Chapter 42: The Egg Hatches
On Jeryon’s desk, the artificial egg had split cleanly into two halves.
Several students rubbed their eyes, unable to believe what they were seeing.
As if forgetting they weren’t supposed to comment on the pair, another wave of whispers and speculation filled the classroom.
"Their egg hatched!"
"No... I think they failed. Look, there’s no baby beast."
"Eggs normally hatch after a month of regulation. Even the eggs of high-ranking students don’t hatch until around the tenth day. This is only the fifth day."
"Exactly. No one in Feline Tower has ever had an egg hatch in less than a week."
The students nodded in agreement, convinced that the cursed prince and his F-Rank partner were doomed.
There had never been a case where a failed resonance caused an egg to crack apart like this.
At next month’s first monthly evaluation, they were certain this pair would be the first to be expelled from the academy.
But the smug, malicious expressions on their faces vanished the moment a high-pitched cub’s cry came from beneath Jeryon’s table.
The cry grew louder and clearer.
Only then did everyone realize... This wasn’t a failure. It was a success.
Jeryon himself looked stunned. He stared at Shani, then at the tiny Night Panther cub beneath the table.
When the blinding light had filled the room earlier, Shani had quickly lowered the cub beneath the desk, hiding it from the other students’ view.
She then grabbed one of the neatly stacked baby beast carriers stored along the classroom wall.
From an angle the others couldn’t see, she gently placed the cub inside.
She pressed the Opaque button, making the carrier impossible to see through, then activated the Wash function to clean the newborn cub.
"Let’s go to my room," Shani said, taking the lead as she walked out of the classroom.
Jeryon finally snapped out of his daze. He hurried after her, his expression complicated.
Meanwhile, the classroom erupted into chaos. Everyone crowded around the broken eggshell.
"They really succeeded?"
"I definitely heard a cub crying."
"But how could it hatch this fast?"
No matter how curious they were, no one had an answer.
...
Shani and Jeryon soon arrived at her dorm room. The moment the door closed, Shani placed the carrier on her desk.
"I have a favor to ask, Jeryon." She looked at him with complete sincerity.
Jeryon nodded without interrupting.
"As you can see, our baby beast is a panther. Once we officially register it, you’ll know its full gene..."
"I want you to keep its gene... my gene a secret."
Jeryon knew Shani was an orphan.
The headmaster had never mentioned anything special about her beast gene, so he’d simply assumed it was an ordinary common-grade gene.
After that, he’d never given it another thought.
He had once considered helping Shani find her biological parents.
But commoners with common-grade beast genes hadn’t bothered registering or checking their genes for generations.
Finding her parents would be almost impossible, especially since she’d been found in Zephyria.
Things were completely different for high-grade beast genes. Those families cared deeply about their bloodlines.
Jeryon could name every prominent family that possessed a Panther beast gene.
Unless a family had become too weak and left Aurelis, or had gone extinct altogether, he would know about them.
With that, finding her family would be easy.
"I can help you find your family," Jeryon said instead of responding to her earlier request.
Shani shook her head.
For just a brief moment, Jeryon caught a trace of sadness in her crimson eyes before it disappeared beneath a serious expression.
"I know who my family is. I also know they’re looking for me. But... I’m not ready to meet them yet."
"Why...?" Jeryon asked, bewildered.
A few seconds later, he came to his own conclusion. He assumed Shani felt insecure because of her low rank.
"You have me as your partner now," he said earnestly. "They won’t think badly of you."
Shani smiled warmly. She had been trying to come up with an explanation so Jeryon wouldn’t feel like she’d deceived him. Instead he was offering to help her.
"Thank you for choosing to stand by my side, Jeryon. But now isn’t the right time. Please... trust me on this."
Jeryon still had countless arguments he wanted to make. In the end, however... He simply nodded.
A bright smile finally bloomed on Shani’s face.
She picked up the little panther cub and carried it to the special baby beast bed she’d received from the system as a mission reward.
"Do you have any name suggestions?" she asked, gently scratching the cub’s belly as it lay on its back atop the soft bed.
Jeryon looked guilty. He fumbled over his words. "I... um... the name... I’m sorry. I haven’t thought about it at all."
"Then how about Nyx?" Shani suggested. She didn’t seem bothered by his ignorance.
Jeryon nodded. "That’s a good name."
Shani stood and walked to the cabinet, taking out a container of baby beast milk powder. She prepared a bottle with practiced ease.
Jeryon rubbed his face. "I’ll buy some milk too."
"I bought the 900-gram container. It’ll be enough for ten days, until Nyx finishes the infant phase," Shani said quickly.
Jeryon clenched his fists. He felt embarrassed by how little he knew.
He had actually planned to buy milk and the rest of the baby beast supplies over the weekend. Which meant... tomorrow.
He had never imagined their baby beast would hatch tonight. Meanwhile, Shani had already prepared everything well in advance.
Of course, Shani understood his situation. If she hadn’t had the system, she wouldn’t have known Nyx would hatch tonight either.
Everyone believed artificial eggs normally took about a month to hatch.
That was why, in her previous life, Shani had begun her resonance exactly one month before her death. Even then, her egg had hatched faster than most, taking only ten days.
She had never expected this life to be different. This time, their egg had hatched in only five days.
Shani held the milk bottle out to Jeryon. "Want to give it a try?"
Jeryon nodded and quickly accepted the bottle. At last, he didn’t feel quite as useless as he had earlier.
Shani could clearly see the light return to Jeryon’s eyes.
...