Yilan stared into Bree’s earnest eyes, and the anger boiling inside her slowly ebbed away.

She bit her lip, weighing the words. In the end, she found them reasonable enough. After a brief hesitation, she nodded.

"Alright. Go quickly and come back soon—I’ll wait for you here."

"Don’t worry. I won’t keep you waiting long."

After calming her, Bree turned to the adjutant, her tone soft with apology.

"I’m sorry, Mister. My sister has a rather impulsive temper. Please don’t take it to heart."

The adjutant inclined his head and gestured politely for her to proceed.

Then, with a quiet order, he instructed the military medic to seal the treatment chamber once more—locking Yilan inside and preventing her from stepping out.

Lay a hand on me?

A cold scoff echoed in his mind.

This account... I’ll make sure His Highness settles it with the succubus clan.

The adjutant escorted Bree swiftly to the reception room.

"Bree!"

The moment Sylas Ruan saw her, he surged to his feet and crossed the room in a few strides, pulling her into a tight embrace.

"You’re alright—thank the stars. I was worried sick!"

Bree leaned into his arms, listening to the tremor in his voice—thick with fear and relief.

She lifted a hand and gently patted his back, her tone soft and soothing.

"I’m fine. Don’t worry."

"How could you be fine?" Sylas pulled back just enough to look her over, his gaze scanning her anxiously. "His Highness Prince Vincent said he found you aboard a Zerg warship."

"Let me see—did those disgusting creatures hurt you at all?"

At the words disgusting creatures, Bree cursed him viciously in her heart.

Outwardly, however, she raised her head and met his gaze with gentle composure, suppressing every flicker of irritation.

"Thanks to His Highness Prince Vincent arriving in time to rescue Yilan and me, I’m alright. I wasn’t harmed."

As she finished speaking, she turned her gaze toward Vincent, who sat on the sofa nearby.

"Your Highness, thank you for informing Sylas to come and take me home."

Vincent lifted his eyes to her, his expression calm.

"There’s no need for such courtesy, Miss Dekhart. It’s our duty."

Bree clasped Sylas’ hand, then continued, "Your Highness, there’s one more matter I’d like to trouble you with. Yilan of the succubus clan came here with me. I’d like to take her with me when I leave. Would that be possible?"

Vincent arched a brow slightly.

"I would very much like for you to take her with you," he said evenly. "However, I’m afraid I cannot comply. Orders have come from above. Every female we rescue must be safely handed over to her family or her partner."

So... that was a refusal.

Bree pressed her lips together, thinking of Yilan still waiting in the treatment chamber.

That foolish girl—so easily stirred, so prone to reckless words. If she didn’t take her away... what if she said something she shouldn’t?

Bree lifted her gaze, a trace of pleading in her eyes.

"Your Highness... could you make an exception? Or perhaps help us find a way?"

Vincent’s expression shifted, a hint of reluctance surfacing.

"This..."

Before he could finish, the adjutant stepped forward, bowing respectfully.

"Your Highness, when I went to escort Miss Bree earlier, Miss Yilan insisted on following. When I tried to stop her, she nearly attacked me."

"What?" Vincent’s expression darkened instantly. "We risked our lives to rescue her from the Zerg, and she dares raise a hand against us?"

His voice turned cold. "This matter will be taken up with the succubus clan. They owe us an explanation."

Then he looked back at Bree, his tone firm.

"Miss Bree, I’m afraid I cannot allow you to take Miss Yilan with you today."

Damn it.

She had said it before—if you strike a dog, you must think of its master.

And yet Yilan, that idiot, seemed determined to drag her into trouble.

Seeing Vincent rise as if to leave, Bree quickly turned to Sylas, urgency flashing in her eyes.

"Sylas, please—help me think of something. Yilan came out with me. If anything happens to her, I won’t be able to answer to Madam Melanie."

Her voice trembled slightly, her eyes reddening as though tears might spill at any moment.

The sight of her distress struck Sylas like a blade to the heart.

"Bree, don’t cry," he said immediately. "I’ll make sure she leaves with us."

Turning to Vincent, he flicked two spatial rings toward him.

"Your Highness, Miss Yilan was indeed in the wrong. But for the sake of her being the daughter of the succubus clan leader, perhaps you could overlook it. Consider this... compensation on behalf of her clan."

Vincent didn’t even glance at the rings.

Instead, he looked at Sylas Ruan with faint amusement, his tone edged with mockery.

"Sylas, who exactly do you take me for? Did you not hear what my adjutant said? She intended to kill him."

"My adjutant has followed me since the day I entered the military. He is a brother who has fought beside me through life and death."

Sylas’ jaw tightened.

So this is how it is.

People said Vangar was a bandit—he thought Vincent wasn’t much better.

Wasn’t this just a demand for a higher price?

He glanced down at Bree’s pleading expression, then gritted his teeth and tossed out two more spatial rings.

It seemed that today, without bleeding heavily, he wouldn’t be taking Yilan away.

Vincent still didn’t accept them. Instead, his long fingers tapped lightly against the table.

Tap. Tap.

The crisp sound echoed through the reception room.

Sylas’ jaw tensed.

With a stiff expression, he pulled out yet another two spatial rings.

Only then did Vincent give a satisfied nod.

He turned to the adjutant.

"Go and bring Miss Yilan here."

"Yes, sir."

Suppressing a smile, the adjutant quickly left to retrieve her.

Vincent then had paper and pen brought over.

"Sylas, Miss Bree—you’ll need to write a guarantee and sign it with your beast marks."

"You must state clearly that once you take Miss Yilan away, her life and death will have nothing to do with us. All responsibility will rest with you."

"That way, I’ll have something to report to the Marshal and the higher command."

Outrageous.

This is outright extortion.

If Sylas had the strength for it, he would have already come to blows.

In the end, however, he could only grit his teeth and draft the guarantee alongside Bree.

When the time came to seal it, Bree hesitated, then spoke softly.

"I’m human. I don’t have a beast mark—only fingerprints."

There were records about humans in the insectoid archives. She had read them carefully.

One detail had stood out: human females had no beast marks—only fingerprints.

"Then use your fingerprint," Vincent said evenly.

Bree nodded and pressed her finger onto the document without delay.

Fortunately, she had prepared for this.

The fingerprint was something she had replicated based on archived samples—perfectly forged, indistinguishable from the real thing.

Before long, Yilan was brought in.

"Bree! Can I leave with you now?"

The moment she entered, she hurried to Bree’s side.

"Yes," Bree said warmly, clasping her hand. "His Highness has agreed to let Sylas and me take you back." 𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂

Yilan’s face lit up instantly.

She turned to Vincent with a bright smile.

"His Highness Prince Vincent is truly kind—not like certain people who abuse their authority and tried to stop me from leaving."

As she spoke, she shot the adjutant a sharp glare.

The adjutant stood unmoving, eyes lowered, as if he hadn’t heard a word.

Sensing the danger of her loose tongue, Sylas quickly intervened before she could say anything worse.

"It’s getting late," he said briskly. "We should leave at once."

There was no way he intended to remain on Vincent’s warship a second longer than necessary.