Chosen Mate Of The Beastmen Empire

Even though she'd meant to rile him up a bit, seeing Seafarion like this broke Nyx's heart. She punched in her fingerprint, opened the door, and pushed his wheelchair inside. "Why didn't you go home?" she scolded. "What, if I didn't come back. you'd just sit out there forever?"

"Don't," Seafarion flinched, muttering low, "don't go away." It was just an offhand comment, but it stabbed right into his deepest fear.

Nyx glanced down at his fragile, anxious state, sighed softly, and comforted him. “I won't. See? I'm back now."

She tossed the contract onto the coffee table and turned to grab a cup. "Sit tight for a sec. I'll brew you some tea."

Bad luck—the tea sitting out was all gone. She rummaged through the storage room, dug out a box, and came back to the living room. Then she heard Seafarion's hoarse voice. "Nyx."

Nyx looked over and her eyes went wide. The contract. She'd left the contract on the coffee table. Sure, it was her fault for leaving it out, but Seafarion shouldn't just grab her stuff without asking.

The air in the living room got heavy. Seafarion's knuckles whitened as he gripped the contract, nearly crumpling the thin pages into a ball. The usually cool-headed guy was trembling slightly all over, clearly furious, adrenaline pumping.

He owned up to being a creep-he'd been desperate to know what Nyx had been up to, so he'd snatched the papers off the table without permission. He'd only meant to glance at it, but the glaring title hit him like a thunderbolt.

"Kai-How dare he insult you like this?" Seafarion screamed.

In a flash, the whole contract turned to shreds in the enraged man's hands. Looking at his icy expression, Nyx could almost see his resolve to take Kai out. Things were getting tricky.

Nyx's first real slip-up left her scrambling. She didn't know how to calm him down yet, so she bent down to pick up the scraps, buying time and hiding her embarrassment.

Bending over was fine, but she stood up too fast. Her vision blurred, the

carsickness surged back, and she gagged once.

Seafarion's face froze. He quickly steadied her waist, patting her chest to help her breathe. "What's wrong, Nyx? Stomach upset?"

All his piled-up anger couldn't outweigh his worry for her. He stared at her nervously, brain racing through possible issues. His eyes landed on her slightly rounded belly and stopped dead.

He wondered if it was just indigestion or something else. Thinking back to that wild night, Seafarion's breathing sped up. His face shifted colors, and he yanked at his hair hard.

He-he hadn't used protection. Even afterward, he'd forgotten to fix it, too busy dodging responsibility. He hadn't thought about Nyx's side at all. A barely adult girl-she wouldn't know how to take care of herself.

In one day, she'd switched companies, moved into a new place, then jumped straight into auditions, studying, and filming. She probably hadn't even checked her own health.

Once that possibility hit him, Seafarion spiraled deeper into panic, head hanging low. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, Nyx, I'm sorry."

He kept apologizing, rambling quietly, "The kid might inherit my crappy genes. I know you didn't want to get pregnant. Whether to keep it, I don't get a say. It's your call. But no matter what, I'll take responsibility."

Nyx stared, baffled, piecing together what he meant. Her brain nearly crashed. When she snapped out of it, Seafarion was already planning marriage licenses and weddings. She cut him off fast. "I'm not pregnant. It's just carsickness."

Seafarion didn't buy it. He reached out, gently touching her stomach, full of tenderness.

Tue,

Nyx's face flushed. She swatted his hand away, annoyed. "That's just 'cause I ate too much earlier! That leopard fed her nonstop. Otherwise, she wouldn't have gotten carsick so bad she wanted to puke.

Seeing she wouldn't admit to being pregnant, Seafarion didn't argue. He nodded like he got it, then brought it up again. "Marry me, okay?"

Whether she wanted money or love, Nyx didn't need to settle for some gross, unfair contract. Be his wife, and everything he had was hers. Seafarion finally snapped under a sudden blast of heat and woke up.

Nyx wasn't done teasing him yet, though. She pressed her lips tight and shook her head. "You don't even like me. Even Lancet thinks we're not a good match."

