The doors of the Apple building closed behind her with a light metallic whisper, while Luna descended the steps like someone walking back from a fashion show, perfectly bored and absurdly unbeatable.
The black car was already waiting for her on the sidewalk.
The door was opened by a French driver who said in refined French, "Mademoiselle Luna, your mobile throne awaits you."
Luna entered without responding. She yawned like a bored vampire princess and crossed her legs, stretching her arms upwards.
"Ahhh… why are meetings always so slow? They talk as if eternity were guaranteed..."
From the central console, Ivy, in the form of a blue half-body hologram, with her hair tied in a bun, appeared, already with an inquisitive expression.
"Just a technical question, Your Lazy Highness: why exactly did you decide to offer the AI ÆVA, if the original plan was not to mess with the century-old sharks?"
Luna blinked slowly, then yawned again.
"Because, Ivy..." she said, grabbing a chocolate-dipped strawberry from a tray nearby, "Apple is my favorite company. Always was. Always will be. And I am sentimental... when I want."
Ivy pursed her lips but nodded. "So will you stop there?"
"Of course. I'm not going to adopt a hungry whale just because I liked its snout. I gave the golden spoon. If they want to dig a hole in the universe with it, that's their problem."
The car accelerated silently through the suspended streets of New York, leaving the gigantic buildings behind.
"Meanwhile..." Ivy commented, adjusting a data tab on the panel, "the girls are in hurricane mode. The Lux™ facial mask is in the final branding phase in the Phoenix Empire. We've already created expectation with influencers and specialized beauty press."
Luna smiled, almost satisfied. "Finally something more useful than old suit-wearing men discussing trillions as if they were popcorn."
But Ivy sighed. "Unfortunately... the Lancaster-Monroe family has been trying to block the campaign's advance. They are using internal contacts to manipulate the imperial beauty portals and pressure influencers to refuse contracts."
Luna's expression cooled like the Moon in an eclipse. "That old worm is still trying to sink his daughter? Even after expelling her?"
"Worse," Ivy replied. "They released a note disguised as an official statement from the Lancaster Clan, saying the brand is untrustworthy. But the message has subtle political DNA. It's spreading."
Luna leaned back, looking at the panoramic car ceiling where the cloudy New York sky passed like a slow film. "And Matthew?"
"He has been trying to block the Lancaster Clan's influence within the Empire..." Ivy hesitated "...but since he is not the direct heir, he does not have enough weight in the Imperial Senate."
Luna bit her lower lip. Half-closed eyes. Thoughtful.
Silence.
Until she grabbed the iPhone, unlocked it with her face, and opened the girls' group chat.
She typed firmly.
@SmellOfAfterRain: "Girls, the Lux campaign will face more pressure. Do not retreat. Just preserve. Let's turn their noise into oxygen for our flame."
Read confirmations lit up one by one.
"You are strangely motivated for someone who keeps saying she wants to sleep the whole world," Ivy commented.
Luna laughed.
@SmellOfAfterRain: "Of course. Because even a lazy cat protects her offspring... when someone poisons the milk."
The car slowed and discreetly entered the underground garage of her mansion.
The gate closed behind her like the seal of an invisible fortress.
"Prepare bath. And a cup of matcha." said Luna, stepping out of the car with a sigh.
"Water at 39°C, activated jade salts." replied Ivy. "And I will silence the next investors' meetings for 24h, alright?"
"Absolutely."
Luna walked through the silent corridors of the mansion, taking off the blazer from her suit as if removing armor. Her expression still cold from the conversation about the Lancasters.
But when pushing the glass door, something changed, as if leaving behind the relentless businesswoman and recovering the girl who only wanted peace and music.
With a snap of her fingers, the soft lights lit up in the bathroom, where marble, glass, and technology merged as if the environment had been designed by minimalist gods.
"Ivy, play that Turbo Vibe K-Pop playlist. Volume max."
"With pleasure."
And then, BAM — the bathroom shook to the sound of energetic beats and perfect vocals.
♪ "Burn it up like fire~ Gonna light the sky tonight~" ♪
Luna danced without ceremony, naked and powerful, while the hot bathwater poured like a shimmering waterfall. She made some strange poses only seen in frantic choreographies and almost slipped on the marble edge, laughing loudly alone.
Thirty minutes later, she emerged wrapped in a giant white towel, hair dripping, and skin impeccably… still white as snow.
She stopped in front of the mirror. "Ahhhh, I give up. Neither the Sun, nor the gods, nor the tanning demon love me."
She rolled her eyes and went to the closet.
There, she chose a futuristic gym outfit: a pearly gray set with blue neon details, smart fabric with thermal regulation and automatic muscle compression.
Hmm?
She looked more dressed to defeat an interstellar villain than to train glutes, but who cared?
"Ivy, activate gym mode. Two workouts. One cardio, one functional. Nothing that kills my soul."
