Chapter 467: I forgive you

Paros wanted to break free from Rory’s grip and sit up, but he simply had no strength left. In the end, he gave up struggling altogether.

He kept his eyes downcast, not letting himself look at her. His weak voice sounded as cold and distant as ever. "Are you doing this because you pity me?"

Seeing Paros looking half-dead yet still acting so stubborn, Rory truly wanted to slap tape over his mouth.

"So you’re determined to piss me off, huh?"

Rory let out a cold laugh, first opening her optical computer to send Lian a message asking him to come over and check on Paros. Then, turning back to him, she said mockingly, "Paros, do you have any idea how deeply annoying you actually are?"

Stubborn, are we? You better stay this tough and not break down on me.

Paros’s body stiffened abruptly.

He snapped his head up to look at Rory, his eyes filled with sheer shock and disbelief. His gaze hovered on her face for only a fleeting second before he looked away, hanging his head in utter humiliation.

So she... had hated him all this time?

He had previously thought that even if Rory didn’t like him, after spending so much time together, they were at least considered friends.

He never expected...

Rory didn’t miss the shock and disbelief in Paros’s eyes, nor did she miss that wounded look.

Shocked already? Hurt already? Ha!

Rory looked at him and continued her verbal onslaught. "The very first time I met you, seeing that high-and-mighty attitude of yours—if I hadn’t been too weak to beat you up back then, I would have kicked you right out the door."

"What was most outrageous was that you actually used star credits to humiliate me!"

"Humiliate?"

Paros’s eyes flickered violently. He looked at Rory, an intense sourness rising in his throat. "I..."

He wanted to explain, but he didn’t know how to begin. The anxiety on his face was visibly apparent.

"You what?" Rory looked at Paros with righteous indignation, looking genuinely furious as if recalling the past had truly set her off. "Did I say anything wrong? Didn’t you use star credits to humiliate me back then? Relying on the fact that you were rich, you threw star credits at me, demanding I soothe you, demanding I cook delicious food for you—are you going to deny doing any of that?"

"I..." Driven by anxiety, Paros’s frail breathing grew slightly ragged. "I never intended to humiliate you. Seeing how you were back then, I... I thought you liked star credits."

If Rory hadn’t wanted to do it back then, she could have refused. He wasn’t the type to force a young female into a corner. But since Rory hadn’t refused, Paros genuinely assumed she just really loved star credits.

Of course Rory loved star credits! When Paros threw star credits at her back then, not only had she not been angry, but she had practically worshipped him as her personal God of Wealth.

However, that didn’t stop her from making up nonsense right now!

"Who said I liked star credits? Would someone like me, who views money as mere dirt, care about those meager star credits of yours?" The more Rory spoke, the angrier she seemed to get. "I only gave in because I couldn’t afford to cross you—I was forced to make compromises!"

So she hadn’t liked star credits at all.

Paros clenched his hands beneath the blanket. It turned out he had completely misunderstood her all along.

"I’m sorry... it was my misunderstanding regarding your thoughts back then."

Truth be told, although this proud and stubborn dragon was frustratingly tough-mouthed, his character was genuinely good.

"Forget it," Rory said, raising an eyebrow as she looked at him with generous magnanimity. "Call it my good temper and kind heart—I forgive you."

"Huh?"

Paros looked at Rory in disbelief. "You... you say you forgive me?"

She forgave him just like that?

Seeing how angry Rory looked while saying those things, he had assumed she would never forgive him for the rest of her life. How could she let it go so easily?

Knock! Knock! Knock!

A knocking sound resonated at the door, followed by Lian’s voice through the door panel: "Rory, may I come in?"

Rory immediately straightened up and called out to Lian outside, "Lian, come on in."

The next second, the door opened.

Lian walked in alone. He checked on Rory first to make sure she was alright before turning his attention to Paros.

"Lian, give Paros a checkup first. If he’s not going to drop dead anytime soon, we’ll take him back with us," Rory said, pointing at Paros.

"Rory, I am not going back with you!" Paros immediately protested upon hearing that she wanted to take him back.

"Shut up." Rory didn’t want to hear another word out of him. She had spent so long scaring him, yet this guy was still as stubborn as ever. It was truly hopeless.

Rory turned to Lian. "Lian, find a way to seal his mouth and examine his body first."

Lian bit back a smile and nodded. Walking over to Paros, he produced a vial of potion and fed it to him.

The medicine was extremely bitter. Paros couldn’t help but frown and glare at Lian. He didn’t dare act fierce toward Rory, but he certainly wasn’t afraid of Lian. "You..."

Paros wanted to ask what Lian had just fed him, but the moment he opened his mouth, he realized he couldn’t speak. Right after that, his eyelids grew impossibly heavy.

In barely two seconds, Paros lost consciousness and lay motionless on the bed.

Looking at the sleeping dragon, Lian explained to Rory, "No need to worry, Rory. I just gave him something to sleep peacefully."

His ability couldn’t shut Paros’s mouth, but his potions certainly could.

Rory looked at the sleeping Paros and nodded at Lian. A quiet, sleeping dragon was indeed much more pleasant to look at.

"I’ll perform a proper physical checkup on him now." Lian produced the medical equipment he had brought along.

Paros’s condition was roughly what Lian had anticipated. Still, to be on the safe side, he conducted a thorough examination once more.

"Rory, Paros’s condition isn’t too terrible yet. Even if we left him like this without intervention, he could easily hang on for seven or eight days."

That’s considered ’not too terrible’?! Rory was speechless.

Seeing her exasperated expression, Lian pulled out another vial of potion, pinched Paros’s mouth open, and poured it down his throat.

"Though you don’t need to worry, Rory. With me here, keeping him healthy and alive for another hundred or two hundred years won’t be an issue."

"Within these one to two hundred years, once you complete the mating process with him, he’ll make a full recovery."

After speaking, Lian shot Paros a look. With a mouth this stubborn, who knows if two hundred years is even enough time for this dragon?

Hearing Lian say Paros could live healthily for another one or two hundred years, Rory was no longer in a rush.

"I’ll go talk to the Grand Elder and take Paros back first."

Rory asked Lian to watch over Paros while she went to find the Grand Elder to discuss taking Paros back with them.

When the Grand Elder heard this, he was so moved he nearly burst into tears. "Lady Rory, thank you for not giving up on our Dragon Lord! Our Dragon Lord is great in every way, he’s just... overly stubborn, stiff-lipped, and likes to put on a proud front..."

"Alright, Grand Elder, you don’t need to say any more," Rory interrupted him. "Since you agree to let me take Paros back, I’ll have Lian transfer him over to my warship right now."

"Whenever you need to see Paros, you’re welcome to visit the castle anytime."

Time was pressing, and Rory couldn’t afford to waste too much time here—after all, she still had to accompany Nix to the Lion-Tiger Clan tomorrow.

"Agreed, absolutely agreed!" The Grand Elder nodded repeatedly. "Lady Rory, please hurry and take our Dragon Lord back!"

With Lian by Rory’s side, even if she didn’t plan to mate with their Dragon Lord right away, Lian had ways to ensure their Dragon Lord wouldn’t die.