Chapter 459: Good bye

Watching Rory gradually quiet down and drift into an unconscious sleep, Paros smiled faintly.

He rarely smiled, but when he did, he was strikingly handsome.

"You’ll be all right now."

Paros’s gaze fell on Rory’s lips, which she had bitten hard enough to break the skin from the pain. He forced himself to look away after several moments of hesitation.

Then, with utmost tenderness, he lowered a kiss onto her forehead.

"I know you don’t want to become my mate. I won’t do anything you dislike ever again."

"I’m giving you my true dragon blood. I hope that from now on, with the protection of a true dragon, you’ll live happily and without worry."

"But the me standing here now is no longer worthy of remaining by your side.

Rory, I’m leaving.

From this day forward, I’ll imprison myself within the Three Great Domains. I won’t appear before you again."

Paros carefully laid Rory down on the blanket.

He glanced at the locator. Vincent and the others would be arriving soon.

Paros pressed his lips together before slowly rising to his feet.

"I really don’t want them to see me like this. And I don’t want you to know either.

Rory, goodbye."

He hurried out of the little house and quickly concealed himself.

Hidden in the darkness, he watched Wen rush into the house. Only then did he turn and leave.

"Goodbye, Rory.

Will you... ever think of me, even just once in a while?"

...

The moment Wen entered the little house, she saw Rory unconscious on the floor.

"Rory?"

Wen immediately scooped her up and checked her condition.

Rory was no longer in danger. Her clothes were simply disheveled from where she had torn and pulled at them, and she still hadn’t regained consciousness.

Wen quickly took out several pieces of Beast God Flower and fed them to Rory.

Then she carried Rory out of the little house.

Vincent arrived soon after. Seeing Wen carrying Rory, who was still unconscious, he immediately asked anxiously,

"What happened to Rory?"

"I don’t know what happened either," Wen replied. "But she seems to be fine. She’s just unconscious.

Let’s take her back first."

"Contact Jasper and the others. Tell them to return directly to the castle."

After saying that, Wen carried Rory back.

...

The next morning.

Rory woke up in her own bed.

Several people were gathered around her.

"Why are all of you here?"

Rory looked at Jasper and the others, frowning slightly.

She was back?

Where was Paros?

Why couldn’t she see him?

Last night, after Paros had carried her into the little house, she vaguely remembered grabbing at his clothes.

Had she... become his mate?

After that, no matter how hard Rory tried to remember, she couldn’t recall anything.

"Rory, you’re awake."

Yuel nervously took her hand.

"Do you feel uncomfortable anywhere?"

Rory shook her head.

"No."

That sensation from last night, when she had felt as though her entire body was about to melt from the heat, was completely gone.

Her body felt light and comfortable.

"Yuel, where’s Paros?"

Rory looked around the room again, but there was no sign of him.

"How did I get back last night?

Did he bring me back?"

"Paros?"

Vincent frowned.

"Rory, Wen and I brought you back last night.

When we found you, Paros wasn’t there.

Did you run into him after we got separated?"

The previous night, all of them had been separated by the surging crowd.

Wen had been the first to find Rory.

"You didn’t see him?"

Rory looked at all of them.

Vincent shook his head.

Wen asked, "Rory, what exactly happened last night? How did you end up unconscious in that little house?"

The moment Rory thought about what had happened, she became annoyed with herself for being so careless.

As she opened her optical brain, she began explaining everything to Wen and the others.

"After I got separated from you last night, I ran into Paros.

We were planning to wait for you in an empty alley where no one would find us.

But then we came across several wandering beastmen who were trying to capture a female."

"Paros and I went to help her. I never expected that female to be plotting against me.

She threw a handful of some kind of drug powder at me."

"Although I reacted quickly enough to kill that female, I still ended up inhaling some of the drug powder..."

"You mean... you were the one who killed that female last night?"

Yuel clasped Rory’s hand, his heart aching for her.

Rory didn’t need to explain what the powder was. Yuel and the others had already figured it out.

"I’m sorry, Rory. We failed to protect you."

Thankfully, Paros had been with her at the time. Otherwise, the consequences would have been unimaginable.

Yuel had already heard about the incident that had happened the previous night. The female’s body had been discovered just before dawn, with several wandering beasts found nearby.

A female had been killed during the Festival. Fearing that the news would cause panic and public outrage, the government had suppressed the incident.

Only a handful of people knew about it now.

But Yuel had never expected that Rory would be connected to it.

"You don’t need to blame yourselves. Look, I’m perfectly fine now."

Rory gently patted Yuel’s hand, trying to reassure him.

Then she lowered her eyes and glanced at her chest.

There was no beast mark.

Had she not become Paros’s mate last night?

She had been in so much pain that she’d felt as though she were going to die.

If she hadn’t become Paros’s mate, how had she managed to survive it?

Just as Rory was thinking about it, her optical brain suddenly chimed.

A message from Paros.

Paros:Rory, are you awake?

The moment Rory saw his message, she quickly replied.

Rory:I’m already fine.

What happened last night?

Why did you suddenly leave?

And how did I end up unconscious in that little house?

We...

Paros was leaning weakly against the headboard of his bed.

When he saw her message, the corners of his lips curved into a faint smile.

Paros:You were drugged last night, and you were in terrible pain.

I used a sacred medicine from the dragon clan to ease your suffering.

Paros:I originally planned to wait until you woke up before leaving.

But something urgent came up, and I had no choice but to leave early.

I’m just glad you’re all right.

Paros:I’ve already returned to the Water Domain. Thank you for taking care of me during this time.

So Paros had given her medicine.

They hadn’t become mates.

No wonder there was no beast mark belonging to Paros on her body.

Rory stared at his messages for a moment before replying.

Rory:Thank you for helping me last night.

If anything happens in the Water Domain in the future, you can contact me anytime.

We’ll definitely help you.

He had had such a perfect opportunity to become her mate last night, yet Paros had chosen not to do it.

Instead, he had left and returned to the Three Great Domains.

It seemed he was still the same male whose only desire was to unify the entire interstellar world.

...

Meanwhile.

Paros looked at Rory’s reply and smiled faintly.

Perhaps the bond between him and her had come to an end here.

And maybe...

That was for the best.

"Dragon Lord, it’s time for your medicine."

The Great Elder entered carrying a bowl of dark, bitter-looking medicinal broth.

He looked at Paros with undisguised concern.

Paros took the bowl, frowned, and forced himself to drink every last drop.

Then he handed the empty bowl back to the Great Elder.

"No one can know about what happened to me. Apart from you, you must not tell anyone."

The Great Elder nodded.

"Rest assured, Dragon Lord. I know what I should do."

As he took the bowl, the Great Elder couldn’t help saying,

"Dragon Lord, are you really willing to return to the Water Domain like this?

You sacrificed so much for Female Rory.

Not only did you lose your true dragon blood, but your ability has also fallen to the ninth rank. You..."

"This was my own decision. It has nothing to do with her."

Paros gave the Great Elder a warning look.

"My rank has fallen. I can simply cultivate it back up. Don’t say another word about it."

The Great Elder sighed inwardly.

’My rank has fallen. I can just cultivate it back up.’

If only it were that simple.

His rank had fallen, and his true dragon blood was gone.

Their Dragon Lord had practically lost half his life.

They didn’t even know whether he would survive.

And yet he was still talking about raising his rank again?