Chapter 117: Nyx Tattled

Having previously felt offended due to her own insecurity, Shani was no longer easily bothered by Jeryon’s words. She took it simply as advice from a friend.

"I won’t pick another low-ranked resonance partner ever again. Aster is the sole exception," Shani explained earnestly.

She hoped her answer would put this friend’s mind at ease. What she didn’t expect was that her words hit Jeryon like a sledgehammer.

The phrase "sole exception" echoed relentlessly in his mind, immediately followed by cruel inner voices mocking him,

’You’re nothing compared to that Aster guy.’

’He’s the special one!’

’Don’t get your hopes up!’

The voices inside his head kept whispering, making Jeryon want to dig a hole and bury himself right then and there.

Unaware that Jeryon was trailing listlessly behind her like a zombie, Shani kept walking without looking back until they reached the lobby of the Panther Building.

"I’ll wait here," Shani said, to which Jeryon merely offered a silent nod without making eye contact.

Shani tilted her head in confusion at his behavior, but figured he was just having a quiet moment

That assumption was shattered the moment Jeryon returned to the lobby with Nyx.

Perched in Jeryon’s arms, the little panther let out a loud meow the instant it spotted Shani. The furball practically launched itself into Shani’s arms, completely ignoring its father.

Jeryon assumed Nyx just missed its mother. Only Shani understood what those meows actually meant, and it left her equal parts speechless and amused.

"Mother! Mother! Father was a bad child while you were gone! He refused to eat and just lay in his big room all day!" Nyx tattled in its cute, milky voice.

Shani had always taught Nyx that skipping meals and idling in bed made someone a bad child.

She thought Nyx was done, but that was merely the opening act.

"Father said Mother doesn’t care about him anymore because you have another father now! He said I’m going to get a younger sibling from that other father!"

"Father isn’t happy that Mother is giving me a sibling. Is my new sibling going to be like Reddy, stuck in a container and unable to come out? Is that why Father is unhappy?"

"If my new sibling can’t play with me, I won’t like it either!"

Shani blinked, at a complete loss for how to react. ’Am I even supposed to hear this?’ Nyx’s tattling felt like a massive violation of Jeryon’s privacy.

"Let’s go," Jeryon offered quietly.

Shani nodded and followed him, feeling intensely awkward even looking at his face.

Unfortunately, the furbaby in her arms couldn’t care less about her awkwardness. It continued tattling away,

"Father wanted to follow Mother! He even packed my bag and food, but Father was too much of a coward! He was scared Mother wouldn’t be happy and would get mad at him!"

"So he unpacked my stuff all over again! He even practiced giving Mother excuses! Hmph, what a loser!"

Shani quickly clamped her hand over Nyx’s mouth to stop the little panther from spilling any more secrets. The more desperate Jeryon sounded through Nyx’s words, the guiltier Shani felt.

’Jeryon must be terrified because he thinks I’m his only possible resonance partner, right? I need to find the right moment to tell him the truth as soon as possible.’

With its mouth muffled, Nyx let out indignant squawks and began wriggling wildly. Shani could easily tell her baby beast was protesting her censorship.

Walking ahead, Jeryon noticed that Nyx had suddenly gone quiet. He glanced back, seeing Shani struggling to keep a grip on the squirming cub.

"Let me hold him," Jeryon said, reaching out.

Shani was about to decline, but Nyx, growing stronger and nimbler by the day, managed to slip out of her grip and leap straight into Jeryon’s arms.

"What’s wrong with Mother?! I wasn’t done talking yet!" Just as Shani suspected, Nyx was furiously complaining.

Not wanting to hear any more of Nyx’s revelatory translations, Shani quickly addressed Jeryon, treating Nyx’s meows as background noise.

"Jer, how’s your practice going? Have you prepared a performance routine for the club entrance test?"

Jeryon gave his answer, and Shani tried with all her might to focus entirely on his words. Until Nyx eventually got distracted by the surrounding scenery and switched to commenting on that instead.

Shani let out a silent sigh of relief.

Before long, they arrived at Elias’s office. The instructor reached out, wanting to hold Nyx to examine the baby beast.

But as Elias extended his hands, Nyx, currently nestled in Jeryon’s arms, instinctively leaped to the side, landing straight into Shani’s embrace.

"No getting close to strangers!" Nyx babbled, burying its face into the crook of Shani’s neck.

Shani chuckled, nearly giving Nyx a thumbs-up for giving Elias the cold shoulder.

