Raising Beast Cubs to Find a Husband novel Chapter 93

Chapter 93: The Cracking of the Star-Iron

Two Days Before the Ball.

The calm before the storm was deceptively domestic.

Outside, the capital was buzzing with preparations for the Debutante Ball. Inside the daycare, the air smelled of roasted chicken and rosemary. It was dinner time, the one hour of the day when the chaos settled into a rhythmic clinking of silverware against ceramic.

Primrose moved around the table, topping up water glasses. She felt a temporary sense of peace. Ellia’s dress was fixed. The Warlords were ready. The invitations were sent.

"More potatoes, please!" Arjun (Tiger) roared, holding out his plate.

"Say the magic word," Luna (Bunny) chided gently from the head of the table.

"NOW!" Arjun tried.

"Close," Luna giggled, scooping mash onto his plate. "But no."

King Caspian sat at his usual spot next to his son, Orion. He looked regal even when eating mashed potatoes. He was using a fork and knife with precise, elegant movements, but Primrose noticed he was quieter than usual.

He had been working hard. For the past week, he had been helping Archduke Cassian analyze the ancient texts found in the archives, pouring his mana into translation spells, pushing his limits to help Primrose find a lead.

"Father?" Orion asked, tilting his head. "Your consumption rate is suboptimal. You have only eaten three peas."

Caspian looked down at his son. For a split second, his teal eyes were glazed, unfocused.

"I am... contemplating," Caspian said slowly. "Orion, remind me... the small one. The one with the hat."

Caspian pointed vaguely across the table.

Orion frowned, his gills fluttering with concern. "That is Finn. He has been part of this unit for six months. Father, are your ocular sensors malfunctioning?"

"Finn," Caspian repeated, testing the word on his tongue as if it were foreign. "Right. Of course. Finn."

He rubbed his temple, looking distressed.

"And the... the orange one?"

Primrose froze. The pitcher of water in her hand shook.

"Arjun," she whispered, stepping closer. "The Tiger. He’s climbed on your back every day for a month."

"Arjun," Caspian nodded, forcing a smile that didn’t reach his eyes. "Yes. My apologies. The surface air makes my mind... foggy."

He reached for his glass of water.

CRACK.

The sound was sharp, like a bone snapping.

"Father!" Orion screamed.

It wasn’t his usual monotone observation. It was a cry of pure panic. Orion dropped his fork and grabbed Caspian’s arm.

"Your energy signature! It is destabilizing!"

Caspian gasped, the glass slipping from his hand. SMASH. Water soaked the rug. His hand flew to his chest.

Underneath his linen shirt, a bright white light flared and died.

Primrose lunged forward, grabbing the collar of Caspian’s shirt and pulling it down.

The Star-Iron Pendant—the indestructible relic meant to dam the Void—was damaged.

A hairline fracture ran right down the center of the white stone.

And beneath it, on Caspian’s skin, the grey veins were pulsing. They had jumped the barrier. They were no longer just on his shoulder; a thin, grey tendril was creeping up the side of his neck, toward his ear.

"It broke," Vali (Wolf) whispered, his ears drooping. "Why did the King break?"

Caspian gripped the table, his knuckles turning white. He was breathing hard, sweating cold beads of moisture. He looked at Orion, then at Primrose, terror flashing in his eyes.

"It is fine," Caspian lied, his voice strained. "Just... a minor structural failure."

"It’s not fine," Primrose said, her voice trembling.

She looked at his eyes. They were clear now, but for a second... for a second, he hadn’t known Finn. He had hesitated on Arjun.

The Mind. The Body. The Soul.

The Void wasn’t just killing him anymore. It was erasing him.

"Jax," Primrose barked, turning to the Fox. "Watch them. Don’t let anyone leave. Orion, stay with him."

"Prim, where are you going?" Jax asked, standing up, his playful demeanor gone.

"I need to see Bastion," she said, grabbing her coat. "Now."

---

Primrose didn’t take a carriage. She took Rurik, who had been patrolling nearby. The Wolf Warlord carried her on his back, running through the streets and the Blackwood Forest faster than any horse.

She burst into Bastion’s study, looking wild.

"He’s forgetting!" Primrose shouted.

Bastion looked up from his desk. He looked alarmed. "Tutor? What happened?"

"The pendant cracked," Primrose panted, sliding off Rurik’s back. "And he... he forgot the names of the cubs. Just for a minute. He struggled to remember Finn."

She grabbed Bastion’s arm.

"Is this part of it? Does the Void take memories?"

Bastion’s face fell. The hope he had built up over the last few weeks vanished, replaced by the old, familiar sorrow.

"Yes," Bastion whispered. "It is the final stage. Before the body fails... the mind unravels."

He walked over to the fireplace, staring into the flames.

"Seraphina... in the last week..." His voice broke. "She stopped calling me ’my love’. She called me ’Lord’. And then... the day she died... she looked at me and asked who I was."

Primrose felt like the floor had dropped out from under her.

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