I Abandoned My Beast Cubs for the Protagonist... Oops?

Chapter 96: The Return of the Dragon Prince

Before she could even process the thought, the hide curtain of her hut was torn aside and a tidal wave of fur and chaos exploded past her.

"SPARKLES!"

"SHINY DRAGON!"

"YOU’RE BACK!"

Yòu Lín, Ruì Xuě, and the panther triplets launched themselves at the golden figure in the doorway. Within seconds, Cāng Jì was buried under a pile of screaming, giggling, climbing cubs.

"Unhand me! I am a Prince of the First Generation! I am not a—Yòu Lín, stop chewing on my robe!"

"Missed you!" Yòu Lín’s muffled voice came from somewhere near the dragon’s waist, where he had wrapped himself around Cāng Jì’s leg like a furry barnacle.

"I missed you too, shiny dragon!" Ruì Xuě had somehow climbed up to Cāng Jì’s shoulder and was patting his golden hair with tiny paws. "Did you bring us anything? Did you fight more monkeys? Can we ride you again?"

"I am not a service for—"

"I missed you!" Miao Miao shrieked, hanging from his other arm.

"We all missed you!" A-Li added, clinging to his back.

"So much!" Xiao Hei confirmed, attached to his other leg.

Cāng Jì stood there, buried in cubs, his golden robes already wrinkled and covered in tiny paw prints. A muscle in his jaw twitched. His eye twitched. Smoke puffed from his nostrils.

And then, very subtly, the corner of his mouth twitched upward.

"Hmph," he huffed, though he made absolutely no move to dislodge any of them. "You are all still ridiculously affectionate pests. Clearly, your mother has not been teaching you proper decorum."

"She taught us to hug!" Yòu Lín announced proudly.

"Clearly."

From the bed, Bai Yue watched the scene with a tired but genuine smile. Zhēn stirred in her arms, blinking her purple eyes at the commotion.

"Cāng Jì," Bai Yue said, her voice warm despite her exhaustion. "You came back."

The Dragon Prince’s golden eyes snapped to her. For a moment, his arrogant mask slipped, replaced by a tender look. Then he caught himself, straightened his spine (as much as possible with three cubs hanging off him), and cleared his throat loudly.

"Obviously, I came back. Did you think they could keep me away forever?" He sniffed haughtily. "I told you I would return, star-thief. A dragon keeps his word."

"Even when his word was ’I’ll come back for soup’?"

"Soup is a perfectly valid reason for inter-territorial travel."

Before Bai Yue could respond, a new voice cut through the chaos.

"WHAT. IS. THAT."

Bai Yue looked past Cāng Jì to see the doorway fill with grandmothers.

Gū Gū stood in front, her iron-wood stick raised like a weapon. Behind her, Hán Bīng had ice crystals forming on her fingertips. Even Wēn Jìng, usually the calmest of the three, was holding a wooden spoon like she knew how to use it.

"That," Gū Gū growled, pointing her stick at Cāng Jì, "is a dragon. In our village. Again."

"A very loud dragon," Hán Bīng added.

"A dragon who just showed up unannounced," Wēn Jìng finished, brandishing her spoon. "I just made soup. Real soup. With vegetables. If he scares the baby, I’ll—"

"You’ll what?" Cāng Jì arched an eyebrow. "Threaten me with kitchenware?"

"I’ll make you eat my cooking," Wēn Jìng said sweetly. "And I’m a terrible cook."

Cāng Jì’s face went slightly pale.

Bai Yue bit back a laugh.

The grandmothers advanced, their weapons raised, their eyes blazing with fury.

"What is a great dragon doing here?" Gū Gū demanded. "You think you can just drop in whenever you please?"

"I am a Prince of the First Generation—"

"I don’t care if you are the Emperor of the Universe! This is a BABY’S hut! There are RULES!"

Hán Bīng stepped forward. "Explain yourself, lizard. Why are you here?"

Cāng Jì opened his mouth, closed it, and looked genuinely flustered for the first time since his arrival. The cubs, sensing the tension, finally released him and scurried back to Bai Yue’s bedside, watching the drama with wide eyes.

"I..." Cāng Jì started, then stopped. His golden gaze flickered to Bai Yue, to the tiny bundle in her arms, and his expression shifted. The arrogance softened. The haughty mask cracked.

"I heard," he said quietly, "that she was.....having a child."

The grandmothers paused.

"You heard?" Gū Gū repeated suspiciously.

"News travels fast in the dragon realms," Cāng Jì admitted. "Especially news about.....about the star-thief." He looked away, a faint flush creeping up his neck. "I may have instructed my messengers to inform me of any significant events in the Thousand Fang territory."

"You’ve been spying on us?" Hán Bīng’s eyes narrowed.

"MONITORING. For soup purposes. Obviously."

The grandmothers exchanged glances.

"And you came all this way... to check on the baby?" Wēn Jìng asked, her spoon lowering slightly.

Cāng Jì’s flush deepened. "I came for soup. The baby is.....incidental."

"Incidental," Gū Gū repeated flatly.

"Completely incidental."

"Then why are you blushing like a maiden?"