Catching herself, she stroked the furball’s back gently instead. "Nyx, this is Instructor Theron. He’s Mother and Father’s mentor. He’s not a stranger."

Nyx’s ears twitched. It turned its head slightly, narrowing its eyes to inspect Elias, who was observing it right back.

"Oh, so this is that annoying old man, the one who insulted Mother! He really does look like a bad guy. No wonder Father doesn’t like him," Nyx muttered in a deeply judgmental tone.

Shani was taken aback. ’Nyx knows about that too? Just what did Jeryon spill to Nyx while babysitting him? Is Jeryon actually that chatty behind closed doors?’

She never expected to discover a completely different side of Jeryon through Nyx, and after leaving the cub with him just once at that.

She glanced at Jeryon, who was staring at Nyx’s antics with an exasperated expression, utterly lost for words at his baby beast’s energetic behavior.

Opposite them, Elias was also closely observing Nyx. His brows furrowed. "He hasn’t reached the adult stage yet, has he?"

Shani nodded. "Not yet, Sir. Nyx will only reach adulthood in the third week of next month."

Elias stroked his chin thoughtfully. "A feline jumping that high in the adolescent stage... Have you two been giving him specialized vitamins?"

"We’ve only been giving him the standard health vitamins prescribed by the doctor," Jeryon replied, recalling that he had managed all of Nyx’s supplements.

"His body is in an extraordinarily active and healthy state, even more so than most adult baby beasts. And this is right after recovering from the injury, isn’t it?" Elias muttered.

Jeryon and Shani nodded in unison.

Elias leaned back against his desk, folding his arms across his chest before firing off a rapid series of questions,

"Does it recognize its own name?"

"Is it easy to feed?"

"Does it vocalize often? Is it constantly moving around?"

"What’s its favorite activity?"

"Between the two of you, who is it closest to?"

Shani answered them in an orderly fashion.

"When called by its name, it turns around immediately. So far, Nyx loves to eat, so feeding it has never been an issue."

"Nyx meows every time something happens, no matter how small. It’s also extremely active."

"Lately, Nyx favorite activity is running on its exercise wheel."

"Between us, Nyx is closer to me, probably because Nyx lives in my room."

Elias nodded along as he absorbed Shani’s answers.

"Hand your baby beast to Jeryon. Jeryon, stand by the door. Shani, call your baby beast from over here," Elias commanded.

Shani felt like pointing out that this was child’s play for Nyx. ’My baby beast is far too intelligent for a simple command like that.’

Despite her internal complaints, she didn’t voice them, obediently following Elias’s instructions.

Once Jeryon took his position by the door, Shani called out, "My baby, come to Mother."

"Mother, I miss Reddy! Let’s go back to our room already," Nyx complained, leaping out of Jeryon’s arms and casually strolling over to Shani.

"He responds to ’my baby’?" Elias commented, raising an eyebrow.

Realization suddenly dawned on Shani. Back in her room, she used all sorts of affectionate nicknames for Nyx, and it always understood every single one.

She had assumed it was completely normal and that all baby beasts were capable of doing so. But watching Elias’s reaction, Shani finally realized that it wasn’t normal at all.

Surprisingly, Jeryon was just like Shani, only now realizing that Nyx was far more special than he had imagined.

It wasn’t just Nyx’s physical state that was extraordinary, its intelligence was exceptional too.

Elias then instructed Jeryon to call Nyx, using whatever name or nickname he preferred. Since Jeryon typically just called him "Nyx," he went with that.

The little panther turned toward Jeryon, pouted briefly, and then began meowing incessantly.

Jeryon immediately picked up on the fact that those meows were a protest.

Scratching the back of his neck awkwardly, Jeryon asked, "Do you not want me to hold you?"

"Weird Father! It’s not that I don’t want to be held! I just don’t like being shuffled back and forth. What am I, a ball?!" Nyx protested sharply.

Jeryon could sense Nyx’s annoyance and could only offer an apologetic smile.

Meanwhile, Shani, who could fully understand Nyx’s words, stifled a chuckle. ’Nyx, you really are a ball—a furball!’

Shani turned to Elias.

"Sir, if you’re trying to check whether Nyx recognizes his name or understands instructions, the answer is yes. It’s just that understanding a command doesn’t mean he’s willing to obey it."

Elias stared at them sternly before scoffing. "Your baby beast is just like the two of you!"

...