Vincent’s heart clenched so violently it felt like soone had driven a blade straight through his chest. Regret crashed over him in suffocating waves.
He hated himself so much in that mont he could barely breathe.
Why had he acted so selfishly? Why had he insisted on handling things that way?
It was all his fault.
Vincent’s trembling fingers flew across the communicator screen.
Vincent: [Is Rory still crying? I...]
Before he could even send the ssage, Yuel’s next one appeared in the group chat.
Yuel: [Rory is furious, yet even now, she’s still thinking about the three of you.]
Yuel: [She couldn’t bear to sever your beast marks, and she didn’t truly want to punish you either.]
Yuel: [So she swallowed all the hurt herself.]
Yuel: [Tell honestly—after everything she’s done for you, do you really think your behavior today was worthy of her?]
Vincent’s vision blurred instantly. Even after being hurt this badly, Rory was still protecting them. Still thinking about them.
His eyes reddened as tears slipped free and struck the control console one after another.
Beside him, Xarion’s long fingers moved frantically across the communicator.
Xarion: [It’s my fault. All of it.]
Xarion: [Yuel, please tell Female Master I truly know I was wrong.]
Ever since boarding the battleship, he’d been desperately calling Rory, flooding her communicator with ssages and apologies.
But she hadn’t answered a single call. Not one ssage had been returned.
Vangar: [What do I need to do for Female Master to forgive ?]
...
anwhile, aboard the battleship ahead, Yuel looked at Xarion and Vangar’s replies and slowly curled his lips into a faint smile.
Good. Guilt and remorse were exactly what he wanted.
His slender pale fingers tapped lightly against the communicator screen as he replied.
Yuel: [I truly do want to help the three of you think of a way for Little Rory to forgive you sooner.]
Yuel: [But this ti, you really went too far.]
Yuel: [I’m afraid Rory won’t calm down anyti soon.]
Vincent replied almost imdiately.
Vincent: [Then what should we do?]
The anxiety in his ssage was impossible to hide.
Yuel: [I already spoke to Rory.]
Yuel: [I suggested that the three of you return to your respective clans for a while.]
Yuel: [When you’ve truly reflected on today and understood exactly where you went wrong, then you can co back.]
The mont they read that ssage, all three n felt darkness crash over their vision.
Return to their clans?
Xarion replied first.
Xarion: [Is there any way we don’t have to go back?]
He didn’t want to return to the Snow Domain. And frankly, the Snow Domain probably didn’t want him back either.
Vangar: [I don’t even have a clan.]
Vincent: [...]
He had the distinct feeling this punishnt had been crafted specifically for him.
Still... He really did deserve to return ho and reflect.
A mont later, Vangar sent another ssage.
Vangar: [Yuel, is there any way to calm Female Master down quickly so we won’t have to leave?]
The White Tiger Clan had ceased being his ho long ago.
Yuel’s reply arrived almost instantly.
Yuel: [Marshal, my advice is that you listen to .]
Yuel: [Because if you refuse, the one who’ll suffer isn’t .]
Yuel: [It’ll be Rory.]
Yuel: [She’s still angry. Still hurting.]
Yuel: [If she sees the three of you right now, she’ll only beco more upset.]
Yuel: [Can you really bear to make her even sadder than she already is?]
The word difficult had never really existed in Yuel’s world.
The only person capable of making things difficult for him was Rory.
After reading his ssage, Vangar, Vincent, and Xarion all fell silent.
One minute later, inside the leading battleship, Yuel watched the surveillance feed as the ship behind them slowly turned around and departed in the opposite direction.
"They’re really leaving just like that?"
Jasper stared at the screen in obvious surprise.
Then he turned toward Yuel. "What exactly did you say to them?"
Wen and Paros also looked over at him at the sa ti.
How had Yuel managed to make those three obey so easily?
Under their shocked and probing stares, Yuel simply blinked innocently.
"I didn’t really say much. I just told them Rory is still angry and doesn’t want to see them right now. So I suggested they return to their clans and reflect for a few days. That’s it."
Wen’s voice carried clear disbelief. "Just... that simple?"
Yuel nodded calmly. "It really was that simple."
Wen suddenly began questioning his entire fish life.
Since when had Marshal Vangar, Xarion, and Vincent beco so easy to deal with?
If it was really that straightforward... Then maybe he could beco first partner too.
...
Inside the ch research laboratory, after ending the call, Nix sat there for several seconds, the more he thought about it, the more unwilling he beca.
Finally, he tossed the tool in his hand aside.
No. The more he thought about it, the more unfair it felt.
He imdiately reopened his communicator and pulled up the private group chat that only the males belonged to.
Then he found Vangar’s contact and added him into the group.
After that, he began rapidly typing ssages.
Nix: [@Yuel Yuel, please, I’m begging you. Can’t you talk to Rory and suggest we rotate the first partner position in turns?]
Recently, Nix had finally started growing so scheming instincts.
Of course, he wasn’t asking because he genuinely thought Yuel would agree.
Nix knew perfectly well that Yuel would never hand over the position.
First partner wasn’t so cheap low-Rank mutated beast you could casually swap around whenever you felt like it.
No... He was simply too jealous.
Too depressed.
And if he was suffering, then everyone else deserved to suffer with him.
Tagging Yuel was rely an excuse to open the topic, so Vincent, Vangar, and Xarion could fully understand exactly what they had lost today.
Jasper opened the group chat, saw Nix’s ssage, and instantly understood his intention.
His fingers moved swiftly across the screen as he joined in.
Jasper: [@Yuel Nix is right.]
Jasper: [As first partner, not only do you get to spend the first three days and last three days of every month with Rory...]
Jasper: [You also get twenty entire days alone with her every year for vacations.]
Jasper: [Benefits like that can’t all belong to you alone, can they?]
Nix: [Exactly! Exactly!]
For the first ti in his life, Nix found Jasper unbelievably pleasing to the eye.
Nix: [We want to spend more ti with Rory too.]
Nix: [We want to go on vacations with her too.]
Jasper: [I dream about taking Rory on a private vacation.]
Reading the two of them singing in perfect harmony inside the group chat, Yuel nearly laughed out loud.
Yuel: [That’s not sothing I can decide.]
Yuel: [Go ask Rory yourselves.]
Yuel: [If she agrees, then I have no objections.]
anwhile, aboard the battleship that had already turned around and begun retreating...
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