Hearing that out of nowhere, Seafarion got mad-ready to dock Lancet's bonus for running his mouth. Then he remembered where that "not a good match" line came from, and his face cracked a little.

He'd said it. He'd said it himself. Words were out, there was no taking them back. After beating himself up for a while, he laid it bare to Nyx. "I like you, Nyx."

It was love at first sight. He was hooked beyond help. He sounded dead serious. Nyx glanced up at him, seemed touched, but still shook her head. "You said yesterday I'm like a sister to you."

Digging further back, her list of his screw-ups was even longer. She'd jotted them all down in her mental notebook, waiting for today. No matter what Seafarion said, she wouldn't budge.

After all the back-and-forth, Seafarion was practically driven nuts by his past self, looking like death warmed over.

He'd screwed up. He'd soaked up Nyx's affection just fine but kept kidding himself, pushing her away. Now all those mistakes boomeranged back, and he had to eat the bitter fallout.

"Marriage is a big deal," Nyx said, blinking innocently. "Don't say you'll marry me just 'cause you feel sorry for me."

With that, she didn't give Seafarion a chance to argue back. Claiming she felt off and wanted to nap, she got up to show him

out.

Staring at the closed door, Seafarion got his first taste of being kicked to the curb. He'd done the same to Nyx once too. He'd brought this on himself.

Cleaning up the scattered paper bits was a hassle. Nyx planned to deal with it after waking up, but when she did, the place was spotless.

A thermos sat on the table with hot medicinal soup inside. A sticky note beside it said Helly had dropped by-Gavin made

the

soup and asked her to deliver it.

Nyx sat down, sipped the soup-herby, but tasty. She texted Helly and Gavin thanks, then sent Seafarion one too.

Maybe he was too worried about her, or maybe that "thanks" spurred him on. For days after, Nyx got a steady stream of medicinal dishes and soups-first from Gavin, then from Seafarion himself.

He seemed dead set on proving his feelings with actions, convinced that winning someone's heart started with their stomach. His cooking skills shot up so fast his teacher was floored. For someone of his status to cook every day without complaint, that alone was jaw-dropping.

Nyx didn't just keep messing with him. She gave him some positive vibes back- ate his carefully made food and softened up toward him bit by bit.

Things with the little mermaid were steady and looking up. As for the leopard, there was no word from hina or ages, and it worried Nyx. Since that first date, Kai had vanished, leaving Nyx fretting.

Thinking back to Seafarion's murderous glare that day, she feared the guys had already duked it out behind her back. The

12:36 Tue, 18 Mar

thought of that nightmare scenario made her vision go dark.

She couldn't wait around. After a couple more days, she reached out to Kai

herself. "Want to meet up?"

On the phone, Kai's voice sounded normal, brimming with barely contained joy. "You missed me?"

Nyx relaxed and said, "Yeah, missed you"

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Those words sent the leopard leaping onto a 33-foot tree in excitement, then diving back down to circle his phone a few times. "I missed you too."

He wanted to meet up, but not just yet. "Let's meet on the eighth of next month," Kai said, counting the days.

From the stuff Sunflower Parrot sent, he'd figured he was in mating season. Going

by leopard mating cycles, he'd be in this phase for a while-till next month. He didn't feel off when he wasn't near Nyx, but he figured it was safer to avoid meeting her during this time.

Kai shifted back to human form, glanced at his rock-hard abs, and punched them in frustration. With their contract, she should technically be with him through this. But Nyx was all soft and delicate-whining when he squeezed her wrist too hard. No way she could handle him like this.

After hanging up, Nyx was still clueless why they had to wait till next month. She stared at her phone, zoning out, then caught a familiar profile pic in a short video's like section.

'Seafarion? He watches goofy short videos? And even likes them?' she thought.

Nyx suddenly felt like maybe she didn't know her partner as well as she thought. A little guilt crept in.

Curious, she tapped the video Seafarion had liked and went quiet. She thought, 'Pregnancy and baby tips?'

Not just that one-scrolling back, he'd liked and saved stuff on prenatal diets, postpartum care must-knows, even new dad guides and tips for caring for disabled infants. As she kept looking, Nyx's mix of shame and irritation melted into something tender and bittersweet.

