Chapter 550: Visiting His Exs

Damian strode into the large room, and the first thing he saw was Racheal and Ruby making the bed while Hazel sat beside the window, staring outside with a tired expression. The room was noticeably different from the last time he had seen it.

It was obvious they had settled into the room rather than simply staying there temporarily. The moment Damian entered, however, his appearance immediately drew everyone’s attention. Racheal stopped adjusting the sheets, Ruby straightened from the side of the bed, and Hazel turned away from the window.

All three stood upright and looked directly at him, their eyes instinctively moving toward his bandaged right arm before returning to his face.

"You are back." Hazel said, and Damian responded with nothing more than a dismissive nod.

He walked past them toward the sofas positioned at the corner of the room and sat down, crossing one leg over the other. He reached into his pocket, placed his cigar between his lips, and took a deep drag before slowly releasing the smoke into the room.

The three women watched him carefully, waiting for him to say something, until Damian finally looked toward them.

"I was told you three decided to share a room. Why?" he asked.

Racheal exchanged a brief glance with her sisters before answering without hesitation.

"We don’t have an influential clan anymore and we are hated by those we offended and the clan members we betrayed. The only thing we have are ourselves, so we feel safer and happier together."

Damian did not react to the explanation. He simply nodded with a bland expression before exhaling another mouthful of smoke, allowing the haze to drift lazily toward the ceiling.

"I understand..." he said casually, but the faint smile that appeared afterward immediately caught their attention.

Hazel, Racheal, and Ruby stared at him more intently, their eyes narrowing slightly. They had spent more time around Damian than almost anyone else, and despite the changes in his personality, they could still recognize the small signs that revealed when something was weighing on him.

The smile did not reach his eyes, and the way he stared toward the ceiling suggested that his thoughts were somewhere far beyond the room. Hazel was the first to understand.

"You are worried about the coronation ceremony..." she mumbled.

Ruby quickly added, "Don’t worry, we will be by your side that day."

Racheal nodded in agreement. "Yeah, you have nothing to fear."

Damian looked at the three of them for several seconds before letting out a light chuckle. He leaned farther into the sofa and crossed his legs more comfortably, his cigar resting between his fingers.

"I’m not going against some Demi God you guys can deal with. I’m fighting against a full fledged deity. A God." Damian’s gaze settled directly on Ruby.

"Let’s be honest, in that kind of fight you three cannot do anything for me." Hazel, Racheal, and Ruby frowned, but none of them tried to argue.

They knew he was right. Even Fulgur, a powerful demigod who had stepped half a foot into the God Realm, had been unable to stand against beings operating on a completely different level.

Lin Qui had helped the three women reach a profound realm through his guidance and resources, but their greatest weakness remained their bloodlines. No matter how much they cultivated, the limitations of their inherited power meant that they would always be at a disadvantage against beings born from higher bloodlines and superior existences.

They could fight powerful opponents, but the coming battle was something entirely different.

"If you are so keen to help me, then make sure Hagrid dies while I handle Greed. Even better, just subdue him, so that I can end him myself in the most gruesome way possible after dealing with Greed. Can you do that?" Damian asked, his eyes settling particularly on Hazel. There was no hesitation in her response.

"Of course... Anything for you." Damian nodded slowly in approval before taking another deep drag from his cigar, the smoke escaping through his nose as his expression remained completely unreadable.

Racheal folded her arms and studied him for a moment before speaking.

"You are aware once Greed makes a move, every clan that has suffered or is suffering at your hands will rise up in revolt... Including ours." Damian casually nodded. "It’s to be expected. I have already made preparations to deal with the possible rebellion." His answer came so quickly that the three women fell silent again. .

There was no concern in his voice, no hesitation, and no attempt to reassure them. He had already accepted the possibility of rebellion as another problem that needed to be dealt with. For several moments, neither side spoke. The only sound in the room was the faint crackling of Damian’s cigar as he continued smoking.

Eventually, Damian broke the silence. "I can smell your fear. Usually you would be all over me by now. What changed?" His eyes moved between the three women, studying their expressions.

Ruby answered without hesitation. "You changed."

The other two nodded quietly. Hazel took a slow breath before explaining what they had all been thinking.

"Before, you got emotional whenever something was wrong. We could see your anger, fear, or pain, but now we can’t see anything from you. I mean no disrespect, but it feels like I’m looking at a walking corpse."

Damian remained silent as she spoke, allowing her to continue without interruption. Racheal finally added, "It’s really scary, to be honest, because we can’t predict what you will do next..."

Her voice was quieter than usual, but she did not look away from him.

Damian nodded dully, seemingly satisfied with their assessment. This was exactly the kind of person he needed to become if he wanted to survive the brutal politics of the Underworld.

Emotions had once been one of the easiest ways to understand him, and therefore one of the easiest ways to manipulate him. Now, with his damaged soul, his lost humanity, his Abyssal inheritance, and the countless enemies waiting for an opportunity to strike, he could no longer afford to make himself so easy to read. He placed the cigar between his fingers and rose from the sofa, his enormous figure immediately changing the atmosphere of the room.

"If our relationship is going to get better than it is, you three need to understand that you cannot control everything. The others know I would never harm them unless they give me a reason to, and that’s why, despite my changes, they don’t seem affected by the new me."

Damian walked toward the door, his footsteps steady against the floor. Hazel, Racheal, and Ruby remained where they stood, watching him leave without knowing what else to say.

Damian reached the doorway and stopped, one hand resting against the frame as he glanced over his shoulder at them. His expression remained calm, almost detached, but his voice carried a faint trace of sincerity.

"Take care of yourselves until the coronation ceremony."

He turned away before any of them could respond and walked out, leaving the door slowly closing behind him.