When Rory entered the kitchen, she pulled the needed ingredients from the preservation chamber. The chamber came with the villa, a benefit provided by the Astrium's government.
Anything stored inside stayed as fresh as the day it was placed there—for up to a year. Ideal for long-term storage which Rory appreciated quite a lot.
She always prepared her ingredients in advance, sealed them in containers, and simply took what she needed. Fast and efficient. In this world, one could never go without either.
She removed a fish she had already cleaned and set it to steam, then grabbed some beast meat and peppers. Before long, rich, savory scents filled the kitchen.
By the time Paros came downstairs in fresh clothes, dinner was ready. Rory handed him a fork while picking up her own. The meal was even better than breakfast—especially the steamed fish, which left Paros genuinely stunned.
Rory ate quietly. Aside from occasionally glancing at her light-brain, she barely spoke.
Paros paused to look at her, his mind spiraling into an unknown territory.
She was probably chatting with someone. The mischievous sparkle in her eyes made it obvious. Paros found it strangely entertaining.
Rory was replying to Dax's never-ending messages.
Dax:
"Female Master, I made a new friend today. He's heading to Veridan City, so I asked to go along. Female Master Roanna, I'll see you tomorrow. I'm so excited! Dancing.jpg."
Dax:
"Why aren't you replying?"
Rory:
"I was busy earlier. I'm excited to see you too."
Tomorrow, she'd finally learn what he was really up to. Honestly, it was somewhat nerve-wracking.
After dinner, Rory explained the mental comfort she planned to give Paros.
As expected, he agreed without hesitation. Paros studied her, recalling how she'd just been chatting away on her light-brain. That had to be one of her other matches.
"If you soothe me at night, won't your other matches complain?" he asked with an unexpected spark of curiosity.
Oddly enough, after two days here, he hadn't seen a single one of them.
"Nope." Rory's tone was firm. "With me, they do what I say." And if they didn't, she'd drop them––it was that simple.
Her bossy attitude nearly made Paros laugh. He glanced around the villa.
"So where are your other matches anyway?"
Rory raised her eyebrows in confusion.
Seriously—what was with this man and his lack of boundaries? If he hadn't paid her so much, she wouldn't have answered at all.
"They're busy right now. One of them will be here tomorrow."
After that, she had the smart robot clear the table and headed upstairs.
Three days had already passed, and not a single dependable match had appeared. With some time free tonight, she decided to check in and see what the others wanted. If they all planned to dissolve the match, she wished they'd just say it. There was no point dragging it out.
Back in her room, Rory showered, stretched out on the bed, and opened her light-brain. Messaging them one by one was too much trouble. So, aside from Dax and Paros—who were already off her list—she sent a group message.
"This is your match, Rory Smith. Reply if you see this."
One second passed. Then another. Three. A full minute. Five. Still nothing.
Rory could only stare at her screen in silence—a silence so absurd it was almost funny. She began to suspect the Beast God had deliberately set her up, matching her with nine complete duds.
Some wanted to break it off, some were only after money, and the rest were dead weight—silent names lingering in her contacts.
She took a deep breath and was about to wash her hands of all of it herself when her light-brain chimed. Finally, one ghost on her list stirred back to life.
Nix: Transferred 10 million star coins.
No words—just money? What was that supposed to mean? Rory was startled. A second later, more transfer notifications followed.
Nix transferred 50 million star coins.
Nix transferred 100 million star coins.
He still didn't say a single word, only kept sending money.
Can you at least say something? Was he trying to buy her off like Paros? Or did he just missclick?
Rory stared at the notifications. Got it—he was too busy to deal with her, so he was throwing money her way. He was planning to walk away unscathed, without even sparing her an effort of saying a single word.
Rory: "Got it."
Right after replying, she applied to the Beastmate System to dissolve her match with Nix. And, being considerate, she deleted him from her contacts as well.
Another one bites the dust!