Baby System: I'm the Beast World's Only Hope!-Chapter 240: Episode 238: Leaving the Tides

The Pearl Wing was quiet again.

Roxy sat on the edge of the clam bed, the black coral key Nerissa had given her burning a hole in her palm. Zale was asleep in his crib, his chest rising and falling in a peaceful rhythm, blissfully unaware that his grandmother had just handed his mother a get-out-of-jail-free card.

Roxy was elated, although confused, she was elated. She could finally get out of there.

Two tides, Nerissa had said. The guards will be distracted. Roxy looked at the key. Then she looked at the door and the empty space beside her where Caspian usually slept.

She could do it. She could slip out right now. She could use the confusion of the post-party cleanup to vanish into the Treasury corridor. She could open the Gate and be gone before anyone realized she was missing.

It would be clean. It would be easy.

But then she imagined Caspian waking up to an empty bed. She imagined him tearing the ocean apart looking for her, thinking she had been kidnapped, thinking she was dead. She imagined him finding the note and realizing she had simply... left.

I mean he saw it coming anyway, so why am I feeling guilty?

The thought made her stomach twist so violently she almost threw up the buffalo steak she had eaten earlier.

System, Roxy whispered in her mind. I need a projection. What happens if I just run? What happens if I use the key without telling them?

The blue window shimmered into existence. It didn’t give her a snarky remark this time. It seemed to sense the gravity of the moment.

[System Analysis: Branching Paths.]

[Scenario A: The Ghost in the Night.]

[Action: You leave secretly using the Treasury Gate.]

[Immediate Consequence: King Caspian discovers your absence in 4 hours. He assumes abduction.]

[Long-Term Consequence: He declares war on the neighboring trenches. He neglects the Spires. He becomes the "Mad King," consumed by grief and rage. Prince Zale grows up in a kingdom torn by war, with a father who looks at him and sees only the ghost of the mother who abandoned them.]

[Survival Rate of Family Unit: 12%.]]

[Scenario B: The Queen’s Farewell.]

[Action: You confess your departure to the King and the General.]

[Immediate Consequence: Heartbreak. Anger. Betrayal.]

[Long-Term Consequence: Closure. Caspian mourns, but he understands he was not abandoned out of malice, but necessity. He focuses his energy on raising the Prince. General Kaia steps into the maternal role with a clear mandate. Zale grows up loved, knowing his mother exists somewhere above the waves.]

[Survival Rate of Family Unit: 88%.]

The choice wasn’t even a choice. One led to ruin. The other led to pain, but survival.

Roxy closed her hand over the key. The sharp coral dug into her skin, grounding her.

"Kaia," Roxy said, her voice trembling but loud enough to carry. "Call the King. Tell him to come to the Pearl Wing immediately. Tell him... tell him it is urgent."

Kaia turned, her grey eyes narrowing slightly at the tone. "Is the Prince unwell?"

"The Prince is fine," Roxy said, standing up. "Just call him."

Ten minutes later, the doors opened.

Caspian swam in, still wearing his ceremonial robe, looking flushed with the success of the reception.

"Roxy?" he asked, swimming to her side. "Kaia said it was urgent. What happen—"

"Sit down," Roxy said softly. She gestured to the coral bench. "Kaia, you too. Please."

The atmosphere in the room shifted instantly. Caspian’s smile faded. Kaia frowned sensing that there was something amidst, something was about to happen.

They sat. Roxy stood in front of them, clutching the folds of her silk dress.

"I have to go," she said.

Three words. Simple. Devastating.

Caspian didn’t react at first. He just blinked, as if she had spoken in a language he didn’t understand.

"Go?" he repeated. "Go where? The reception is over. We can rest."

"No, Caspian," Roxy stepped closer, her eyes locking onto his. "I have to leave. The Spires. The Ocean. I have to go back to the Surface."

"No," Caspian spat out, as if he was waiting for her to say it. "But... the child. Zale. He is here. We are here."

"I know," Roxy choked out. "And I love you. I love both of you. But I am dying here, Caspian. I can’t stay here while my other family is up there. If I stay... I will wither. My joy is not complete, being here."

She turned to Kaia.

"And I cannot take Zale with me. The pressure change would kill him."

