Chapter 401: Decision
Rory placed the necklace around her neck.
She leaned down and pressed a kiss onto Terry’s plump, rosy forehead. "Thank you, mommy’s little treasure."
As if feeling her touch in his sleep, Terry smacked his little lips twice, the corners of his mouth turning up slightly into a sweet smile.
Rory tucked the blanket in around his shoulders, stood up gently, and slipped out of the room.
The moment she stepped outside, she spotted Yuel sitting alone on the sofa in the starlight living room, still wearing the exact same clothes from yesterday.
Yuel hadn’t slept a wink all night. Hearing the door open, he looked up almost instantly. The coldness in his deep blue eyes melted into instant tenderness the moment he saw Rory.
"Rory..." Yuel stood up, his voice raspy from the sleepless night. "You’re awake. Did... Did Terry disturb you?"
"No, Terry was an absolute angel."
Rory walked over to him, her eyes dropping to his slightly wrinkled clothes. "You didn’t sleep all night?"
"Mm." Yuel nodded. "There was an urgent matter at work last night. I just finished wrapping it up."
He paused, then asked, "Are you hungry? I’ll go fix you some breakfast."
"I’m not hungry yet." Rory caught his hand and cupped his face. "Look at you, though—up all night and looking exhausted. Let me take you back to your room to take a bath and change, okay?"
Vine-type beastmen could go several days without sleep, but that didn’t mean they wouldn’t get tired.
"I’ll have Vangar and the others watch Terry today so you can get some proper rest," Rory added.
"I’m really not that tired," Yuel said, shaking his head as he walked back to his room with her.
Click.
As soon as the door shut behind them, Yuel took off his glasses, suddenly leaning down to capture Rory’s lips in a kiss.
"Rory, I’m sorry. I made you angry last night regarding Terry."
Rory looked at him, reaching out to give his cheek a playful pinch. "So you stayed up all night because you thought I was angry, not because you actually had work?"
Rory wasn’t stupid. If Yuel had work to do, he would have definitely been busy in his own room instead of heading to the living room. After all, much of his work was confidential and not meant to be seen by Vincent or Jasper.
"That’s not the only reason." Yuel couldn’t resist kissing her again. "I really did have work during the first half of the night. But during the second half, I couldn’t sleep, so I went out to the living room."
And he had sat there all the way until morning.
"Why couldn’t you sleep?" Rory asked softly, gazing up at him. "Don’t you feel exhausted when you don’t sleep?"
"A little," Yuel admitted, his eyes locking onto her moist, rosy lips, the affection in his gaze practically overflowing.
Suddenly, his arms tightened around her. With a swift, effortless motion, he swept Rory up into a bridal carry.
"Since I’m so exhausted, won’t you take pity on me, Rory, and join me for a bath?" Yuel added quickly, anticipating that she might refuse. "We’ll be arriving back at the Central District tomorrow. Once we’re back, I might become very busy for a long stretch of time. I won’t have as many chances to spend time with you."
Busy?
Rory frowned. "But Vincent and Vangar said there are no military conflicts lately, so you guys shouldn’t be busy."
Otherwise, Vincent and Vangar wouldn’t have the free time to stay by her side every single day right now.
Yuel carried Rory into the bathroom. It wasn’t until they were both half-reclining in the bathtub that he spoke in a low voice.
"Rory, I’m leaving the Command Headquarters," Yuel blurted out.
"Why?!" Rory stared at him in shock. He had fought so hard to secure the position of First Commander. Why was he suddenly leaving?
Yuel kissed the back of her hand and said softly, "Birds are born to long for the sky, and fish are destined to roam the deep blue sea. The position of First Commander is wonderful; it has allowed me to accomplish many things I wanted to do. But now, it is standing in my way. Its limitations restrict the things I want to achieve and the horizons I want to see. That is why I want to leave it behind."
Yuel raised his other hand, gently tracing Rory’s cheek. "I want to go to a place where I can stand higher and see further."
Higher, and further?
Wouldn’t that mean...
Rory really hadn’t seen it coming; she had no idea Yuel possessed such grand ambitions.
"I understand." Rory cupped Yuel’s face. "Whatever it is you want to do, just go ahead and do it."
She leaned in, resting her forehead against his. Their noses touched, their breaths intertwining.
"I just need you to remember that you are a beastman with a female master, a cub, and a family. If you run into trouble out there that you can’t resolve, you must tell me. I know that if you can’t handle it, I definitely won’t be able to either, but Vincent and the others can help you."
"We are a family. No matter what we do, we move forward and stand together. Do you understand?"
Rory wouldn’t stop Yuel from pursuing his dreams. She knew that someone as exceptional as Yuel would never stand still in one place forever. She just wanted him to realize that he no longer had to forge ahead all on his own.
"Mm." Yuel nodded earnestly. "Don’t worry. I absolutely won’t hesitate to ask them for help."
He wasn’t the stubborn, rigid type; when it came to getting things done, he would utilize every single resource available to him.
Except Rory. Because Rory was his one and only red line.
Meanwhile, over on the other side.
Terry woke up and saw that Rory wasn’t in the room. Rubbing his eyes, he hopped off the bed and walked out into the corridor completely stark naked.
Just then, Nix came out of his room, planning to head to the kitchen to make breakfast. Seeing Terry wandering around bare-bottomed, he hurried over and scooped him up into his arms.
"Terry, why did you come out of Rory’s room all by yourself without any clothes on?"
"Mama isn’t in the room. Daddy must have stolen her away," Terry explained to Nix. "Daddy Nix, Terry is hungry."
Nix felt a brief flash of confusion, but quickly retrieved several tier-six beast cores from his spatial ring and handed them to Terry. Then, he placed Terry down on the sofa.
Smiling, he rubbed the boy’s little head. "Sit here first and absorb the energy from these beast cores. I’ll go call your Daddy Xarion to come keep you company. Daddy Nix has to make breakfast now."
"Mm." Terry nodded obediently. "Terry can handle it alone."
Though he had the body of a child, his mind was mature. Absorbing beast core energy by himself was no issue at all.
Even so, Nix wasn’t quite at ease, so he went to wake Xarion up. Since Yuel had stolen Rory away, it wouldn’t be right to disturb them—after all, Yuel had given him so many energy stones yesterday.
Xarion’s room happened to be the closest. Nix walked over and knocked twice on the door.
A moment later, Xarion stepped out of the room.
"What is it?" Xarion looked at Nix half-dead, his eyes barely open. "You’d better have a good reason."
"Terry is by himself in the living room. Watch him for a bit while I go to the kitchen to make breakfast."
Xarion glanced toward the sofa and nodded. "Got it."
With that, he walked straight over to the sofa, sat down, closed his eyes, and began drifting back to sleep right next to Terry.
Terry glanced at him, said nothing, and quietly resumed absorbing the energy from his beast cores.