Chương 111: Chapter 110: A Cross-Border Call, and a Princess's Jealousy

Ten at night. The VIP guest sitting room at the top of Castle Lilith glowed with the flickering light of the magical hearth. Lucian, in a neat ash-grey house coat over his travel clothes, sat leaning back in a velvet armchair, holding the blueprint for converting the Gladiator Arena into a musical theater. Buzz... buzz... TING! The silver hand-mirror communicator on the tea table suddenly flared with brilliant gold light. A rapid chime, encoded with royal-frequency sound magic, rang through the still room.

Lucian reached over, picked it up, and pressed the connection button. Click. The crystal surface flickered once, then Eleanor's image appeared. She sat in her office at the Royal Palace, golden hair pinned neatly back, white blouse buttoned properly beneath her council jacket. She rested her chin on her hand, blue eyes looking through the screen, the corner of her mouth curling into a bright smile.

"It's ten at night, Chairman Vance. How's the Demon Realm market coming along?" Lucian straightened the collar of his house coat and spoke seriously.

"Report, Council President: Vance Commerce has successfully taken over the central Gladiator Arena. I need the court to approve one more permit within the Crown-approved pilot corridor for lumber, to build theater seating over here—" Creak... The ebony sitting-room door pushed open slightly. Countess Carmilla walked in wearing a tasteful black-and-red Demon noble house robe, embroidered with House Lilith briars, with a silver tray piled with plump dark night-grapes in her hands.

Carmilla swept past behind Lucian's chair and set the tray on the tea table with an exaggerated hostess's flourish.

"Young Master, I brought a late-night snack. Trade calls go better when nobody is hungry." The smile on Eleanor's face, on the other side of the mirror, froze instantly. The space inside the magical mirror fell into absolute silence. Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. The warm gold light on the crystal surface slowly shifted into an icy blue-white, cold as Arctic frost. Eleanor's blue eyes narrowed into two sharp slits, every trace of her royal smile gone.

Eleanor looked at Carmilla standing close beside Lucian's chair, then at his ash-grey house coat, and spoke in a very flat voice.

"Chairman Vance... are you conducting market research from your guest sitting room?" Lucian sat frozen in his armchair. He glanced at Carmilla beside him, then at the icy face of the princess on the crystal screen, and cleared his throat.

"Ah... this is Countess Carmilla von Lilith, our Tartarus ore supply partner. We're finalizing a coal fuel supply contract at ten p. m." Eleanor tapped a jade-ringed finger against her desk, her gaze settling on Carmilla's formal house robe.

"A coal contract, and your strategic partner is joining the call after official hours?" Carmilla tilted her head slightly. Her elegant black horns swayed faintly as she looked straight into the crystal mirror with a provoking smile.

"Honored human Princess, House Lilith receives trade partners in formal house robes after official hours. Is something wrong?" Ting! Ting! A Unified System V2. 0 notification flashed erratically before Lucian. [MAGICAL OUTPUT ALERT!] Subject: Cross-border mirror connection. Status: abnormal mana-pressure spike detected at the receiving end. Mirror stress: sufficient to crack the crystal surface if sustained. [URGENT RECOMMENDATION: PREPARE A FORMAL TRADE UPDATE, A CLEAN ROOM, AND A GOOD EXPLANATION.] CRACK.

A tiny hairline fracture appeared in the corner of the mirror's crystal surface, from the sheer mana pressure transmitted through the connection. Eleanor no longer bothered looking at Carmilla. She stared straight into Lucian's wide, dark eyes, grinding out each word.

"Tomorrow morning, I will personally lead the Royal Diplomatic and Trade-Compliance Delegation to the Demon Realm for a full inspection of the new Crown-approved trade corridor." She raised a finger, pointing straight at the screen.

"You'd better have that bedroom of yours spotless by then, Lucian Vance!" CLICK! The magical mirror's surface went dark, fading to a cold, grey blank. Lucian let his arms go slack, collapsing back into the velvet armchair, eyes fixed on the ceiling, letting out a groan of pure despair.

"Why... why does every business trip turn into relationship drama?!" Carmilla, standing beside him, casually popped a night-grape into her mouth, her blood-jade eyes gleaming with a mischievous smile.

"Young Master, it seems the human Emperor's precious daughter is very interested in whether you survive these trips." She lifted a grape with theatrical seriousness.

"Your timing has certainly accelerated an inspection mission." Lucian sat up, pushed the tray of grapes aside, and rubbed his throbbing temples.

"Trade-compliance trap, my ass..." Click. Sylvia pushed the door open, carrying tomorrow's schedule.

"Lucian, we have a mining site survey scheduled for the East tomorrow morning—" Lucian cut her off, pointing at the door.

"Cancel the whole survey. Tomorrow morning, get every servant in this castle to scrub the place spotless. Make the guest rooms look official, and get rid of every jar of strawberry jam." He swallowed hard, staring out the window.

"The greatest storm in royal history... is about to make landfall in the Demon Realm."