Raising Beast Cubs to Find a Husband-Chapter 117: The Battle of the Bubble Bath

The "five more minutes" turned into ten, then twenty. But eventually, the sound of crashing pottery downstairs became too loud to ignore.

Primrose groaned, trying to sit up. Her body protested immediately. Her legs felt like jelly, and there was a distinct ache in her lower back that had nothing to do with carrying groceries.

She glared at Caspian, who was currently buttoning his shirt with a smug, satisfied expression.

"Wipe that grin off your face, Your Majesty," Primrose muttered, grabbing her robe. "Or I’m putting hot sauce in your coffee."

"I have no idea what you mean," Caspian lied smoothly, though his eyes danced with amusement. "I am merely happy to be alive. And... refreshed."

He walked over, kissed her forehead, and offered her his arm. "Shall we face the horde?"

They walked downstairs.

The scene in the living room was a masterpiece of disaster.

Vali was currently standing on the coffee table, holding a wooden spoon like a sword.

Arjun was hanging from the chandelier, swinging back and forth.

Jasper had coiled himself around a floor lamp, reading a book upside down.

Silas was hiding in the shadows of the bookshelf, occasionally reaching out to rearrange books by color.

And Orion?

Orion was sitting in the middle of the floor, staring at a bowl of cereal with intense concentration.

"If the milk to cereal ratio is off," Orion mumbled to himself, "the crunch factor decreases by 40%."

"Good morning, monsters!" Primrose announced, clapping her hands.

The chaos stopped instantly.

"PRIM!" Vali howled, jumping off the table. He tackled her legs. "I’m hungry! Rurik tried to give us raw meat again! It was gross!"

Lord Rurik, who was sitting on the sofa looking exhausted, threw his hands up. "It was high-quality venison! You used to love it!"

Archduke Cassian, Duke Lucien, and General Rajah were there too, having just arrived to pick up their respective terrors.

"Primrose," Rajah sighed with relief. "Arjun has been trying to hunt the cat. We don’t have a cat."

Primrose walked to the counter where the mail had been piled. Two envelopes caught her eye.

"Hold on, everyone," she said, opening the first one. It was scented with wildflowers.

"It’s from Luna," Primrose read. Her face fell. "Oh no. Clover won’t be joining us today. She ate too many majestic cream puffs at the ball last night. She has a tummy ache."

Vali’s ears drooped. "No Clover? But... I wanted to show her my lobster wrestling moves."

"She needs rest, Vali," Primrose soothed him.

She opened the second letter. It was stamped with a mercenary seal.

"And this one is from Jax," she frowned. "That’s strange. He says he and Finn can’t come either. Apparently, his... ’job’ requires him to move to a new city immediately. Something about a sudden transfer."

"Suspicious," Caspian murmured, narrowing his eyes. "Mercenaries don’t get transferred. They get deployed."

"Well," Primrose sighed, pinning the letter to the board. "It means we are a smaller group today. Just the boys."

She looked at the cubs. They were still wearing their clothes from the ball, now stained with shrimp sauce, chocolate, and dust. Their hair was matted. They smelled like a locker room.

Primrose crossed her arms.

"Okay," she declared. "Change of plans. Before anyone goes anywhere... it is Bath Time."

The temperature in the room dropped ten degrees.

Vali froze. His tail tucked between his legs.

Silas’s eyes went wide.

Jasper slowly uncoiled from the lamp and tried to slither under the rug.

Arjun hissed.

Only Orion perked up. "Water? Acceptable."

"No!" Vali shouted, backing away. "Water is the enemy! It takes the good smells away! I worked hard on this stink!"

"I prefer to remain unobserved," Silas said, his voice soft but firm. "Baths are... exposing."

"Logic dictates that we will just get dirty again," Jasper argued.

"Too bad," Primrose said, pointing to the stairs. "March. Upstairs. Now." 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞

She turned to the Warlords.

"Rurik, Rajah, Cassian, Lucien... and you too, Caspian. You’re on Bath Duty."

Caspian blinked. "Me? But Primrose, surely you need help with breakfast? I can whisk eggs. I am excellent at whisking."

He stepped closer, lowering his voice. "And you look... tired. You should rest. Let me handle the kitchen."

Primrose blushed, swatting his arm. She knew exactly why he was offering. He wanted to hover around her and be charming.

"Nice try, Your Majesty," she whispered back. "But my legs are killing me because someone kept me up until 3 AM. So, you are going to pay for your crimes by washing your son."

Caspian’s smirk faltered. "But... water is messy."

"Go," she pointed a spatula at him. "Or no pancakes."

Ten minutes later, the upstairs bathroom had turned into a war zone.

The stress of the impending bath had triggered the cubs’ defense mechanisms. One by one, poof—they shifted into their Beast Forms.

"GET HIM!" Rurik roared.

Vali was no longer a boy. He was a fluffy, grey-and-white Wolf Pup. And he was currently doing a parkour run off the walls to avoid the tub.

"I am the Alpha!" Rurik shouted, diving for his son.

Vali barked, scrambled up the shower curtain, and shook himself violently.

SPLAT.

Rurik was blasted with water. He stood there, dripping, while the wet puppy looked down at him with smug, pink eyes.

"Traitors," Rurik grumbled, wiping his face.

