Baby System: I'm the Beast World's Only Hope!-Chapter 361: Episode 359: What Ren Left Behind.
For hours, the master bedroom of the Iron-Wood Manor remained cocooned in a heavy, exhausted silence.
Fedor fed with desperate hunger as Roxy remained perfectly still against the pillows, her body surrendering entirely to the monumental task of sustaining her son. The rhythmic, soothing pull of his feeding, combined with the emotional drain of the past week, eventually dragged her down into a deep, dreamless slumber.
She woke slowly, pulled from the dark by the faint, agonizingly slow creak of the doors being pushed open.
Roxy blinked, her brilliant green eyes adjusting to the dim, shifting light of the late afternoon sun filtering through the frost-covered windows. She looked down at her chest.
Little Fedor was fast asleep. The tiny prince lay entirely vertical against her bare skin, his small, rhythmic breaths warming her collarbone.
She didn’t remember when she woke up to adjust him.
A faint, milky trail glistened at the very corner of his tiny, perfect lips. His vibrant red hair was a messy halo, and his fox ears were completely relaxed, twitching occasionally in his dreams.
But it was her own hand that drew Roxy’s immediate attention.
Her right fist was clenched so tightly her knuckles were stark white. Resting in her palm, securely trapped in a death grip against her collarbone, was the bright red gemstone.
The crystallized, physical remnant of the Fox King’s heart pulsed faintly against her skin, offering a desperately cold, inadequate substitute for the massive, nine-tailed warmth that should have been occupying the mattress beside her.
Footsteps, intentionally muffled and agonizingly hesitant, crossed the woven rug.
Roxy slowly turned her head.
Zarek stood at the edge of the bed. The towering, terrifying King of the Dragons had been completely stripped of his armor, both physical and emotional. He wore a simple, dark tunic, his broad shoulders slumped. His golden eyes, usually burning with an uncompromising, lethal hellfire, were entirely bloodshot, swimming with a profound, terrifying vulnerability.
He looked at her, and then down at the sleeping infant on her chest. Zarek swallowed hard, his throat bobbing as he forced the words past the heavy, suffocating block of grief in his chest.
"How are you doing, darling?" Zarek started softly, his deep, rumbling voice cracking over the final word.
The dam inside Roxy completely, violently broke.
Darling. The simple, domestic endearment sliced through her heart. Her lower lip wobbled dangerously. Her chest hitched with a massive, agonizing spasm of phantom sobs, but when she squeezed her green eyes shut, no tears slid down her cheeks.
The well was entirely, completely dry. Abaddon had wrung every single drop of sorrow from her soul.
Roxy slowly opened her eyes and offered a faint, incredibly fragile shake of her head. There was nothing more to say. She felt as though a massive, fundamental piece of her soul had been violently carved out with a rusted blade, leaving behind a jagged, bleeding void.
At this exact moment, Ren should have been here. The trickster would have been leaning over Zarek’s shoulder, making a highly inappropriate, cocky joke about how the Dragon Alpha was going soft.
He was the vibrant, chaotic pulse of their family. He was the one who kept the brooding warlords laughing, the one who painted the Manor with illusionary fireworks, the one who made the heavy burden of the Beastworld entirely bearable.
But he was no longer here. The agonizing revelation that his laughter would never echo off these stone walls again was actively, ruthlessly tearing her heart to pieces.
The gods then spoke in her mind.
[TheMotheroftheWorld: My child, please do not let despair consume you. His fate was woven before your arrival. It was entirely out of your hands. You must find peace for the little one.]
Roxy scoffed.
It was entirely out of my hands indeed, I am only a human.
I am allowed to grieve too, Roxy snapped back perfectly clearly within the absolute silence of her own mind, her mental voice dripping with venom. Do not tell me how to carry this.
[TheSassyGoddess: ...] The second deity clearly wanted to say something more, perhaps to offer a sharper comfort but the sassy goddess held her tongue, realizing that no divine words could possibly bridge the chasm of her grief.
Zarek saw the distant, terrifyingly cold look in her green eyes. He couldn’t stand the physical distance between them for another microsecond.
The Dragon King stepped forward. With agonizing, meticulous care, he leaned over the mattress. He wrapped his arms around her, expertly maneuvering his broad chest to avoid crushing the tiny, sleeping infant resting vertically against her heart.
He pulled her into a warm, desperate, and fiercely protective hug.
Roxy immediately leaned into his warmth, her cheek pressing against his tunic. The sheer, physical reality of his strength was the only thing keeping her tethered to the mattress.
"I am so incredibly sorry, Roxy," Zarek whispered into her dark curls, his massive frame trembling. "I am sorry we lied to you. I am sorry we kept his secret. We just... we didn’t know how to break your heart."
Roxy closed her eyes, her fingers tightening around the red gemstone.
She couldn’t deny that she had been furious. When Syris had confessed the complicity in the trickster’s deception, she had wanted to tear the Manor down. But how could she stay angry at any of them now?
How could she blame Zarek, Torian, Kaelen, or Syris, when the literal Demon King of the universe had looked her dead in the eye and told her that Ren’s fate had been sealed since the first day she met him?
The Alphas had merely been trying to grant a condemned man his final, desperate wish for a family.
"I know, Zaza," Roxy whispered, her raspy voice completely devoid of malice. "I know."
Zarek let out a heavy, shuddering exhale of relief, burying his face deeper into her neck. They held each other in the quiet room for a long time, drawing shattered strength from the pieces they had left.
Eventually, Zarek slowly pulled back. He reached into the inner folds of his dark tunic.
"Kaito came to the Manor while you were asleep," Zarek rumbled quietly, his golden eyes dropping to the item in his hand. "He brought this. Ren instructed him to deliver it to you directly. When you wouldn’t wake up, Kaito entrusted it to me."
Zarek presented her with a beautifully carved, heavy wooden box, sealed with the ancient, emerald-green wax crest of the Kitsune bloodline.
Roxy’s breath completely vanished.
She carefully shifted Fedor slightly to the side, ensuring the baby remained asleep, and reached out with her trembling free hand. She took the wooden box. The wood was cold, but it felt incredibly, devastatingly heavy with unspoken words.
She broke the emerald wax seal with her thumb and pushed the small brass latch.
The lid popped open.
Inside the velvet-lined interior lay two items: a folded piece of thick, high-quality parchment, and resting directly beside it, a heavy, incredibly ornate iron key inscribed with ancient, glowing runes.
Roxy picked up the parchment. Her hands shook so violently the paper rattled. She recognized the sharp, elegant, and entirely arrogant handwriting instantly. It was Ren’s.
She unfolded the letter, her green eyes scanning the dark ink.
***
> My beautiful, terrifying Queen,
> If you are reading this, it means I have reached my limit, and Kaito has done his job. It also means you are likely furious with me for keeping you in the dark. I accept your wrath. I would accept a thousand deaths if it meant I could spend just one more night tangled in the furs with you.
> I knew, Roxy. I knew from the absolute, very first day my eyes locked onto you in that clearing.
> You were never from this world. You were a magnificent anomaly. And the moment I realized you were entirely out of place in this brutal universe, I decided I belong to you.
> Do not weep for me, my Queen. I lived a thousand lifetimes in the moments you smiled at me. I have given you a son, a legacy, and a piece of my soul that will never, ever fade.
> But a trickster never leaves a stage without a final act. ***
***
> Inside this box is a key. >
> It belongs to a hidden, subterranean vault directly beneath the eastern courtyard of the Iron-Wood. Do not let the Dragon or the Wolf follow you inside. Go alone. >
> The key holds everything you need.
