Rory trusted Yuel completely. If he said he wouldn’t give Lian an opportunity, then he absolutely wouldn’t.

"It’s just..." Rory pressed her lips together. "Are we being a little unfair?"

"Female Master, there’s nothing unfair about it," Vangar spoke up. "That sacred medicine was something I risked my life to obtain from the Zerg. Giving it to that fox already benefits him far more than it benefits us."

Yuel lowered his gaze and nodded. "The Marshal is right."

"I see." Rory thought about it for a moment. If that was the case, then perhaps there really wasn’t a problem.

She turned toward Vangar and reached out to take his hand.

"Vangar, thank you."

The Female Master had taken his hand again. A faint blush crept onto the tips of Vangar’s ears.

"Female Master, anything I do for you is only natural. If you keep thanking me, it makes us seem like strangers."

"Then I won’t say it anymore."

Rory slipped her hand from his and crooked a finger at him.

Vangar had been reluctant to let her hand go in the first place. The moment he saw her beckoning him closer, he immediately bent down toward her.

"Female Master, is there som..."

Before he could finish speaking, something warm and soft brushed against his cheek.

Vangar froze.

The Female Master had kissed him.

He stared at Rory in stunned disbelief. Rory quickly looked away, unable to meet his gaze.

Kissing him in front of everyone was already the absolute limit of her courage.

Seeing the faint pink tint coloring her ears, Vangar’s lips slowly curved upward.

Then he smiled. It was a broad, unrestrained smile.

Standing nearby, Nix could not help but mutter under his breath.

"Marshal, stop smiling."

He paused before adding bluntly, "You look like an idiot."

Vangar fell silent. This guy really had no idea how to speak.

Rory bit back a laugh and turned her head away. She was genuinely afraid she might burst out laughing.

That would only make Vangar even more embarrassed.

After escorting Lian out, Jasper returned to the room. Finding everyone strangely silent, he frowned slightly in confusion.

After a moment, he asked, "Where’s Prince Vincent?"

"That’s right. Vincent is still in the bathroom."

Rory suddenly remembered. Vincent had used his abilities to block all sound from inside. She had almost forgotten he was still there.

"He didn’t faint from throwing up, did he?"

Concerned, she immediately started climbing out of bed.

At that moment, Xarion’s voice came from the bathroom.

"Female Master, he hasn’t fainted. I’m keeping an eye on him, so don’t worry."

When had Xarion gone into the bathroom?

Rory had not even noticed.

"I should still go check on him." She remained uneasy.

Just as she was about to stand, the bathroom door opened. Xarion emerged carrying Vincent over one shoulder.

He walked across the room and carefully deposited him onto a nearby sofa.

Vincent lay there weakly, his face pale as fresh snow.

At the moment, he didn’t dare move at all. Every slight motion threatened to trigger another wave of nausea.

So this was how miserable Rory had felt. Only now did he truly understand.

Thankfully... Thankfully that suffering had been transferred to him.

"Vincent, are you alright?"

Rory hurried over and gently cupped his face. 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝘦𝓌𝑒𝑏𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝘭.𝒸𝘰𝑚

Pain flickered in her eyes. She had experienced it herself. She knew exactly how awful it felt.

"Rory, don’t worry." Vincent’s voice was barely above a whisper. "I’ll be fine."

He didn’t even dare speak too loudly.

He was afraid that if he exerted even a little more effort, he might vomit on the spot.

Watching Vincent suffer on the sofa, Yuel suddenly felt that the three years he had spent abstaining from meat while raising Terry had not actually been all that miserable after all.

There truly was no greater lesson than comparison.

Watching Vincent suffer so miserably, Jasper’s brows drew together into a deep frown.

Was having a baby really this painful? When Rory had bloomed before, she hadn’t seemed to experience any discomfort at all.

He had honestly assumed that pregnancy was always that easy for females.

Thankfully, he had never gotten Rory pregnant with a snake hatchling.

