Two days later, Rory stirred groggily and opened her eyes.
Above her was a ceiling woven from deep blue vines. Transparent blossoms blood along the tendrils, and nestled among them were pink pearls the size of dove eggs.
Yuel’s room?
Wasn’t she supposed to be in Nix’s room?
How had she ended up here?
She tried to sit up. The mont she moved, a breeze drifted in through the window. The delicate blossoms and pearls overhead began to fall like soft rain. As they descended, silver-white leaves sprouted from the vines above.
The flowers dissolved into nothing the instant they touched her skin.
But the pearls... The pearls dropped onto the bed one by one with gentle thuds.
Not a single one hit her.
Rory picked one up and examined it closely. Her eyes widened.
They were real.
But Wen had said he couldn’t cry pearls at the mont. Where had Yuel gotten so many—and all this large?
She opened her light-brain and checked the ti.
Two full days had passed.
Sure enough, her stamina simply couldn’t compare to that of male ability users.
Yuel must have carried her here while she was asleep.
She glanced down at the silver gauze nightdress she was wearing. Just as she swung her legs over the bed, she heard the door open.
Monts later, Yuel appeared.
"Oh, Rory, you’re awake."
His eyes lit up as he hurried over, gently cupping her face. He had half expected her to remain asleep until after he left.
Before she could speak, he explained softly, "Nix returned to the laboratory yesterday afternoon. So I brought you to my room."
Rory’s brows knitted imdiately.
"He went back to the lab so suddenly—did sothing happen?"
They had just bonded. Unless it was urgent, Nix would never have left now.
Yuel kissed her lightly between the brows and answered in a gentle voice.
"Paros has been injured. The Four Great Territories urgently commissioned a batch of high-Rank chas from Nix to ease the pressure on him. To complete them as quickly as possible, Nix had to return."
It wasn’t rely about delivering equipnt. It was about resisting the insectoid forces.
Those chas had to be finished fast.
Rory understood how critical they were.
Still... Nix must be exhausted.
She looked up at Yuel with concern.
"How are things in the Four Great Territories? Is Paros badly hurt? And what about the Snow Domain? Are they safe?"
There were rarely updates about the front lines on the public networks.
She was especially worried about the Snow Domain.
Xarion, their Rank-eleven powerhouse, wasn’t currently stationed there. Even Paros was injured—what did that an for the others?
Yuel knew exactly what she feared.
"We don’t know how severe Paros’s injuries are yet," he said. "But Vincent and I have already received orders. We depart tonight to provide support."
He added calmly, "The Snow Domain is not under direct threat yet. The battlefield remains beyond the territories’ borders."
Hearing that Yuel and Vincent were heading back to war made Rory’s heart tighten.
She still rembered the first ti she saw them—bloodied, exhausted, barely standing.
"Let Xarion go with you," she said quickly. "He’s the Snow Domain’s young lord. If sothing’s happening in the Four Great Territories, he must be worried."
Yuel and Vincent had originally intended for one Rank-eleven powerhouse to remain behind to protect her.
But she had a point.
"I’ll ask him," Yuel agreed.
"I’m coming too."
Rory quickly retrieved clothes from her ring space, changed, and followed him.
They found Xarion downstairs, asleep, not in his own room, but in the adjacent one.
"Why are you sleeping here?" Yuel asked suspiciously.
Rory and Xarion both fell silent at once. Now was not the ti to discuss interior design preferences.
Rory moved on quickly.
"Xarion, Paros is injured. Do you want to return to the Snow Domain?"
Xarion sat up slowly in his crystal coffin, expression utterly unmoved at the news.
"Once a wolf is married off, his new family becos his pack," he said lazily. "I’ve contacted my father. He’s not dead. I don’t need to go back."
Rory silently arched her eyebrows. Did the Wolf King know his son was this filial?
That level of devotion might truly send soone to an early grave.
Xarion lay back down calmly.
"Female Master need not worry. Vincent and Yuel are heading there. With Vincent and Paros working together, those insects won’t stand a chance."
He sounded entirely unconcerned.
Since he wasn’t worried, Rory didn’t press further.
Vincent wasn’t ho, and Jasper—knowing Yuel was leaving—had deliberately stayed away to give them space.
"Perhaps it’s better if Xarion remains," Yuel said gently. "With him guarding you at all tis, Vincent and I can focus."
He had never forgotten the first ti he and Vincent t Rory—when she had been kidnapped by the insectoids.
Rory had only suggested Xarion return because she feared he might feel torn.
Since he didn’t, she let it go.
At the doorway to Yuel’s room, she looked up at him.
"This ti... you and Vincent will be gone a long while, won’t you?"
Yuel nodded. "If things go smoothly, one month. If not... two or three."
It depended entirely on the war.
He pulled her into an embrace. "Rory, I’ll return as quickly as I can."
But that wasn’t what she wanted to hear.
She grabbed his hand and tugged him inside. "You’re leaving tonight, aren’t you? Then, while there’s still ti—let’s bond first."
She knew he had been waiting for this.
Yuel stumbled as she pulled him in, only to be pushed down onto the soft grass-like floor of the inner valley room.
"Rory, wait..."
One arm wrapped around her waist; the other shielded her head from bumping against anything. He tilted his face aside, narrowly avoiding her eager kiss.
She frowned. "What’s wrong? Don’t you want to bond?"
He had been the most impatient of all of them.
"Or is it the location? Fine—we can go to the small house instead."
She imdiately climbed off him and seized his hand, dragging him toward the smaller cottage.
Yuel was indeed impatient.
But today...
"Rory, I—"
His explanation was cut off when her lips claid his. She pushed him onto the bed and leaned over him.
"I know we don’t have much ti today. It’s fine. When you co back, I’ll make it up to you."
She was fair.
She would never let Yuel feel shortchanged.
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