Chapter 110: Preparing for the Second Baby Beast

Shani found both men, young and old, looking startled by her sudden entrance.

She heard Jeryon stammer nervously, "Did you... catch any of what we were saying?"

Shani tilted her head, genuinely confused. She had heard low murmurs from inside the room, but hadn’t actually caught any of the words.

Seeing her clueless reaction, Jeryon breathed a silent sigh of relief.

He felt his earlier response to Elias had been far too full of longing, something that might have burdened Shani had she overheard it.

Elias, on the other hand, merely scoffed at Jeryon’s dramatic reaction. Panicking over nothing. It wasn’t as if they were talking bad about her behind her back.

Ignoring his spineless student, Elias turned to Shani. "What business do you have outside? You know you shouldn’t be slacking off right now, don’t you?"

"I’m not slacking, Sir. I really do have an important matter to attend to," Shani replied with a solemn face, offering no further detail.

In the end, Elias simply nodded.

As Shani turned to leave the room, Jeryon promptly followed her out.

"Oh right, I want to leave Nyx with you. I’ll be staying at my apartment over the weekend," Shani said, casting a brief glance at Jeryon.

"Taking care of that feed factory business?" Jeryon asked, to which Shani nodded.

Since Shani planned to leave right away, Jeryon walked with her back to the dorms to pick up Nyx.

They walked in silence, but Jeryon kept stealing sideways glances at Shani, looking as though he had something weighing heavily on his mind.

Shani didn’t notice, far too engrossed in conducting transactions with the System inside her head.

’System, I want to buy two Rare-grade and four Common-grade Energy Potions. I also want to buy an artificial egg. How much will that be?’

The set of energy potions she was purchasing for Aster was identical to what she had bought for herself.

She also assumed the System’s artificial eggs would be priced much cheaper than standard market rates.

[Host, which type of artificial egg would you like to purchase?]

’Artificial eggs have types?’ As far as Shani knew from her lessons at Feline Tower, there was only one type of artificial egg.

[There are several types of Artificial Eggs, such as Strength, Intelligence, Agility, Fortitude, and many more, Host.]

Shani was stunned by this revelation, left thoroughly bewildered. She asked the System to provide a detailed breakdown for each type.

[Host may purchase the e-book The Engineered Beast: An Overview of Artificial Eggs for detailed information on each type.]

Met with the System’s classic sales pitch, Shani could only sigh in defeat.

After pondering for a moment, she decided to buy both the e-book and an Intelligence-type artificial egg.

She figured Aster was exceptionally sharp, given how seamlessly he managed her business affairs.

Perhaps that high intelligence would be inherited by their baby beast, and buying an Intelligence-type egg would boost its sharpness even further.

[Cashback Shop Activated! Purchase successful: 1x Intelligence-Type Artificial Egg, The Engineered Beast: An Overview of Artificial Eggs e-book, 2x Rare-grade Energy Potions, 4x Common-grade Energy Potions for 13,500 Credits. Remaining Cashback Balance: 425,100 Credits.]

By the time Shani emerged from her internal monologue, they were already in the elevator heading to the seventh floor.

When the elevator doors slid open, Shani stepped out hurriedly, only to stop right in front of her door.

She turned back to face Jeryon, finally noticing the troubled look on the prince’s face.

"Is there something you want to say, Jer?" Shani asked.

Jeryon bit his lower lip, visibly flustered.

Shani tilted her head, confused by his hesitancy, but waited patiently for him to speak, as she had something she wanted to bring up as well.

After a long silence, Jeryon finally plucked up the courage to ask, "Will it... just be the two of you at that apartment? You and that friend who handles your business?"

Shani was slightly taken aback by his question, almost feeling as though he could read her mind. In truth, she had intended to be upfront about going there to perform a resonance session with Aster.

Before Shani could reply, Jeryon pressed on, "I have two invitations to the Aurelis Merchant Association auction. Real estate, like apartments and mansions, are usually up for bid there. You can come with me to pick one out if you’d like. I’ll pay for—"

"Wait!" Shani cut him off abruptly. "Do you see me as some poor peasant who will just accept whatever handouts you give, Prince?"

Hearing her address him formally as ’Prince’, panic instantly flooded Jeryon.

"That’s not what I meant at all! If I bought another apartment for you, you wouldn’t have to stay alone with that friend of yours."

"Why? Because you think he’s a poor peasant too? Are you trying to use your money to control me?" Shani snapped, her voice sharp.

Jeryon shook his head frantically, entirely at a loss for words. Somehow, every single thing he said was being completely misunderstood.

Shani didn’t wait for a response. She unlocked her door, stepped inside, and slammed it shut right in Jeryon’s face.

Jeryon’s palms broke into a cold sweat as his mind raced, desperately searching for the right words to fix this.

Before he could piece anything together, the door swung open again. Shani stood there, holding Nyx inside its baby beast carrier.

"I hope you don’t think Nyx is some poor baby beast too," Shani said coldly, thrusting the carrier toward him with a deadpan expression.

Jeryon took it from her hands. "Shani, I’m sorry. I misspoke."

Still fuming, Shani grumbled, "If I want something, I can buy it myself, Prince."

With that, she slammed the door shut once more, paying no mind to Jeryon standing outside with an anxious, guilt-ridden expression.

Inside, Shani packed her belongings, taking deep breaths to rein in her spiraling emotions.

’Did I overreact?’ Shani muttered to herself, realizing she was acting overly sensitive.

’The poor girl’, ’Prince Jeryon’s partner’, ’the orphan from a backwater town’... Those were the labels sneered behind her back by the other students.

Even after her true lineage was exposed, refusing House Ashbourne meant she remained, in their eyes, nothing more than a poor peasant.

It would be a lie to say those words didn’t get to her. She had simply been suppressing her frustration.

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