"Starting. Light warm-up for 5 minutes. I already prepared your hydration bottle with bioactive electrolytes and lychee essence."
Luna entered the private gym space in the mansion's basement.
For the next two hours, Luna trained as if every muscle carried the fury of an operating system running in overclock.
Cardio, stretching, functional.
Every repetition, every push-up, was a silent emotional discharge.
She didn't need a psychologist… just dumbbells and loud music.
When finished, she was sweaty but not out of breath… and strangely light.
Ready.
Enough to keep this ass in masterpiece shape.
She went straight to the shower, a quick flash, cold this time.
Skin refreshed.
Mind still racing.
Soul… at peace.
She wore a casual outfit: oversized t-shirt with the Tycoon symbol on the chest and thermal fabric shorts. Fuzzy panda slippers, because royalty needs cuteness, yes.
She walked down the sensor-lit hallway to the Computer Room.
She threw herself into the chair. "Ivy, open dashboard and display market charts of the UltraClean Lux™ mask in the Phoenix Empire."
"Showing... Oh, and the pre-sales exceeded expectations by 200%. I think the Phoenix people really want goddess skin."
Luna smirked crookedly. "Or maybe they're desperate to look like me."
And for a second... she believed that phrase.
The glow of the screens reflected in Luna's eyes as she crossed her legs in the luxury leather chair.
The floating windows showed pulsing graphs in real time; the UltraClean LUX™ pre-sales were climbing as fiercely as a price spike on Black Friday.
"Ivy, confirm the number I'm seeing… is it 27 million pre-sold units in the Phoenix Empire? In less than twelve hours?"
"Confirmed. And counting."
Luna tilted her head, yawning.
The screen showed beautiful graphs rising like rockets.
Her strategic side knew she should stay there analyzing market behavior, predicting patterns, adjusting campaigns…
But her gamer side was already tapping its feet. "Enough charts. Give me blood, chaos, and killsteals. Ivy, open LoL."
"Launching League of Legends. Competitive mode, solo/master queue."
"Let's climb those damn points."
Luna was at Master 400 LP and to reach Challenger required 1200 LP.
The road was long.
But she was Luna Malroth.
But to warm up, she decided to play a game with Miss Fortune, her secondary of "I'm wearing heels and holding a gun."
Champion chosen: Miss Fortune – Skin "Golden Star Galaxy"
The game started.
She went straight to bot with movement as aggressive as it was elegant.
Shot.
Shot.
Q at the right timing.
Double kill.
Triple kill.
Pentakill in the face of other people's arrogance.
Her team?
Silent. Stunned. Surrendered.
At the end of the match, chat messages:
"MF GODDESS WTF"
"Carries more than my missing dad"
"Are you challenger smurfing, right?"
"Are you a man or a girl?"
Luna just typed. "I'm just better than all of you. Good night."
She laughed alone.
Next match she decided to pick her main, Lux.
Favorite skin: Elementalist Lux.
Queue started.
Match found.
Loading...
As soon as she entered the match, a name caught her attention in the champion select.
"MorenoChallengerTV?" she murmured, eyes rolling instantly. "Streamer detected. Here it comes."
He was on her team.
Jungle.
Playing Lee Sin.
Barely five minutes into the game, he already sent in chat. "Lux, you play really well. Let's call?"
Luna ignored.
MorenoChallengerTV: "Seriously, your mechanics are clean. Got Insta? Discord?"
She scoffed. "Ivy, check if this guy is streaming. I want to see the level of nonsense."
Seconds later, his image appeared on the side screen.
The typical vain streamer: overly styled hair, expensive microphone, pink LED light, ego inflated to the ceiling.
He winked at the camera and said, "Guys, this Lux must be a girl. I'm feeling it. I'll try to talk, maybe we duo tonight, hehe…"
"People like this keep showing up…" Luna muttered, activating her silent assassin mode.
She didn't say a single word.
Just destroyed.
Perfect wave control.
Bind after bind.
Precise ultimates.
She played as if writing poetry with light spells.
At minute 15, the streamer died in a stupid play and sent in chat: "Lux, aren't you going to say anything? Silent?"
Luna typed only: "I speak with equals, not with idiots."
His chat exploded.
"WOAHHHHHH"
"SHE DESTROYED YOU"
"RESPECT THE GODDESS, YOU JERK"
"I WOULD MARRY THIS LUX"
The streamer went red live, trying to stay cool. "Relax, relax. I was joking, man. Just kidding…"
But the damage was done.
And Luna?
Silent, cold, perfect.
Ended the game 18/1/14.
Led the victory.
Gained 25 more points.
Now only 775 left. Challenger was right there…
And with each won game, each idiot silenced with skill, Luna felt the world made more sense.
"Ivy, prepare some tea. And start queue again. Nobody stops me today."