Interstellar Beast World: All My Husbands Are Powerful and Rich!-Chapter 155: The flimsy outfit

Inside the estate, Rory received yet another message from Aren.

Aren: Female Master, I will be returning to the Central District very soon.

Aren: Female Master, please wait for me a little longer.

He still dared to message her.

Rory lifted her head just as Yuel and Vincent stepped back inside.

"How did the two of you deal with that Aren?" she asked.

Yuel glanced at Vincent.

Vincent walked over to Rory and spoke gently, "Rory, I felt a male like him was far too dangerous. If left alive, he would only continue to pester you. So I... we killed him."

The answer did not surprise Rory. It was exactly what she had expected.

But... She turned her communicator toward them.

"Just as you came in, Aren sent me more messages."

Yuel and Vincent looked at the two newest notifications on her screen. Their brows furrowed immediately.

"Didn’t he die completely?" Yuel’s tone turned grave.

Vincent recalled the strange smile Aren had worn at the moment of his death. His expression darkened as well.

"Could he possess some kind of ability that prevents him from being killed?"

Rory stared at the messages, deep in thought. "Is it possible... that he really does have a younger brother?"

Yuel and Vincent exchanged worried looks. Even if he truly had a brother, that brother had already been killed by them.

The enmity was now sealed.

This match likely could not continue in any case.

After a moment’s consideration, Rory typed a reply.

Rory: Your brother tried to scheme against me and even attempted to kill one of my matched partners. I’ve already killed him.

Rory: I’ve also terminated our match. There’s no need for you to contact me again.

***

On the warship racing back toward the Central District, Aren read the message and went momentarily stunned.

Then anger exploded within him.

"What did that damned Aris do this time?"

He had waited so many years for the Beast God to assign him a mate. Did Aris have to ruin everything?

Aren quickly replied.

Aren: Female Master, I abandoned that brother long ago.

Aren: If he disrespected you and tried to harm your partners, then he deserved to die.

Aren: However, Aris possesses a very strange ability. He is not easily killed. Are you certain your partner truly eliminated him completely?

As for that brother, Aren had already given up on him.

Aris had tried to kill him more than once. Twice, Aren had personally killed Aris in return. And yet, not long afterward, Aris would reappear as if nothing had happened.

Only then did Aren realize that Aris possessed a bizarre, near-immortal ability.

Combined with the vicious scheming and infighting within the succubus clan, the atmosphere had long since become suffocating to Aren. And when their mother deliberately shielded Aris time and again, Aren’s disappointment had reached its limit. In the end, he left for the outer territories, choosing exile over staying in that toxic struggle.

***

Rory read Aren’s replies carefully.

The more she read, the deeper her frown became.

"What do you think?" she asked quietly. "Is he telling the truth? Or is this just another excuse? Maybe there was never any brother at all?"

She knew nothing about Aren. With no foundation to judge him, she couldn’t tell whether his words were genuine or fabricated.

"I’ll have someone investigate," Vincent said at once.

He looked at her steadily. "Rory, until we verify the truth, you shouldn’t have any contact with him. If Yuel and I aren’t by your side, let Xarion continue protecting you."

Rory considered it and nodded.

"That’s probably the safest approach."

Until things were clear, distance was best.

She powered down her light-brain and turned her attention elsewhere.

It was time to feed the little pink fish Lola Brandon had given her.

She had asked Yuel to do it earlier that morning, but he’d been occupied dealing with Aren and hadn’t gotten the chance.

When Rory walked up to the tank, her steps slowed.

One of the small pink fish that had been darting around happily the night before was now lying listlessly at the bottom of the tank.

"Nix, grab me a net."

The fish barely flicked its tail. It ignored the food completely. It looked... sick.

Afraid it might infect the others, Rory gently scooped it out and placed it in a separate container.

Nix leaned over to look at it and poked it lightly with a finger.

"Rory, this little fish looks half-dead—just like Xarion."

This one, though, truly looked like it was on its last breath.

Unlike Xarion, who seemed permanently half-dead yet stubbornly refused to die.

Rory set the fish aside in its own container and asked Nix to change the water for the remaining fish.

"What about this one?" Nix asked, peering down at it. "Even if we isolate it, I doubt it’ll survive."

Rory had already added a few drops of healing serum to the water.

"Let’s wait a day," she said. "If it doesn’t make it, we’ll feed it to the turtles in the artificial lake."

The fish was an especially vivid shade of pink. It felt like a waste to use it as turtle feed.

After a brief hesitation, Rory took out one of the leaves Yuel had given her and dropped a small piece into the water.

"Whether you live or die," she murmured softly, "depends on your own fate."

She set the container beside the main tank and headed upstairs to train.

Watching her leave, Nix suddenly remembered the "method" Yuel had taught him.

Now that he knew what Aren had done, he felt both embarrassed and frustrated.

This morning, he had foolishly knelt beside that man.

Would Rory think he was stupid? Would she decide she didn’t want him anymore?

No.

He couldn’t let that happen. He had to make it up to her.

He had to show her something—prove himself—make her like him again.

...

Meanwhile, aboard the warship hurtling toward the Central District, Aren waited and waited for Rory’s reply.

None came.

His unease only grew heavier.

She wouldn’t really terminate the match because of that damned Aris, would she? She wouldn’t truly abandon him because of someone else’s mistake?

Please... no.

He quickly sent several more messages.

Aren: Female Master, are you angry with me?

Aren: Female Master, please believe me—I am nothing like Aris.

Aren: Female Master, I beg you... please don’t reject me.

One second...

Two seconds...

One minute...

Two minutes...

Ten minutes.

Even half an hour passed.

Still no reply.

Aren felt as if the sky had collapsed over his head.

He straightened abruptly.

"Pass the order. Increase speed. We must arrive at the Central District within three days."

***

After absorbing the beast core, Rory stepped out of the training room.

The moment she entered her bedroom, she froze. On her bed lay a pale-blue kitten. The kitten was dressed in a tiny maid outfit.

A very questionable maid outfit.

The parts that should have been covered... weren’t covered at all.

"Nix?" Rory walked over and crouched beside the bed, meeting the kitten’s wide eyes. "Why are you dressed like that? And why are you back in your original form again?"

Had he exhausted his abilities?

In a shimmer of light, the kitten transformed into a handsome young man with feline ears and a swaying tail.

The flimsy maid outfit clung in all the wrong places and covered absolutely nothing it should have.

Rory took one glance and instinctively tried to look away, but Nix was quicker. He cupped her face in both hands, preventing her from turning aside.

Kneeling on the bed, he lowered his head slightly, his golden eyes fixed on her with earnest intensity.

"Rory... do I look good like this? Do you like it?"