What was she supposed to do? Would Rory start to dislike her brother because he... wasn’t capable?
And if she disliked her brother... would she end up disliking her too?
The more Lola thought about it, the more anxious she beca.
As Rory guided her through making a cake, she quickly noticed sothing was off.
Lola kept getting distracted, her movents sluggish, her thoughts clearly elsewhere.
She added the wrong amount of sugar—again.
That was the third ti.
Rory finally set down what she was holding and looked at her seriously.
"Lola, is sothing on your mind?"
She softened her tone.
"If it’s sothing you can share, maybe I can help."
"No!" Lola shook her head so hard it was practically a blur. "Rory, I’m fine. Nothing’s wrong."
There were too many people in the room—her own companions, and Rory’s as well.
There was no way she could say sothing like that out loud.
This concerned a male’s dignity.
If her brother ever found out... he’d probably draw a blade and chop her on the spot.
No. She had to help him. He was her actual brother—she couldn’t just ignore this.
With that resolve, Lola suddenly spoke up, "Rory, I just rembered—I need to go back to the Firebird Clan to take care of sothing. I’ll co back tonight, okay?"
She rembered there was a certain dicine in the Firebird Clan... sothing that could help males.
Rory nodded without suspicion. "Alright, go take care of your business first. The cake can wait."
Then she added gently, "If you need any help, just tell ."
By now, she already treated Lola like a younger sister.
"Thank you."
Lola quickly left with her companions.
With the cake lesson canceled, Rory returned to her room to rest.
Xarion tried to follow her, but she turned him away.
"I’m going to get so proper sleep. None of you is allowed to disturb ."
Ever since forming bonds, she hadn’t had a single uninterrupted rest.
Xarion watched as she headed up to the third floor alone. Then he turned to Yuel, who was sitting on the sofa.
"Why won’t the Female Master let us stay with her?"
Before Yuel could respond, Nix—who had just finished tidying up—walked over quickly and lowered his voice.
"Rory might be in a bad mood. We should all keep it down today and not disturb her."
"In a bad mood?" Xarion frowned. "Why would the Female Master be upset?"
Jasper and Yuel both looked toward Nix, waiting for an explanation.
Nix leaned in closer, lowering his voice even further.
"When I escorted Lola and her companions out earlier, I overheard her talking to a Firebird Clan elder over her communicator. She was asking... for dicine."
He hesitated for a split second before continuing, "dicine that helps males... perform better."
Xarion looked completely baffled. "What does that have to do with the Female Master being upset?"
He’d woken up the latest—had just stepped out of his room and run into Rory returning to rest—so he had no idea how any of this connected.
Nix lowered his voice even further.
"That dicine Lola asked for... it’s for Vincent."
"...What?" Jasper stared at him in shock. "You an... Vincent can’t...?"
That couldn’t be right.
In his mind, aside from Xarion, Vincent should have been the most capable among them.
And now Nix was saying Vincent wasn’t?
Nix imdiately clapped a hand over his own mouth.
"I didn’t say anything."
Xarion glanced upstairs, then asked quietly, "Where is Vincent? Why haven’t we seen him?"
He had just bonded with the Female Master last night. Shouldn’t he be glued to her side right now?
Jasper and Nix both turned to look at Yuel on the sofa.
They’d been entertaining Lola’s companions earlier.
Only Yuel and Xarion had stayed behind.
Xarion had been sleeping—but Yuel definitely hadn’t.
He had to know.
Yuel’s eyelid twitched slightly. "Why are you all looking at ? I don’t know anything."
"Cut the act," Xarion said, moving closer and fixing him with a stare. "We all know what you’re capable of. You definitely know."
Yuel: "..."
Nix and Jasper stared at him as well.
Yuel pressed a hand to his temple, clearly getting a headache.
"I really don’t know anything. Rory ca out of Vincent’s room alone. I asked her—she said Vincent was still resting."
...And that was supposed to be not knowing?
That was practically the whole story.
"So Vincent really isn’t capable?"
Jasper was stunned.
"After bonding, he let Rory walk out alone... and stayed in bed himself? If that’s not the case, then what is?"
"I really didn’t expect that from Prince Vincent..." Nix muttered, covering his mouth, unable to say the last two words out loud.
Xarion frowned. "Do you think the Female Master would abandon Vincent because of this?"
Vincent was the first partner. If she cast him aside... who would take his place?
Xarion’s gaze drifted toward Jasper.
...No, the serpent wasn’t strong enough yet.
Nix? Definitely not.
Yuel?
Too busy.
...Himself?
Xarion imdiately dismissed the idea.
Too troubleso. Way too much responsibility.
As he pondered, an image suddenly flashed through his mind—Paros’s face.
Yuel finally couldn’t take it anymore.
"Stop overthinking," he said flatly. "Even if Vincent really weren’t capable, Rory wouldn’t abandon him."
Because she wasn’t that kind of person.
***
Upstairs.
Vincent lay on the bed, still blindfolded.
He waited. And waited.
When Rory still didn’t return, he knew—he’d been fooled.
His hand lifted toward the black silk over his eyes, fingers brushing it lightly... then stopping.
He couldn’t remove it. Rory told him not to.
Vincent exhaled, then released his spiritual sense. Even without removing the blindfold, he could perceive everything clearly.
The mont his awareness spread, he realized Rory had long since left the room.
He dressed quickly and strode out.
At the top of the stairs, he saw the others gathered in the living room below.
"What are you all doing here?" he asked calmly. "Where’s Rory?"
The mont they heard his voice, Nix snapped his head up toward the stairs.
The sight of Vincent—with a black silk blindfold still tied over his eyes—made him instantly slap a hand over his mouth.
Why... was he still blindfolded?
Did Rory do that?!
Jasper glanced at him once, then lowered his head again, silent—but equally confused.
Xarion sprawled on the sofa like he was half-dead.
Though, from the corner of his eye, he sneakily glanced at the blindfold.
Definitely tied by the Female Master.
Next ti... he might ask for the sa.
Yuel looked at the three of them and ntally rolled his eyes.
Great.
At a critical mont, they’d all gone mute.
Vincent frowned slightly and looked at Yuel.
"Yuel. Where is Rory?"
What was wrong with these three? Why were they acting so strangely?
Yuel replied calmly, "Rory went back to her room to rest. She didn’t want us accompanying her."
His expression was perfectly neutral—no hint of anything unusual.
Vincent nodded and turned to head upstairs.
That little liar... She dared to trick him.
He’d deal with her later.
"Daddy Vincent!" A small, childish voice suddenly rang out.
The little fruit perched on Yuel’s head spoke up, too fast for Yuel to stop him.
"Why aren’t you capable?"
"...What?" Vincent froze.
Then slowly turned his head toward the tiny fruit.
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