding shut behind him.

Naelira was left alone on the veranda, trembling.

Not just from the cold wind biting at her skin, though it was freezing at this altitude, but from the icy weight that had settled in her chest.

She now understood what Luna meant when she said: There is no going back for you.

She had disappointed him. Betrayed his trust. And he, who had once trusted her with everything, who had let her stay longer than anyone, had dismissed her with finality.

Her fear. Her pride. Her insecurity.

All of it had made her reckless.

Naelira had acted without thinking, driven by a single, terrifying thought: to spend an eternal life apart from him.

Could anyone blame her?

Could anyone truly fault her for panicking at the idea of losing her place at his side?

She wiped the tears trailing down her cheeks. Her fingertips trembled, but she held her breath, forcing the emotion to still. This, this was what she had wanted. To stay beside him. And now that Luna had allowed it… all she needed to do was prove herself. Make Tuf realize he wouldn't regret it.

Once, she had held a special place in his life. She believed, perhaps foolishly, that with enough effort… she could reclaim it.

Naelira took a steadying breath.

She fixed her expression, straightened her skirt suit, and walked back into the office.

Tuf had a scheduled meeting with several of his siblings regarding their upcoming mission beyond the Mist. She had personally overseen every detail. The journey needed to be perfect, flawless.

When she entered the conference room, Liorion was already standing before Tuf, holding up his Aetherscroll.

"These are the list of preparations Miss Naelira compiled, Master Tuf," Liorion said, showing the glowing display to him. "Everything is ready for the journey. But if there's anything you'd like added or removed, please let us know."

Tuf cast a single glance at the scroll, eyes scanning briefly over the contents.

Then he nodded once.

No changes. No questions.

Naelira's heart fluttered.

A silent sign.

He still trusted her judgment, even after everything.

Soon after, the atmosphere shifted as one by one, Tuf's siblings entered the room.

First came Nugget, then Neko and Peanut, followed by Alpha. Moments later, the final trio arrived, Milo, Vivi, and Luna.

The moment Luna entered, a smile curved her lips, sharp, bold, and taunting. Without hesitation, she took the seat to Tuf's left, beside the head of the table.

Tuf didn't stop her.

Instead, he turned and gave her a smile.

It wasn't the usual cocky smirk he wore in public when he and Luna threw barbed insults at one another for show. No.

This was different.

Soft.

Worshipful.

Loving.

A smile that Naelira had never seen on his face before.

And yet, none of the siblings looked surprised.

Could they have known all along?

Could they have been aware of Tuf and Luna's forbidden relationship long before Naelira ever pieced it together?

No one acknowledged the tension simmering between her and Tuf. The strained energy thickened the air, but the siblings chose to ignore it.

After all, their brother's business was his own.

"Let's start this meeting," Peanut declared, lounging easily in her seat. "Orso won't be coming, unless someone wants to wake him up for a fight. And naturally, Pixie's not here because we're not risking her crying because Tofu made her cry again."

A small snort passed around the room. Cosmo, who had come with Alpha, stepped forward to quietly shut the door to the conference room.

Before the meeting could begin, Neko's eyes caught a glimmer of light from a long-forgotten device resting on the corner table.

"What's this?" he asked, lifting the crystal tablet. "Is this… an Aetherlink Tablet?"

"Hey, that's mine!" Peanut exclaimed. "That's the first version of my Aetherscroll. It was designed to send and receive messages across all the magic towers in Solmara. But Tofu hated it, said it was too heavy. And since Velrathis doesn't even use the towers anymore, it's pretty much useless now."

She turned to Tuf with a raised brow. "Why do you still have it? I thought you hated that thing."

"I said it was heavy and impractical," Tuf replied, voice cool and dry. "Would you carry that around? That thing could knock Orso out cold if you hit him on the head with it. That's why it stays in the conference room."

He leaned back slightly, one brow lifting. "But I did spend a fortune funding that project of yours. So think of it as a reminder… of all the gold I wasted on you."

Peanut grinned unapologetically, unfazed.

"Also," Tuf said nonchalantly, "I tested it, just to see if it still works. And if it works the way you claimed it would."

As he spoke, his left hand subtly reached across the table, curling around Luna's right hand where it rested atop the polished obsidian surface. His thumb began to gently massage her fingers with practiced ease, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

Alpha, seated at Tuf's right, narrowed his eyes. "What did you do now?"

Tuf smirked.

"I sent a message to Aquilonis."

That made everyone pause.

Peanut, already suspicious, leaned forward and tapped the surface of the old Aetherlink Tablet. With a faint pulse of magic, the nearby scryglass monitor flickered to life, displaying the exact message Tuf had sent.

The screen glowed with sharp, foreign letters:

'To Seiryu's New Master

I will see you in a month. Be prepared.

--- Third Son of the Demon Lord'

His siblings stared at him.

Stunned.

"Are you insane?" Nugget finally blurted. "They won't even understand that. You wrote it in English."

Tuf only shrugged, the grin never leaving his face. "You never know. Someone once partially deciphered one of Peanut's prank messages on the ancient tome in Zephyriax. Maybe they've learned more since then."

He flashed a smirk toward his sister.

"Even Seiryu wouldn't understand that," Vivi muttered, shaking her head in disbelief. "You're absolutely insane."

"We've always known he's insane," Luna said sweetly, her tone playful. Now that it was just family in the room, excluding Cosmo and Naelira, her expression had softened, losing the formal, distant mask she wore before outsiders. Her smile was warm, private. The kind she only ever showed to her siblings… and their father.

"Why are you all still surprised?"

"Hey, Kitten," Tuf said, grinning at her with affection that made Naelira's stomach twist. "You're hurting my feelings."

He said it with such tenderness, such familiarity, that it made Naelira feel like the floor had been pulled out from beneath her.

Kitten.

An endearment she had never heard from him before.

Luna only rolled her eyes with mock exasperation. "Let's focus. We need to go over every possible scenario you may encounter once you're beyond the Mist."

With that, the siblings grew serious, launching into the strategy discussion.

While the conversation unfolded, Cosmo and Naelira fulfilled their roles in quiet efficiency, serving food, pouring drinks, handing over reports and intelligence gathered in advance.

But Naelira's mind wasn't on the logistics.

She was focused on him.

And on her.

On what she was witnessing with her own eyes, the unmistakable reality that Luna wasn't just a secret anymore.

She was his.

Tuf didn't hide it. Not this time.

He tasted Luna's coffee before handing her the glass, like he wanted to make sure it was just right. Sampled her food before passing it to her, subtle, protective.

He played with a loose strand of her raven-black hair, twirling it around his finger like it belonged to him.

And at one point, without warning, he leaned down and bit one of her fingers, smirking at her amused reaction.

It wasn't dominance.

It was intimacy.

Even Cosmo didn't blink at the exchange. Not a flicker of surprise. Not a trace of judgment.

They all knew.

They'd known all along.

Naelira had thought she was holding a dangerous secret, that she could wield it as leverage. That her knowledge of Tuf and Luna's forbidden bond would mean something.

But it had meant nothing.

The people who mattered already knew.

And now… now she just looked foolish.

Naelira felt something unravel inside her. Not just guilt, but shame.

She had used her knowledge of their relationship, not to protect Tuf, but to gain ground. She had thought her desperation gave her reason. That she could force her way back into his world.

But she had miscalculated one thing.

Tuf wasn't a man who feared threats.

Only a fool would be threatened.

And Tuf was no fool.

She hadn't lost her place in his life because of Luna.

She had lost it because she had betrayed his trust.

And there was no place colder in Tuf's world… than the place reserved for those who betrayed him.