Rory still looked worried. "But Vangar is Rank Twelve. Can the two of them really beat him?"
Yuel glanced at Vincent on the screen before replying calmly, "Whether they can win... isn’t up to them. It’s up to Vangar."
anwhile, outside the villa––
"I accept your challenge."
Hearing Xarion openly declare that he wanted to beat him, and Vincent formally challenge him despite being his subordinate, Vangar not only failed to get angry—he actually smiled.
Then he nodded. "However, you’ve both just returned after a long journey. I’ll allow you to eat properly and rest first before challenging ."
"Vangar’s right."
Rory’s voice drifted over as she and Yuel approached carrying the selected mutant beast at.
"Vincent, Xarion—I’m not against you challenging Vangar. But you’ve only just co back. You both need proper rest first. It won’t be too late to fight him tomorrow."
She walked over to Xarion and gently cupped his face, lightly stroking it with concern.
"You’ve gotten thinner these past few days. Go take a shower, then co downstairs for grilled at. And you too, Vincent."
Then she turned toward Vangar. "Vangar, go change into sothing else. I’ll teach you how to grill at."
Grilling was simple enough. Surely even Vangar could manage that.
"Alright, Female Master."
Vangar didn’t spare Vincent or Xarion another glance before turning and heading back upstairs.
Earlier, Vincent had ntioned wanting sea-beast at, so Rory had Wen bring up two live sea beasts from storage.
By the ti Wen carried them over, they had already been cleaned and prepared.
All Rory needed to do was season and marinate them with the spices she had prepared herself.
While the sea-beast at soaked in marinade, Yuel, along with Jasper and Paros, who had just co downstairs, finished setting up the grill and preparing the mutant beast at.
Not long after, Vangar returned. "Female Master, I’ve changed."
Rory had been focused on preparing ingredients, but the mont she looked up, her breath caught slightly.
Vangar had changed into a pure black silk shirt.
Three buttons at the collar hung casually undone, forming a deep V that stopped just above his chest. The elegant line revealed his sharp collarbones and the faint, tantalizing contour of muscle beneath.
His expression remained as cold and indifferent as ever, as though he were completely unaware of what he looked like.
And sohow, that careless restraint made it even worse.
The contrast between his aloof composure and the skin exposed beneath the dark fabric was devastatingly alluring—far more dangerous than deliberate seduction.
It made people want to uncover exactly what lay hidden beneath the rest of those clothes.
Vangar caught the fleeting mont of distraction in Rory’s eyes perfectly.
Without drawing attention to it, he stepped half a pace closer. Instantly, the distance between them shrank to almost nothing.
Warmth brushed faintly across Rory’s cheek as he leaned near, his tall fra nearly enveloping her entirely in shadow.
He lowered his head slightly.
When he spoke, his voice was low and rough with a magnetic huskiness—like a murmur ant only for a lover’s ear, soft enough to make her heart tremble.
"Female Master..."
The words rolled slowly from his lips, the ending laced with a faint upward curve, carrying a dangerous tenderness impossible to ignore.
Warm breath ghosted over the sensitive edge of Rory’s ear.
Her thoughts snapped back instantly.
Heat flooded her ears at once, turning them bright red.
This man was absolutely doing it on purpose.
"What is it?" Rory imdiately took half a step back.
Seeing her retreat, a trace of disappointnt flickered through Vangar’s heart.
Her Female Master hadn’t taken the opportunity to kiss him. It seed... he still wasn’t seductive enough.
Vangar looked at Rory, a trace of disappointnt lingering in his expression.
"Female Master, didn’t you say you were going to teach how to grill at? I’ve changed my clothes. You can teach now."
If all he wanted was to learn grilling, then why was he standing so close and dressed so provocatively?
Did he honestly think she was the kind of person who could resist temptation?
Rory grabbed a pair of gloves used for skewering at and handed them to him.
"Put these on. I’ll teach you how to skewer the at and grill it."
"Alright." Vangar imdiately put on the gloves.
Then, following Rory’s instructions with utmost seriousness, he began threading the at onto the skewers.
It should have been a simple task.
Yet sohow, in Vangar’s hands, it beca unexpectedly difficult.
The sa hands capable of piloting starships with flawless precision and tearing apart insectoid carapaces now seed astonishingly clumsy.
Either the skewer stabbed crookedly, or it punched straight through the side of the at.
And when he finally managed to aim properly, he used too much force, shredding the at apart entirely. Bits of minced at ended up sticking everywhere.
Rory watched helplessly as a beautiful cut of marbled mutant beast at was utterly massacred in his hands.
The few pieces he finally managed to skewer were crooked and uneven, looking as though they had survived a brutal battlefield rather than beco dinner.
Vangar frowned deeply, his expression so severe it looked as though he were commanding a military campaign.
He stared intently at the rebellious skewer and limp chunks of at in his hand, a faint sheen of sweat even appearing at his temples.
Back then, when he had faced three Rank Eleven insectoid elites alone, he had never looked this defeated.
No matter how hard an insectoid shell was, no matter how vicious their anatomy, he could always find the perfect angle to kill with a single strike.
Yet this soft, yielding at sohow felt like the most formidable enemy he had ever encountered.
For the first ti in years, Vangar felt genuinely helpless.
"Female Master, I..."
"It’s alright." Rory gently took the pitiful-looking skewer from his hand and replaced it with one she had already prepared.
"Vangar, why don’t you handle the grilling instead?"
She never once comnted on how disastrous his skewers looked. Instead, she patiently began teaching him how to grill.
"Look—brush on a thin layer of oil first, so the at won’t stick to the rack."
"Then place it down gently. Don’t make the fire too strong, and keep turning it often. Once the edges start curling slightly and the color turns golden, that’s when you sprinkle the seasoning..."
Vangar listened more seriously than he did during military briefings.
His deep eyes followed every movent Rory made, as though engraving each detail into mory.
After finishing one batch, Rory handed him the grilled skewers and smiled.
"Did you get it?"
Vangar’s brain told him yes.
He nodded confidently. "Grilling doesn’t seem difficult. I think I’ve got it."
Wasn’t it just flipping the at repeatedly and adding seasoning?
Surely he could manage that.
Following Rory’s example, Vangar placed the skewers over the grill.
This ti, he focused with absolute concentration, afraid of missing even the smallest detail.
But the flas seed determined to oppose him.
The mont he finished turning one side, black smoke began rising from the other.
The sharp sll of burning instantly filled the air.
Alard, Vangar quickly reached out to rescue the already dood skewer.
At the sa ti, the oil brush slipped from his other hand and fell straight into the charcoal below.
Whoosh—!
The oil ignited instantly, flas surging upward in a burst that leapt toward the grill.
"Careful!"
Seeing the fire nearly catch his hand, Rory grabbed Vangar’s wrist and yanked him sharply toward her.
"Did you burn yourself?"
Pulling him back a few steps, she spread open his palm and carefully checked it over.
"Good. You’re not hurt."
Vangar lowered his gaze to her lowered lashes, feeling the warmth of her fingers against his skin.
A faint look of self-reproach crossed his face.
His eyes drifted toward the disastrous state of the grill, his voice low with frustration and guilt.
"I’m sorry, Female Master... I’m too clumsy. I can’t even manage sothing this simple."
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