Baby System: I'm the Beast World's Only Hope!-Chapter 266: Episode 264: I can’t get pregnant

Zarek’s golden eyes narrowed, practically burning holes into her. "What is it? What is the cure, Roxann?"

Roxy didn’t answer immediately. She began to pace across the woven blanket, her bare feet moving in agitated, rapid steps.

The tiny, brilliant emerald snake that was Tanith remained securely coiled around Roxy’s neck, completely unbothered by her mother’s sudden movement, sleeping off her fever.

"The Queen of the Deep," Roxy muttered, her fingers snapping as her brain connected the dots. "Nerissa. She is an incredibly wise woman. She has lived in the Spires for generations, and she knew things about me, things about how this world operates beneath the surface. Some kind of connection drew me to her. If the Wither-Rot is a plague that targets Surface mana, the Abyssal magic of the Spires might be entirely immune to it. Nerissa might already have the solution to this problem, or at the very least, the missing ingredient."

Roxy was so caught up in her own racing thoughts, so focused that she completely failed to notice the immediate shift in the atmosphere around her.

The five males went completely rigid.

It was as if she had physically struck them. Kaelen pressed his lips into a thin line. Torian’s jaw clenched so hard a muscle feathered violently in his cheek. Ren’s bushy red tail dropped dead against the grass, and Zarek looked as though the air had been violently sucked from his lungs.

The mere mention of the ocean was something they wished she wouldn’t say.

But it wasn’t an Alpha who voiced the crushing dread that had suddenly paralyzed the men.

Iris, who had been sitting quietly near the edge of the blanket, looked up with wide, tear-filled violet eyes. Her little black wolf ears pinned flat against her dark hair.

"Does that mean you have to leave again, mama?" Iris asked, her voice a tiny, trembling whisper.

Roxy stopped pacing. Her heart filled with a heavy, aching guilt. She looked down at the terrified wolf-pup, and her heart clenched so painfully she could barely breathe.

She dropped to her knees right there on the blanket. Careful not to disturb the sleeping emerald snake around her neck, Roxy gathered Iris into her arms, pulling the little girl flush against her chest. She rubbed the back of Iris’s head, burying her face in her daughter’s dark hair. 𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚

"Yes, my sweet flower," Roxy confirmed softly, her voice thick with emotion. "I do have to leave. But I swear to you, I won’t be gone long. Just a day or two, depending on how time flies under the sea."

She pulled back just enough to look Iris in the eyes, offering a brave, reassuring smile. "It is different now. I know the way. The travel back and forth to the surface is much easier for me now that my body has adapted. And..." Roxy’s smile softened into something deeply maternal, "...I will get to see your little brother, baby Zale. I can check on him and make sure he is safe."

The mention of the Mer-Prince caused another invisible, painful ripple to pass through the males, but they swallowed their jealousy.

Iris sniffled, her little hands gripping Roxy’s shirt tightly. "Can I go with you? I want to see the ocean. I want to protect you."

Roxy shook her head sadly, kissing Iris’s forehead. "You can’t, baby. The water is too heavy. You wouldn’t be able to survive the pressure down in the Spires."

Drax stepped forward then. The massive, teenage dragon-shifter loomed over the blanket, his crimson eyes reflecting the exact same desperation that mirrored his father’s.

"Can I join you?" Drax pleaded, his voice cracking slightly. He pressed his lips into a thin, determined line, his fists clenching at his sides. "I am strong, Mum. My scales are hardened. I could survive a little bit of the pressure... as long as I could travel to some extent with you. I can be your guard."

Immediately, a chorus of deep, rumbling agreements echoed from the Alphas. Torian stepped forward, Kaelen shifted his stance, and Ren opened his mouth, all of them entirely willing to drown their beasts in the saltwater if it meant they didn’t have to let her out of their sight. They were touched, deeply desperate, and completely united in their refusal to be left behind again.

Roxy was profoundly moved by their devotion, but she raised a single, authoritative hand, shutting them all down instantly.

"No," Roxy stated, her tone shifting from a comforting mother to the absolute Queen of the Iron-Wood. "None of you are built for the Spires. You would be liabilities in the deep water, and I don’t have the time or the magic to protect you from the crushing depths."

She turned her gaze to Syris is going with me.

"Only Syris is going with me," Roxy decided.

Syris’s vertical pupils dilated slightly in surprise, but he smoothly bowed his head in obedience, his emerald tail swishing behind him.

"Why the Snake?" Torian demanded, his deep voice vibrating with immediate, bitter protest.

"Because he is a slithering basilisk, he might fulfill the full journey, but he will be my companion." Roxy explained rapidly, pointing at Syris. "After enquiring from Queen Nerissa, Syris and I will focus entirely on brewing the cure. I have the Kraken venom, but he is the only one who knows how to properly synthesize it without killing the host."

She turned back to the remaining four Beast Kings, giving them a soft smile.

"I need the rest of you to stay here and operate as a unified front," Roxy ordered, her voice brokering absolutely no argument. "You will be my eyes and ears on the Surface. I need to know exactly how fast this Rot is moving. Use your scouts, use your ravens, use the merchant lines. Find out exactly how many victims there are in the Southern Swamps. We need a mapped perimeter."

She looked specifically at the White Tiger, whose jaw was still locked in stubborn resistance.

"Torian, Syris, and I might even make a journey directly to the Swamps by the time I am back with the cure," Roxy added, giving him a specific role to anchor his restless energy. "We will need a staging ground. Prepare the logistics for that."

"Mama!"

Two small, energetic voices broke the heavy tactical silence. Axel and Onyx bounded over to the edge of the blanket, their matching blue eyes wide and eager, their fluffy wolf tails wagging furiously.

"We want to help mummy too!" Axel declared, puffing out his little chest.

"Yeah! We can fight the sickness with our wooden swords!" Onyx chimed in, swiping his hands through the air.

Roxy let out a soft, watery giggle. She reached out, vigorously rubbing both of their heads until their dark hair was an absolute mess.

"You two are already helping," Roxy praised them, her voice overflowing with love. "You are helping by being good little boys, by staying inside the barrier, and by listening to your fathers while I am gone. That is the bravest thing you can do for me."

Drax knelt down beside his younger brothers, his large wings folding neatly behind him. He looked at his mother, accepting his grounding with far more maturity than the Kings currently were.

"I will hold the fort, Mum," Drax promised, his voice steady and resolute. "Nobody gets past the gates. And I will make sure the pups do their drills."

"That’s my good boy," Roxy smiled warmly. She reached out and playfully tickled the base of his small, hardened dragon horns, a sweet, embarrassing maternal gesture that made him immediately flush red and duck his head with a shy, goofy grin.

Zarek, Kaelen, Torian, and Ren did not look pleased. Their beasts were practically clawing at the insides of their skin, screaming at them to grab her, lock her in the Manor, and leave the world to its fate. But they remained quiet.

They had sworn just yesterday to obey her commands, and the devastating logic of her plan left them with no grounds to argue.

She was doing this to save them.

Roxy’s gaze drifted over the silent, brooding men, finally landing on Torian.

A cold sweat suddenly broke out on the back of Roxy’s neck. If she was about to plunge back into the crushing, terrifying depths of the ocean to meet Nerissa, she needed her body to be in peak physical condition. She couldn’t afford morning sickness that came with carrying a Beastkin child.

Roxy swallowed hard, holding Torian’s burning gaze as a sudden, terrifying realization settled heavily in her chest.

Now that I am going under the sea, I can’t afford to get pregnant.