Chapter 413: Changed
The two of them waited for nearly half an hour.
It wasn’t until then that Bree’s mate, Hayden, came rushing over in a hurry.
"I’m so sorry, my Lady. I was in a meeting just now and kept you waiting."
Basking in the envious stares of everyone around them, Hayden looked at Bree with a mix of excitement and nervousness. The fact that his female master had come to his workplace to find him proved just how much she valued him. Besides, she was a gorgeous human female. The other guys were definitely going to die of envy.
"It’s my fault for dropping by without warning. Did I interrupt your work?" Bree affectionately took Hayden’s hand. "It’s all my fault, I should have let you know beforehand."
"No, no, not at all!" Hayden shook his head frantically. "I’m thrilled you came to see me. You didn’t interrupt my work at all—not in the slightest."
Yilan, who had already been waiting for half an hour, was growing impatient. Seeing Bree completely caught up in doting on her mate, she couldn’t help but urge her along.
"Bree, hurry up and ask your mate where Prince Vincent is!"
If they didn’t see Vincent soon, what if he left for home early?
What an idiot. Can’t she hold her horses for just a moment? It’s not like I wasn’t going to ask, Bree cursed Yilan silently.
Turning to Hayden with a helpless smile, she said, "Hayden, I came today partly to see you, but also to visit Prince Vincent with Yilan. As you know, Prince Vincent saved us when the Zerg abducted us last time. We haven’t had the chance to properly thank him yet."
Hayden had already heard about this from Sylas. It was only right for his Lady to want to express her gratitude to Prince Vincent.
"Prince Vincent should be in his office at this hour. Let me take you there."
So, under the envious gazes of the crowd, Hayden held Bree’s hand and led her toward Vincent’s office.
Once Hayden and Bree left, the onlookers immediately burst into hushed chatter.
"Wow, those two females are actually here for Prince Vincent."
"I really envy Prince Vincent. Not only is he of noble birth, but he already has a female master. And now, even more females are coming to thank him."
Unlike them, who had neither noble status nor a female master, and rarely even saw a female on a normal day.
Just as they finished speaking, a sudden commotion stirred at the entrance.
"Look! Another female just arrived!"
"What is going on with the military department today? Three females visiting in a single day?!"
"Wow, this female is gorgeous too. I love her aura."
"Whose master is she?"
"I want to go introduce myself, do you think I can?"
"I wonder if I stand a chance at becoming one of her mates?"
Suddenly, someone swore loudly.
"Holy crap, it’s Commander Yuel!"
"That female... is actually Commander Yuel’s master!"
Game over. They didn’t stand a chance.
In the military department, everyone knew that Commander Yuel was the absolute last person you wanted to cross. If you offended Marshal Vangar, you might at least get to keep a whole corpse. But if you offended Commander Yuel, you would be burned down to ashes until there was nothing left.
Seeing Yuel approach, the crowd quickly lowered their heads and pretended to be buried in their work.
Yuel led Rory inside, casting a brief glance at the beastmen pretending to be busy in the lobby. He turned to Rory and said softly, "Let’s go straight to Vincent’s office. I won’t be around this afternoon, but Xarion, Aren, and Vincent will keep you company."
"All right," Rory replied.
Rory smiled and nodded at him, asking, "Is Vangar here too?"
"Yes, he is," Yuel replied. "But Vangar probably has a lot of meetings to attend today, so he might not have time to keep you company."
"That’s fine. It’ll be enough just having Aren and Xarion with me." Rory had only come to help Vincent resolve his troubles anyway; she hadn’t expected them to spend all their time hosting her.
Once Yuel led Rory out of the lobby and toward the executive office building, everyone back in the main hall let out a collective sigh of relief.
"Commander Yuel was speaking so gently just now. It’s like he was possessed by an entirely different person."
"Are you guys only focusing on Commander Yuel? Didn’t you notice how softly that female spoke too?"
"I really love Commander Yuel’s master."
"If only I could become her mate. Her scent is so wonderful—it just makes you want to gravitate toward her."
Meanwhile, Yilan followed Bree and her mate, Hayden, to the entrance of Vincent’s office.
Hayden raised his hand and knocked respectfully on the door. Since Vincent held a much higher rank than him, his demeanor had to be perfectly formal.
"Come in," Vincent’s voice echoed from inside.
Hearing his voice, Yilan’s heart instantly skipped a beat, and a faint blush crept across her cheeks. Was it just her imagination? Having not heard it for a while, Vincent’s voice sounded even more striking than before.
As Hayden opened the door, Yilan immediately peered inside.
Vincent’s office was massive, so much so that his figure wasn’t even visible from the doorway. All she could see at first was the minimalist yet highly sophisticated decor. Such a sleek, understated style perfectly matched his personality.
Suppressing her excitement, Yilan followed Bree and Hayden inside.
Vincent sat behind a large executive desk, wearing a crisp, tailored military uniform. The epaulets on his shoulders gleamed under the light, accentuating his cold, sharp profile.
He kept his head lowered, focused entirely on reviewing documents. His long, slender fingers turned the pages with a stark, well-defined strength. Sunlight streamed through the massive floor-to-ceiling windows, casting mottled shadows over him. Every movement he made exuded the commanding aura of a true leader, compelling people to naturally defer to him.
Yilan was utterly spellbound.
It wasn’t just the sheer charisma Vincent was radiating, but his physical appearance. Having not seen him for a while, Vincent had changed.
His originally fiery-red hair had turned black, shot through with a few distinct streaks of gold. The firebird feather mark between his brows made him look all the more mysterious and powerful. Even the irises of his eyes had shifted to black.
While the old Vincent had been stunning, the current Vincent was breathtakingly handsome, wrapped in an aura of dangerous, captivating mystery that made it impossible to look away.
Seeing such a drastic transformation, Bree was briefly stunned into silence as well. How had Vincent changed this much? Had he advanced to a higher tier?
The only calm person in the room was Hayden, who had already seen Vincent’s transformed state before. Seeing it again didn’t carry the same shock factor as the first time.
He spoke respectfully to the man reviewing the paperwork, "Prince Vincent. Thank you again for saving my mate and the female Yilan before. They came to the military department to visit me today, and upon learning you were here, they wished to thank you in person."
As soon as Hayden finished speaking, Yilan couldn’t resist taking two steps forward. Looking at Vincent, she spoke with palpable excitement.
"Vincent, how have you been lately? You’ve changed so much! Just now, I almost couldn’t believe it was really you."
If it weren’t for the fact that Vincent hadn’t accepted her yet, Yilan would have run over right then and there to cup his face in her hands, just to admire his features up close. How could anyone possibly become this handsome?