Raising Beast Cubs to Find a Husband novel Chapter 47

Chapter 47: The Dad Defense

I floated in the hallway for a long time after Caspian left.

My brain was spinning.

In Beastly B.A.D.S., the lore entry for King Caspian said: "The King’s heart turned to ice the day his beloved Queen perished, leaving him unable to look upon the son who cost him his love."

It was poetic. It was tragic. It was designed to make players want to "fix" him with the power of love.

But the reality? The reality was messy, ugly, and human.

Caspian hadn’t loved the Queen. He had been a prisoner of biology. A modern architect from Seoul forced into a primal, magical ritual because the "game" demanded an heir.

No wonder he can’t look at Orion, I thought, swimming back into the bedroom. He doesn’t see a son. He sees the evidence of his own captivity.

I looked at the Prince. Orion was awake, picking at the loose threads of his blanket. He looked small, grey, and incredibly lonely.

But it’s not the kid’s fault, I thought fiercely. Orion didn’t ask to be born any more than Caspian asked to be King.

If I was going to survive down here—and if I was going to get back to the surface—I needed to fix this. Not with magic. Not with politics.

With Family Dinner.

Later That Day at The Dining Hall,

I had bullied Crustar into setting a table.

Usually, the King ate alone in his chambers (or didn’t eat at all), and the Prince was fed in his shell.

Not today.

I set a small, round table made of coral. I placed two bowls of "Sea-Oat Risotto with Scallops" (creamy, cheesy, and very comforting).

Then, I went to get the boys.

The King arrived first. He looked wary. He was wearing formal robes again, his "King Mask" firmly in place.

"A communal meal?" Caspian asked, eyeing the table. "This is... unorthodox."

"It’s Tuesday," I lied. "In my culture, Tuesday is family night. Sit."

Caspian sighed, the bubbles escaping his lips like smoke. He sat—or rather, coiled his tail onto the stone seat.

Then, the guards brought Orion.

The Prince shrank back when he saw his father. He tried to hide behind me.

"It’s okay," I whispered, holding Orion’s tiny hand. "He’s not going to bite. He’s just... grumpy. He needs carbs."

I lifted Orion onto his high chair (a modified clam shell).

The silence was deafening.

Caspian stared at his food.

Orion stared at Caspian.

I stared at both of them, willing someone to speak.

Okay. Let’s break the ice.

"So," I said brightly, clapping my hands. "Orion, did you know your dad used to build... castles?" (I swapped ’skyscrapers’ for ’castles’ to keep the cover). 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

Orion blinked. He looked at the terrifying King. "Castles?"

Caspian looked up, surprised. "I... yes. Before I was King. I designed structures."

"Big ones?" Orion whispered.

Caspian hesitated. He looked at me. I gave him a sharp nod that clearly said: Talk to your kid, or I will put hot sauce in your pudding.

"Yes," Caspian said, his voice stiff but quiet.

"Very big. Structures that touched the sky. Made of... glass and steel."

Orion’s eyes went wide. "Glass? But it breaks."

"Not the way I built it," Caspian said. For a second, a flicker of pride crossed his face—the pride of the Architect, not the King. "I used... geometry. Math. To make the glass strong."

Orion looked down at his bowl. He picked up a scallop with his spoon.

"I like math," the Prince mumbled.

Caspian froze. "You do?"

"Yes," Orion said, shrinking back a little.

"The tutors say I am boring. I like to count the tiles in the floor. And the patterns in the coral."

Caspian stared at his son.

In the game lore, the Royal Heir was supposed to be a warrior. A mage. A leader.

But this boy... this grey, quiet, lonely boy... liked math.

He liked patterns.

He liked structure.

He’s like me, Caspian realized. He isn’t just the Queen’s biology. He has my mind.

Caspian leaned forward slightly. The terrifying aura dampened.

"Counting tiles is not boring," Caspian stated firmly. "It is... analytical. It is how you understand the world."

Orion looked up, shocked that he wasn’t being scolded. "It is?"

"Yes," Caspian said. He picked up his spoon. "When I was your age... I used to count the stars."

A small, shy smile appeared on Orion’s face. It was the first time I had seen him smile at his father.

"There are no stars down here," Orion said sadly.

Caspian looked at the boy. He looked at the endless, dark ceiling of the cavern.

"No," Caspian whispered, a profound sadness in his voice. "There are no stars here."

He looked at me.

"Perhaps," Caspian said slowly, "The Chef can tell us about them. She... hums about them."

I grinned. "I can do better than that. Eat your risotto, and I’ll draw you a constellation map."

Orion dug into his food with enthusiasm. Caspian ate slowly, watching his son with a strange, new expression. It wasn’t love yet. It wasn’t warmth.

But it wasn’t revulsion.

It was curiosity.

VERIFYCAPTCHA_LABELVerify