Raising Beast Cubs to Find a Husband-Chapter 73: The Corridor of Doomed Tutors

"This is it," Leonora said, her hand trembling as she reached for the key ring. "Primrose, are you sure about this? Ellia isn’t just ’spirited.’ My father calls her ’The Calamity.’ My uncle calls her ’That Thing in the West Wing.’"

"I handle Vali," I reminded her, patting my satchel (which contained emergency bribery cookies). "Vali bites people as a form of greeting. I’ll be fine."

"Vali is a puppy," Leonora warned, turning the key. "Ellia is... well, you’ll see."

The locks clicked open with a heavy thud. Leonora pushed the door ajar, gave me a quick, terrified hug, and whispered, "Good luck. I’ll have the royal physician on standby."

Then she slammed the door shut and locked it from the outside.

The Lion’s Den

I stood alone in the room.

It was massive. It had high ceilings, a grand fireplace, and huge windows overlooking the gardens. It was also a total disaster zone.

Books were scattered everywhere, their pages torn out to make paper airplanes. The velvet curtains had been shredded into ribbons. A chandelier was swinging dangerously above, as if someone had recently been using it as a jungle gym.

"Hello?" I called out, stepping over a pile of broken quills. "I’m Primrose. I’m the new—"

WHOOSH.

Something heavy dropped from the ceiling.

I didn’t panic. My "Mom Reflexes" kicked in instantly. I took a casual step to the left.

CRASH.

A heavy, leather-bound encyclopedia slammed into the floor exactly where I had been standing a second ago.

I looked down at the book. ’The History of Imperial Manners, Volume 4.’

"Ironic," I muttered.

I looked up.

Perched on top of a massive bookshelf, ten feet in the air, was a small girl.

Lady Ellia was about eight years old. She had wild, curly golden hair that looked like a lion’s mane that had never seen a comb. She wore a fancy silk dress that was stained with ink and grass. Her feet were bare and dirty.

But it was her eyes that were terrifying. They were bright, predatory gold, with vertical slit pupils. She was glaring down at me like a hawk looking at a particularly slow field mouse.

"You dodged," Ellia observed. Her voice was surprisingly deep for a child, rough and raspy.

"I have a Tiger at the daycare," I said calmly, picking up the book and dusting it off. "He likes to drop from trees too. You need to work on your stealth, kid. I heard your breathing."

Ellia’s eyes narrowed. She bared her teeth—sharp, white fangs.

"I am Lady Ellia," she hissed. "I am the Scourge of the West Wing. I bit the Archmage. I set the Mathematician on fire. Go away before I make you cry."

"I don’t cry easily," I said, walking over to a table that was covered in ink stains. I pulled out a chair, wiped it with my handkerchief, and sat down. "And I’m not a Mathematician. I’m a Chef."

Ellia paused on her perch. Her round, fuzzy ears twitched.

"A Chef?"

"Yes." I opened my satchel. I pulled out a small, rectangular bento box. "And I heard you haven’t eaten lunch because you threw your soup at the maid."

I popped the lid.

The smell wafted up—savory, sweet, and irresistible. It was Glazed Honey-Ham Cubes with Fluffy Cloud Rice and shaped vegetables.

Ellia sniffed the air visibly. Her stomach gave a loud, traitorous growl.

"I don’t want your poison food!" Ellia shouted, though she leaned forward slightly on the bookshelf. "It probably has vegetables in it! I hate vegetables! I am a carnivore!"

"It has ham," I said, popping a cube into my own mouth. "Mmm. Delicious. Perfectly cured. A shame no one here wants any."

I took another bite, making a show of enjoying it.

Ellia vibrated with rage. She scrambled down the bookshelf, moving with the agility of a jungle cat. She landed silently on the rug and stalked toward the table.

"Give it to me," Ellia demanded, extending a grubby hand.

"Say please," I smiled.

"I am royalty! I do not say please to the help!"

Ellia lunged.

She didn’t reach for the food. She reached for my arm, her mouth open, ready to bite.

I didn’t flinch. I didn’t pull away. Instead, I swiftly shoved a piece of broccoli into her open mouth.

Chomp.

Ellia froze. She blinked. She chewed instinctively.

"Is that..." Ellia swallowed, looking confused. "...broccoli?"

