Baby System: I'm the Beast World's Only Hope!-Chapter 209: Episode : Why Do You Reject the Crown?

Roxy woke up to the sensation of being scrubbed.

She blinked her eyes open, groggy and disoriented. For a split second, she expected to see the wooden beams of her bedroom in the Iron-Wood Manor.

She expected to smell food from Kaelen’s cooking. She expected Zarek to be grumbling about the morning light.

Instead, she saw bioluminescent moss pulsing in soft purples and blues. She smelled crushed pearls and saltwater. And instead of a Dragon King, she was surrounded by a squad of very enthusiastic mermaids.

"She wakes!" Nimue chirped, hovering directly over Roxy’s face. "The Queen wakes! And she glows! Look at the scales! They are pinker than yesterday!"

"...What?" Roxy groggily asked, still trying to wake up.

"It is the post-mating luster," Thalassa sighed dreamily, polishing Roxy’s tail with a cloth made of woven kelp. "The King must have given her the time of her life."

Roxy groaned.

"Up, up!" Nimue commanded, pulling the blankets off. "We have moved you to the Grotto of Mirrors. It is an Air-Pocket. We must prepare you for the Morning Court."

Roxy sat up. She realized she wasn’t in the Pearl Wing anymore. While she slept, Caspian must have carried her to this private sanctuary, a beautiful, half-submerged cave where the water met a shelf of smooth, white stone. The air was warm and humid, perfect for a human-turned-mermaid who missed oxygen.

"Where is Caspian?" Roxy asked, looking around the empty water.

"The King is with the Matriarch," Vespera explained, swimming over with a tray of what looked like crushed shells and oils. "Reporting the success of the night. Now, hold still. We must style the mane."

What the fuck is he reporting, my sex life?

The next hour they pampered her. The kind of pampering that would have cost five thousand dollars in Beverly Hills.

Because Roxy was in the Air-Pocket, she could pull her upper body out of the water, allowing her hair to dry. The mermaids, fascinated by dry human hair, went to work.

They brushed her long, black locks until they shone. Nimue wove tiny strings of pearls into Roxy’s hair, braiding sections back to keep it off her face while letting the rest cascade down her back in loose, glossy waves.

Roxy was able to analyze the problems with the mermaids, so they were good with braiding and styling their hair, but they couldn’t take care of it.

"No crowns today," Nimue decided, tossing the heavy coral crown aside. "Today, you are the Fresh Bride. You must look natural. Like a gift from the tide."

They dressed her with meticulous care.

First, a bra made of clam shells, lined with soft velvet moss so it didn’t chafe. It was surprisingly supportive.

Next, instead of a heavy dress, they wrapped a sheer, white silk cloth around her hips. It was tied artfully at the side, covering the transition point where her human skin merged with her pink scales. The silk floated in the water when she submerged, giving her an ethereal, ghostly elegance.

Finally, they adorned her with scent. They rubbed a fragrant oil that smelled of vanilla and ambergris onto her shoulders and neck.

Roxy wanted to ask how they got to know about perfume oils, but she decided that now was not the time.

"Perfect," Nimue declared, floating back to admire their handiwork. "You look like a goddess who swallowed the moon."

Roxy looked at her reflection in the water.

She didn’t look like Roxy the human anymore. With the glowing skin, the shell armor, and the powerful pink tail flicking beneath the surface, she looked like exactly what they called her.

The Queen of the Deep.

"I look..." Roxy touched the pearls in her hair. "I look dangerous."

"You are," Vespera grinned. "Now come. The Matriarch waits."

The Morning Court was in session.

Unlike the chaotic banquet of the previous night, the mood today was solemn, heavy with the weight of ancient tradition.

Queen Nerissa sat on her obsidian throne, her massive tentacles coiled tightly around the base.She was draped in black silk, looking less like a warrior and more like a primordial force of nature at rest.

Caspian floated before her.

He looked tired. There were dark circles under his golden eyes, and his posture was rigid. He wasn’t acting like a man who had just enjoyed a honeymoon; he was acting like a man confessing a crime.

