Raising Beast Cubs to Find a Husband-Chapter 114: The Heart of the Tide

One Hour Later in the Elder’s Pagoda.

Primrose woke up to the smell of incense and the sound of hushed, reverent whispers.

She was lying on a pile of silk cushions—way more cushions than before. She was covered in a blanket made of what felt like spun gold.

She sat up, groaning. Her head throbbed.

"The Divine One awakens!" Elder Renard announced, bowing so low his nose touched the floor.

Primrose looked around.

The Warlords and Caspian were sitting in a semi-circle around her bed. They looked... unsettled.

Caspian looked healthy for the first time in months. His skin was glowing, the black veins gone. But he was staring at Primrose with a strange mix of relief and shared secrecy.

Rajah was polishing his sword nervously.

Cassian was scribbling furiously in a notebook.

Rurik was just staring at her ears, as if expecting them to burst into flames. 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

Lucien was in the corner, his eyes narrowed in calculation.

"Please stop calling me that," Primrose begged, rubbing her temples. "I’m just Primrose. I make soup. I run a daycare."

"You are Ophelia," Renard insisted, his nine tails trembling. "The First Mother. The Saviour of the Dawn."

"Explain," Archduke Cassian demanded, snapping his notebook shut. "Scientifically."

Renard sighed, settling onto his haunches.

"Long ago," the Elder began, his voice taking on a storytelling cadence, "before the Empire was united, the Void threatened to consume the world. It corrupted the Ley Lines. It turned brother against brother."

He looked at Primrose.

"Ophelia was the only one who could stop it. She possessed Divine Magic—a power not of this world. She was close to the Architects, the ancient beings who wrote the first Runes. The very runes your Snake Clan uses today, Archduke."

Cassian’s eyes widened. "The Imugi Runes... they are her work?"

"Indeed," Renard nodded. "But to seal the Void, Ophelia needed a power source greater than herself. She took the Heart of the Tide."

Caspian leaned forward. The name seemed to resonate with him, unlocking a memory deeper than his own life.

"She stole it," Renard whispered. "It was the anchor that kept the Beast Clans connected to the magic of the world. The Lion King of that era accused her of betrayal. He called her a thief. A traitor."

Primrose felt a strange pang in her chest. Betrayal. Loss. But also... Love. She looked at Caspian. He was looking back at her. They both knew the truth. Ophelia wasn’t a traitor. She was a sacrifice.

"She didn’t steal it to keep it," Renard continued softly. "She used it. She sacrificed the Heart—and herself—to create the Seal that locked the Void away. Her physical form was shattered. Her soul... disappeared."

"We thought she was gone forever," Renard looked at Primrose with teary eyes. "But it seems her soul was sent away. To a place without magic. To heal."

"Earth," Primrose whispered, almost inaudibly.

"Seoul," Caspian breathed, mirroring her.

The room went quiet.

Archduke Cassian looked up sharply. "Pardon? What is Seoul? Is that a celestial plane?"

"It’s... just a place," Primrose said quickly, exchanging a panicked glance with Caspian. "A very far away place."

The Warlords narrowed their eyes. They sensed a secret. A secret that only the King and the Nanny shared.

"And now," Renard continued, oblivious to the tension, "the Void has returned. And so, the world has pulled her back."

"Wait," Primrose interrupted, her mind racing. "The Void isn’t just back. It’s being... cultivated."

The room went deadly silent.

"Impossible," Renard gasped. "The Void is chaos. It cannot be farmed."

"It is," Primrose insisted. "When I was in the water... I felt it. It wasn’t just mindless hunger. It had a purpose. It felt... directed."

She looked at Caspian.

"Unless..." Renard’s face went pale. "Unless the Void has taken a vessel. A being."

Primrose froze. A face flashed in her mind. A man in a dark cloak. The man who had orchestrated the kidnapping of Clover. The man who had taken Finn.

The Boss, Primrose whispered.

"Who?" Renard asked.

"The villain who kidnapped Jax’s brother," Primrose said, looking at the Elder. "Wait... I just realized something... you knew Jax. Did you know Finn?"

Renard frowned. "Finn?"

"Yeah, Jax little brother."

"Jax has no brother named Finn. He is an only child."

