"Understood."
Hearing Rory’s instructions, Vangar’s lips curved upward before he could stop them.
"I’ll listen to everything Female Master says."
He really was surprisingly easy to deal with.
Rory realized that she wasn’t nearly as afraid of Vangar as she had been at the beginning.
The more she got to know him, the more she discovered how drastically he differed from both his reputation and his status.
She had searched his records on the communicator before: Powerful. Ruthless. Cold-blooded. Decisive. Violent-tempered. A killer who never blinked.
Those were the words always attached to his na.
Everyone who t him called him a bandit. No one failed to fear him.
And yet the Vangar Rory saw now... Was shy. Easily embarrassed. Slightly clingy.
Rather than the Empire’s rciless Marshal, he felt more like an oversized, affectionate puppy pretending to be fierce.
When they returned to the lakeside, Rory brought over a chair for him.
"Sit here."
Then she went back to help Yuel and the others with the grilling.
Vangar obediently sat where she told him to, his gaze fixed entirely on Rory, never straying from her for even a mont.
A while later, Xarion ca downstairs after his shower.
The instant he saw Vangar lounging comfortably in a chair while Rory worked nearby, his eyes narrowed dangerously.
He strode over, stopping directly in front of him.
"You treating this place like your military now?"
His tone was openly hostile.
"Quite the airs you’ve got there. Female Master is working, yet you’re sitting here doing nothing. Do you seriously think that’s appropriate?"
Vangar knew perfectly well that Xarion was deliberately provoking him.
Under normal circumstances, he would have beaten him first and spoken later. But Yuel had said that at ho, Rory hoped they could get along like loving brothers. So for Rory’s sake, Vangar forced himself to suppress his temper and answered calmly,
"Female Master told to sit here."
"Oh, she told you to sit here, so you did?" Xarion sneered. "If Female Master told you to die, would you do that too?"
He simply couldn’t stand the sight of Vangar. To him, this was obviously just an excuse. Everyone in the household worked together. Even he had co down after his shower to help with the grilling.
So why did Vangar get to sit there comfortably?
That broke the rules.
"I’m telling you now—we don’t keep freeloaders in this house. Either co help grill at with ... Or dissolve your match with Female Master right now and get out of the manor."
"Shut up."
Vangar finally snapped.
He rose abruptly to his feet, his tall figure radiating crushing pressure as his gaze locked onto Xarion with terrifying intensity.
He could tolerate almost anything Xarion said.
But not that.
Not that.
His Female Master was soone he had fought desperately to obtain. Even in death, he would never willingly dissolve the match.
"What?" Xarion t his stare without the slightest fear, silver-gray eyes full of provocation.
"Don’t want to dissolve the match with my Female Master? Then get to work instead of sitting here acting like a lord."
Vangar’s fists clenched hard enough to crack audibly.
"What are you two doing?" Rory’s voice drifted over from the grill.
Out of the corner of her eye, she had noticed the two of them standing together, the tension between them practically visible in the air.
"Nothing, Female Master." Xarion imdiately turned toward her with a smile. "I’m just talking with Marshal Vangar."
Then he turned back and continued staring at Vangar provocatively.
Yes. He was doing it on purpose. Taking advantage of Rory’s affection to deliberately target him.
Vangar stared at Xarion’s smug expression, jaw tightening. After a long mont, he suppressed the anger threatening to erupt and spoke through gritted teeth.
"Fine. I’ll help. What do you want to do?"
Just wait, you bastard.
Tomorrow, if I don’t beat that face of yours beyond recognition, then my na isn’t Vangar.
"You’re coming with to the grill." Xarion frowned. "You don’t need to cook. Just help ."
Vincent wanted to test Vangar—to see just how far he was willing to go for Rory. And Xarion thought this was the perfect opportunity.
He intended to push Vangar as hard as possible and see exactly how much he could endure for Female Master’s sake.
Xarion led Vangar over to the grill Wen had been managing.
"Wen, go help Female Master instead. Vangar and I can handle things here."
Wen glanced once at Vangar, then nodded obediently and headed toward Rory.
If it ant staying close to his master, he was more than willing.
Rory was currently directing Yuel while he turned the at over the flas.
Wen walked over and quietly picked up so sea-beast at, laying it onto the grill.
"Female Master, let handle this. I’m best at grilling sea-beast at."
"Wen? Why did you co over here?" Rory smiled as she flipped the sea-beast at on the rack.
Hadn’t he been grilling with Paros earlier?
Wen sat down beside her and explained softly, "Xarion and Marshal Vangar went to the front grill. Xarion told to co help you instead."
"What?" The mont Rory heard Xarion had dragged Vangar over there, she nearly dropped the at in her hands.
She imdiately looked toward the front grill.
And there, Xarion stood with a dark expression, staring at the freshly sliced mutant beast at Vangar had prepared.
Then he opened his mouth and began rcilessly tearing into him.
"Marshal, your knife skills are truly eye-opening."
With exaggerated disdain, Xarion lifted a slice of at with the tongs. His mouth was practically poisonous as he continued firing insult after insult.
"I told you to cut thick steaks—not paper-thin slices. Why are these so thin? What, are you getting old? Afraid your teeth can’t handle thicker cuts anymore?"
He tossed the at back onto the tray with a loud slap, the contempt in his eyes utterly undisguised.
"I could cut better than this blindfolded—with my toes holding the knife. Even hatchlings barely old enough to hold a blade could do a better job."
Vangar’s face had already darkened completely, his fingers tightening around the knife hard enough for the knuckles to whiten.
But Xarion acted as though he didn’t notice the fury building beneath the surface. Instead, he grew even more vicious.
He jabbed through the pile of at with the tongs, producing an irritating clatter of tal.
"And what are these shapes supposed to be? Squares, strips, jagged chunks... Are you giving a geotry exhibition? How exactly did you manage to make every piece uniquely ugly in exactly the sa way? With cooking skills like this, even interstellar scavenger beasts would shake their heads in disgust before kicking the bowl back at you."
Then he paused deliberately and looked up. His silver-gray eyes glead coldly with naked provocation.
"Honestly, Marshal... besides holding weapons and killing people, can these hands of yours do anything else? I seriously suspect that if soone dumped you alone on a wasteland planet without nutrient solutions, you’d starve to death before figuring out how to light a fire."
"You’d probably die clutching your military dals. What a useless waste."
At the grill farther back, Rory heard every single word with painful clarity.
Her heart nearly leapt into her throat.
Good grief.
Had Xarion swallowed explosives—or had he simply stopped wanting to live?
How could he provoke Vangar like this? This wasn’t re provocation anymore.
He was trampling all over Vangar’s pride as the Empire’s Marshal, then grinding it further into the dirt with his heel.
With Vangar’s temper, how could he possibly tolerate this?
Forget Vangar—even any ordinary beastman with a shred of pride would probably have already thrown a punch by now.
Rory shot to her feet almost instinctively, about to rush over, but the mont she moved, a warm hand gently caught her wrist.
She turned her head, and Yuel looked at her and softly shook his head.
"Rory, don’t go over there. Don’t worry. They won’t actually fight."
"...Are you sure?"
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