Chapter 29: Demon
Jania’s voice cut through the silence. "You know, Master Lyle wasn’t always the tech mogul everyone knows him to be today."
Eira shot her a curious glance. She had her suspicions, of course—no one amassed that much power without a few skeletons in their closet. Still, she hadn’t expected Jania to confirm it so readily.
"In fact," Jania continued, "before Aelion Tech even existed, Lyle was feared in the underworld. He had a reputation even back when he was just a boy, not much older than eleven. People called him a demon."
"A demon?" Eira raised an eyebrow, intrigued.
Jania nodded. "He was recruited by a crime boss—someone who saw potential in him. By the time he was fifteen, Lyle had already risen through the ranks, becoming the boss’s right-hand man, and eventually, his heir. But Lyle was... different. He didn’t care for power or wealth the way others did. On his fifteenth birthday, he killed the leader and wiped out his entire inner circle. Cold, methodical, with no emotion."
Eira remained silent, her mind piecing together this new information. The man she was about to marry was far more dangerous than she’d thought.
"He disappeared after that," Jania went on. "Vanished from the underworld, only to resurface a year later when he assassinated a high-ranking underboss in the Japanese Mafia. It was then that people truly began to fear him—he became an enigma. Every time they thought they had him, he’d disappear, only to return and kill again. And while everyone was trying to stop him, people unknowingly started to follow him."
Eira glanced sideways at Jania. "Followers? Are they still around?"
Jania smirked. "Yes. They started as vigilantes, killing anyone who tried to harm him. But when Master Lyle finally took notice, he brought the most intelligent and skilled into his inner circle, officially forming the organization that still protects him today. They run operations, control assets, and this dungeon—" she gestured around them as they walked deeper into the underground space—"was one of their ideas. A place to deal with those who cross Lyle Aelion."