If only she could bring Gabby here. Then Seafarion could see their kid was a cute little merfolk-eats well, sleeps well, no worries, lively and healthy. But for now, she had to set him straight. She wasn't pregnant.

That evening, hearing someone return next door, Nyx went over and knocked. The door swung open fast. Seafarion's eyes shone bright, locked on her.

It was the first time in ages Nyx had come to him on her own. Meeting those hopeful eyes, Nyx felt a pang of reluctance. But better a quick sting than a long ache. The misunderstanding had to end. She grabbed his hand and pressed it to her stomach.

"Hungry?" Seafarion started to say he'd cook right away, but his palm felt the soft, flat surface and he froze.

"I'm not pregnant," Nyx said, letting go and handing him a medical report. "I told you before, but you didn't seem to believe me. So here's proof." Months had passed since that night. If she were pregnant, it'd be obvious by now. But Nyx's waist was slim, hand around. That slight curve from before was gone.

easy to wrap a

It'd just been a temporary bulge from stuffing her face, backed up by the report. Seafarion took the report, read it top to bottom carefully, then lowered his eyes and stayed silent for a long time. The room filled with nothing but their quiet breathing.noveldrama

Knowing he'd prepped so much and now his hopes were dashed, Nyx figured he'd be crushed. She softened, reached out to pat his shoulder, wanting to cheer

him up.

But Seafarion spoke first, "Your BMI's low, and you're a bit anemic. Is my cooking

no good? Not to your

taste?"

12:36 Tue, 18 Mar

He didn't look sad-just focused on tweaking her diet or maybe hiring a pro

nutritionist to get her healthy.

Nyx wasn't ready for that. She blinked, then shook her head. "No way."

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With Seafarion's skills, he'd nail anything he put his mind to. His cooking couldn't suck after all that effort. She just didn't gain weight easily. These past few months, she'd already gotten way healthier than when she first showed up.

"I'm actually kinda chubby for an actress," Nyx joked. "This is perfect-I've gotta look good on camera. Can't balloon up."

Thinking of those stick-thin actors, male and female alike, Seafarion frowned. He couldn't laugh. He wanted Nyx to switch jobs-or quit altogether. But she took her

work seriously and worked hard. He couldn't shoot her down with one word. His frown deepened.

"Don't be sad," Nyx said, reaching out a finger to smooth the crease between his brows. She coaxed gently, "Kids will come in the future."

Once they got back, Gabby'd be bouncing around Seafarion, calling him Dad. The memory-wiped guy didn't know about their kid. Hearing this, his pale face flushed with shy embarrassment. "Sorry, I got it wrong."

Nyx was only eighteen. No pregnancy was the best news. Lately, he'd felt like a criminal-whether Nyx kept a baby or not, she'd get hurt either way. Now, that guilt lifted a bit. His tense heart could ease up. He should've been relieved. Sharp-eyed Lancet noticed Seafarion's weird shift. For a while, Seafarion'd been obsessed with pregnancy and baby stuff- borderline addicted. Even the company's related businesses had boomed.

But the last few days, he'd pulled out of it like he'd snapped awake, only to sink

into deeper gloom. Lancet didn't dare ask Seafarion directly. He slyly asked Nyx instead.

"What're you up to?" Seafarion stepped out of his office for air and caught Lancet sneaking around with her phone. He prodded, curious.

Lancet jolted, his phone slipping from his hands and plummeting. He lunged with

arms and legs flailing, barely caught it before it hit the ground, and let out a huge

breath.

He glanced at the screen, saw he'd accidentally sent a video call invite, and his relieved smile froze. He fell apart inside.

***

Golden liquor shimmered under the lights, soft piano music filled the air, and the

restaurant hummed with classy, romantic vibes. Nyx sat on a cushy chair, soaking in a certain leopard's searing stare.

Her phone screen lit up by the table. She glanced down, and her expression shifted. 'A video call? Lancet never video-calls me. Has something happened to Seafarion?' she thought.

Worry trumped everything. Ignoring Kai's eyes on her, she grabbed the phone and answered without thinking.