Xarion smiled and said, "Don’t worry, my love. I infused my ability into this, along with Vincent’s. Not only will it never melt, but when the weather gets cold, you can even use it to warm your hands."
Rory stared at him in shock. "How did you even think of that? Infusing Vincent’s ability into it?"
"The first time I sculpted one, it felt too cold," Xarion replied. "I was worried it would chill your hands, so I asked Vincent to try it with me. I didn’t expect it to actually work."
Over the past few days, he had sculpted countless versions before finally making this ice sculpture so perfect.
But that wasn’t all. A silver glow flashed in Xarion’s palm, and the next second, a warm, icy cord appeared.
"Rory, we can just use this from now on. We can have as many as you want." It was much more convenient than those metal ones.
Seeing the ice chain in his hand, Rory’s face instantly flushed red. "Stop pulling that out. I don’t have that kind of kink."
She didn’t like binding people at all. It was always Xarion who insisted she do it.
Xarion scooped Rory up into his arms and walked toward the bed. "Then, my love, do you want to bind me?" He nuzzled against her cheek, whispering in her ear, "You haven’t bound me in so long."
Rory: "..."
Looking at Rory’s blushing cheeks, Xarion let out a low chuckle. Instead of putting the ice chain away, he used the momentum to hold her a little tighter, coaxing her in a low, seductive voice.
"I like being bound by you, Female master." As he spoke, he pressed the icy cord into Rory’s hand. "Are you sure you don’t want to feel them? Didn’t you have a lot of fun playing with them before?"
Rory’s face flushed so intensely it felt like it would burst. She quickly reached out and covered Xarion’s mouth. "Stop talking nonsense!"
Was this really something he should be saying out loud?
Xarion blinked innocently. He hadn’t said anything wrong.
Taking the ice cord, Xarion wrapped it around his own wrists, placed the other end in Rory’s hand, and then laid back on the bed. With a subtle tug of his hands, he pulled Rory, who was still holding the cord, right down onto him.
Xarion locked his arms around Rory’s waist and gently kissed her lips. "Since you don’t want to bind me, let’s do something else." Today, his time belonged entirely to her.
But just as Xarion finished speaking, a loud knock, knock, knock echoed from the door.
Then, Jasper’s voice came from outside. "Rory, that human female named Bree is here. Aren’s younger sister, Yilan, is with her too. Do you want to see them?"
Rory scrambled up from the bed. What were they doing here?
"Xarion, I’m going to go check it out." Rory quickly wrapped the ice cord around Xarion’s waist, got up, and went to open the door.
Xarion: "..."
He really wanted to go downstairs and murder those two women. Couldn’t they have come at any other time? They just had to ruin his fun at a moment like this.
Rory opened the door, saw Jasper standing there, and asked, "What are Bree and Yilan doing here?"
"Yilan came looking for Aren," Jasper answered. "But Aren went out shortly after he got back and isn’t back yet. So, the two of them said they wanted to see you."
Jasper didn’t really want Rory to see those two females. "Rory, if you don’t want to see them, I’ll go make them leave right now."
"No need, I’ll go see them." Rory adjusted her clothes and walked downstairs with Jasper.
Since Bree and Yilan had shown up at her door, they definitely had a motive. If she didn’t see them this time, they would only come back next time. She might as well go find out what they were up to.
. . .
Yilan sat next to Bree, asking with a hint of worry, "Bree, do you really think Rory will be willing to be friends with us if we just show up like this?"
Bree took a sip of the fruit tea the castle’s male servant had just poured for her, speaking with absolute confidence.
"We came bearing gifts, and no one slaps a smiling face. Besides, Aren is her mate. Even if she isn’t keen on becoming friends today, she won’t just throw us out." She set her cup down.
"If we don’t become friends the first time, we’ll just come by a few more times. Over time, as we get to know each other, friendship will follow naturally."
Yilan looked at Bree with immense admiration. "Bree, you really are amazing."
Lately, Bree had managed to secure several high-tier mates in the Central District. Yilan was incredibly envious of her methods; she had never seen a female who could wrap those powerful high-tier males around her finger quite like Bree could.
Not only that, but Bree had also started a technology company. Its reputation was now rivaling Starlight Prime Tech, and rumor had it that it was wildly profitable.
Seeing that Rory hadn’t arrived yet, Yilan leaned closer to Bree and lowered her voice. "I heard that a while ago, you had your mate, Sylas, go look for Dax. You wanted him to become your mate too, right? Did he agree?"
At the mention of Dax, a cold gleam flashed deep in Bree’s eyes.
"Why are you asking about that?" Bree shot back, clearly displeased.
Yilan quickly explained in a soft voice, "Oh, it’s nothing, I was just asking out of curiosity. I heard Starlight Prime Tech has a particularly beautiful starship. If Dax becomes your mate, I wanted to see if he could sell it to me at a discount."
Aside from Nix’s laboratory, Starlight Prime Tech produced the highest quality starships around, and their designs were stunning. Yilan had been wanting to buy one for a very long time.
Bree smiled at her. "Is that all? Just a starship? Dax will be my mate soon enough. When that happens, you won’t even need to buy it. I’ll have him give you one as a gift."
"Really?!" Yilan looked at Bree in sheer excitement. "Bree, you are too good to me! I absolutely love you!"
Bree offered a polite smile, but inwardly, she felt nothing but contempt. A fool like Yilan only cares about scheming for petty advantages.
Rory walked in just as Yilan was chatting away with Bree about the starship. The moment Yilan saw Rory, she instantly shut her mouth.
"Rory, long time no see." Seeing her approach, Bree immediately stood up from the sofa and greeted her warmly. "I’m just accompanying Yilan to see her brother today. I hope we aren’t disturbing you."
This was Yilan’s first time meeting Rory—her eldest brother’s mate, her sister-in-law.
"Hello, Sister-in-law, I’m Yilan." Yilan happily extended her hand toward Rory.
Bree had told her that if she wanted to keep pursuing Vincent and make him her mate, she absolutely had to get on Rory’s good side.
As for her brother, Aren—Yilan used to like him well enough. After all, Aren used to be the young clan chief of the Incubus tribe, which brought her plenty of perks. But now that Aren was no longer the young clan chief, he was of no use to her, so her affection had completely dried up. Still, for Vincent’s sake, she had to play the part.
Seeing how polite the two were acting, Rory returned the courtesy and shook Yilan’s hand, though she let go after a brief touch.
"Please, take a seat." Rory sat down, looking at the two of them. "Did you both come looking for Aren for a specific reason?"
Bree remained silent, shooting a meaningful look at Yilan.
Yilan replied with a smile, "I haven’t seen my brother in a long time and missed him. I heard he came back today, so I wanted to visit."
With that, she quickly retrieved a gift from her spatial ring and placed it in front of Rory. "Sister-in-law, this is a little gift I brought for you. I hope you don’t mind it."
Rory wasn’t foolish enough to believe they were actually there for Aren. She knew Bree wasn’t human, but this woman disguised herself so flawlessly that, to this day, no one had discovered what she actually was.
Now that Bree had delivered herself right to her doorstep, Rory certainly wouldn’t pass up such a perfect opportunity to test her.