Chapter 43: Duties as Parents
Jeryon sat on the edge of Shani’s bed. Beside it stood a short table at roughly the same height, holding the baby bed.
Shani sat in the chair at her study desk. "How about we talk about our responsibilities as parents?"
Jeryon’s ears perked up and slowly turned red when Shani openly referred to the two of them as "parents."
He turned toward her while continuing to hold the milk bottle to Nyx’s mouth. Every now and then, he checked whether the bottle was empty.
"After we register Nyx, I probably won’t take Nyx out of my room until my beast gene is made public. Raising a baby beast doesn’t actually require both parents, though."
"But I don’t plan to exclude you from your responsibilities as Nyx’s father. The cost of food, supplements, health checkups, and other miscellaneous expenses should still be split equally. You can give me your share every two weeks during our resonance sessions, or once a month."
After a baby beast was born, resonance was no longer performed every day. However, these later resonance sessions were the ones that truly mattered for beastmen.
During these sessions, the baby beast converted the beast energy inside the beastman’s body into beast essence, which was needed for beastification.
The baby beast could only perform that conversion once every two weeks, which was why resonance sessions were scheduled biweekly.
Jeryon stared at the floor of Shani’s room with a gloomy expression.
For some reason, the thought that he wouldn’t be spending time with Shani every day anymore made him unhappy.
’Shani doesn’t seem bothered at all about not seeing me every day. Does she actually prefer not being around me? Is it because I’m the Cursed Prince? Have I only caused her trouble...?’ Without realizing it, he had started overthinking.
"...ryon! Jeryon!"
He jolted out of his thoughts.
Shani’s face was right in front of his. Her soft silver bangs swayed gently, almost covering her eyes.
Before he realized it, his hand had lifted, wanting to brush her bangs aside. Then he felt something stop his hand.
"You’re spilling Nyx’s milk," Shani reminded him, her hand holding back the one that was gripping the bottle.
Jeryon immediately let go of the bottle and quickly scooted away from her. His heart pounded wildly.
’I almost did something so stupid!’
White drops of milk had splashed onto Nyx’s belly and paws. The cub let out a series of high-pitched meows, clearly complaining about his father’s clumsiness.
"The towel’s in the cabinet," Shani said, shaking her head at Jeryon’s sudden incompetence.
Jeryon hurried over, grabbed a soft towel, and carefully wiped the spilled milk off Nyx.
He gave the cub an awkward smile, but Nyx simply turned his head away.
The little panther continued meowing at Shani as though tattling on his father.
Shani chuckled. "You’re pretty grumpy for a newborn."
She gently stroked the top of Nyx’s head. Accidentally, her hand brushed against Jeryon’s while he was wiping the cub clean.
Jeryon instinctively jerked his hand away as if he’d been shocked.
Shani wasn’t surprised anymore. Jeryon always reacted like that whenever their hands accidentally touched.
’Maybe his skin is just really sensitive,’ she thought, not paying it much attention.
After the brief incident, they returned to the main topic.
"I’ll cover all of Nyx’s expenses," Jeryon said. "It doesn’t feel fair that you’re the one taking care of Nyx and still have to pay for half of everything."
Shani actually loved the idea. Still, to avoid any problems in the future, she refused and insisted on her original plan.
"Then how about we do this instead? For our second baby beast, we’ll switch roles. I’ll raise it, and you’ll cover the expenses. What do you think?" Jeryon insisted as well.
Shani was left speechless.
She was talking about their first baby beast, yet Jeryon had already jumped to discussing a second one?!
"Isn’t it a little too early to talk about a second baby beast?"
Now that she had reached E-Rank, she could have a second baby beast. But she planned to use that slot only after giving it careful thought.
Jeryon realized he’d said the wrong thing. "That’s not what I meant. I just don’t want to burden you."
"Come on. I grew up in an orphanage. I’m already used to taking care of children. Raising a baby beast with facilities that are almost perfect isn’t difficult at all."
Since Shani had put it that way, Jeryon couldn’t argue anymore.
After Nyx finished his milk, they began their first resonance session since his birth.
Shani sat on her bed, gently resting her hand on Nyx’s head as the cub blinked his round black eyes at her.
Meanwhile, Jeryon sat beside the baby bed, lightly touching Nyx’s soft tail.
Shani nodded, giving the signal. Energy began flowing from both of their bodies into the little beast.
Nyx let out a tiny roar that sounded more like a meow as the warm energy entered his body.
He recognized both energies and wasn’t disturbed by them at all. His body began to glow, yet he remained comfortably sprawled where he was.
A resonance session with a baby beast usually lasted anywhere from thirty minutes to two hours. It ended once the baby beast fell fast asleep.
About thirty minutes later, Nyx drifted into a deep sleep. His two parents moved carefully so they wouldn’t wake him.
Jeryon finally said goodbye. Shani closed the door behind him, completely unaware of the reluctant look he wore as he left.
She flopped onto her bed, letting out a long sigh of relief and satisfaction. She opened her system to check Nyx’s progress.
[Baby Beast Name: Nyx. Progress: 0.8% (Infant Phase). Progress Speed: 10% per day. Gene: Night Panther. Rank: B. Father: Jeryon of Argenor]
Once again, the system had spoiled information for her. Now she even knew Nyx’s rank.
Shani looked over at the sleeping cub. "B-Rank? You’re really right in the middle of our ranks, huh? E and SS." She laughed softly.
"But with that baby bed, you should be able to go beyond B-Rank." She remembered the Limit-Breaker Baby Bed and its special effect.
That night, both Nyx and Shani slept soundly, completely free of worries.
...