Bree lifted her head, smiling as she extended her hand toward Lola.

"Lady Lola, it’s a pleasure to meet you."

Lola returned the gesture with an easy smile, shaking her hand lightly. Then her gaze swept the hall, as if noticing something amiss.

"Why isn’t Young Master Aren here?" she asked with gentle curiosity. "At such an important occasion, shouldn’t he be by his mate’s side?"

Melanie let out a soft, delighted laugh.

"Aren is preparing for the ceremony," she said, her tone full of satisfaction. "He’s in the back, personally arranging the room for his bonding with Bree."

At those words, Rory’s expression did not change in the slightest.

She casually stepped aside, as though to pick up some refreshments. In that brief moment, she swiftly sent Melanie’s words to Vincent and the others.

They had already split up after entering, searching for Aren.

But had they found him?

***

Rear hall.

Xarion leaned in the shadows, staring at the barren surroundings with a look of utter disbelief.

"Is the succubus clan this poor?" he muttered. "Not even a single alien plant in the rear hall?"

They had originally planned to use Yuel’s ability to communicate with plants to locate Aren quickly.

But now, there was nothing here to communicate with.

Jasper shrugged.

"You didn’t know? The succubus clan has always been like this."

"The front hall has just enough plants to keep up appearances. That’s about it."

Nix added dryly, "They’re powerful, sure. But making money isn’t their focus. They spend all their time scheming against each other."

He gave a faint smirk.

"Every time someone from the succubus clan commissions a mech from me, they insist on adding hidden surveillance functions."

"What do we do now?" Wen asked.

Before anyone could answer, all their light-brains vibrated at once.

A message from Rory.

They played it immediately.

"Aren is... decorating the bridal room?" Nix frowned in disbelief. "When we came through the front hall, didn’t the plants say he was carried back covered in blood, barely alive?"

"In that condition, can he still prepare a room?"

Xarion arched a brow after hearing the message.

"Well then," he said lazily, "let’s wish him a long and happy union with that human female and head back."

If Aren really did bond with her, that would be one less rival.

"Then let’s go," Paros said, already turning to leave.

A hand shot out and caught his arm.

"Don’t listen to Xarion’s nonsense," Vincent said, his voice calm but firm.

After that, Vincent turned to Yuel. "What do you think?"

Yuel fell silent for a brief moment, then said, "The information about the bridal room is likely accurate. But that doesn’t mean Aren is the one preparing it."

His gaze darkened slightly.

Aren’s condition might be far worse than they had imagined.

They needed to find him quickly.

"This does give us a lead," Yuel continued. "Preparing a bridal room requires manpower. And the exterior will definitely be decorated."

"We split up and search based on that."

He gave his instructions without hesitation.

"Vincent, take Wen and Nix to the east. Xarion and Jasper, check the north. Paros and I will search the south."

They had already combed through the front hall in the west. There had been no sign of Aren.

Everyone nodded and moved out immediately.

Half an hour later, Vincent, Nix, and Wen found it.

A row of beautifully decorated buildings stood in the eastern section, adorned with intricate details that clearly marked them as ceremonial bridal chambers.

Nix quickly sent a message to the others.

He stared at the scene, baffled.

"How many people are getting bonded today? Why are there so many bridal rooms?"

There were over a dozen.

Wen shrugged. "Who cares? Let’s check them one by one and find Aren."

A group of high-rank guards stood watch outside.

Vincent stepped forward calmly. "I’ll handle them. You two find Aren."

"Got it." Nix and Wen nodded without hesitation.

The guards were no match for Vincent.

Within moments, they were all subdued.

Nix and Wen split up, searching room after room.

At last, in the fifth chamber, they found him.

"Aren! We finally found you." Nix rushed forward, relief flashing across his face.

But the moment he saw Aren bound tightly in chains, his expression darkened.

"This is too much... How could they treat you like this? Wait, I’ll get you out of here."

Aren lay on the bed, his crimson eyes locked onto Nix—intense, burning, and unnervingly focused.

Nix’s attention was entirely fixed on the chains binding Aren.

He failed to notice the storm brewing in Aren’s eyes—the madness and pain on the verge of breaking free.

Nix frowned as he studied the restraints.

The chains were etched with intricate runes, their surfaces lined with vicious spikes that had pierced deep into Aren’s flesh, as if they had grown into him.

The sight made his jaw tighten.

How could the succubus clan treat one of their own with such cruelty?

"Aren, don’t worry. I’ll get these off you."

He moved quickly, pulling out an assortment of strange tools from his spatial ring.

Carefully, he reached out and touched one of the chains.

The moment his fingers made contact, he felt his abilities being siphoned away.

"Damn—"

He sucked in a sharp breath and jerked his hand back. The chains could drain energy. What kind of twisted construct was this? He had never seen anything like it.

Without hesitation, he pulled out a pair of specially designed gloves and slipped them on.

"Good thing I brought these."

With the gloves insulating him, he reached out again. This time, the draining effect was gone.

Next, he retrieved a massive pair of reinforced cutters.

"Aren... this might hurt."

There was no way to dismantle the chains delicately. They would have to be broken by force.

He clamped the cutters around one of the links and pressed down hard.

A sharp crack echoed.

The chain snapped.

"Ah—!"

Aren let out a low, pained groan.

"Hang on, it’ll be over soon."

Nix didn’t stop. He moved quickly, cutting through the remaining chains one after another.

When the last link broke, he tossed the tools aside and began removing the restraints from Aren’s body.

The spikes did not retract.

As the chains were pulled free, each embedded barb tore out of flesh, leaving behind a dense pattern of bleeding wounds.

Nix’s brows knit tightly at the sight.

Once all the chains were removed, he cast them aside and immediately reached into his ring for the leaves Yuel had given him.

"It’s okay. I’ll use these to treat your wounds. They’ll heal quickly."

He turned back and... froze.

A pair of blood-red eyes stared at him.

Wild. Violent. Unhinged.

"N-Nix..."