Read Novel Full Chapter 163: Business Decision
Chapter 163: Business Decision
Vale nursed the bump on his cheek from the slap he received...
’Did my answer really warrant violence?!’
Vale sighed as a very happy cat curled up against his leg and a sulky succubus lay on her side, looking away from him and directly at the stone wall. Occasionally, she would ’accidentally’ slap him with the top of her wing or tail.
’Don’t be mad at me! It was a business decision!’
Though... Vale thought there might be some truth to his decision.
While the obvious answer seemed like Salome, the question wasn’t who he connected with the best, but who was his favorite. Even further, Salome allowed him to define ’favorite.’
So, while he did choose based on avoiding the fury of a vicious cat, maybe he would have chosen the cat regardless...
After all, what Vale valued most at the moment was self-definition.
He knew Lust was eating at his mind, and it was the only way to counteract the slow erosion of his personhood.
And who had helped him the most in his self-discovery journey?
’Awilix...’
Not deliberately, but inevitably, Awilix had come to represent his ideal. Not to mention that he lost himself to Lust with her; she’d helped him realize the fault in passion. The true threat Lust fostered.
Awilix also represented an unfiltered truth in a world of lies and deceit.
She’d guided him toward the answer he’d been looking for since he was ten.
Awilix was his favorite in that sense. She was the one who helped him untether himself from his past.
’Plus that charlatan succubus tried to sabotage me with her terrible interpretation!’
Vale laughed to himself as he watched the imps destroy the last pieces of stone, turning it into one big room with three entrances and three beds, instead of three separate bedrooms.
A moody succubus’s words cut through the air.
"What’s so funny?"
Vale chuckled as he watched the imps carry over the bed from across the hall, giving the large room four beds before plugging up two of the three entrances, leaving the middle one.
"You, the proud queen, sulking over something so trivial."
Salome flipped over and looked at Vale.
"Queen of what? I’m not queen of anything anymore."
Vale smiled as he launched himself out of the bed.
"You’re the Queen of Lust, are you not?"
A hint of a smile flashed on her face but quickly faded.
"Wouldn’t Awilix be the queen now because she’s your favorite?"
’Man... once her false exterior of maturity is stripped away, she’s like a little brat.’
Not that Vale blamed her for her personality...
Salome didn’t have what one would call a loving childhood. She never learned maturity in communion, only in war.
Still, Vale did find the current Salome quite cute...
She was much more relatable than the ’flawless’ queen he’d met on the first day he’d been summoned.
"You never gave me a clear definition of favorite... she’s my favorite, but I never said under what context."
Salome spun out of bed, wearing Jaune’s loose-fitting tunic.
"Ah, I guess that was an error on my part. But now you’re obligated to tell me under what constraints Awilix was chosen."
Awilix snickered as she followed Vale.
"Awe, she’s mad she wasn’t picked."
Vale smiled, then said:
"How about this... with all the rooms on this side connected and the room divided among four beds, let’s have a little decorating competition. We each get a bed and the surrounding area to decorate, and Larry can decide the winner. Whoever wins, I’ll answer any one question they have."
Salome unfurled her wings, and her tail swung left to right.
"What if you win?"
"Then you shall all answer one question of mine."
"Deal..."
***
The imps had cleared out, returning to their other tasks, except Larry, who remained in the room.
Toy had been retrieved from the training grounds, and each of the four stood in front of a bed.
Larry bellowed:
"Ba. Ba. Ba. Duuuuh!"
When his scream finished, their competition began and would last as long as Larry wished.
Looking into the room from the hallway, Vale’s bed was the one furthest right and Toy’s the furthest left. Awilix’s was next to Vale’s, and Salome’s next to Toy’s.
While they might rarely sleep in their own bed, having a bed to call their own brought with it some solace.
Vale, already having a head start with his rug, nightstand, waterless vase with a single rose, let the three women exit first, then sauntered after.
As the last to arrive in the logistical hub, he stood around the edge of the pile looking diligently.
’Ah... what do I need?’
There wasn’t really anything practical Vale needed.
He didn’t need a light source. He could store things in his necklace. He didn’t need to eat, not that he would keep food in there. There wasn’t a need for climate control...
’I guess I do need sheets and a quilt...’
Even if the Dungeon of Lust had a way of making everything in it odorless and clean — (stains would remain, but bacteria would be cleared) — Vale still felt a little odd sleeping on a naked mattress.
Vale walked around to the pile of fabrics and leaned down and sifted through them, before settling on an off-white silk sheet that looked about large enough to be tucked under every corner of the bed.
Vale had no idea how people of the village got a hold of such quality material, but hey, Vale got himself a comfy sheet.
Tucking the sheet under his arm, Vale walked to the pile of quilts and grabbed a white one with frills on the end.
He considered grabbing a colored, more decorative one. But, this one not only looked cozy, but he doubted that they’d make it to the bed within the dungeon within a dungeon every time...
Hell, they hadn’t even used that bed yet, only his!
Vale sighed as he grabbed the quilt and picked it up. As he turned around, he looked and found the other three had already retreated back to the room.