Raising Beast Cubs to Find a Husband-Chapter 67: The Coup of the Dowager

The journey back to the Sunless City was tense.

Caspian swam with a stoic rigidity, hiding the limp in his tail and the trembling in his corrupted arm. Primrose stayed close to his good side, her eyes scanning the dark water for threats.

But the threat wasn’t outside the city walls. It was inside.

When they passed through the shimmering barrier of the city gates, there were no guards to greet them. No trumpet fish sounded the royal arrival. The streets were eerily empty, the bioluminescent streetlamps dimmed to a low, mournful blue.

"Something is wrong," Caspian murmured, his architect’s eyes scanning the layout. "The traffic flow has been diverted. The pressure regulators are set to Lockdown Mode."

"Maybe Crustar just panicked?" Primrose suggested hopefully. "Maybe he pinched the wrong button?"

"No," Caspian’s jaw tightened. "This is not panic. This is a siege."

They swam toward the Royal Palace. The massive coral gates were sealed.

Caspian didn’t knock. He raised his good hand, and with a pulse of King’s Authority, the gates groaned and swung open, unable to disobey his presence.

---

They burst into the Great Hall.

It wasn’t empty. It was full.

The entire Royal Court was assembled. The Shark Generals, the Siren Diplomats, the Eel Ministers—hundreds of sea-kin floated in silence, forming a semi-circle around the throne.

But Caspian wasn’t sitting on the throne.

Floating just above the dais, draped in robes of black pearl and venom-green silk, was Queen Dowager Morana.

She was a Sea Snake-kin, elegant and terrifying. Her lower half was a long, coiling tail of black scales, and her face was a mask of cold, porcelain beauty. She held the Royal Trident—Caspian’s Trident—in her hand.

"Welcome back, stepson," Morana’s voice slithered through the water, amplified by the acoustics of the hall. "We were just discussing your abdication."

Caspian swam forward, placing himself between Primrose and the court. Despite his injury, he radiated power.

"Get off my chair, Morana," Caspian said, his voice low and dangerous. "And put down my fork."

"This fork represents the will of the people," Morana smiled, revealing needle-like fangs. "A will you have ignored. You leave the city undefended to explore forbidden ruins. You refuse to take a Queen to secure the bloodline. And worst of all..."

She pointed the trident at Primrose.

"You bring a Land-Walker—a tail-less, fur-covered pollution—into our sacred sanctuary. You keep her as a pet while our borders crumble."

A murmur of agreement rippled through the court. The Shark Generals looked at Primrose with hungry eyes. The Sirens whispered insults behind their fans.

"She is not a pet," Caspian snarled, the water around him beginning to boil with his anger.

"Then what is she?" Morana challenged. "A spy? A concubine? A parasite eating our food and breathing our air? The Law of the Deep is clear, Caspian. No Land-Walker is permitted to live within the Capital. Unless..."

Morana’s eyes gleamed with malice.

"Unless you are admitting that you have betrayed your people for a piece of surface meat."

Caspian’s hand went to his sword. Primrose saw the tension in his shoulders. She knew he was hurt. If he fought now, the corruption in his shoulder would flare up. He would lose. And if he lost, they were both dead.

She couldn’t let him fight this battle.

Think, Primrose, she told herself. You’re a gamer. You’ve played the Political Intrigue expansion pack. What do you do when the court turns against you?

You bluff.

"Correction," Primrose said loudly.

The room went dead silent. A Land-Walker daring to speak to the Queen Dowager?

Primrose swam forward, moving out from behind Caspian’s protection. She didn’t bow. She didn’t cower. She smoothed her apron as if it were a diplomatic uniform and looked Morana dead in the eye.

"I am not a pet. I am not a spy. And I am certainly not a parasite."

She raised her chin.

"I am an Ambassador."

Morana blinked. "Ambassador?"

"Yes," Primrose lied smoothly, her voice steady. "I represent the Alliance of the Four Warlords of the Surface Empire. The Tiger, the Wolf, the Shadow, and the Serpent."

The murmurs in the court grew louder. Everyone knew the legends of the Warlords. They were the monsters of the land, just as the Kraken was the monster of the deep.

