So she hadn’t only been thinking about Xarion. She had been thinking about him too.

"Rory..."

Vincent’s tall frame completely enclosed her where she sat on the bathroom counter, his arms braced on either side of her.

"I missed you too."

He lowered his head, rubbing the tip of his nose affectionately against hers. His scorching breath spilled across her lips as he whispered hoarsely,

"Every moment of every day."

The instant the words fell, he kissed her. Deeply. Passionately.

Steam curled through the bathroom, mist gathering across the mirrors until their reflections blurred into soft silhouettes.

No one knew how much time passed before Vincent finally pulled back slightly, their foreheads resting together.

His firebird eyes shimmered with moisture, clouded heavily with desire. Even his usually cool, elegant features were flushed faintly red from emotion.

"Rory..."

His gaze lingered on her swollen, reddened lips. His throat bobbed once as he swallowed hard, voice rough beyond recognition.

"It’s not enough."

...

The temperature in the bathroom climbed higher and higher.

Steam flooded the entire space.

The reflection in the mirror had long since disappeared behind a haze of white mist...

...

By the time the two of them finally came downstairs, evening had already fallen.

The lights below were on, warm golden light bathing the living room in a cozy glow.

The kitchen had already been repaired as well.

Jasper and Paros were inside cooking dinner.

Xarion, Yuel, and Wen sat on the sofa in the living room, each occupied with their own things.

Meanwhile, Vangar stood beside the aquarium feeding the fish.

The atmosphere was strangely harmonious.

At the sound of footsteps descending the stairs, every man in the room looked up at once.

And almost instantly, their gazes locked onto Vincent.

He had changed into a clean black silk robe, the belt tied loosely around his waist.

The open collar exposed sharp collarbones and part of his firm chest, along with several striking red marks impossible to ignore.

He held Rory’s hand tightly, his brows relaxed, dark phoenix eyes overflowing with tenderness as he looked at her.

That expression—completely satisfied, yet faintly smug—pierced straight through the hearts of every man in the room like an invisible needle.

On the sofa, Xarion abruptly dropped the leg he’d been lazily crossing over the other with a loud thud.

His silver-gray eyes narrowed dangerously, like a lone wolf whose territory had been invaded, cold hostility radiating from him.

Yuel still sat gracefully in place, the gentle smile on his face unchanged.

Only the amusement never quite reached his eyes. Beneath that elegant calmness flickered something calculating.

Wen looked at Vincent with open envy before sneaking another glance at Rory, his entire face practically screaming:

I want that too.

As for Vangar, the motion of feeding the fish paused slightly.

Under the lights, his tall figure cast a long shadow across the floor, the aquarium glass reflecting the unreadable darkness in his expression.

His grip tightened unconsciously around the bag of fish food until his knuckles turned white.

A fierce sense of frustration and jealousy coiled around his heart like thorned vines.

He couldn’t even manage to cook one proper meal.

Yet Vincent...

"Heh."

Xarion suddenly spoke in a half-dead tone from the sofa, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Prince Vincent... did your hands stop working? How come you can’t even wear your clothes properly?"

His gaze fixed on the red marks across Vincent’s chest, jealousy nearly driving him insane.

Grinding his teeth, he sneered, "Need me to help you get dressed?"

He couldn’t stand Vincent acting so smug after clearly getting exactly what he wanted.

But Vincent was in too good a mood to argue. He merely tightened his hold on Rory’s hand and smiled faintly.

"No need. These are Rory’s rewards for me. Unlike certain people... who only know how to make Rory angry. Or blow up kitchens."

His tone remained calm and elegant throughout. Yet with a single sentence, he managed to strike both Xarion and Vangar at the exact same time.

Rory stared at Vincent in complete shock. She genuinely hadn’t expected him of all people to start mocking Xarion and Vangar.

Had he gone crazy? Or been possessed?

In Rory’s eyes, Vincent had always been the calmest and most dependable person in the house.

As her first partner, he was like the anchor holding everything steady—carefully balancing everyone’s relationships, forever gentle, forever composed.

He had never been someone who openly vented his emotions the way Xarion did.

And he certainly had never spoken with such blunt, cutting provocation before.

Xarion himself was stunned speechless by Vincent’s words.

His silver-gray eyes widened with disbelief.

"Vincent... have you lost your mind?"

Something was wrong. Very wrong. What exactly had happened upstairs?

Vincent ignored him completely. Supporting Rory gently by the waist, he led her to the dining table and helped her sit down.

"Rory, wait here for a moment. I’ll go see whether Jasper and Paros have finished dinner yet."

Everyone stared at Vincent in shock.

Had he really gone crazy?

Vincent swept a calm glance across their stunned expressions and explained nothing.

Because he wasn’t crazy.

He simply... Didn’t want to be the first partner anymore. In fact, he had already made that decision on the way home.

Being the first partner meant constantly staying rational. Constantly acting magnanimously. Constantly taking care of everyone else’s emotions.

It even meant that when fighting for affection, he couldn’t behave as freely or shamelessly as the others.

From childhood, he had been taught endless rules and etiquette.

This couldn’t be done.

That couldn’t be done.

Even in front of the woman he loved, he was expected to remain restrained—to "graciously" give way to others.

Vincent had long since grown tired of it.

Back then, the only reason he had competed with Jasper for the position at all was because no one else in the household could control Xarion and Yuel.

But things were different now.

Vangar had arrived.

And why had Vincent deliberately pushed Xarion into testing him?

Because he wanted to know exactly how far Vangar could go for Rory.

Whether he was suitable for that position.

So far, Vangar’s response had satisfied him greatly.

Still, one final test remained for tomorrow.

As long as Vangar passed, Vincent intended to lose to him openly and hand over the position of first partner himself.

At that point, he could finally act like Xarion and the others.

Fight for affection however he wanted.

No more worrying about status. No more worrying about rules.

The group watched Vincent disappear into the kitchen before immediately gathering around Rory.

Xarion was the first to speak.

"Female Master... what kind of stimulation did Vincent get earlier? How does a perfectly normal beast suddenly go insane?"

Rory shook her head helplessly. "I don’t know either... He didn’t seem upset or anything..."

Back upstairs, Vincent had acted completely normal.

Well... Mostly normal.

The only unusual thing was how insistently he had clung to her and refused to let her come downstairs too early.

The old Vincent never would have behaved like that.

At this point, Rory herself was utterly confused.

Then Yuel suddenly glanced toward the approaching Vangar before smiling gently and walking over to Rory.

"Rory, Vincent was probably just exhausted from this trip. It’s alright. He’ll probably return to normal tomorrow."

As he spoke, he held Terry out toward her in his palm.

"Rory, look at Terry. I think he’s about to wake up. He moved earlier."

"Really?!" Rory’s eyes lit up instantly with surprise and delight as she looked at the tiny fruit-like creature resting in Yuel’s hand.

Carefully, she reached out and touched him gently.

"Terry..."

The moment her fingers brushed against him, she felt the little fruit tremble faintly.

"Yuel, he moved!"

Terry was finally waking up.

Yuel smiled and nodded.

"He’s been moving occasionally since this morning. I think he should wake up soon."

"That’s wonderful." Rory carefully lifted Terry from Yuel’s palm and cradled him against herself.

"Yuel... let me hold him for a while."