"By the way, didn’t Lian say he was going to prepare medicine to help ease Vincent’s symptoms?" Jasper suddenly remembered.

"I’ll go ask him how long it will take."

Looking at Vincent’s pale and miserable state, even Jasper found it difficult to watch.

Wen turned toward Rory.

"Master, are you hungry? I can make something for you."

The moment the word food was spoken, Vincent abruptly sat upright on the sofa.

"Rory, I’m sorry. I need to use the bathroom."

Everyone stared at him in shock.

Surely not. Could he not even hear the word food anymore?

Seeing Vincent rush into the bathroom again, Wen immediately looked like a child who had made a mistake.

"Master, I... I didn’t mean to. I didn’t know..."

"It’s okay. This isn’t your fault." Rory shook her head reassuringly. "But I am a little hungry. Why don’t you cook in another room? I think Vincent probably can’t handle the smell of food right now."

"Alright," Wen nodded immediately.

Vangar turned to him.

"We rented the entire floor. Pick any room you like."

There was no way he would volunteer to help.

He was afraid Vincent might end up blowing the entire hotel apart.

Nix glanced around and realized he wasn’t particularly useful here.

"I’ll go help Wen."

"I’ll come too." Paros, who had remained silent until now, finally spoke.

His gaze briefly settled on Rory before dropping away again.

There was a trace of loneliness in his eyes.

She still hadn’t looked at him.

Watching the three of them leave, Yuel glanced toward the bathroom before turning to Rory.

"Rory, why don’t you let the Marshal accompany you to another room and get some rest?"

He looked toward the bathroom door.

"With Vincent in this condition, you probably won’t be able to rest properly here."

This pregnancy was different from growing fruit. She needed real rest.

Vangar looked at Yuel in surprise. He hadn’t expected Yuel to hand such an opportunity to him.

Rory glanced toward the bathroom.

"I’ll wait until Vincent comes out."

Then something suddenly occurred to her. She looked at Yuel’s shoulder.

"Yuel, where’s Terry?"

The moment Yuel entered earlier, she had noticed Terry wasn’t perched on his shoulder as usual.

But there had been so much happening that she hadn’t had a chance to ask.

Smiling, Yuel opened the front of his coat.

Attached near his chest was a tiny house crafted from several wafer-thin spatial stones.

Inside, Terry was sleeping peacefully.

Yuel explained,

"We were traveling at high speed this time. I was worried he wouldn’t sleep well on my shoulder, so I moved him here."

Could you do that?

Rory gazed at the tiny sleeping figure nestled inside the miniature house and couldn’t help smiling.

She reached out and gently stroked him.

"Let him keep sleeping. Just seeing him puts my mind at ease."

Ten minutes later, Jasper returned with the medicine Lian had prepared.

After administering it to Vincent, the effects became obvious almost immediately.

He was still nauseous, but the vomiting eased considerably.

Even so, he looked utterly drained.

"Rory, I’m alright now." Vincent’s voice was weak as he looked at her. "You should go rest."

Inside the bathroom earlier, he had heard everything Yuel and Vangar had said.

Xarion stepped forward.

"Female Master, go get some rest. I’ll stay here and take care of him."

Yuel nodded as well.

"Rory, you don’t need to worry about Vincent. Until we return to the Central District, we’ll take turns looking after him. Nothing will happen to him."

Seeing that Vincent’s condition had improved, Rory finally relaxed.

"Vincent, if you miss me, send me a message through your communicator. I’ll go..."

She almost said eat something, but quickly caught herself.

The last thing she wanted was to make him sick again just by hearing the word.

"...take a nap. I’ll come see you when I wake up."

Vangar accompanied Rory to another room so she could rest.

Once she was gone, Yuel settled onto the sofa and looked at the exhausted Vincent lying there.

A faint smile tugged at his lips.

"You’ve had your breakdown, and now you have a child on the way. Your Highness is going to be a father."

His tone remained gentle, but there was unmistakable meaning beneath it.

"I assume you understand now what you should do and what you shouldn’t do from this point forward?"