Chapter 314: Put on something normal

He felt as though every drop of blood in his body had rushed straight to his face in that instant, burning so fiercely his head began to spin and his vision darkened at the edges.

"W-Watch over Terry...?"

He repeated the words in a low voice, sounding utterly shattered.

So this wasn’t the kind of "sleeping together" he had imagined? They were literally just staying with Terry? Then what exactly was the point of all his careful preparation? And what about the confident way he had just carried his little female master toward the bed?

What wasthatsupposed to be now?

Vangar suddenly felt like he had died a little inside.

Seeing the devastating social humiliation written all over Vangar’s face, Xarion nearly burst out laughing, only for Yuel to immediately cover his mouth.

Yuel quietly shook his head at him.

Vangar was not Vincent. Laughing at him now was a terrible idea.

Yuel genuinely feared that when Xarion fought Vangar tomorrow, he’d walk into the match standing upright and come back horizontal.

Rory quickly went to grab a blanket and draped it gently over Vangar’s shoulders.

"Vangar, you don’t need to feel embarrassed. I should’ve explained things more clearly from the start."

Her tone was warm and understanding as she tried to comfort him.

Of course, she fully admitted to herself that shehadintentionally avoided clarifying things earlier. She just hadn’t expected Vangar to show up dressed likethis.

After all, the first time around, Xarion and the others had all dressed perfectly normally. Even Vincent’s military uniform earlier—while admittedly carrying a certain seductive edge—had still been relatively reasonable.

Somehow, Rory’s comfort only made Vangar feel even more mortified.

"Female Master, I... I..."

"It’s alright." Rory patted his shoulder reassuringly. "Go back and change into something else first, then come back and stay with Terry. You can bring a blanket too and sleep on the floor like Xarion and the others."

The moment Vangar entered earlier, he had already noticed the blankets spread across the floor.

At first, he thought Rory simply didn’t want the others climbing onto the bed. That was why they were sleeping down there. But now he finally understood––that wasn’t it at all.

Those bastards had known Rory’s true intentions from the very beginning. That was why they had come prepared.

Pulling the blanket tightly around himself, Vangar spoke in a somewhat broken voice.

"Female Master... I’ll go change first. I’ll be back soon."

Then he turned and fled the room almost immediately. The moment Vangar left, Rory instantly turned toward Vincent.

"Go check on Paros."

Her expression became serious. "Whatever you do, don’t let him come over dressed likethattoo."

It was way too embarrassing.

"Master, based on Dragon Lord’s personality, I don’t think he’d wear something like that."

Wen spoke up on Paros’s behalf. After all, Dragon Lord was completely career-focused. He didn’t seem like the type who could pull off something this outrageous.

Yuel’s smile stiffened slightly.

"Maybe you should still go check anyway." He cleared his throat lightly. "What if he actually did wear it?"

The guilt in his tone was impossible to miss.

Rory immediately narrowed her eyes suspiciously at him.

"Yuel... You didn’t teach Paros your tricks too, did you?"

After all, Nix and Jasper were both clearly learning from Yuel these days. Even Vincent occasionally adopted Yuel’s style. At this point, Rory genuinely couldn’t help suspecting him.

Yuel quickly tried to defend himself.

"Rory, I didn’t teach him anything. He just asked me to help pick out a couple outfits, and I casually sent him a few links..."

Rory: "..."

"I’ll go check on Paros."

Vincent shot Yuel a speechless look before quickly leaving the room.

Meanwhile, Paros had just finished changing into the newly purchased "battle outfit" in his room.

The moment he opened the door and prepared to head toward Rory, Vincent arrived.

Standing at the doorway, Vincent took one look at Paros’s outfit and the corner of his mouth twitched violently.

That damn Yuel... What Paros wore barely even qualified as clothing. It was practically just a few pitiful scraps of fabric hanging off his body, barely covering the absolutely critical areas.

The second Paros saw Vincent standing there in his proper military uniform, his face exploded red with embarrassment.