Primrose felt a chill run down her spine. "No. Finn is a Fox. He has one tail. He was with Jax."

Renard shook his head slowly. "There is no Finn in our records. If Jax is with a fox named Finn... then Finn does not exist."

"Or," Duke Lucien spoke from the shadows, his voice cold, "Finn is an illusion. Or something worse."

That’s odd, Finn can’t be an illusion... he looks real... but he also looks just exactly like Jax... what’s going on here, Primrose thought.

Renard paced the room, his tails lashing nervously.

"If the Void has gained sentience... then we are in grave danger. The Seal Ophelia created is failing. To destroy it, you must become Ophelia fully."

"I can’t," Primrose held up her hands. "I tried to use the magic again just now. Nothing. I’m empty."

"Of course you are," Renard scoffed gently. "You are using a clay cup to hold an ocean. Your current body—this tail-less vessel—cannot sustain the Divine Magic. That is why you fainted. That is why you have Mana Exhaustion."

"So what do we do?" Rajah asked, standing up. "Do we train her?"

"Training is not enough," Renard shook his head. "She needs anchors. She needs to reconnect with the sources of power that Ophelia once held."

He looked at the Warlords.

"Ophelia was not alone. She had guardians. The First Wolf. The First Snake. The First Panther. The First Tiger. The First Lion. And... her love, the First Jioaren King."

Caspian looked down at his hands, hiding a small, sad smile.

"To unlock her full power," Renard explained, "she must visit the Ancestral Shrines of your clans. She must awaken the dormant magic in each of you."

Renard pointed a claw at Lord Rurik.

"The Wolf Shrine in the North. It holds the Fang of Resolution. But the North is closed, isn’t it, Wolf? Your clan is in turmoil."

Rurik grunted, crossing his arms. "My brother... he controls the Shrine. He won’t let us in."

Renard turned to Archduke Cassian.

"The Snake Shrine in the West. It holds the Scale of Wisdom. But the Snake Clan has forgotten its roots. You rely on science, not the Imugi legacy. You rejected the title of Clan Head, didn’t you?"

Cassian adjusted his monocle, looking uncomfortable. "It was... illogical to accept a position based on superstition."

Renard looked at Duke Lucien.

"And the Panther Shrine in the Shadows. It holds the Eye of Truth. But you... you hide from your own past, Shadow Duke. You cannot enter the Shrine if you do not face what happened to your family."

Lucien went still. The shadows around him darkened.

"So," Primrose summarized, feeling a headache coming on. "To save the world, I have to go on a road trip to all your houses, solve your family drama, and unlock magical artifacts?"

"Essentially," Renard beamed. "It is a classic quest structure."

"And the Void?" Caspian asked.

"It will be hunting you," Renard warned. "If it is sentient, it knows the Avatar of Ophelia has returned. It will send everything it has to stop you."

Primrose looked at the Warlords.

Rurik looked ready to punch a mountain.

Cassian looked like he was calculating the statistical probability of death.

Lucien looked terrified of his own history.

Rajah looked determined.

Caspian looked... guilty.

"I dragged you into this," Caspian whispered to her.

"No," Primrose said, taking his hand. "I was sent here for this. I’m not just a Nanny. I’m... I’m the fix-it girl for the whole universe."

She stood up. Her legs were shaky, but she stood.

"Okay," Primrose said. "We have a map. We have a team. We have a goal."

She looked at Lord Rurik.

"We start with the Wolves. Rurik... you’re up."

Rurik let out a heavy breath, his broad shoulders slumping. He looked North, toward the snowy peaks visible through the window.

"Going home..." Rurik grunted, his expression darkening. "I hate going home."

"Why?" Primrose asked. "Is it the cold?"

"It is my brother," Rurik growled. "Marquis Konrad. He is the Head of the Clan. He is stubborn, he is old-fashioned, and he thinks I am soft because I moved to the Capital."

He cracked his knuckles.

"He will not let us into the Shrine without a fight."

"Then we fight," Primrose said simply. "Or... we cook him something he can’t refuse."

She looked out the window of the pagoda. The sun was rising over the Fox Sanctuary.

The Save the King arc was over.

The Save the World arc had just begun.

"Let’s go pack," Primrose said. "We have a long road ahead."