Chapter 134: Second Baby Hatched

At six in the evening, Aster wanted to end the resonance session, but Shani, seeing that the egg’s hatching progress had reached 98.4%, insisted on pushing through for one more hour.

Sure enough, about an hour later, a blinding blue glow erupted, filling the entire apartment.

Since darkness had already fallen outside, the brilliant blue light burst through the windows, making it look as though an explosion had gone off inside their unit.

As the light dimmed, a pair of brown furry ears peeked out from between the cracks in the eggshell. Round and plump, they looked immensely satisfying to squeeze.

Shani naturally held herself back, opting to call out gently instead. "Baby."

"Ngee-woo?" A cute, milky chirp sounded as a little head slowly emerged, though not quite all the way.

"It’s Mother and Father," Shani said softly.

The situation this time differed from Nyx’s birth, which had taken place on a proper egg table.

On that table, once the shell cracked, a mechanism would automatically lower the newborn into a waiting care cage below.

Shani still needed to place her new baby beast inside a cage so it could be automatically cleaned, but truth be told, she had no experience coaxing such a timid, delicate creature.

And if Shani lacked experience, Aster was even more lost. From where he stood, he could see a tiny, round tail twitching back and forth.

He could sense that their baby beast wasn’t afraid, but like Shani, he felt the creature was simply too delicate to handle roughly.

After a moment, the brown baby beast finally revealed its entire head to Shani. Its large, glossy black eyes gazed up at her in utter confusion.

’A teddy bear! It looks just like a stuffed animal!’ Shani thought, fighting back the overwhelming urge to scoop the adorable creature into a hug.

"It’s Mother," Shani repeated, gently extending her hand.

The little bear blinked, seemingly assessing whether the person before it was friend or foe, before slowly nodding its round head.

"So adorable~" Shani squeaked softly, holding back a cheer.

With sticky fluid still clinging to its fur, Shani couldn’t hug it just yet. But the moment her fingers brushed against its soft coat, she was instantly reminded of a plush pillow.

’This isn’t an Arctodus! This is a teddy bear!’ Shani screamed internally, longing to announce to the entire world just how adorable her baby was.

Aster quickly grabbed the care cage Shani had prepared, maneuvering it into place so Shani could transfer their baby beast inside effortlessly.

Shani had purchased the baby beast cage directly from the System.

When she had previously browsed the top-tier cages online, the prices ranged up to 45,000 Credits, triple the cost of an Artificial Egg.

Deterred by the steep price, Shani had consulted the System and discovered a superior model equipped with better features for a fraction of the cost: a mere 10,000 Credits. It was even cheaper than standard Artificial Eggs sold across the continent.

Naturally, Shani hadn’t hesitated to buy it from the System.

"Shani, get some rest. I’ll fix dinner while we wait for our baby beast to finish its cleaning cycle," Aster offered, having wanted to push her to rest for hours.

This time, Shani didn’t argue. She slipped into her room and fell into a deep sleep.

Shani had no idea how long she had been out. The bedroom light that had been on earlier was now switched off, leaving only the city lights outside casting faint shadows through her window.

She was snugly tucked under the blanket, a cooling fever patch resting on her forehead.

"Turns out I have a fever," she rasped under her breath.

The door creaked open gently. Seeing that Shani was awake, Aster went to fetch the bowl of porridge he had repeatedly reheated whenever it went cold.

"How long was I asleep?" Shani asked.

"Three hours. It’s ten o’clock now." Aster fed her a spoonful of porridge, which Shani accepted without complaint, her body far too weak to resist.

Shani let out a heavy sigh. She had pushed herself so hard hoping to return to the academy tonight, but it seemed she was stuck staying over after all.

After barely five bites, Shani couldn’t swallow another spoonful. Aster immediately prepared her medication.

"I’ll take it myself. Could you bring me some sugar water instead?"

Aster nodded and left the room. In truth, Shani intended to purchase medication from the System instead, as System remedies were far more potent.

She stashed Aster’s medicine inside the nightstand drawer and swallowed the System’s cure.

Right at that moment, Aster returned and he wasn’t alone.

"Eee-woo~" a soft, adorable chirp came from the little bear clinging to Aster’s broad shoulder.

Now that its fur had been thoroughly cleaned, the little bear looked even fluffier, sparking an irresistible urge in Shani to pull it into a tight squeeze.

Baby beasts couldn’t contract beastman viruses, but Shani worried that their soul bond might transmit her discomfort to her newborn baby.

Aster understood her concern. Instead of placing the baby bear near her face, he settled it gently at the foot of her bed, building a barricade of pillows along the sides to keep it from tumbling off.

Aster handed Shani the sugar water before extending another glass filled with a dark brown liquid.

From its runny texture, Shani instantly recognized it as the traditional herbal tea they used to drink back in Galesend whenever they fell ill.

Shani shook her head vigorously. "I’m already feeling much better, Aster. I am not drinking that."

The herbal tea was notoriously bitter. Every single child at the orphanage loathed it.

Seeing her sheer aversion to it, Aster didn’t push, settling the glass onto the nightstand instead.

While the two were preoccupied with the herbal tea, the baby beast, whose little limbs were still wobbly, silently crawled over to Shani’s side.

Using its tiny paws, it pulled itself up onto its mother’s blanket-draped body.

Shani started slightly as she felt a gentle weight creeping across her chest, but upon seeing her adorable baby beast, a soft chuckle escaped her lips.

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