Yuel nodded. "Alright. Once Terry realizes it’s you holding him, he’ll definitely be happy."

A gentle smile touched his lips before he added softly, "Rory, if Terry opens his eyes and the very first thing he sees is you, he’ll be even happier."

Cradling the tiny fruit carefully in her palms, Rory gave a serious nod.

"You’re right."

Then she looked at Yuel and asked quietly, "How much longer until Terry wakes up?"

Yuel lowered his gaze to the small fruit resting in Rory’s hands and explained patiently, "I can’t say exactly, but I think he should wake up tonight."

The moment Rory heard Terry would wake up tonight, she answered without hesitation.

"Then tonight, we’ll stay with him together."

Her eyes softened with anticipation.

"That way, the first thing he sees when he wakes up will be me."

Yuel smiled and nodded. "Alright."

Xarion, who had originally been planning all kinds of rewards and compensation for tonight, fell silent.

He let out a short, humorless laugh as he looked at Yuel.

Fine.

Vincent suddenly losing his mind was one thing. But now even Yuel was using Terry to compete for affection?

Not even pretending anymore, huh? So they’d officially started fighting dirty?

Good. Very good.

If that was how they wanted to play, then he wouldn’t hold back either.

Xarion bent down and gently touched Terry as well.

Then he looked at Rory and spoke in a low, soft voice. "Female Master, Terry is your child... but he’s also my child."

His tone turned almost pitiful. "I want to stay with him too. Is that alright?"

Naturally, Rory wouldn’t refuse. She gazed lovingly at the tiny fruit in her palm and nodded.

"Of course."

The instant he got permission, Xarion shot Yuel a smug glance, his expression practically screaming: See? I can use this move too.

At that moment, Vincent and Jasper emerged from the kitchen, each carrying a large tray.

"Rory, dinner’s ready."

Vincent carefully placed the dishes onto the dining table one by one. Then, naturally, his gaze settled on Terry in Rory’s hands.

He had heard everything Xarion and Yuel said earlier.

Bending down slightly, he gently stroked Terry, his voice filled with perfectly measured concern.

"Rory, I think I just heard that Terry is about to wake up?"

Rory nodded. "Yuel said he should wake up tonight."

Vincent smiled warmly. "Rory, Terry is the first child in our family. Watching him wake up is such an important moment... I’d like to be there too, alright?"

Jasper, who had followed behind Vincent carrying a bowl of soup, set it down and walked over as well.

Looking directly at Rory, he spoke with quiet sincerity. "Female Master, I don’t want to miss a single moment of our child’s growth."

His usually cold eyes softened faintly. "I want to watch Terry wake up too."

Wen, who had been silent the entire time, finally gathered the courage to speak.

"Master... I want to stay with Terry too. Is that okay?"

Yuel had originally thought using Terry would easily earn him a chance to spend tonight alone with Rory.

Who would’ve guessed he’d stirred up a hornet’s nest instead?

A completely unhinged Vincent, a suddenly clever Xarion, plus Jasper, who never once fell behind...

The smile on Yuel’s face was becoming harder and harder to maintain.

These shameless bastards were using his child to fight for affection.

Did they seriously have no shame?

If they were so capable, they could go grow one themselves.

Rory looked at all of them, the corners of her lips twitching.

Did they really think she couldn’t tell they were using "staying with Terry" as an excuse to compete for her attention?

Fine. If they all wanted to fight for affection so badly...

"Sure!" Rory agreed immediately with a bright smile. "Since everyone wants to stay with Terry, then everyone can come."

Then her gaze shifted toward Vangar, who had remained silent the entire time.

"Vangar, you should come too."

Vangar froze in shock and looked up at Rory. "Female Master... I-I can join tonight too?"

He knew Xarion and Vincent weren’t truly interested in guarding Terry.

So tonight... did it mean what he thought it meant?

Could he really...

Rory gently placed Terry back onto Yuel’s shoulder, carefully adjusting the little one’s position to make sure he was sleeping comfortably.

Only after that did she pick up her chopsticks and finally begin eating in earnest.

After everything that had happened today, she was genuinely hungry.

Jasper’s cooking had gotten better and better lately.

Rory ate with obvious satisfaction, occasionally lifting her head to glance at Terry resting on Yuel’s shoulder, anticipation shining clearly in her eyes.

She wondered what kind of changes Terry would have once he woke up this time.

Watching Rory eat quietly and attentively, Jasper and the others all fell silent.

None of them wanted to interrupt her meal.

After dinner, the moment Rory set down her fork, Xarion immediately spoke up.

"Female Master, I’m full too."

He was already reaching for the dishes in front of her.

"You should go rest. I’ll clean up the plates."

Xarion had changed. He was no longer the half-dead, lifeless man he used to be. Now, he had started openly and shamelessly competing for affection.

The second Xarion took Rory’s plate away, Jasper immediately stood up.

"Rory, I’ll make you some fruit tea."

Vincent rose right after him. "I’ll clear the table."

Wen hurriedly added, "Then I’ll wash the dishes."

Yuel, who had just opened his mouth to speak, turned silent.

Rory was speechless too.

Couldn’t all of this just be handled by the advanced service robots? What exactly were these idiots competing over?

Rory felt like every single one of them had gone a little insane today.

She truly didn’t understand them. But she respected it.

"Alright." Rory nodded at them. "Then go ahead and stay busy."

After speaking, she got up and walked over to the sofa in the living room. Opening her light-brain, she sent a message to Nix.

Rory: [Nix, are you busy?]

This time, Nix replied almost instantly.

Nix: [Rory, I just finished up and came out of the lab.]

[Why are you messaging me at this hour? Did you miss me?]

The last few times, Rory had deliberately messaged him during dinner hours at night.

Nix was simply too busy. If she messaged at any other time, he rarely had time to reply.

Rory: [Mm. I missed you.]

[When are you coming back?]

Just who on earth had placed so many orders with Nix? The workload was so overwhelming, he didn’t even have time to come home.

Still dressed in his worn work clothes, Nix sat on the lounge sofa, staring at Rory’s messages.

The exhaustion covering his entire body instantly disappeared.

Rory said she missed him. That alone made everything worth it.

He missed her too.

Nix quickly tapped at his communicator.

Nix: [Rory, I missed you too.]

[But I still can’t come back for now.]

He desperately wanted to return and stay by Rory’s side as soon as possible.

Seeing his reply, Rory felt a pang of heartache for him.

Rory: [Then I’ll come see you. I’ll head over the day after tomorrow.]

Tomorrow, Vincent and Xarion were apparently going to fight Vangar again.

And she absolutely intended to watch the drama unfold in person.

Leaning lazily against the sofa, Rory let the soft glow of the screen illuminate her calm, beautiful profile.

Paros quietly walked over.

Seeing that Rory was messaging someone, he stood behind her hesitantly for quite a while before finally gathering the courage to speak.

"Sister..."

Hearing his voice, Rory looked up and immediately noticed the nervous, awkward expression on his face.

"What’s wrong?"

She set down her communicator and looked at him gently.

It was the first time she had ever seen Paros this uneasy.

Paros nervously twisted his fingers together. His lips moved slightly before he finally asked in a quiet voice,

"Tonight... can I stay with you all and watch over Terry too?"

As soon as he said it, he hurriedly added, "Terry’s been calling me Daddy for so many days already. I really do treat him like my own child."

He knew he was different from the others. Yuel and the rest were Rory’s partners. They could openly compete for affection and stay by her side whenever they wanted.