Chapter 429: Opportunities for others

Aren laid Rory down on the bed and reached out, gently covering her eyes.

"Female Master, don’t keep staring at my face. Even though I’m not using my charm magic, you could still be captivated if your mind wavers while you look at me like that."

"Who says my mind is wavering?" Rory removed Aren’s hand. "My mind is completely steadfast." Since having her cubs, she had been a model of perfect self-control.

"Then it’s my mind that is wavering," Aren amended with a smile. "Having the Female Master look at me like this makes my heart race, and I can’t help but want to kiss you."

As he spoke, he gently pressed a kiss to the tips of Rory’s fingers, then to her wrist. He leaned down, lightly brushing his forehead against hers, before pulling her into his embrace. "Get some sleep, Female Master. I’ll stay here with you."

He was being so tame today, not even offering a kiss.

Looking at Aren, Rory suddenly took the initiative to wrap her arms around his neck and pressed her lips to his. His lips were incredibly soft, carrying a faintly sweet scent that she loved. While kissing him, a surge of joy welled up inside her, so immense she couldn’t suppress it. It felt as though she had been dipped in honey—deeply sweet, yet never cloying.

Rory fully understood what it meant to be utterly hooked, even though Aren hadn’t actually done anything.

She kissed him for quite a while before finally releasing him. Pinching his chin, she said, "You did that on purpose, didn’t you? You knew I wanted to kiss you, so you deliberately held back to make me take the lead."

Aren let out a low chuckle. "Yes, I did it on purpose."

He reached out, his thumb gently smudging the lipstick on Rory’s lips, before slowly kissing her again. "Because I want the Female Master to take the initiative to love me a little more."

Rory’s heart fluttered. "Aren, are you sure you didn’t use your charm magic on me?" Why did his every movement and word manage to throw her heart into such disarray? In front of Aren, she felt like a young girl experiencing first love; his every gesture filled her with delight.

Aren let her go and turned on his side to look at her face, his eyes welling with tender affection. "Female Master, I told you that I will never use my charm magic on you."

"What I want is your genuine affection, not your mind being controlled by my charms."

If he wanted to captivate a female, any female would do. But he was a greedy beastman—he wanted Rory’s heart, not a facade of desire conjured by illusion.

"But why is it that just looking at you makes me lose control?" Rory reached up to cover his eyes. Yet, even with his eyes covered, looking at his face still made her heart skip a beat.

Aren let her cover his eyes, explaining in a low voice, "Female Master, I am a succubus. Even if I do absolutely nothing, being around me will still influence you a little. Don’t be afraid; this minor influence won’t cause you any harm."

Rory removed her hand from his eyes. "Is it because of your high rank? When I looked at Aris before, I never felt this way."

"Female Master, don’t bring him up." Aren harbored a deep, visceral hatred for his younger brother. "He doesn’t deserve to be mentioned in the same breath as me." If it weren’t for the fact that Aris was impossible to kill, Aren would have personally ended his life long ago.

Downstairs, Nix finished up his work. Seeing that Vincent was still in the villa, he crept over to find him.

"Vincent, let me ask you something."

Vincent sat in the living room, shutting down his optical computer before turning to look at him. "What do you want to ask?"

Nix whispered, "What did Xarion say to Rory today? You definitely heard it, right? Why don’t you fill me in?"

Vincent arched an eyebrow at him. "What do I get out of telling you?"

"Aren’t we brothers?" Nix looked at him with utmost sincerity. "If you tell me, I’ll share things with you in the future when they come up."

He had grown a bit savvier, actually learning to barter instead of trying to buy information with mechas and beast cores.

Vincent shook his head. "Any news you could possibly get, I definitely already know. This trade is clearly a losing deal for me."

Nix pursed his lips. "Then name your terms. What will it take for you to tell me?"

Vincent stood up and glanced at him. "I’ll stop teasing you. Xarion asked Rory to groom his fur. I don’t know what ’grooming fur’ actually entails. You can go ask Rory about it. Once you find out, remember to tell me."

With that, Vincent turned and walked away.

Grooming fur? Nix frowned. What did grooming fur mean? He immediately stood up and ran to the kitchen to find Jasper.

"Jasper! I know what Xarion whispered to Rory!"

Jasper was in the middle of marinating some marine beast meat. Hearing his words, he didn’t even raise his head, merely letting out a disinterested "Oh."

Nix frowned slightly at his reaction. "Jasper, why are you reacting like this? Aren’t you curious at all?"

"No," Jasper replied. "If I want to know, I’ll ask Rory myself."

Nix curled his lip. "True. Rory treats you the best and tells you all her secrets." Having said that, he looked at Jasper with a sly grin. "But this time, I’m not giving you the chance to go ask Rory. I’ll tell you myself—Xarion asked Rory to groom his fur."

Jasper glanced at Nix but said nothing.

Nix continued eagerly, "Next time, I’m going to ask Rory to groom my fur too. I’ve got to see what this grooming business is all about. But if it’s something Xarion brought up himself, it must be a great thing."

Jasper tossed a piece of mutated beast meat toward him. "If you’re so free, prep this meat. Rory wants to eat it tonight."

"Oh." Nix went to wash his hands, then started prepping the meat Jasper gave him.

Jasper cast a glance at Nix, who had begun working diligently. The guy really is too idle. He hadn’t wanted to hear about this at all.

Standing just outside the kitchen, Wen looked down at his own legs. He didn’t have any scales either—what was he supposed to do?

That evening.

When Rory came down for dinner, she noticed that Jasper and Wen seemed exceptionally quiet tonight.

What was going on with them? Did they have a fight this afternoon? Surely not. With their temperaments, a fight was practically impossible.

As Rory ate, her gaze swept back and forth between Jasper and Wen’s faces from time to time. She picked up a piece of meat and placed it in Jasper’s bowl, then placed a piece of marine beast meat in Wen’s bowl.

Seeing them both look up at her, Rory asked with a smile, "What’s wrong with you two tonight? Why have you been so quiet? Is something bothering you?"

"No..." Wen shook his head hastily. "Master, I’m doing great."

"Oh!" Rory nodded, then turned her gaze toward Jasper.

Meeting Rory’s eyes, Jasper gave her a reassuring smile. "Eat your dinner first. I’ll talk to you about it after we finish eating."

So there was something on their minds. Rory nodded. "Alright."

Wen looked at Jasper. Could you actually do that? Just tell Master directly? Would Master get angry?

After a moment of thought, Wen looked up at Rory. "Master."

Rory looked back at him.

Wen took a deep breath and said, "I also have something to tell you. After Jasper finishes talking to you, I’ll speak with you too."

"Now that’s more like it," Rory said with a chuckle. "After dinner, you can take turns talking to me."

It was always better to speak up when something was bothering them so they could resolve it together.