Raising Beast Cubs to Find a Husband-Chapter 72: Tiny Terror

Ten minutes later, we were sitting in Leonora’s private drawing room. It was painfully elegant—velvet chairs, crystal vases, and enough sunlight to grow a tomato farm.

"It has been a nightmare, Prim," Leonora sighed, putting down her porcelain cup with a dramatic clatter. "My father, the Emperor, is driving everyone mad. Absolutely mad."

"Is it the trade routes?" I asked, taking a bite of a very buttery cookie.

"No, it’s family," she groaned, rubbing her temples. "He wants a tutor for his niece—my little cousin, Lady Ellia. But Ellia... she’s a menace. A literal disaster. She bit the last tutor. She set fire to the robe of the one before that. And she threw a globe at the royal mathematician."

"Sounds like my kind of kid," I noted, grabbing a second cookie.

Leonora laughed, but the sound was brittle. She looked down at her tea, her reflection swirling in the amber liquid.

"So..." Leonora started, her voice changing pitch. She began twirling a lock of golden hair around her finger—a nervous tick I recognized from the game. "Have you... seen Rajah?"

I froze mid-chew.

Here it comes.

"I saw him yesterday," I said carefully, swallowing the cookie. "He came to the daycare to pick up Arjun."

"Is he well?" Leonora asked, her voice dropping to a whisper. "I haven’t seen him in weeks. He stopped coming to the palace meetings. He sends his lieutenant instead. I thought... I worried he might be ill."

She looked up at me, her large eyes searching my face.

"Primrose... be honest with me. We’re friends, right? No palace politics."

"Of course," I nodded. "Always."

"Do I..." She bit her lip. "Do I still have a chance with him? I know he’s a Tiger and I’m a Lion, and our families have hated each other since the First Era, but... I thought maybe... if we tried..."

My heart ached.

I looked at this beautiful, kind, perfect Princess. In the original script, she was the one Rajah was supposed to fall for. They were the star-crossed lovers. The Romeo and Juliet with fur.

But I also knew the truth. I knew about the extra patrols Rajah led past my daycare. I knew about the awkward gifts of high-quality meat. I knew the way he looked at me when I scolded Arjun.

"Yes," I lied. The words tasted like ash. "You’re a Princess, Leo. You’re beautiful, smart, and brave. Of course you have a chance."

Leonora stared at me.

For a second, the room was silent. The Princess’s golden eyes seemed to sharpen, seeing right through the polite fiction. She wasn’t just a pretty face; she was a predator. She had instincts.

She smiled, but it was a sad, resigned smile that didn’t reach her eyes.

"No," Leonora whispered. "That’s not true, is it?"

"Leo—"

"He likes someone else," Leonora stated. She wasn’t asking. She was concluding.

She looked directly at me. She looked at my messy bun, my simple grey dress, my calloused hands that smelled like soup and soap. She looked at the warmth that I couldn’t hide.

"He likes you," Leonora said.

I opened my mouth to deny it. I wanted to say ’No, I’m just the nanny!’

But the words died in my throat. To lie now would be an insult to her intelligence. And to our friendship.

"I... I think he might," I admitted, my voice small. I looked down at my hands. "But I haven’t encouraged it, Leo. I swear. I’m just his son’s caretaker. I never asked for this."

Leonora was silent for a long moment. She took a sip of tea. She set the cup down with a soft clink.

"It makes sense," she said finally, her voice steady. "You are kind. You take care of his cub as if he were your own. You feed him. You stand up to him. You are everything a Warlord needs in a mate."

She reached across the table and took my hand. Her grip was strong.

"It’s fine," Leonora said. Her eyes were shimmering with unshed tears, but she held her head high. She was a Lioness. She wouldn’t crumble over a boy.

"I still like him," she declared, squeezing my hand. "Feelings don’t just go away because the odds are bad. But... I won’t hate you for it, Primrose. You are my friend. And you didn’t steal him. You just... existed."

"Oh, Leo," I felt a lump form in my throat. "You’re amazing. You know that?"

"I know," she sniffed, dabbing her eyes elegantly with a napkin. "Now. Enough about stupid boys who don’t know what’s good for them."

She straightened her posture, shaking off the melancholy like water.

"Why are you really here? You didn’t come all this way just for tea and heartbreak."

I took a deep breath. I pushed the guilt aside. I had a job to do.

"I need an audience with your father," I said firmly. "I need to speak to the Emperor about a Treaty involving the Ocean."

Leonora’s eyes widened. "The Ocean? Father will throw you out the window if you mention the Ocean. He hates water. He barely drinks it."

"Not if I solve his biggest problem first," I said.

"You mean..."

"Lady Ellia," I nodded. "Get me in the room with the menace. Let me tutor her. If I can tame the untamable cub... then I earn the right to speak to the Emperor."

Leonora looked at me. She saw the determination in my eyes.

"You really think you can handle Ellia?" Leonora asked, sounding skeptical. "She’s not like the other cubs, Primrose. She’s... wild."

"I have a Merman King sleeping on my couch and a Tiger Warlord on speed dial," I said, standing up and smoothing my skirt. "I think I can handle a little wild."

Leonora grinned. It was a genuine grin this time.

"Alright, Nanny Primrose," Leonora stood up. "Follow me. Let’s go see the Monster."

---

The Royal Palace was beautiful—if you liked blinding amounts of gold leaf, sun-bleached stone, and marble statues of heroic lions staring judgmentally at you.

However, as Princess Leonora led me deeper into the West Wing, the atmosphere shifted. The sunlight seemed to hesitate before entering the windows. The pristine marble floors were scuffed with deep, jagged claw marks. The statues here were missing heads, limbs, or in one unfortunate case, had been painted bright pink with permanent berry juice.

We passed a team of four guards carrying a stretcher. On it lay a gazelle-kin in wizard robes, sobbing into his hands.

"The horror," he wept, his pointed hat smoking slightly. "The teeth... the tiny, sharp teeth..."

I watched him go, raising an eyebrow. "Previous tutor?"

"That was Archmage Valerius," Leonora whispered, clutching her silk skirts as if the walls were listening. "He specializes in demon containment. He lasted forty-five minutes. A new record."

I adjusted my collar. "Forty-five minutes. Okay. That’s the time to beat."

We stopped in front of a massive set of double doors made of reinforced ironwood. There were three heavy locks on the outside. A handwritten sign taped to the door read: DANGER: DO NOT FEED THE CHILD.