Chapter 239: Schedule
The waters teemed with sea beasts—far more than expected.
Especially the high-rank ones—their meat was unbelievably tender and rich.
Rory had Vincent and Xarion capture as many as they could. One after another, the beasts were secured and placed into the specialized containment units Wen had prepared.
Inside those containers, the sea beasts could remain alive for up to three months.
***
Early the next morning, Rory and the others returned to the Dragon Palace.
Paros had been waiting at the entrance.
The moment he saw Rory, he strode toward her without hesitation.
"Rory... you’re finally back."
His hair was damp, his clothes wrinkled—it was obvious he had been waiting outside all night.
"You stayed here the whole time?" Rory frowned slightly as she looked at him.
Hadn’t she already told Ethan to inform him? They had gone to hunt sea beasts and would return in the morning to pick him up.
"I wanted to wait for you."
Paros clasped her hand, his dark eyes filled with careful, almost fragile longing.
"I wanted to be the first thing you saw when you came back."
At that moment, Ethan hurried out after hearing the news of Rory’s return.
"Rory—thank goodness you’re back!"
He looked at her like a man seeing salvation.
"Our Dragon Lord... when he woke up and realized you’d gone without him, he insisted on waiting here."
"All night."
Ethan himself had stayed until midnight before his old bones gave out. He’d left guards to accompany Paros and gone back to rest.
Rory gently pulled her hand free from Paros’s grip and said firmly, "Don’t ever do this again. If you do, I won’t take you with me."
Panic flashed across Paros’s face. "Rory, please don’t leave me behind. I was wrong. I’ll listen to you from now on. I won’t do this again."
Rory nodded, then turned to Ethan.
"Ethan, are Paros’s things ready? We’re about to depart."
"All ready—everything’s prepared," Ethan replied quickly.
Then he looked at Paros with concern.
"Dragon Lord, please remember everything I told you."
Don’t anger Rory. Not under any circumstances.
Ethan wished he could accompany him to the Central District, but he couldn’t leave the waters for now.
This time, aside from a few guards, only the Third Elder, Sandon, would accompany Paros.
And Sandon... was notoriously bad at speaking.
Ethan could only sigh.
After his final instructions, Rory bid Ethan farewell and led Paros onto the battleship.
They would first travel to the Starrail Hub—then transfer onto the starrail system.
Sandon and the others followed behind in a separate Dragon Clan battleship.
***
Once aboard, Rory took Paros straight to a private room to stabilize him.
This time, his mindscape was relatively calm.
The thin membrane that had recently formed hadn’t melted away—in fact, it seemed slightly thicker than before.
When Rory finished, the battleship had already arrived at the Starrail Hub.
From the water domain to the Central District—the journey by starrail would take five days.
Once they boarded the starrail, Vincent opened his wrist device and sent a message to the group.
Vincent:
"For the next five days, each of us will spend one day with Rory.
Do you want to draw lots for the order, or should I arrange it?"
Nix:
"I don’t want to draw lots."
Last time, he’d drawn third place twice in a row.
He was traumatized.
Yuel:
"I’m fine either way."
There wasn’t much he could do right now anyway.
Jasper:
"I’ll follow the arrangement."
Xarion:
"Same."
Vincent thought for a moment.
Vincent:
"Alright. I’ll arrange it."
Vincent:
"This time, we’ll go by the order in which we appeared in Rory’s life."
"Jasper tonight.
Nix tomorrow.
Yuel the day after.
Me on the fourth day.
Xarion on the fifth."
Vincent:
"This is only for these five days. After we return, I’ll reorganize the schedule."
Nix:
"Agreed! Agreed!"
Finally—he wasn’t last.
Yuel:
"Mm."
Jasper:
"Alright."
Xarion:
"."
***
Once everyone agreed, Vincent relayed the arrangement to Rory.
She smiled.
"You planned it well."
"If we drew lots again, Nix would probably cry."
Vincent sat on the edge of her bed in the resting cabin, leaning his head lightly against her shoulder.
"Nix puts all his focus into mecha research. He doesn’t think much about things like this."
In truth, Nix was very smart—he simply used all of that intelligence on mechs and warships.
Vincent lifted his gaze, his eyes fixed steadily on Rory.
"Rory... when we get back, I want to rearrange things again."
There was a quiet intensity in his voice.
"I have a selfish wish. I want to form our bond first."
He didn’t want to wait any longer.
Not even a little.
Rory smiled, leaning in to kiss his cheek.
"Alright. When we get back, I’ll bond with you first."
Among all her partners, only Vincent remained.
She knew how long he had been waiting.
At her answer, something bright and unguarded flickered through Vincent’s expression—a rare, genuine happiness.
Truthfully, he wasn’t nearly as composed or magnanimous as he appeared.
"Rory... I have one more request."
He took her hand, pressing his forehead gently against hers.
"I want the same kind of gift you gave Nix."
Vincent had come later—he didn’t know that the gift hadn’t actually been meant for Nix, but for Yuel.
Rory blinked, puzzled for a moment—then realization dawned.
"You mean... the wooden carving I made?"
Vincent nodded softly.
"Yes. That one."
That carving had been made by Rory herself.
Of course he wanted one too.
"That one wasn’t for Nix—it was for Yuel," Rory said with a soft laugh, looking at Vincent. "I knew you’d want one as well. Don’t worry—when we get back, I’ll buy more wood and carve one for each of you."
So she had already thought it through.
Without another word, Vincent leaned in and captured her lips in a deep kiss.
"I knew it," he murmured against her, voice low with satisfaction. "My Rory is the best."
After a moment, he pulled away.
Today wasn’t his turn.
He couldn’t take up too much of Jasper’s time.
"Rory, I’ll go take care of some things. Jasper should already be waiting outside."
When Vincent stepped out and opened the door, he found Jasper standing there.
Paros was beside him.
Vincent’s gaze flicked between them.
"What’s going on?"
Jasper sighed faintly, a trace of helplessness in his tone.
"He insists on waiting here for Rory."
He had already explained everything—told Paros to return to his room and rest, assured him that Rory would come to stabilize him when it was time.
But Paros refused to listen.
Vincent paused, then stepped aside.
"Go in and keep Rory company."
Jasper nodded and entered.
Inside, Rory had already heard their conversation.
She didn’t go out.
For something like this, she trusted Vincent to handle it.
Before Jasper came in, she quickly sent another message to Aren—telling him that if he returned, he should wait for her at the estate.
She would be back in five days.
Outside.
Vincent looked at Paros.
"Let’s talk over there."
His tone was calm, but there was a quiet pressure behind it.
"You don’t want to make things difficult for Rory... or make her dislike you even more, do you?"
Paros glanced at the door that had just closed behind Jasper.
Then, after a brief hesitation, he nodded.
Nearby, Nix was in the middle of preparing lunch with Wen when he noticed the two of them heading into a meeting room.
Curiosity got the better of him.
Vincent... talking to Paros?
What could that possibly lead to?
Ten minutes later, the door opened.
Paros walked out.
And, to Nix’s utter shock, he quietly returned to his own room.
No lingering.
No stubborn waiting.
No trouble.
Just... gone.
Nix stared, stunned.
As expected of Vincent.
Even Paros could be handled.
Yeah... he was definitely not someone to offend.
Ever.
Vincent stepped out of the meeting room and noticed Nix staring at him.
He raised a brow.
"Nix, why are you looking at me like that? Do you need help with lunch?"
"No, no, no!"
Nix shook his head immediately.
"Today’s my turn with Wen. Tomorrow’s yours."
He wasn’t about to mess up the schedule—not after Vincent had arranged everything so perfectly.