"Vincent... d-did you need something from me?"

Honestly, looking at Vincent dressed so properly made Paros suddenly want to slam the door shut.

Vincent looked utterly speechless.

"Rory asked me to come tell you something."

He gestured toward Paros’s outfit.

"Tonight is really just about staying with Terry. And you need to change out of that immediately. Put on something normal."

After saying that, Vincent ignored Paros’s reaction entirely and turned to leave.

Back in his own room, he removed the military uniform and changed into a simple set of comfortable home clothes before returning to Rory’s bedroom.

By the time he came back, both Vangar and Paros had already arrived. Thankfully, the two of them were now dressed normally.

Vincent carried his blanket over and spread it near the bed.

Xarion and the others also adjusted their positions. At this point, everyone was lying quietly on their own bedding surrounding the bed, and for once, no one spoke.

The atmosphere was surprisingly peaceful.

Rory lay sideways on the bed, staring at the tiny fruit resting against Yuel’s chest.

"Yuel, did Terry move again just now?"

Yuel shook his head gently. "No."

"Then will he really wake up tonight?" Rory asked softly.

Terry was far too quiet now. Even Yuel wasn’t entirely certain anymore whether he would wake up before morning.

After thinking for a moment, Yuel looked at Rory and said quietly,

"Rory, I can’t really tell when Terry will wake up anymore. You should sleep first. If he starts waking up, I’ll wake you immediately."

"I’m not sleepy yet."

Thinking about Terry made it impossible for Rory to relax. She opened her communicator, switched it to night mode, and began absentmindedly scrolling through the news.

There weren’t any major headlines. Most of the information was trivial and unimportant.

As she continued browsing, one name suddenly caught her attention.

Dax.

It had been a very long time since she’d heard anything about him. She hadn’t expected to suddenly see news about him tonight.

The article claimed that his company, Starlight Prime Tech, was facing a massive financial crisis and was supposedly on the verge of collapse.

Though according to the report itself, it was still only an unverified rumor.

Looking at the article, Rory suddenly spoke. "Jasper, have you heard anything about Dax recently?"

"No, Rory." After answering, Jasper looked at her curiously. "Why are you suddenly asking about him?"

Dax had already dissolved his match bond with Rory long ago. There should’ve been no connection left between them.

Why bring him up now?

Rory forwarded the article to Jasper.

"I just saw this rumor saying Starlight Prime Tech is about to go bankrupt."

Vincent spoke up calmly.

"Rory, there’s no need to pay attention to this kind of news. Rumors like this appear every day. Most of them are fake and only meant to attract attention."

After reading the article himself, Jasper nodded in agreement.

"If you’re worried, Rory, I can go see Dax tomorrow and ask what’s happening."

"No need." Rory was simply curious after seeing the headline. She had no intention of going to look for Dax herself.

***

Time passed little by little.

Eventually, Rory’s eyelids began growing heavier and heavier.

By the middle of the night, she finally couldn’t stay awake any longer and drifted off to sleep.

The men lying on the floor gradually fell asleep as well.

Meanwhile, the tiny fruit resting against Yuel’s chest remained perfectly still, without the slightest sign of waking.

***

Starlight Prime Tech.

An assistant hurried into Dax’s office.

"Star Lord, Sylas Ruan of the Golden-Winged Roc Clan is here again."

The assistant respectfully presented a tube filled with red liquid.

"He brought this for you."

"Human blood?"

Dax stared coldly at the crimson liquid in the tube and let out a mocking laugh.

"Does Sylas think I’m just like him?" His expression turned icy. "Willing to use any means necessary just to rank up?"

How disgusting.

Dax’s voice turned cold as he ordered, "Return this thing to Sylas. And tell him clearly—I will never become Bree’s partner. Even if she’s a human female, I still won’t agree."

One of the elders nearby frowned anxiously after hearing Dax’s answer.

"But Star Lord..."