Kaia stood up, her chair scraping loudly against the floor. She looked furious. Hurt. Betrayed.

"You would leave him?" Kaia demanded, her voice rising to a shout. "You would abandon a hatchling? A Prince? After everything we did to secure him? I thought you were a warrior, Roxy! I thought you were a Queen!"

"I am a mother!" Roxy shouted back, the tears finally spilling over. "And a mother does what is best for her child! Staying here and resenting him is not best! Watching him grow up while I fade away in grief is not best!"

She reached into her inventory and pulled out the waterproof book containing the videos, the recipes, the letters. She walked over to Kaia and shoved the book into the General’s chest.

"This is for him," Roxy sobbed. "It has everything. My voice. My stories. My love. I need you to give it to him, Kaia."

Kaia looked down at the book, then up at Roxy. Her anger wavered, replaced by a profound, confused sorrow.

"Why me?" Kaia whispered.

"Because you love him," Roxy said fiercely. "I saw you at the reception. I saw you holding your dagger like you would fight the ocean itself for him. You are the strongest woman I know. You are the only one I trust to raise him to be a King."

Kaia stared at her. Her lower lip trembled. She looked at the book, clutching it like a sacred artifact.

"I..." Kaia swallowed hard. She looked at Zale’s crib. "I do not know lullabies. I only know war songs."

"Then teach him war songs," Roxy smiled through her tears. "He likes noise."

She turned back to Caspian.

He hadn’t moved. He was sitting on the bench, his head in his hands, staring at the floor. He was angry that’s for sure, he wanted to also burst out, but he could understand where Roxy was coming from.

"Caspian," she whispered.

He looked up. His eyes were red.

"I knew," he croaked. "I knew one day you would go back, but I believed I could keep you here forever. But who knew that wish couldn’t even be granted?"

Roxy knelt before him and taking his hands. "You are very sweet and I know you love me, and want what’s best for me. But I am not a boat, Caspian. I am a bird. If you hold me down, I drown."

He looked at her for a long, agonizing minute. Then, he let out a shuddering breath and nodded.

"I will not be your cage," he whispered.

He stood up, pulling her with him.

"When?" he asked.

Roxy opened her hand, revealing the black coral key.

"Now," she said. "Nerissa gave me the key. The Treasury Gate opens in twenty minutes."

Caspian looked at the key, recognizing his mother’s handiwork. He let out a bitter, short laugh. "Of course she did. She always plays the long game."

He straightened his armor. He wiped his face, composing himself into the mask of the King.

"Then we must hurry," Caspian said, his voice hollow but steady. "I will escort you. No guard will stop us."

"Wait," Roxy said.

She turned to the crib.

Zale was awake. He was chewing on his fist, watching the scene with his wide eyes. Roxy walked over. She picked him up. 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

He was heavy. He was warm. He smelled like milk and sea salt.

She held him close, burying her face in his neck one last time. She imprinted the feel of him into her memory, the way his little legs kicked against her stomach, the way his hair tickled her chin.

"Zale," she whispered. "My beautiful, brave boy."

She kissed his forehead. She kissed his nose. She kissed his tiny hands.

"You be good," she choked out. "You listen to Kaia. You eat your greens. You grow big and strong."

Zale reached up and grabbed her nose. Boop.

Roxy let out a sob that sounded like something tearing. She turned to Kaia.

"Take him," Roxy pleaded. "Please. Before I can’t let go."

Kaia stepped forward. She holstered her weapon. She held out her arms.

Roxy transferred the weight of her world into Kaia’s arms.

Kaia took him. She adjusted her hold instantly, supporting his head, tucking him against her chest. She looked down at the baby, her expression fierce and solemn.

"I swear to you," Kaia vowed, her eyes locking onto Roxy’s. "No harm will come to him. He will know his mother’s name. He will know she was a Queen."

"Thank you," Roxy whispered.

She couldn’t look anymore. If she looked, she would stay.

She grabbed Caspian’s hand.

"Let’s go," she said, her voice rough.

They left the Pearl Wing. They didn’t look back at the crib. They didn’t look back at Kaia standing there like a guardian statue.

They swam through the silent corridors of the palace. The servants bowed as they passed, unaware that their Queen was leaving for good.