Baby System: I'm the Beast World's Only Hope!-Chapter 154: Episode : Everyone has Scars!

"Get out," a voice rasped from the shadows.

Ren was sitting on the edge of the bed, his back to the door. He was fully dressed in his high-collared silk robes, the crimson fabric looking black in the dim light. He didn’t turn around. His posture was rigid, his shoulders hunched as if he were bracing for a blow.

He might have purposely left the windows shut tight so no light could snake in.

And something in Roxy’s heart twisted at the sight of him.

Right now he did look like a sulking animal to her.

"I’m not leaving, Ren," Roxy said softly, closing the door behind her.

He jumped at the sound of her voice.

What was she doing here? He thought. His eyes darted around, as his heart raced.

"What do you want?" Ren snapped, his voice cracking slightly. "What would her majesty, the Queen, want from a lowly fox like me?"

Roxy rolled her eyes at the sarcasm in his tone.

"To talk," Roxy said, stepping further into the gloom.

"I have nothing to say to you," Ren hissed. He stood up abruptly, keeping his back to her, and walked toward the window. He didn’t open the curtains. He just stood there, staring at the heavy fabric as if he could see through it.

Roxy found herself tongue tied.

What was he really hiding that he had to be harsh with her now?

[I am not gonna help you.]

Shut the fuck up.

She walked across the room until she was standing a few feet behind him.

"I saw your neck last night, Ren."

Ren flinched. His hand flew up to his collar, clutching the silk tight against his throat. "You saw nothing," he whispered, his voice trembling. "It was a trick of the light. An illusion."

She smiled, a painful one that didn’t reach her eyes.

She was no therapist, so how was she supposed to make this sly fox docile to her?

Ren turned around slowly. In the darkness, his violet eyes glowed faintly. He looked exhausted. The circles under his eyes were dark bruises against his pale skin. He looked less like a King and more like a porcelain doll that had been dropped and glued back together.

Though it makes him look hotter and less beautiful.

I wonder how he would look crying while I sucked him off...

[There you go again, thinking lewd thoughts for a defenseless person!]

He is a dancer! I am sure he has had his fair share of women.

Right!!!

[... I can’t answer that for you.]

Then shut the fuck up, you are being a pest.

"It is not painful," Ren lied, his voice hollow. "It is just... ugly."

He lowered his hand from his collar, though he didn’t pull the fabric down.

"It is a Mark of the Void," Ren said, spinning a tale he had rehearsed a thousand times. "When I was young... I reached too deep into the illusion magic. I tried to weave a reality that was too big for me. The magic snapped back, and scarred me."

He watched her face closely, waiting for the disgust. But she just blinked back at him, as he explained.

She never knew the beastworld would have magic, all she knew was she was plunged into this world, got blessed with hot men and had babies she thought she could never have.

At this point she was curious.

Especially the mer people, she couldn’t wait to see them.

"It is a web of dead mana," he continued, catching Roxy from the voice in her head, his eyes hard and defensive. "It spreads when I overexert myself. It looks like rot. It is hideous. In my court, perfection is law. A King with a scar... is a broken thing."

Roxy listened. It made sense. Magic in this world had rules, and breaking them had consequences.

But she didn’t feel disgusted. She felt a profound sense of relief that it wasn’t something contagious or fatal, or at least, that’s what she hoped.

"That’s it?" Roxy asked, tilting her head.

Ren blinked, thrown off balance. "What do you mean, ’that’s it’? It is a deformity! It marks me as a failure of my own ability!"

"Ren," Roxy sighed, stepping closer. "I have a scar on my knee from when I fell out of a tree at age seven, I have scars behind my ears, I had scars on my back from whip marks, a lot of scars that miraculously healed when I dropped into this world. Zarek has a chunk missing from his ear. Kaelen is covered in bite marks."

She reached out, ignoring his flinch, and took his hand. His fingers were ice cold.

"Scars don’t make you broken," Roxy said fiercely, squeezing his hand. "They make you real. They mean you survived something dangerous. You fought your own magic and you won. Why should you be ashamed of that?"

Ren stared at her. His mouth opened slightly, but no words came out.

He wasn’t surviving. He was dying. The mark wasn’t a battle scar; it was a countdown timer.

But looking at her, at the earnest, open way she looked at him, he couldn’t bring himself to correct her. He didn’t want to spoil this moment.

"You are..." Ren swallowed hard, his throat tight. "You are very strange, Roxy. You verify the worth of things the world throws away."