"Marinated in beef fat and garlic," I explained.

"It... tastes like meat," Ellia whispered, looking at the green stalk in her hand with betrayal. "You tricked me! You are a witch!"

"I’m a Nanny," I corrected. "Now, sit down. If you finish the box, I’ll show you how to make a paper airplane that actually flies."

Ellia looked at the food. She looked at me.

She sat down. She ate the food like a starving wolf, growling if I moved my hand too close to the plate.

Step 1: Feed the Beast, I thought. Success.

The Emperor Arrives

Just as Ellia was licking the last grain of rice from the box, the heavy ironwood doors exploded open.

BANG.

They didn’t just open; they slammed against the walls with enough force to crack the plaster.

Striding into the room was a giant.

Emperor Leonis was seven feet of pure, terrifying muscle. He had a magnificent mane of golden hair, a beard braided with gold rings, and he wore robes that looked like they cost more than my entire life’s earnings. His presence was suffocating. The air in the room grew heavy and hot, smelling of ozone and burning sun.

He looked around the destroyed room. He looked at the swinging chandelier.

"WHERE IS THE TUTOR?" Leonis boomed. His voice shook the windowpanes. "IS SHE DEAD YET?"

Ellia immediately scrambled under the table, dragging the empty bento box with her.

I stood up. My knees were shaking, but I locked them. I smoothed my apron.

"I am here, Your Majesty," I said, curtsying slightly. "And I am very much alive."

The Emperor looked down at me. He saw a small, tail-less woman with messy hair and a calm expression.

"You?" Leonis scoffed. "You are the one Leonora sent? A tail-less fox? You look like you would break in a stiff breeze."

"I am sturdier than I look," I replied evenly. "And I have managed to keep Lady Ellia in the room for twenty minutes without bloodshed. That is a new record, I believe."

Leonis glanced at the table. He saw his niece hiding underneath it.

"Ellia!" Leonis roared. "Come out! Stop cowering like a prey animal!"

Ellia hissed from under the table. "Go away, Old Man! You smell like meetings!"

Leonis’s eyebrow twitched. A vein in his forehead pulsed.

"She is feral," Leonis growled, turning back to me. "She is a stain on the Imperial Line. No discipline. No manners. No magic."

He leaned down, his golden face inches from mine.

"I do not need a babysitter, Fox. I need a miracle worker. This child must be ready for her Imperial Debutante Ball in one month. She must dance. She must recite poetry. She must not bite the foreign dignitaries."

I looked at the table, where Ellia was currently trying to stab the Emperor’s shoe with a fork.

"A month?" I asked. "To turn... that... into a debutante?"

"Yes," Leonis straightened up. "If you fail... if she embarrasses me at the Ball... I will have you fed to the Gryphons. They prefer tail-less meat. It is tender."

I swallowed hard. Gryphons. Right. Just another Tuesday in this world.

"And if I succeed?" I asked, looking him in the eye. "If I get her ready?"

Leonis laughed. It was a harsh, barking sound.

"If you succeed, Fox, I will grant you one wish. Anything within my power."

My eyes lit up. The Treaty.

"Deal," I said instantly.

"You are foolish," Leonis sneered, turning to leave. "Guards! Ensure the Tutor does not escape. If she tries to leave before the lesson is over... shoot her."

The doors slammed shut again.

I was alone with the Lion Cub.

Ellia crawled out from under the table. She looked at me with a twisted, evil grin.

"A month," Ellia giggled, her eyes glowing. "He’s going to feed you to the birds. I’m going to make sure of it."

She picked up a heavy porcelain vase.

"Lesson’s over, Nanny. Let’s play ’Dodge the Porcelain’." 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂

I sighed, rolling up my sleeves.

"Okay, kid," I muttered. "You want to play hardball? Let’s play. But remember... I handled a Kraken yesterday. You’re just a kitten with an attitude problem."

She threw it.

I caught the vase in mid-air with one hand.

"Now," I glared, channeling every ounce of energy I possessed. "Sit down. We’re going to learn Math. And if you get a question wrong... no dessert."

Ellia froze. The vase threat hadn’t worked. But the dessert threat?

The Lion Cub sat down.

The Taming of the Shrew had begun.