Across the room, Duke Lucien was having a different problem.

Silas had transformed into a Panther Cub—a tiny ball of black fur with huge violet eyes. He had used his claws to climb up the towel rack and was currently perched on top of the medicine cabinet, hissing softly.

"Silas," Lucien said calmly, holding out a rubber duck. "Come down. This is undignified. We are creatures of the night, not scaredy-cats."

The panther cub swiped at the air. Hiss.

"I do not wish to be wet, brother," Silas’s voice echoed in Lucien’s mind (via shadow-link). "Water is cold. Shadows are warm."

Meanwhile, General Rajah was drenched.

Arjun had turned into a Tiger Cub. Unlike the others, he loved the water. He was treating the bathtub like a splash park.

SPLASH.

The orange-striped cub did a cannonball off the rim, sending a wave of soapy water crashing into Archduke Cassian.

Cassian stood there, blinking through his fogged-up monocle.

In his hands, he held a long, white Snake (Jasper).

"This is highly inefficient," Cassian lectured the reptile. "Jasper, if you do not stop coiling around my arm, I cannot wash your scales."

The snake flicked its tongue. Sss. (Translation: I live here now.)

And in the middle of the chaos... there was Caspian.

He was leaning against the sink, sipping a cup of coffee he had miraculously kept dry. He was watching the bathtub with a serene smile.

At the bottom of the deep, soapy water, Orion was sitting cross-legged.

He wasn’t a boy. His legs were gone. In their place was a shimmering, teal Jioaren Tail with iridescent fins. Small gills on his neck fluttered peacefully. He was blowing bubbles.

"Caspian!" Rurik yelled, wrestling the wet wolf pup. "Your son! He’s been under there for five minutes! IS HE DEAD?"

Caspian took a sip of coffee. "He’s a Merman, Rurik. He’s breathing better than you are."

"IT’S UNNATURAL!" Rurik panicked. "Get him out!"

"Orion," Caspian called out calmly. "Status report."

Orion’s head popped above the surface. His hair was plastered to his face, and his teal tail splashed happily.

"Water temperature is optimal, Father," Orion reported, spitting a fountain of water at Rurik. "Current cleanliness level: 90%."

"Okay, that’s it!" Rurik growled. He grabbed a bottle of shampoo. "Vali, you are getting washed if it kills me!"

He lunged. Vali panicked. The wolf pup kicked out with his back legs.

CRASH.

The bottle of "Magical Volumizing Soap" shattered on the floor.

It reacted with the hot water.

FOOM.

The foam didn’t just bubble; it exploded. Within seconds, the bathroom was filled with a wall of pink, strawberry-scented foam.

"I CAN’T SEE!" Rajah roared. "Arjun! Stop biting my ankle!"

"The bubbles!" Silas cried from the ceiling. "They are attacking!"

"My monocle!" Cassian lamented.

Downstairs, Primrose flipped the last pancake onto the stack.

"Breakfast!" she called out.

The kitchen door opened.

Five men walked in. They looked like they had fought a war and lost.

Rurik was soaked to the bone, his hair sticking up in every direction.

Rajah had bite marks on his boots and was covered in pink foam.

Lucien had claw marks on his silk shirt.

Cassian was polishing his monocle sadly.

Caspian... well, Caspian looked mostly fine, except for a single patch of wetness on his shirt where Orion had hugged him.

Behind them marched five perfectly clean, dry, human children.

Vali smelled like strawberries.

Arjun was glowing.

Orion looked hydrated and happy.

Silas and Jasper looked traumatized but clean.

"We survived," Rurik groaned, collapsing onto a chair. "But at what cost?"

"You guys look great," Primrose laughed, placing the pancakes on the table. "See? Teamwork."

She kissed Caspian on the cheek as he passed. "Good job, Dad."

Caspian smirked, stealing a piece of bacon. "Never again."

---

An hour later, the mood shifted. The laughter died down as the reality of the day set in.

The huge, magically heated carriage stood waiting outside the daycare. It was reinforced for the harsh Northern weather.

General Rajah, Duke Lucien, and Archduke Cassian stood by the wheels.

"We will hold the fort here," Rajah said, shaking Rurik’s hand. "If the Void tries anything in the Capital, my blade is ready."

"And I will monitor the ley lines," Cassian promised. "We will keep the Empire running while you deal with... the family drama."

"Bring him back safely," Lucien said to Primrose, nodding at Silas. "Wait... Silas isn’t going."

"Right," Primrose smiled. "Just the North Squad today."

She looked at the group leaving:

Herself.

King Caspian.

Orion.

Lord Rurik.

Vali.

"Are you ready to see your cousin?" Primrose asked Vali as she bundled him into a thick fur coat.

"I’m going to throw a snowball at Astrid’s face!" Vali declared. "It’s going to be great!"

Rurik sighed, looking at the grey sky. "Konrad is going to hate this."

"Let him hate it," Caspian said, stepping into the carriage and pulling Primrose up after him. "We aren’t going there for him. We’re going for the future."

The driver cracked the whip.

CRACK.

The carriage lurched forward, leaving the safety of the Capital behind.

They were heading into the cold. Into the domain of the Wolves. Into the territory of the Void.

Primrose leaned back against Caspian’s shoulder, watching the city fade away.

The Frozen North Arc had begun.