Chapter 1078: Very Low Bar

Chapter 1078 – Very Low Bar

Runa’s eyes narrowed.

Lullaby yawned. "Still murderous. Just less."

Lux fed her another spoonful.

Runa drank.

Her paws slowly stopped trembling.

The body remained weak, but the painful emptiness eased. The original cat soul curled more comfortably inside, no longer whimpering.

That mattered.

Runa did not want the cat to suffer.

It was innocent.

And if she was honest, the cat’s instincts were not entirely awful. They knew warmth. They knew when a hand was gentle.

That last one unsettled her.

Because the cat trusted Lux’s hands faster than Runa did.

Traitorous little creature.

Lux’s thumb brushed lightly over her head after another spoonful.

Runa froze.

The touch was soft.

Slow.

Petting.

She should bite him. She did not.

Her eyes half-closed.

No.

No, no, no.

This was a body reaction.

Not her.

The cat liked it.

The cat.

Not Runa...

It was the cat... right?

Lux paused, as if noticing her surrender to the forbidden head stroke.

Naomi’s smile became dangerously tender.

Sira’s grin became wicked.

Gula whispered loudly, "She likes it."

Runa’s eyes snapped open. She hissed.

Lux withdrew his hand with a faint chuckle. "Apologies."

She glared.

He fed her another spoonful.

Forgiven.

Temporarily.

The situation was degrading.

Truly.

If any of her old enemies could see her now being spoon-fed milk on a table by a demon with bedroom hair and a face far too suitable for scandal, they would laugh themselves into reincarnation.

But they were dead.

Probably.

Hopefully.

And she was alive.

So she drank.

After several more spoonfuls, Lux stopped. "Enough for now."

Runa made a sound of protest before she could stop herself. "Mrr."

Lux lifted a brow. "More?"

Runa froze.

Pride screamed no.

Stomach whispered yes.

Cat soul screamed yes.

Runa slowly tapped the table once with her paw.

Lux smiled. "One more."

He gave her another spoonful.

She accepted it with royal restraint.

Mostly.

Milk remained on her chin.

Naomi reached for a napkin.

Runa tensed.

Naomi paused. "May I?"

Runa stared at her.

The human woman waited.

Runa gave one slow tap.

Naomi smiled and gently wiped the milk from her chin.

The touch was careful, not treating her like a silly animal, but like someone embarrassed who deserved not to be embarrassed further.

Runa’s chest tightened again.

Too many gentle hands.

Lux set the spoon down. "She needs rest."

Aela nodded. "And quiet."

Sira looked around the hall full of women, food, wine, and emotional damage. "Wrong house."

"Guest room," Lux said. "Soft bedding. Wards. No lock."

Runa’s ears flicked.

No lock?

He looked at her directly.

"No cage."

Runa stared back.

Her paw lifted slowly.

One tap.

Lux nodded. "Good."

Lyra bowed. "I’ll prepare the room immediately."

Runa’s eyes narrowed at the puppet master.

Lyra noticed and smiled softly. "No puppets near your bed, little guest."

Runa blinked.

The woman understood that?

Lyra’s eyes lowered in quiet knowing. "Strings are frightening when you did not choose them."

For the first time, Runa did not hiss.

Lyra left.

Lux gently lifted Runa again.

This time, she did not struggle.

Not because she trusted him.

Because the cat body liked being held.

Because his chest was warm.

Because he fed her.

Very low bar.

Shamefully low.

Lux looked down at her. "Comfortable?"

Runa opened one eye and glared.

Lux smiled. "I’ll take that as yes."

Runa should scratch him. But her paw was heavy. Maybe later. Revenge could be postponed.

A great sorcerer knew timing mattered.

For now, she tucked her nose against his sleeve, hating herself only a reasonable amount.

Gula whispered, "She cuddled."

Runa’s eyes snapped open. She hissed weakly.

Lux glanced at Gula. "Don’t ruin her dignity."

Sira laughed. "Too late. She drank milk from a spoon."

Runa’s soul burned with future vengeance.

Lux carried her down the hall.

Runa closed her eyes again.

She would escape later.

After finding a proper body.

After learning whether this demon really was good...

Or merely dangerous in a way she had not yet survived.

Lux brought her into one of the guest rooms.

It was quiet, warm, and annoyingly comfortable. Soft curtains. Low golden lamps. A bed large enough for a royal hostage exchange. No cage. No lock. No puppets standing near the wall with polite wooden faces. Just a room prepared with too much care for someone who was, technically, a cat.

Lux walked to the bed and lowered her carefully. "There," he murmured. "Rest."

Runa heard him through the heavy fog of sleep.

Barely.

Her body was exhausted. Her soul was stretched thin. The milk settled warm inside her belly, and the cat instincts purred somewhere deep, shamelessly satisfied.

Lux tried to put her down.

Her paws grabbed his sleeve.

Tiny claws hooked into the fabric.

Lux paused. He looked at the sleeping orange cat. "Really?"

Runa did not answer. Obviously. She was asleep.

But her paws remained stubbornly attached to him with the audacity of a queen refusing eviction from a throne.

Lux slowly tried to loosen one paw.

The paw tightened.

Lux sighed.

A long, tragic sigh of a man who had survived demonic politics, royal betrayal, ancient curses, and financial sabotage, only to be defeated by four tiny paws and attachment issues wearing fur.

"Fine."

He sat on the bed, leaned back against the pillows, and placed Runa against his chest. "There. Personal mattress service. Temporarily."

The cat made a soft sound and curled closer.

Lux’s expression softened despite himself. "Terrible client," he whispered.

Then something shifted.

At first, it was only warmth.

A pulse beneath the orange fur.

The cat’s body glowed.

White-gold light seeped from beneath her fur, wrapping around her like threads of old spellwork. The small body stretched. Bones shifted. Fur dissolved into skin. The weight against Lux’s chest grew heavier, warmer, unmistakably human.

Lux froze.

Within seconds, the cat was gone.

In her place lay a woman.

A naked woman.

Long orange-gold hair spilled over Lux’s lap and chest, messy and soft like flame caught in silk. Cat ears twitched atop her head. A tail curled weakly around his thigh. Her body was slender, curved, pale with faint glowing sigils still fading over her skin.

Her face was beautiful.

Sharp.

Proud.

Exhausted.

Still angry, even in sleep.

Lux stared down at her. "...Of course."

Runa’s fingers, no longer paws, remained curled tightly in his shirt.

Lux did not move. Not because he was not affected.

He was an incubus. He was very affected. Painfully aware, actually. The universe had just dropped a naked ancient sorcerer cat-woman on his chest in a locked guest room after a long day of family business trauma.

This was not a situation.

This was a lawsuit with breasts.