But Nerissa didn’t notice his guilt. She only noticed the scent. 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

She leaned forward.

"Well done son," Nerissa rumbled, a deep purr of satisfaction vibrating in her chest. "I smell her on you."

Caspian lowered his head. "Yes, Mother. The Rite is complete."

"And the seed?" Nerissa pressed, her black eyes gleaming. "Did you plant deep? Will the harvest come?"

Caspian flinched.

"We will have to wait mother," Caspian said carefully. "An heir is likely."

"Likely?" Nerissa threw her head back and laughed, a sound of pure, unadulterated triumph. "It is certain!!"

She uncoiled from the throne, descending to the floor to hover face-to-face with her son. She placed a massive, pale hand on his shoulder.

"You have done well, Caspian. You have secured the future. You have brought a beautiful creature into our bloodline."

She looked around the empty throne room, at the generals and advisors watching in silence.

"I have sat on this rock for four hundred cycles," Nerissa stated, her voice echoing off the walls. "I have held the Spires together through war, through famine, through the Silence of the Gods. I am tired, my son."

Caspian looked up, startled. "Mother?"

Nerissa smiled. It wasn’t her usual terrifying grin. It was softer. Wistful.

"The Matriarch does not rule forever," she said gently. "The ocean must flow. Stagnant water breeds disease."

She gestured to the empty space beside Caspian, the space reserved for the Queen.

"You have a mate now. A Queen who shines with the light of the Surface. She is strong. She feeds the fire. She commands the loyalty of the Princesses."

Nerissa took a deep breath, and for the first time, she looked old.

"It is time," she announced. "With the lineage secure, I shall step down."

Caspian’s eyes went wide. "Mother, you cannot—"

"I will retire to the Abyssal Gardens," Nerissa continued, ignoring him. "I will rest. I will watch my grand-spawn play in the kelp. And she..."

Nerissa pointed a clawed finger at the door.

"...She will rule."

At that exact moment, the double doors swung open.

Roxy glided in.

She had been swimming fast, anxious to get this over with, but she stopped dead as the words hit her ears.

Rule?

The word bounced around her skull like a pinball.

She will rule. What the fuck do you mean by rule?

Panic, cold and sharp, pierced through the warm fuzzy feelings of the morning spa treatment.

If Nerissa stepped down, Roxy wouldn’t just be a trophy wife. She would be the Matriarch. She would be the administrative head of an underwater nation. She would be responsible for treaties, food supplies, Leviathan patrols, and the economy of a city she couldn’t even leave.

Being a Queen was a title. Being the Ruler was a job. A life sentence.

If Nerissa retired, Roxy would never, ever get to use that Key. She would be buried under a mountain of coral paperwork until she died.

"No!"

The shout tore from Roxy’s throat before she could stop it.

She kicked her tail, shooting across the throne room like a pink missile. Her silk wrap fluttered behind her, and the sea shells in her hair clicked together as she moved.

She ignored the guards. She ignored the gasps of the nobles. She swam right up to the dais, inserting herself between Caspian and his mother.

"No," Roxy repeated, breathless, her chest heaving beneath the clam-shell bra. "You can’t do that."

Caspian looked at her, stunned by her beauty and her audacity. "Roxy?"

Nerissa blinked. She looked down at the small, glowing woman who had just interrupted a royal decree. Roxy placed her hands on her hips, channeling every ounce of stubbornness she possessed.

"You cannot step down, Your Majesty," Roxy stated firmly. "I forbid it."

The silence in the room was absolute. Even the bubbles seemed afraid to pop.

Nerissa slowly, very slowly, uncoiled her tentacles. She lowered her head until she was eye-level with Roxy. Her expression wasn’t angry, but it was intensely curious.

"You forbid the Matriarch?" Nerissa purred, the sound vibrating in the water. "You deny the power I offer you? Most females would kill to sit on this rock. They would poison their own sisters to hold the Trident."

She tilted her massive head to the side, her black eyes narrowing as she scrutinized Roxy’s panicked face.

"Why, Little Pearl?" Nerissa asked softly, yet the question echoed like thunder. "Why do you reject the crown?"