novelkee Chapter 346: Getting better
Chapter 346: Getting better
Watching Rory support Vincent as she left with her other two mates, Polly cautiously turned toward Lian, who stood beside her.
"Brother... are you okay?"
Her heart ached for him.
He had remained single for so many years. After finally meeting a female he genuinely liked, he had been rejected so cleanly and decisively.
He had to be hurting.
As Rory’s figure disappeared into the distance, Lian turned to her with a puzzled expression.
"Why wouldn’t I be?"
Polly stared at him.
Had the rejection shocked him so badly that he had gone numb?
"Rory rejected you," she said softly. "You must be really sad, right?"
By the end, she lowered her head guiltily.
"I’m sorry, Brother. Even though Rory is my friend... I can’t help you."
As much as she felt sorry for him, Rory was her friend.
She could never go to Rory and say, Please, for my sake, accept my brother.
That would only put Rory in an uncomfortable position.
"What does that have to do with you?"
Lian chuckled and sat back down beside the bonfire.
He picked up a skewer of grilled mushrooms and took an unhurried bite.
"Liking her is my own business."
His voice remained calm and relaxed.
"If pursuing the female I want requires my little sister to plead on my behalf, then I’d be a pretty pathetic brother."
He lifted his eyes slightly. Under the dancing firelight, his beautiful fox-like eyes seemed even deeper and more mesmerizing.
"But Rory rejected you." Polly frowned. "Aren’t you upset?"
She had never understood her brother.
In her opinion, if the male she liked rejected her, she would be too heartbroken to eat.
Lian laughed softly.
The sound blended pleasantly with the crackling bonfire.
"Upset?"
He repeated the word thoughtfully before shaking his head.
"Why would I be?"
Seeing Polly’s confusion deepen, he patiently explained.
"She rejected me once. That doesn’t mean she’ll reject me forever."
His lips curved into an easy smile.
"She rejected me now because she doesn’t know me well enough yet."
He casually tossed the empty skewer into the fire. Sparks burst upward and vanished into the night.
Watching the flames dance, he continued in a calm voice.
"Polly, feelings aren’t something that happens overnight."
"She already has several mates. If another male suddenly appears and wants a place beside her, rejection is the most natural response possible."
His gaze softened.
"If she had accepted me without hesitation, then I would have questioned whether she truly cared about any of her mates at all."
He paused briefly.
"And besides... although she rejected me when she left, she never treated me with hostility, did she?"
A knowing smile appeared on his face.
"That means she doesn’t dislike me."
"For now, that’s enough."
Turning toward his sister, he looked at her with the confidence and cunning of a fox who knew exactly what he was doing.
"One rejection means very little."
"Even if she rejects me twice. Three times."
His smile widened.
"Ten times."
"We live for thousands of years."
"In all that time, there will come a day when she willingly accepts me."
Polly sat there in stunned silence.
So... that was another way to look at it?
Her brother’s mental resilience was truly terrifying.
Meanwhile, Rory helped Vincent back to the hotel.
Since she still needed to continue helping him eliminate the remaining black flames within the feather mark between his brows that night, she arranged for Vangar and Xarion to book their own rooms in the hotel for the time being.
Neither of them had any objections.
Vangar directly reserved all of the rooms on the hotel’s top floor.
That way, when Yuel and the others arrived, they would already have a place to stay and would not need to look elsewhere.
Rory had no objections to the arrangement.
"You two should get some rest," she said. "I’ll come find you tomorrow."
Vincent was still leaning heavily against her, his brows tightly furrowed and his face filled with apparent discomfort.
He looked genuinely unwell.
Xarion had originally wanted to help support him, but Vincent had stubbornly refused.
After speaking, Rory helped Vincent back to their room.
Watching his retreating figure, Xarion rolled his eyes.
"This guy is getting better and better at acting. Even a storage ring couldn’t hold as much as he’s pretending."
Vangar nodded in agreement as he watched Vincent disappear down the hallway.
"He just completed his Nirvana. He’s still a little unstable, so let’s indulge him for now."
A dangerous smile touched his lips.
"Tomorrow, you keep the Female Master company. I’ll find an opportunity to beat him up."
Originally, Vangar had planned to wait until Vincent’s condition fully stabilized before settling accounts.
Now, however, it was obvious that Vincent was perfectly fine.
If anything, his methods had become even more underhanded.
Then again, Vangar considered that perfectly normal.
Vincent had always been calculating.
In the past, he had hidden it beneath layers of elegance and restraint.
Now he had simply stopped pretending.
As Yuel liked to say, Vincent had spent too many years shackled by etiquette, rules, and expectations. Combined with the influence of the Zerg genes inside him, he had not exploded under the pressure.
Instead, he had quietly evolved into something far more dangerous.
Although Vangar and Xarion were speaking softly, Vincent heard every word.
He simply didn’t care.
Rory, meanwhile, had heard nothing at all.
She helped Vincent back into the room and promptly dropped him onto the sofa.
"Cough, cough."
Vincent landed with a dramatic bounce and immediately clutched his chest, coughing weakly.
Looking up at Rory, he tugged lightly at his collar as though struggling to breathe.
His clothing loosened from the movement, exposing elegant collarbones and a glimpse of pale skin beneath. The fabric shifted with each deliberately measured breath.
His long, narrow eyes were half-lidded, shimmering with moisture. A faint flush tinted the corners of his eyes as he gazed at her without blinking.
His expression overflowed with vulnerability and dependence.
"Rory..."
His voice was low and slightly hoarse from coughing, soft enough to tug at the heart.
"I really... don’t feel very well."
As he spoke, he drew his brows together, appearing to endure tremendous discomfort.
The problem was that he looked less like someone suffering and more like someone deliberately trying to seduce her.
Rory stared at him and rolled her eyes.
Walking over, she rested a hand lightly against his chest and stroked it gently.
"Does this make you feel any better?"
She knew perfectly well he was pretending.
But looking at that face and that expression, she simply could not bring herself to be angry.
Vincent immediately took advantage of the opportunity.
He captured her hand and brought it to his lips, pressing a kiss against her fingertips.
The warm, damp touch sent a tiny spark racing through her nerves, leaving a faint tingling sensation behind.
"Rory..."
His voice grew even rougher.
"Just this... isn’t enough."
Before she could react, he guided her hand lower across his chest.
"Like this," he murmured softly, "I might feel a little better."
Rory stared at him.
What a shameless temptress.
Vincent sat up and brushed a kiss against her earlobe.
"Rory, were you angry tonight?"
His voice softened.
"I pretended to be sick and made you leave before the bonfire festival was over."
A faint smile appeared on his lips.
"The old me never would have done something like that."
The Vincent of the past would never have behaved so improperly.
It violated etiquette.
It lacked courtesy.
If this had happened before, he would have stepped in the moment Xarion and Vangar started targeting Lian. He would have smoothed things over, chatted pleasantly with him, and maintained perfect composure throughout the evening.
Then, once the bonfire gathering ended, he would have graciously given up his chance to stay beside Rory and allowed Vangar or Xarion to accompany her instead.