Baby System: I'm the Beast World's Only Hope!-Chapter 275: Episode 273: A Fight with Caspian

Syris paused. He had been gently rubbing the freezing saltwater from her arms, trying to warm her shivering human skin.

He tilted his head, his vertical green pupils narrowing in genuine confusion. He shifted closer, pulling her flush against his side to share his body heat.

"Why would you apologize, my Queen?" Syris asked smoothly, his tone entirely devoid of anger. "You retrieved the abyssal ink from Nerissa. You secured the cure. You did exactly what you set out to do."

Roxy shook her head, burying her face in her hands. A fresh wave of hot, miserable tears spilled over her palms, dripping onto the jagged black rocks.

"Had I known," Roxy choked out, her shoulders trembling violently. "Had I known that you guys came looking for me, and were chased down by Caspian... Syris, they almost boiled alive because of him. If I had known he did that, I would never have trusted him. I would never have let my guard down, and I never would have fallen in love with him."

Her chest felt extremely heavy. For months, she had lived in the luxurious, pearl-lit cage of the Deep Spires.

She had let the Merman King court her, claim her, and give her a child, completely unaware that the men she loved on the Surface had nearly died a terrifying, agonizing death trying to bring her home.

And you fucking system didn’t tell me?

[So that you would do something foolish?]

What do you fucking mean foolish? They would have killed my mates.

[They were never going to die.]

Fuck you.

Syris let out a sigh as he reached out, his long, cool fingers gently prying her hands away from her face.

He didn’t look angry. He didn’t look betrayed. He simply looked at her with the deep, unwavering devotion of a mate who understood the brutal reality of survival.

A faint smile touched Syris’s pale lips. He reached up, gently petting her damp, dark hair, smoothing the messy curls away from her forehead.

"You are fine, Roxy," Syris murmured, his thumb swiping away a tear from her cheek. "You cannot beat yourself up because of it. You were trapped at the bottom of the ocean. You were completely at the mercy of an apex predator in his own domain. You did what you had to do to survive. And more importantly, we did not die."

He lifted her chin, forcing her to meet his steady green eyes.

"Zarek is fine. Everyone is fine," Syris assured her firmly. "We survived the Volcanic vents, and you survived the Spires. You are finally here with us, back on the Surface. That is the only thing that matters."

Roxy let out a ragged, shuddering breath. Syris’s cold, absolute logic acted like a balm on her frantic, bleeding heart.

She thought of how violently possessive Zarek had been since the moment she returned.

Now, Roxy understood it completely. Zarek wasn’t just being a territorial Alpha. He was suffering from the profound, lingering trauma of watching his rescue attempt fail, of nearly dying while knowing his mate was still trapped in the dark.

If she went back to the Iron-Wood Manor right now and Zarek pulled her into his crushing, suffocating hold again, she wouldn’t complain. She wouldn’t mind it at all. She would let him hold her until his dragon heart was satisfied.

Not like I ever resisted in the first place.

"You’re right," Roxy sniffled, her posture straightening as the fire returned to her eyes.

She reached out, patting Syris’s firm chest in gratitude. She leaned forward, pressing a light, lingering peck to his cool jawline.

"Thank you, Syris," Roxy said, her voice steadying. "We need to go back home. We have the Kraken venom and the ink. We need to prepare the cure for the Wither-Rot before it reaches the borders."

Syris nodded. "Agreed."

He straightened and reached down, preparing to scoop Roxy effortlessly into his arms so she wouldn’t have to walk on the sharp stones with her bare, shivering feet. 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

The sound of breaking water directly behind them was loud and sudden.

Syris’s hand froze mid-air. His emerald eyes instantly darkened into lethal slits, his jaw locking tight as he looked past Roxy toward the churning ocean.

Roxy didn’t move. She already knew who it was before she had to look.

Caspian’s long hair, no longer hidden by the shadows of the Spires, popped out of the water. He hauled his massive upper body onto the lowest rock, his striking, silver-blue eyes locking immediately onto her.

He had followed them all the way up.

Roxy stiffened. She turned her head away, staring stubbornly at Syris’s chest. She absolutely refused to face him.

