6 I'll take responsibility

"So, why were the others able to have lunch except for you?" Helliot asked.

"I don't know," Sophie said.

Helliot titled his head and his silky black hair fell to the side.

"There's something wrong, right?" Helliot asked.

Sophie gave a little nod.

"You can tell me," Helliot said in a low voice.

Sophie shook her head.

"Even if I tell you, nothing will change. Don't worry. I'm okay," Sophie said.

"No, you're not," Helliot said and placed his hand on hers.

Her hands stopped typing mid-way.

"What are you doing?" Sophie asked, confused.

Helliot smiled brightly.

"I'm taking you out to lunch!" Helliot declared.

"No, you can't! I'm still not finished!" Sophie protested.

"Don't worry. You won't get into any trouble," Helliot said pulling Sophie behind him.

"I'm really not yet finished! I still have to send the fi-"

Helliot placed his finger on her lips gently.

"Trust me. I'll take responsibility," Helliot said.

Sophie couldn't wrap her head around the situation but she found herself trusting him despite all her fears.

"Fine. If I get fired because of this, I'll never talk to you again," Sophie said begrudgingly.

"Deal," Helliot said with his devilish smile.

*

*

*

Helliot led her to a fancy steak house she had never been to before.

"Um, Helli. I can't afford this. Can we go to somewhere cheaper?" Sophie asked, her eyes widening in fear at the menu prices.

"It's okay. It's on me," Helliot said. "Order whatever you want."

"I c-can't. It's too expensive," Sophie said.

The steak was so expensive, it costed even more than her bag which was her most expensive item.

"Oh, don't worry. I forgot to tell you. They have a 70% off discount today," Helliot lied smoothly.

Sophie's eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"Are you sure? There's no discount indicated here," Sophie said looking for the said discount in the menu.

"Yes. They must have just forgotten to put the sticker discount," Helliot said and he called for a waiter.

A waiter came forward.

"Yes, Sir?"

"You have a 70% discount today, right?" Helliot said.

"We d-"

Helliot's eyes glowed red for a brief second then returned to sky blue.

"We do, Sir. We have a 70% discount today," the waiter said with a blank stare.

"See? Order anything you like, Sophie," Helliot said and shooed the waiter away.

It was just a temporary brainwashing technique just to make the waiter say what Helliot wanted him to say. It wasn't the same elaborate brainwashing power that he used on the head of the department and on that female human who used to be the head of auditing. That was more complicated and exhausted him a lot.

Seriously, why was he going through this lengths for Sophie Bloom? He looked at her and he found her with a delighted childlike smile on her pretty face.

"Oh my! 70% off! I'm so glad you found out about the discount, Helli! I've always wanted to eat here. Oh my, these look so delicious," Sophie said eagerly reading the menu.

Sophie must be so underpaid in both human and demon money, Helliot presumed. Maybe she didn't like the work of a succubus and that's why she didn't have belals and that's why she's working in such a slave driver of a human company?

Helliot knew that a succubus earned by getting human souls who they were able to arouse until they reach a climax in their dreams. Their work was literally bringing humans to paradise. But in this case, to Hell. Their souls would be converted to belals - the currency of demons.

"Helli, have you decided what to order?" Sophie asked, her eyes seemed to twinkle with excitement.

Helliot's eyebrows twitched in displeasure at the thought of sweet Sophie doing succubus work. He would rather help her get rich in the human company than let her return to seducing those humans in their dreams!

"Yes, I've decided," Helliot said with a decisive look.

A few moments later, the steak arrived and Helliot chuckled as Sophie tried to contain her excitement.

"Let me do it," Helliot said in a matter of seconds, he had sliced the steak for her into smaller chunks.

"Thank you," Sophie said shyly as he returned her plate.

"Mmmm.... It's so... It's melting in my mouth," Sophie said while trying to blow air from her mouth.

A thin line of gravy sauce dripped from the corner of her pink lips and Helliot found himself staring at it.

"Hmm? You aren't eating. Is there something on my face?" Sophie asked.

"Yes, on your right," Helliot said, gesturing to her lips.

Sophie wiped her lips with the table napkin but she wasn't able to wipe off the sauce. It was still there and it was going to drip on her clothes soon.

"No, not there," Helliot murmured and before Sophie could react, Helliot had reached forward. His thumb gently grazed her chin to wipe off the sauce.

Sophie was stunned.

She was even more stunned when Helliot licked off the sauce on his thumb.

Maybe he just didn't want to waste the sauce, Sophie thought.

*

*

*

The two returned to the office and Sophie's stomach now felt like it was being tied into knots. Helliot noticed her discomfort. He didn't plan on using his brainwashing power on everyone. His power was still too exhausted from using it on two people the night before and brainwashing the waiter for a few seconds earlier had already costed him a lot of his demon energy.

He had a different plan.

"Don't worry. I've got this," Helliot said assuring her with a confident smile.

Sophie just nodded quietly. She was already ready to be reprimanded harshly again by her colleagues. That wasn't anything new anyway. She just worried that Helliot might not be able to take the scolding.

As expected, Vice President Erika Bin was fuming with anger when she saw Sophie.

"You! How dare y-"

"Good afternoon. I'm the new head of auditing. I believe we haven't met yet. I'm Helliot Hedgewing and you are?" Helliot said, extending his hand to her while blocking her view of Sophie.

Erika smoothened her expression, seeing that Helliot was a young handsome man.

"Erika Bin. I'm the Vice President of this department," Erika said.

"I see. Then you're the right person to speak with then," Helliot said.

"Oh? What's your concern?" Erika asked, pleased to have a longer conversation time with the handsome new head of auditing.

"Your department has been found to have been breaking the law, Miss Bin. As their supervisor, are you not aware that your employees should be taking their lunch breaks?"