"I keep what matters," Roxy said simply. "And you matter, Ren. Not because of your trade deals or your silk. But because you’re here. You’re part of this weird, chaotic family now, whether the boys like it or not."

Though, they don’t know I have accepted you as my fifth mate.

All thanks to a certain machine though.

[I have a name though?]

What name? Baby System? That’s even a more ridiculous name.

Roxy sighed and then squeezed his hand one last time, imparting some of her warmth into his chilled frame.

"You don’t have to come out for tea if you don’t want to," she assured him. "But don’t hide in the dark because you think you’re ugly. You’re the most beautiful fox I know, scars and all."

She let go of his hand and stepped back.

Just before she wanted to speak again, nine tails sprouted from behind Ren, fluttering behind Ren in excitement, Ren just stared at her gulping.

His nine tails had never left his seams in a while, this was the first time they were willing to dance out for another female.

Am I allowed to claim her?

Roxy eyes twinkled like stars at the ethereal tails, she had only ever seen it in movies.

And oh my fucking gosh, they were so pretty.

She squealed internally, about to jump on him and grab his tail when she held back and cleared her throat, her cheeks still hurting from forcing herself not to smile like a fool.

She doesn’t know what she did to pull out such a reaction from him, but she loved it.

"I’ll tell Syris to leave a plate outside your door. But if you want to talk... really talk... I’m always here. I’m the only human in a forest of beasts, Ren. I know what it’s like to feel like the odd one out."

She turned and walked to the door.

Ren stood frozen in the center of the room. He watched her hand touch the latch. He wanted to call her back. He wanted to rip open his collar and show her the truth, that the web was moving, that his heart was stuttering, that he had months, maybe weeks, left.

But he stayed silent. He let her keep the illusion, because for the first time, the illusion felt better than the reality.

Roxy opened the door, flooded the room briefly with light from the hallway, and then left, closing it softly behind her.

The click of the latch echoed like a gunshot to his erratic heart.

Ren let out a shuddering breath, his legs giving out. He sank back onto the bed, burying his face in his hands.

"You are a coward," he whispered to himself.

"You are a fool."

Ren snapped his head up.

Stepping out from the deep shadows of the heavy wardrobe was a figure. He was dressed in dark silk robes, his face obscured by a fox mask.

Kaito.

Ren didn’t look surprised. "You were listening," Ren said dully, leaning back against the pillows.

"I am sworn to guard you," Kaito said, his voice flat and hard. He walked into the center of the room, pulling his mask down to reveal a face etched with frustration. "I heard you lie to her. ’A scar’? ’Dead mana’?"

"She doesn’t need to know," Ren deflected, looking away.

"She needs to know that you are killing yourself by being here!" Kaito hissed, keeping his voice low so the wolves outside wouldn’t hear.

Kaito gestured frantically toward the door.

"She is a Human, Ren! Whatever species that is! A Breeder! She has four mates. She does not need you. You are a curiosity to her. A stray dog she pities."

"No," Ren said. The word was quiet, but it sounded like a growl.

"Yes!" Kaito argued, stepping closer to the bed. "We should leave. Tonight. While the household is distracted. We go back to the Forests. We find the healers. We extend your time."

"To what end?" Ren asked, looking up at his advisor. "To sit on my throne and rot alone? To count my tail while my veins turn black?"

"To live!" Kaito pleaded. "You are the King. You are not meant to be here, playing friends with a human! You are not meant to die in a guest room!"

Ren stood up. He moved slowly, but with a sudden, regal grace that reminded Kaito exactly who he was speaking to.

Ren walked to the spot where Roxy had stood. He could still smell her scent, lavender and milk. He looked at his hand, the one she had held. It was still tingling.

"You are wrong, Kaito," Ren murmured.

He turned to look at his reflection in the dark mirror on the wall. He looked at Kaito, his violet eyes burning with a terrifying clarity.

"You have no future here!" Kaito cried out.

"I have a present," Ren corrected.

He walked to the window and finally, defiantly, threw the curtains open. The bright sunlight flooded the room, harsh and unforgiving, illuminating the dust motes dancing in the air. Ren didn’t cringe away from it.

"She said I matter," Ren whispered. "Not the King. Or anyone. Me."

He turned back to his advisor, a sad, serene smile playing on his lips.

"You say I am not meant to be here," Ren said, his voice soft and quiet. "But looking at her light... I think this was where I was meant to be from the very beginning."