When Rory woke again, she realized they had moved sowhere else.
This ti, the bedroom she found herself in was inside an exquisitely furnished wooden cabin.
Clink—
She shifted slightly and imdiately heard the chains around her wrist rattle softly.
So she was still alone with Vincent. Which ant Yuel and the others still hadn’t found her.
Her communicator and spatial ring had both been confiscated by Vincent. There was no way for her to contact anyone.
The cabin door opened, and Vincent walked in carrying breakfast.
"Rory, you’re awake."
He set the tray down before approaching her with a cup of warm water infused with Yuel’s flower nectar. His dark eyes looked at her with almost painful gentleness.
"I’m sorry. I lost control yesterday. You must be exhausted, hm?"
He carefully helped her sit up before bringing the cup to her lips.
"Drink so water first. I made your favorite breakfast. After you eat, I’ll take you outside for a walk, alright?"
Vincent sat beside the bed, morning sunlight spilling across him in soft gold. The light blurred the sharpness around him, making him appear calr... gentler.
Far less frightening than he had been yesterday.
As Rory drank the water, she quietly observed him. His face hadn’t changed. Neither had his eyes. Only the feather-shaped mark between his brows was different. The black flas moving inside it seed weaker today.
Was his strange behavior connected to those black flas?
And if so... How were they supposed to disappear? Would they fade on their own over ti? Or would outside intervention be necessary?
After finishing the water, Rory stuffed the cup back into Vincent’s hands and tugged lightly at the chain around her wrist.
"Unlock this. I want to take a shower."
"I already bathed you." Vincent placed the cup aside and brought the breakfast tray over.
"You didn’t eat anything yesterday. You must be starving."
Although he had fed her two nutrient injections while she slept, he knew Rory preferred real food. She hated relying on nutrient solutions.
Rory glanced at the breakfast in front of her and deliberately put on a slightly displeased expression.
"You just said you’d take outside, but you still won’t unlock the chains. How exactly are we supposed to go anywhere? You’re lying to ."
Hearing that, Vincent lifted a hand and looked at her with sothing close to worship in his eyes.
His fingers slid gently through her hair, handling her with the care one might reserve for sothing irreplaceably precious.
"How could I ever lie to you?"
His voice was impossibly soft, overflowing with affectionate tenderness.
"Rory... I’m just afraid. I’m afraid that the mont I unlock them... you’ll leave again. And tell to return to the Firebird Clan."
His fingers lingered against her hair as he smiled faintly. The smile was beautiful... And deeply dangerous.
"So until I’m certain you’ll never leave again... these can’t co off yet. But don’t worry, I’ll make the chain longer. Long enough for you to move freely around the forest."
"As long as... you stay where I can see you."
Rory: "..."
Clearly, sending him back to the Firebird Clan had traumatized him far more deeply than she realized.
Seeing her silent, Vincent picked up the spoon and blew gently across the porridge before bringing it to her lips.
"Eat. Aren’t you hungry?"
Rory opened her mouth and swallowed the porridge obediently.
After breakfast, Vincent brought over fresh clothes and dressed her himself. His movents were patient and ticulous. From beginning to end, he handled every detail personally.
Once she was fully dressed, Rory watched as Vincent picked up the long golden chain.
Then, before her eyes, he locked the other end around his own wrist. The chain connected them together, swaying lightly between them with every movent and producing soft tallic chis.
Vincent raised their joined wrists slightly, admiring the sight. A flicker of sick satisfaction surfaced in those abyss-dark eyes.
Then he lowered his gaze to Rory. The smile on his lips was gentle enough to make chills crawl down her spine.
"Co on. Let’s go walk outside."
He took her hand, the cold chain brushing against both their skin.
"Don’t you like hunting mutated beasts? The place I found is full of powerful ones. Enough for you to enjoy yourself to your heart’s content."
At the mont, Rory had absolutely no desire to hunt anything. She looked at Vincent and lightly shook the chain around her wrist.
"I’m tired today. I don’t feel like fighting. How about I just watch you instead?"
She wanted to test a theory. If Vincent used his abilities, would the black flas inside the feather mark between his brows diminish?
"Alright." Vincent smiled and nodded.
As long as she didn’t talk about leaving him... As long as she didn’t say she wanted to go back... He would do anything she asked.
The two of them left the cabin together.
As Rory walked beside him, she suddenly asked, "Vincent... do you rember what happened during your rebirth?"
Vincent stopped walking instantly. He turned toward her sharply, his expression suddenly fierce.
"Don’t say nonsense. I would never undergo rebirth. Never."
Even if he died.
To complete rebirth, he would have needed her blood. He would rather die than let that happen.
Rory pressed her lips together as she watched his reaction.
So he truly didn’t rember anything about his rebirth.
Then she asked softly,
"Haven’t you noticed you look different now? Your hair used to be redish. Now it’s black. And your eyes— they used to be fla-colored too. And the feather mark between your brows..."
"Rory." Vincent interrupted her quietly. "I’ve always looked like this. That’s nonsense."
Rory deliberately put on a stubborn expression.
"Give back my communicator. There are photos of you on it. You can compare them yourself. You definitely didn’t look like this before."
Vincent looked at her for a long mont before letting out a quiet sigh.
Guilt flickered through his dark eyes.
"I’m sorry. I lied to you before."
Rory stared at him in shock. "What do you an?"
Vincent opened his communicator and pulled up a hidden file. Then he handed it to her.
"I’m sorry for never telling you. When I was young, I was captured by the insectoid race. They perford countless experints on . I was modified. That’s why my appearance changed. And my personality changed too."
Rory opened the file. Inside were countless streams of data she couldn’t understand, along with photographs and a video recording.
She clicked on the video first. In it, she saw Vincent during one of his episodes... Writhing in agony. His appearance in the footage was exactly the sa as it was now.
Black hair. Dark eyes. The sinister feather mark burning between his brows.
Then there were the photographs. Photo after photo of him imprisoned inside an insectoid laboratory. In the images, he was restrained on a tallic operating table, his brilliant crimson wings forcibly spread open. Countless slender tal probes pierced deep into his body...
Rory couldn’t bear to look any longer. She snapped the communicator shut with a sharp sound. Then lifted her head to look at him.
Vincent lowered his gaze, still explaining softly.
"When the changes first started, I couldn’t control my emotions at all. The people in the clan treated like a monster. They were afraid to co near . So even used the black feather mark between my brows as proof that I was cursed... and demanded the Empress Matriarch burn alive."
A shadow crossed his face.
"But my mother couldn’t bear to do it. So she told everyone I was simply sick. She and my father searched everywhere for a secret technique that could hide my true appearance. That’s how I beca... ’normal’ again. I didn’t tell you because I wanted to deceive you."
He looked at her quietly, his voice growing softer.
"I was just afraid. Afraid that if you saw like this... you would see as a monster too."
That night, when he woke beside Rory and realized his appearance had changed back... He had nearly gone mad with fear. He hadn’t known what to do.
He had been terrified that once Rory saw him like this, she would recoil from him in disgust.
How could a firebird have black feathers?
Black symbolized misfortune. Corruption. An aberration.
He had desperately tried to change himself back, but no matter what he did... He couldn’t.
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