They had no idea where the snow surge had carried them.
Rory opened her light-brain, but there was no signal. Not even an ergency call would go through.
She had rushed out in such a hurry that aside from her storage ring, she hadn’t brought a hovercar or a spacecraft.
Getting Paros out of here... was impossible.
As she looked at him more closely, her heart sank again.
The part of his head buried beneath the snow was also injured—blood still seeping steadily.
If she didn’t save him now, he really would die.
After a brief hesitation, Rory made her decision.
She reached into her storage space and took out a crimson fruit. Mixing a small amount of her own blood with the juice, she carefully fed it into Paros’s mouth.
She gave only a little—just enough— ensuring the sweetness of the juice completely masked the taste of blood.
The effect was imdiate. The bleeding stopped. His breathing steadied, gradually evening out.
At least... he wouldn’t die now.
Rory let out a long breath of relief. She placed her hand against his forehead again, initiating another round of ntal stabilization.
The mont her consciousness entered his ntal sea—she froze again.
What she had sealed earlier... had already collapsed halfway. The molten currents surged violently, as if determined to burn everything to ash. Rory had never encountered anything like this before.
For a mont, she didn’t know what to do.
All she could do was guide her ntal power carefully, suppressing the raging magma—forcing it into stillness.
When she finally withdrew, she was utterly drained. Her body gave out, and she collapsed directly onto Paros’s massive dragon form.
...When would Yuel and the others find her?
If she had simply vanished like this... they must be frantic.
And they were. Yuel was already on the verge of losing control. He had been searching for an entire day and night—and still hadn’t found even a trace of Rory.
It wasn’t just him.
Xarion, Nix, and Jasper were just as close to breaking.
The mont they returned from hunting, they heard—Rory was missing.
Yuel had already mobilized the wolf clan to search.
But the snowfield where she had gone had just been hit by a snow surge. No one knew where she—or the black dragon—had been carried.
Seeing Xarion on the brink of snapping, the Wolf King hurried to intervene.
"Calm down. If all of you are still fine, it ans Rory is still alive."
If she had died, her bonded partners would have already lost control and self-destructed.
But they were all still standing, which ant she was alive.
"We keep searching. We will find her."
Yuel forced himself to stay calm. "Wolf King, please contact the Water Domain. Ask if Rory was taken there by Paros."
"I’ll arrange it imdiately." The Wolf King moved at once.
Yuel continued issuing orders:
"Send more people. Follow the path of the snow surge—search every area it passed through."
"Xarion, you know the Snow Domain best. Take people and expand the search radius."
"Nix, keep trying to contact Rory. See if you can locate her position."
"Jasper... your clan doesn’t handle the cold well. Go back. Keep hot water ready, and prepare food Rory likes."
"She’s been missing this long—when she returns, she’ll be exhausted and starving."
"I’ve already contacted Vincent. He’ll bring people to help search."
This wasn’t sothing Yuel dared hide. Nor sothing he could.
At that mont, Jasper hated his own nature more than ever. Cold-blooded beings couldn’t adapt to the harsh climate of the Snow Domain.
In just one day and night of searching, he had already collapsed several tis.
Yuel knew he was worried, but he couldn’t let him continue.
***
Rory didn’t know how long she had slept.
When she finally woke, she found herself lying on a bed crafted from gemstones, soft and gleaming.
Where... was this?
Her hand flew to her head instinctively.
And in that instant, her world shattered.
The vine... was gone.
"Terry...!"
Where was her Terry?!
She shot upright—only to realize there was soone lying beside her.
Paros.
His eyes were closed, his bare upper body resting beside her, his expression tense with lingering pain.
Then she saw it—and froze.
The vine... was no longer on her head. It had sohow transferred... to his.
Near the base of his horn, the vine had taken root.
Of the seven leaves, only two remained.
The bud was gone, replaced by a small, deep-blue fruit, no bigger than a blueberry.
Rory’s hands trembled as she reached out, trying to remove the vine.
It didn’t budge. Only then did she realize—it had truly grown onto him.
She sat there, completely stunned.
Good news: Terry seed fine.
Bad news: Terry... had grown on Paros’s head.
Snapping out of it, Rory hurriedly opened her light-brain. If she was indoors now, then there should be a signal.
The screen lit up, flooded with ssages.
Dozens of missed calls. All from Yuel, Xarion, Nix, and the others.
The earliest call was seven days ago. The latest—just thirty seconds ago.
Her heart clenched. Just as she was about to call back, Yuel’s video call ca through again. She answered imdiately.
His projection appeared. He was disheveled. Exhausted. Eyes rimd with dark circles, unshaven, clothes wrinkled. Rory had never seen him like this before.
"Rory—are you alright?" His voice was hoarse, strained with urgency.
"I’m fine," she said quickly, her chest tightening. "You don’t need to worry about . But... there’s sothing more important."
She turned the cara toward Paros. Toward the small, deep-blue fruit on his head.
"Yuel... Terry—he... he grew on Paros."
Yuel’s eyelid twitched.
"Will Terry be okay?" Her voice was tight with worry. When she had fallen asleep, the vine was still on her. How had it ended up... there?
Yuel softened his tone at once. "It’s alright, Rory. Terry just... recognized the wrong father. Don’t worry. I’ll co to you and take him back."
Rory stared at the fruit in disbelief. "He already has awareness, doesn’t he? How could he get it wrong?"
Yuel let out a faint, helpless sigh. "He does—but when the fruit first forms physically, its awareness is still unclear. Once he grows a little more, he’ll understand."
Rory finally let out a breath.
Thank goodness... Terry was alright.
Yuel, however, had already shifted his attention back to her. His gaze swept over her carefully, checking for injuries.
Seeing that she was unhard, he relaxed, just slightly.
Then his eyes moved to Paros.
Still unconscious. Still bare-chested.
"Rory... you and Paros—"
"Nothing happened." She cut him off imdiately.
At that exact mont, the man on the bed opened his eyes. Paros blinked, his gaze still hazy from sleep.
Then, he looked at Rory.
"Sister..?"
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