"Roxy," Caspian called out. His voice wasn’t the booming, arrogant command of the Abyssal King. It was a raw, desperate whine that tore from his throat. He dragged himself further out of the water, the silver scales on his torso catching the overcast light. "Roxy, please. I am sorry."

Roxy squeezed her eyes shut, her hands balling into tight fists at her sides.

"I panicked," Caspian pleaded, his silver-blue eyes wide and frantic. "When I felt their magic in my waters, I panicked. I only wanted to be with you. I wanted you only for myself. I couldn’t bear the thought of them taking you back to the sun!"

Roxy’s eyes snapped open. The exhaustion and the sadness instantly incinerated, replaced by a blinding, explosive fury. She spun around, glaring down at the Merman King with absolute venom.

"And leave my children without their father?!" Roxy bit out angrily, her voice echoing sharply off the cliff face.

Caspian actually winced, physically recoiling as if she had struck him across the face.

Roxy didn’t stop. She took a step closer to the edge of the rock, her chest heaving with rage. "Drax! Iris! Axel! Onyx! Tanith! They are my children, Caspian! You must be fucking crazy to think I would let any harm come to my mates, to the fathers of my babies, just because of your selfish desires!"

"I am a King!" Caspian argued desperately, gripping the jagged rock. "A King protects what is his! The sea is ruthless, Roxy. You were fragile. I did what I had to do to keep you safe!"

"Safe?!" Roxy snarled, throwing her hands up in disbelief. "Or have you forgotten how you kept me locked in that dark cave, in your castle for weeks, so I wouldn’t fucking leave?!"

Caspian’s silver-blue eyes flashed with defensive agitation. "I did that for your own good! The sea is dangerous! You didn’t know the currents, you didn’t know the predators—"

"But you would have guided me back to the surface if you wanted to," Roxy cut him off, her voice dropping to a low, lethal octave.

The words hit Caspian and he knew it was true.

The Merman King reared back, his mouth opening, but no sound came out. The fierce, defensive agitation completely vanished from his striking face, leaving behind a hollow, devastating guilt.

He had known the way. He had possessed the power to bring her back to the surface on day one. But he had hoarded her instead, letting her grieve a life she couldn’t remember, just so he wouldn’t have to be alone in the dark.

Roxy stared at him. She saw the absolute, crushing realization dawn in his silver-blue eyes. Caspian was the most powerful creature in the ocean, a King who had never once compromised his domain for anyone. He would never have come to the surface, where the air burned his lungs and the sun blinded his eyes.

But because of her, he did. He had breached the surface. He had chased her into the light, completely out of his element, just to beg for her forgiveness.

The burning anger in Roxy’s chest slowly deflated, leaving behind a heavy, hollow exhaustion. She couldn’t hate him forever, but she couldn’t stay with him right now either.

Roxy let out a long, heavy sigh, her shoulders dropping.

"I forgive you," Roxy said, her voice quiet but utterly firm. She pointed a trembling finger toward the churning ocean. "Go back to Zale. He must be looking for his father right now."

Caspian’s breath hitched. He reached a massive, wet hand up toward the ledge. "Roxy..."

Roxy didn’t wait for him to finish. She turned her back on the ocean and stepped right into Syris’s waiting arms. She buried her face in the crook of Syris’s cool neck, wrapping her arms around his waist and entirely ignoring the desperate Merman King behind her.

Syris wrapped his arms securely around her, his green eyes staring blankly over her head, offering Caspian no sympathy.

Caspian stared at her back for a long, agonizing moment. His hand trembled in the open air before he slowly, painfully withdrew it. He bowed his head, his silver hair falling forward to hide the sheer, unadulterated sorrow destroying his face.

"I and Zale," Caspian whispered, his voice thick with a grief that would haunt the Spires for a century, "would be waiting to return to your side."

With a heavy, echoing splash, the Merman King slipped backward off the rocks, vanishing completely into the dark, freezing waters of the ocean.

The shoreline fell silent, save for the crash of the waves and the biting wind.

Roxy didn’t lift her head from Syris’s neck. She clutched his shirt tightly, her throat burning.

"Let’s go back home, Sy..." Roxy spoke hoarsely into his skin.