Chapter 428: Golden opportunity

"What kind of scores?" Terry asked Yuel warily. "I’m warning you—if you bully me, I’m going to tell Mom."

His daddy wasn’t afraid of him, but his daddy was definitely afraid of Mom.

"Heh," Yuel chuckled softly. "When we get back today, feel free to complain all you want and see if your mom shields you."

Terry: "..."

Yuel reached out and poked Terry a couple of times. The chubby, milky little thing was actually quite adorable. Looking at him now, Yuel felt a bit reluctant to punish him.

Tumbled around like a little roly-poly toy in Yuel’s palm by the pokes, Terry remained speechless.

"Let me ask you something," Yuel said, pulling his hand back and looking at Terry seriously. "Is your inherited memory still intact?"

Terry glanced at him and remained silent. He already figured it out, so why is he even asking?

"Judging by your reaction, I was right." Yuel picked him up and inspected him closely.

"A warrior can be killed but not humiliated!" Terry struggled, glaring at Yuel. "You’re my biological father after all. Doesn’t your conscience hurt treating your own cub like this?"

"Do we vines even have such a thing as a conscience?" Yuel countered.

Terry: "..." Actually, come to think of it, we really don’t.

"Daddy..." Terry reached out, grasping Yuel’s finger and giving it a gentle tug. "I didn’t mean to lie to you. You told that fox to wipe my inherited memories, and I listened to you obediently. It was just that fox’s poor medical skills that failed to get it done. You really can’t blame me for this."

"Daddy! You can’t be mad at me. It’s not like I chose this either."

Yuel wasn’t actually angry with him. If even Lian couldn’t wipe out the inherited memories, what could Terry, a mere child, do about it?

"Then why didn’t you tell me?" Yuel asked.

Terry pursed his lips and said in a small voice, "I was afraid that if I told you, you’d worry about me all over again. You already have enough on your plate as it is. Nothing bad is going to happen to me because of these memories, so I just didn’t want to make you worry anymore."

"Daddy, I know what you’re worried about. You’re afraid that having those memories of yours will make my personality twisted and dark. I promise you, I will absolutely never turn out like that."

Terry still chose not to tell Yuel about the fact that he had also inherited Rory’s memories.

Yuel stared at him, scrutinizing him for a long moment, before letting out a sigh and withdrawing his mental energy.

The moment Yuel withdrew his mental energy, Terry instantly reverted to his normal cub form. He immediately threw himself into Yuel’s arms.

"Daddy, I knew you loved me the most." With that, he cupped Yuel’s face and gave him a big, firm kiss on the cheek. "Daddy, I promise I’ll be a good cub from now on."

Yuel peeled him off his chest, set him down on the desk, and dropped a stack of documents in front of him.

"I believe you’ll definitely be a good cub to your daddy. Since you have my memories, you can help me handle these documents."

Terry: "..."

Didn’t we agree that I wouldn’t have to work?

Terry opened his deep blue eyes wide, looking at Yuel pitifully. He was still just a baby! Was his daddy really making him start working already?

"What are you looking at? Do you really want me to punish you instead?" Yuel swept a sharp glance over him.

Reluctantly, Terry lowered his head and resigned himself to his fate, beginning to help Yuel process the paperwork.

"From today onward, you’ll be staying by my side every day," Yuel told him.

Since the inherited memories could not be erased, Yuel had no choice but to keep Terry by his side and cultivate his potential with care.

Yuel knew that Terry hadn’t told him the absolute truth. The cub still had secrets he was hiding. That remaining portion of secrets was likely related to Rory. Yuel guessed that Terry was keeping them to himself simply because he wanted to protect his mother.

It didn’t matter. Yuel wouldn’t press him.

Inside the castle.

Rory finished her lunch and first sent a message to Yuel, asking how Terry was doing. She also reminded Yuel not to forget to give Terry beast cores to replenish his energy.

In response, Yuel sent Rory a photo. In the picture, Terry was sitting at a miniature desk and chair that Yuel had specially crafted for him out of vines, looking incredibly focused as he corrected documents.

Yuel: [Rory, Terry is doing very well right now, so you don’t need to worry.]

Rory: [Are you seriously making him help you proofread documents?]

Yuel really was daring. Terry was still just a cub, yet he was actually making him do this kind of work.

Yuel: [Yes. Don’t worry, I’ve double-checked all the documents he went over. They’re all perfectly fine. This is well within his current capabilities.]

Rory: "..."

So this was his way of punishing Terry? She had assumed Yuel would give the boy a stern scolding, but she never expected he would put him to work like this instead.

Well, since Yuel said Terry was doing a great job, she would stay out of it. However, Rory still left him with a gentle reminder: [Just be careful not to exhaust him.]

Yuel: [Don’t worry, I know his limits and won’t tire him out. You, on the other hand, need to get some good rest. I’ve been busy lately and can’t be by your side all the time. If anything comes up, let me know right away and I’ll handle it.]

With so many males in the house, even if something did happen, Yuel wouldn’t necessarily need to step in. He just needed to focus on his own career. Even so, Rory replied to Yuel with a nodding "mm-hmm" emoji.

Closing her chat with Yuel, Rory found Bree’s contact information and shot her a message.

Rory: [Bree, are you free tomorrow? The weather is supposed to be nice. Why don’t we bring our mates and go for a picnic together?]

Rory: [I’ve had my mates prepare a lot of delicious food today. You should try my cooking tomorrow.]

Meanwhile.

Bree had just stepped out of the shower when she saw Rory’s message, and a smile instantly broke across her face.

To think Rory was taking the initiative to invite her to a picnic. A picnic was perfect. There was no easier setup to slip something into the food than an outdoor meal.

Bree quickly replied to Rory.

Bree: [Sure! What time tomorrow? Where are we going? I’ll make preparations beforehand.]

Bree had previously drugged the fruit that Yilan gifted to Vincent. Rory knew that with such a golden opportunity to spike the food, Bree definitely wouldn’t pass it up.

Rory: [Let’s go to the Sunset Forest on the east side. I heard there are a lot of wild flowers blooming there right now, and it’s absolutely beautiful.]

Bree: [Great. I’ll come find you at the castle tomorrow morning at nine, and we can head out together. I’ll invite Yilan along too. If you have any good friends on your end, feel free to invite them as well.]

The more people there were, the easier it would be to fish in troubled waters.

Rory looked at Bree’s message but decided against inviting any other friends. It was enough that she was going. There was no telling what would happen tomorrow, and she didn’t want to risk dragging innocent people into it.

"Female Master, would you like to take a nap?"

Seeing Rory put down her optical computer, Aren walked over with a smile and bent down to lift her up from the sofa. "I think you need a little sleep right now."

Rory wrapped her arms around his neck, gazing at his face. It was a face identical to Aris’s, yet the two of them felt worlds apart. When she looked at Aris, this face was incredibly irritating. But when it belonged to Aren, it was nothing short of a feast for the eyes—the more she looked at him, the more breathtaking he became, making it impossible to tear her eyes away.