Chapter 433: Fat?

Vincent instantly turned his gaze toward Wen.

Wen kept his head lowered, maintaining that exact same sweet, innocent look. "Vincent, I didn’t expect them to absorb my elemental energy. But don’t worry, my energy is highly gentle. No matter who absorbs it, it will only benefit them without causing any harm."

Otherwise, he wouldn’t have dared to use this special method to bond with Rory while she was still carrying the cubs. It was precisely because he was absolutely certain it wouldn’t harm her or the babies in her belly that he had dared to do it.

"It’s fine. As long as the cubs and Rory are alright," Vincent said, withdrawing his gaze and looking back at Rory. "Rory, you’ve just given birth to the cubs. Let me take you back to your room to rest first."

"I’m fine, my body feels great right now." She had never felt this full of energy or this comfortable before. Rory took Vincent’s hand, staring at the two egg cubs in the grass nest. "Vincent, when will they hatch? What will they look like when they break their shells? Will they be little fat birds just like you?"

Vincent’s mouth twitched slightly. Was he fat?

"Rory, newly hatched fire birds just have very fluffy feathers. They aren’t fat." How could Rory think of him as a little fat bird? This seriously ruined his image, didn’t it?

"I should still take you back to your room to rest first."

Rory wasn’t sleepy at all. She felt incredibly energized right now. "But I want to watch you hatch them."

There really wasn’t much to see.

"You can watch tomorrow. The egg cubs and I will be right here, so you can look whenever you want. But even if you don’t feel tired, you still need to get some proper rest since you just gave birth to them." Vincent coaxed Rory patiently.

"Alright then." Rory didn’t insist. Jasper was still waiting for her in her room anyway, and she still needed to check on him. "Then I’ll head back to my room to rest first, and I’ll watch you hatch the cubs tomorrow."

Having said that, Rory turned to look for Wen, only to realize he had already left at some point. The guy had departed completely silently, leaving absolutely no presence behind. Perhaps it was precisely because of this trait that he managed to blend in so perfectly in this household.

Cradling the grass nest with one hand, Vincent supported Rory with the other as they stepped into the levitating elevator. He didn’t ask Rory about Wen’s situation. For the cubs to be born, they required an incredibly massive amount of elemental energy. A rank-ten ability like the one Wen usually displayed couldn’t possibly achieve that. It was blindingly obvious that he was hiding his true strength.

To be able to trigger the birth of his cubs instantly and even raise Rory’s rank—Vincent had already guessed his identity. This fish had certainly hidden himself incredibly deep.

Upstairs.

Aren lit the scented candles he had specially blended for Rory today, then turned his head to look at Jasper. "Your mating cycle is here. Do you need some help?"

Hearing this, Jasper looked at Aren warily. "...How exactly are you going to help me?" They were both males, after all.

Meeting his complicated gaze, Aren’s mouth twitched. "What are you thinking? I mean I can use my abilities to help suppress it for a while to make you feel a bit more comfortable." This snake really had a dirty mind.

Feeling a bit guilty, Jasper pursed his lips. "My apologies. I didn’t know your succubus race possessed this kind of ability." To actually be able to help another beastman suppress their mating cycle.

"Beastmen of the succubus race don’t have this kind of ability," Aren said as he walked over, sizing Jasper up from head to toe.

"This is a unique ability of mine. If it weren’t for the Female Master’s sake, I wouldn’t even bother helping you."

"Aren’t you helping yourself by helping me?" Jasper didn’t believe he was being so kind-hearted. "Rory knows my current situation and told me to wait for her up here—the implication speaks for itself."

"You’re only helping me because you don’t want me taking up your time with her, right?" When Rory asked Jasper to wait for her upstairs, he knew she intended to find another way to help relieve him tonight. But doing that would encroach on Aren’s time. If Rory made the request, Aren definitely wouldn’t refuse. Yet, who would willingly give up their own time?

"It’s good that you know." Aren gripped Jasper’s wrist. "So, hurry up and let me suppress it for you, then get out of here. Don’t interrupt my time with the Female Master." Had it been easy for him to get to this point? There was no way he would give up his time so easily.

Jasper smiled and said, "Actually, even if you didn’t suppress it for me, I wouldn’t have stayed anyway." How could he make things difficult for Rory? The only reason he agreed to come up and wait for her was because he knew she wouldn’t feel at ease if he didn’t. Originally, he had planned to just say a few words to her when she returned and then leave.

"I’m not as magnanimous as you," Aren countered. "When it’s my turn to accompany the Female Master, she belongs to me alone. No one else can think of fighting me for her."

Just as Aren finished speaking, he saw Rory walking over with Vincent. Instead of letting go of Jasper’s wrist, he offered Rory a smile and greeted her. "Female Master, you’re back."

"What are you two doing?" Rory asked, looking at Aren holding Jasper’s wrist in confusion.

Aren released Jasper’s wrist and explained to Rory with a smile, "Jasper hasn’t been feeling well these past few days, so I’m using my ability to help him suppress it."

Rory knew about Jasper’s situation. She hadn’t realized this kind of thing could actually be suppressed.

Jasper nodded to Rory. "Yes, Rory. Thanks to Aren, I feel much better now." He knew Aren did this on purpose just so Rory would see it. Now that his mating cycle was suppressed, Rory would have no reason to ask him to stay.

Vincent cast a glance at the two of them, then spoke gently to Rory. "Rory, get some good rest tonight. I’ll bring the cubs to see you tomorrow." With that, Vincent turned his gaze to Aren. "Aren, Rory just gave birth to the cubs. Take good care of her tonight. Jasper and I will take our leave first."

Gave birth to the cubs?

Aren and Jasper stared at Rory simultaneously in utter shock.

Rory smiled, pointing to the grass nest in Vincent’s arms. "Vincent’s and my firebird cubs. Aren’t they adorable?"

"Why so sudden?" Aren and Jasper immediately stepped forward, looking at Rory with deep concern.

Jasper asked, "Rory, do you feel uncomfortable anywhere?"

Aren was also looking at Rory worriedly, having sensed a shift in her aura. The Female Master carried Wen’s scent now. Wen formed a mate bond with the Female Master? But the scent was somewhat faint, unlike a normal bond. Did the merman race have some sort of unique bonding ritual that triggered the immediate birth of the cubs right after he bonded with the Female Master? Did it cause any harm to her body?

"Female Master, you..."

"I’m fine." Rory quickly explained the matter of her bonding with Wen to them. "Alright, I need to rest now. You guys should go get some rest too."

After saying that, Rory touched Jasper’s hand. Confirming that his body temperature had returned to normal, she felt relieved.

"Rory, get some good rest. I’ll come see you tomorrow." Seeing that Rory truly was perfectly fine, Jasper quickly left with Vincent.

Stepping out of the levitating elevator, Jasper asked Vincent, "About Wen..."

Vincent cut him off. "I’ll tell you about him once you reach rank eleven. For now, since he wants to hide it, let him. You only need to know that he will never harm Rory, and that’s enough."