"Lies," Morana hissed. "Why would the Surface Warlords send a nanny to negotiate?"

"Because they trust me with their most precious treasures," Primrose countered. "Their children. I raise the Heirs of the Land. And I am here to discuss something you desperately need."

"We need nothing from the dirt-walkers!" a Shark General shouted.

"Really?" Primrose turned to him. "Do you not need grain? Do you not need steel that doesn’t rust? Do you not need medicinal herbs that only grow in sunlight?"

She turned back to Morana.

"King Caspian brought me here not as a prisoner, but to forge a Treaty of the Tides. He recognized that isolation is killing this city. He risked his life to bring me to the Neutral Zone so we could negotiate a trade route."

She gestured to Caspian.

"He didn’t leave the city to play. He left to secure your future. He is a visionary. And you..." Primrose narrowed her eyes at Morana. "...you are trying to overthrow the only King brave enough to end the starvation of your people."

The court went silent. The Shark Generals looked at each other. They were short on steel. The Sirens did miss the taste of surface fruit.

Caspian stared at Primrose. He had no idea she was going to say this. But he was a Transmigrator. He knew how to improvise.

"It is true," Caspian announced, his voice regaining its regal weight. "Ambassador Primrose is here to finalize the logistics of the first Land-Sea Trade Summit. Her presence is not a crime. It is a diplomatic victory."

He swam toward the dais, his eyes locked on Morana.

"Now," Caspian held out his hand. "Return my Trident. Unless you wish to declare war on the Surface Empire and your own King on the same day."

Morana looked at the court. She saw the doubt in their faces. She saw the greed in the merchants’ eyes at the mention of trade.

She had played the Tradition card. Primrose had played the Economy card.

Economy always wins.

Morana’s grip on the trident tightened until her knuckles turned white. She glared at Primrose with pure, unadulterated hatred.

"Very well," Morana hissed. "If she is an Ambassador... then she is a guest."

She floated down from the dais, shoving the trident into Caspian’s hand as she passed.

"But be warned, Ambassador," Morana whispered in Primrose’s ear, her voice dripping with venom. "If this treaty fails... if you cannot deliver the Warlords... I will not just kill you. I will feed you to the crabs piece by piece."

Morana swept out of the hall, her loyalists trailing behind her like a dark cloud.

As soon as the doors closed, Caspian slumped against the throne. The adrenaline faded, and the pain in his shoulder returned.

"Ambassador?" Caspian wheezed, a faint smile touching his lips. "That was a bold lie."

"It’s not a lie if we make it true," Primrose whispered, swimming up to check his bandages. "Besides, I do know the Warlords. I just... haven’t told them they’re signing a treaty yet."

"You terrified the Shark General," Caspian chuckled, wincing. "I have never seen anyone silence Morana so effectively."

"I deal with toddlers who bite and throw tantrums," Primrose shrugged. "Morana is just a toddler with a trident."

Suddenly, a frantic clicking sound echoed from behind the throne.

Crustar crawled out from a secret compartment, trembling.

"Your Majesty! Oh, brave Ambassador! That was magnificent! But... but..."

Crustar held up a glowing red crystal—the emergency communication device connected to the surface frequency.

"This has been blinking for an hour," Crustar squeaked. "It is a Level 5 Distress Signal from the Surface."

Primrose froze. The smile vanished from her face.

"Level 5?" Caspian straightened up, ignoring his pain. "That is the catastrophic designation."

Primrose grabbed the crystal. It was warm. She could feel the chaotic magic radiating from it.

"The Clock Tower," she whispered, remembering the Shark General’s report from earlier. "They said there was an explosion."

She looked at Caspian. The game, the mystery, the ancient labs—it all fell away.

"Caspian," she said, her voice shaking. "I have to go back. Now. Treaty or no treaty. My family is in trouble."

Caspian stood up. He gripped the trident.

"Then we go," he commanded. "Crustar! Prepare the fastest current-stream. The Ambassador is returning home."

He looked at Primrose, his teal eyes burning with a promise.

"And I and the prince are going with her."