"I am NOT blushing! Dragons do not blush! It’s a... a temperature regulation thing! The lowland humidity is affecting my—"

"Let him through."

Everyone turned to look at Bai Yue.

She was smiling, exhausted but genuine, as she shifted Zhēn in her arms. "He came all this way. Let him see her."

The grandmothers grumbled but reluctantly parted, allowing Cāng Jì to approach the bed.

He walked slowly, as if approaching something sacred. His golden eyes were fixed on the tiny bundle in Bai Yue’s arms, and for once, there was no arrogance in his expression. Only wonder.

"It’s a girl," Bai Yue said softly.

Cāng Jì reached the bedside and looked down at the sleeping infant.

And his face melted.

The mighty Dragon Prince, terror of the skies, who had faced down monkey armies and danced in humiliation and screamed about his dignity, stood there looking at a baby like she was the most precious thing in the universe.

"She’s..." he started, his voice rough. He cleared his throat. Started again. "She’s very small."

"Babies are small," Bai Yue said, echoing her earlier conversation with Han Shān.

"She should be bigger. I should—" He stopped himself, shaking his head. "Never mind."

But Bai Yue saw it. The way his hands twitched at his sides, as if he wanted to reach out but didn’t dare. The way his eyes softened every time Zhēn made a tiny sound. The way his voice dropped to something barely above a whisper when he spoke again.

"She has your eyes," he said quietly. "The amethyst. Like starlight caught in crystal."

Bai Yue’s heart did a strange little flip. "That’s... surprisingly poetic, Cāng Jì."

"Hmph. I am a dragon. We appreciate beauty." He paused, then added, much softer, "She is beautiful."

From behind him, the grandmothers watched with varying expressions. Gū Gū looked suspicious but slightly mollified. Hán Bīng’s icy demeanor had thawed a degree or two. Wēn Jìng was openly smiling.

"See?" Wēn Jìng whispered to the others. "He’s just a softie underneath all that gold."

"I heard that," Cāng Jì said without turning around.

"You were meant to."

Zhāo Yàn appeared in the doorway, looking less than thrilled to see his rival. Han Shān stood beside him, arms crossed, expression unreadable.

"The dragon returns," Zhāo Yàn said flatly.

"The fox remains," Cāng Jì replied without looking away from the baby. "How unfortunate."

"I should throw you out."

"You could try."

"ENOUGH," Gū Gū barked, slamming her stick on the floor. "If you two are going to fight, do it outside. The baby needs quiet."

Zhāo Yàn and Cāng Jì glared at each other but held their tongues.

Han Shān stepped forward, his icy gaze fixed on the Dragon Prince. "Why are you really here, Cāng Jì?"

For a long moment, Cāng Jì didn’t answer. He just looked at Zhēn, at her tiny fingers and her perfect little nose and her amethyst eyes that were so much like her mother’s.

Then he took a deep breath.

"I came," he said slowly, "to make an offer."

Everyone went still.

"What kind of offer?" Bai Yue asked warily.

Cāng Jì finally tore his gaze away from the baby and looked at her. His golden eyes were serious, intense, and completely devoid of their usual mockery.

"The dragon peaks," he said. "I want you to come. All of you. To stay with me and my family."

Silence.

Complete, utter, deafening silence.

Then—

"WHAT?!"

The shout came from approximately seven different directions simultaneously.

"You want us to WHAT?!" Zhāo Yàn’s tails puffed to maximum size.

"Absolutely not!" Han Shān’s voice dropped to sub-zero temperatures.

"Have you lost your mind?!" Gū Gū brandished her stick.

"The baby can’t travel! She’s THREE DAYS OLD!"

Cāng Jì held up his hands, attempting to calm the chaos. "Listen to me! I’m not suggesting immediate travel. I’m suggesting.....eventually. When she’s older. When you’re ready."

"Why would we do that?" Bai Yue asked, genuinely confused.

Cāng Jì looked at her, and for a moment, his mask slipped completely. What she saw underneath made her breath catch, longing, loneliness, and maybe hope.

"Because," he said quietly, "the dragon peaks are the safest place in the realm. Because my family has resources that could protect yours. Because..." He hesitated, then pushed forward. "Because I don’t want to be so far away anymore."

The silence that followed was heavy with implication.

"You want us to... move?" Bai Yue asked carefully.

"Not permanently. Not unless you choose to." Cāng Jì’s voice was earnest now, stripped of all pretense. "But visit. Stay for a season. Let me show you my home. Let Zhēn see the peaks, know the skies." He paused. "Let me be part of her life."

Zhāo Yàn opened his mouth to protest, but Han Shān placed a hand on his arm, silencing him.

Oh....

"I..." Bai Yue started.

But before she could finish, Zhēn let out a tiny coo, her purple eyes blinking open to look directly at Cāng Jì.

The Dragon Prince’s breath caught.

"She looked at me," he whispered. "She.....she looked at me."

Cāng Jì smiled to her shock, a real smile, unguarded and warm and full of wonder.

Bai Yue’s heart clenched.

Oh no, she thought. I’m in trouble.