Chapter 164: Unpacking

Damian stepped into the villa last.

The doors had already parted before him, revealing a wide open space bathed in soft natural light. The ocean stretched endlessly beyond the glass walls, the horizon cutting clean across the sky as if the world itself had been simplified for their sake. The air was calm, touched by the faint scent of salt and something floral carried in from the island.

Ruby did not wait.

The moment her feet crossed the threshold, she broke away from the group, her eyes lighting up as she moved from one space to another without restraint. She ran her fingers across the furniture, peeked into rooms without hesitation, and even let out a small laugh as she pushed open a glass panel leading to the deck.

For someone who had lived for at least a thousand years, Damian found himself genuinely stunned by her enthusiasm. He had assumed such things would have long lost their charm to beings like them.

“This place is really nice,” she muttered, half to herself, half to anyone willing to listen.

Clara followed more slowly, her gaze sweeping across the space as she took in every detail with quiet precision. She did not react outwardly like Ruby, but the slight stillness in her movements revealed her focus. She walked toward the glass wall and stopped there, her reflection merging faintly with the ocean beyond as she studied the view.

Hazel and Racheal did not move far. They remained close to Damian without thinking, their presence natural, almost instinctive.

Meanwhile, Damian observed everyone’s reaction but said nothing. He walked forward at a steady pace, his eyes scanning the space with quiet awareness.

He moved toward the glass wall and stopped beside Clara, his gaze settling on the ocean for a moment longer than necessary.

Behind him, Ruby’s voice cut through the silence. “There are multiple bedrooms…”

“Which one are we taking?”

Hazel finally stepped forward, her hand brushing lightly against Damian’s arm. Damian glanced at her, then at Racheal, then toward the hallway leading deeper into the villa.

“Does it matter?”

“Not really,” Racheal replied with a faint smile.

“The one facing the sunset is the best. I’m claiming that one,” Ruby said almost immediately.

Hazel raised a brow. “You are not.”

“You’re arguing over rooms on a private island?”

Damian tried to cut in, but his girls did not seem to care.

“That doesn’t make it less important,” Ruby shot back.

Damian exhaled quietly and turned away, walking toward the hallway.

“Clara, come with me,” he said.

If his wives were going to fight over unnecessary things, he had no intention of standing there to watch.

Entering one of the rooms, Damian found himself genuinely impressed. The bedroom was large, but not in a showy way. The king-sized bed faced the ocean, ensuring that the first thing they would see every morning was water stretching endlessly into the horizon. Curtains moved with the wind instead of resisting it, and even the air itself felt curated.

Damian would not mind waking up to this view every day of his life.

’I wonder what kind of view I’ll get from the underworld.’

“Hey…”

Clara’s voice stole his attention, and he turned to give her a steady look. Her eyes avoided his, and her body language betrayed her discomfort. Damian did not need any special ability to recognize that something was wrong.

“What’s wrong?” Damian asked directly, causing her to flinch.

Clara was not sure why, but there was a noticeable change in Damian’s eyes ever since he got shot. It was as if something inside him had died. If she had been wary of him before, she found herself genuinely afraid now.

“…It’s that time of the month for me, so I feel like I’ll ruin the mood and miss out on the best parts of the trip.”

Damian’s eyes narrowed slightly at her words, but after a few seconds, understanding dawned on him, and his expression shifted with quiet realization.

He opened his arms, signaling her to come closer.

“Come on, we can still make special memories without that. It’s nothing to worry about.”

Clara stepped into his arms without hesitation, and Damian held her tightly.

Meanwhile, unpacking was far less organized than it should have been.

Bags were dropped. Clothes were pulled out without care. Space was claimed through presence rather than agreement. Without Damian there to regulate them, the silent competition for territory escalated quickly.

Ruby took over one side of the room without hesitation, spreading her belongings across every available surface as if she intended to occupy the entire space permanently. Hazel and Racheal, on the other hand, moved with quiet strategy, blending their belongings into Damian’s space rather than separating themselves from it.

It was chaotic, but not unpleasant. It carried a strange, lively energy.

As soon as they were done unpacking, they stepped outside.

The sand was warm beneath their feet.

They walked without any clear formation, yet none of them strayed too far from the others. The ocean rolled in steady waves, each one breaking softly against the shore before retreating again. The sky shifted gradually, blue fading into orange, then into deeper shades that promised night.

No one spoke for a while.

Ruby eventually broke the silence, her voice softer than usual.

“It’s quiet here… it’s perfect.”

Clara nodded faintly. “Yeah.”

Hazel stepped closer to Damian, her shoulder brushing against his.

“You needed this,” she said, and he did not deny it.

Racheal moved slightly ahead, then turned and walked backward as she faced them, her hair catching the last light of the setting sun.

“We all did.”

Damian’s gaze lingered on the horizon. For the first time in a long while, his mind was not racing. There was nothing pressing down on him.

No fight waiting.

No decision hanging over him.

Just the sound of the ocean and the presence of the people around him. It felt unfamiliar, but not unwelcome.

Dinner was set outside.

A long table stood near the water, lit softly by low lanterns that flickered against the darkening sky. The ocean reflected the last light of the sun, casting everything in shades of gold and black.

They took their seats naturally.

Hazel and Racheal sat closest to Damian. Ruby took the opposite side, while Clara settled beside her. The conversation remained light, and the night carried a quiet sense of peace.

Damian found himself observing the girls more than he spoke. After his discussion with Rin the other night, he had resolved to change his approach. If he was to become a proper host for the sin of lust, then he needed to think differently. For now, the role he chose to embrace was that of an observer.

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