Beast Academy: Raising Baby Beasts with Cashback 500%

Far away at the Ashbourne Mansion, Nora was speaking frantically into her phone.

”I’m not avoiding you, Orin! I really did return to the Ashbourne Mansion today. You can’t believe those forum posts!”

The young man on the other end let out a deep, heavy sigh.

”I don’t want to believe them, but you at least owe me an explanation. Are you seriously a maid? Are you not Vivienne Ashbourne’s cousin like you always said you were?”

”Orin... do you only care about my status?” Nora choked out, her voice dripping with sorrow.

”No! It’s not like...” Orin frantically tried to defend himself before abruptly going dead silent.

”Orin? What’s wrong?” Nora asked, fake concern lacing her voice.

”Is this how you’ve been manipulating me all this time?” Orin asked, his tone dropping to a chilling cold.

Nora’s eyes widened. She almost clicked her tongue in annoyance. ’Why on earth is this gullible fool suddenly growing a brain?!’

”I’m not manipulating you, Orin!” Nora sobbed loudly.

”I dropped out of Feed Cultivation Class. I picked fights with the students who were badmouthing you! All I want now is an honest explanation. So tell me, who are you really, Nora Clay?” Orin’s voice rose, trembling with anger.

Nora flinched. This was the first time Orin had ever raised his voice at her. She couldn’t afford to lose her single most devoted follower.

”Cough, cough! Orin, my chest hurts so much... the shock is too much...” Nora put on a fake coughing fit.

”What’s wrong, Nora?” Orin’s voice instantly softened with anxiety.

”I actually stayed up all night worrying about yesterday’s incident... My body feels so hot... Orin, I’m sorry for making you worr—”

Click. Nora unilaterally ended the call.

Orin immediately dialed back, but Nora let it ring, ignoring his frantic texts as well.

”Keep worrying and feeling guilty all day, so that by tomorrow you’ll be my obedient little dog again,” Nora muttered, her voice laced with malice.

She stepped over to the mirror, dabbing extra powder onto her lips to make herself look sickly pale, then rubbed her eyes until they turned raw and red.

Satisfied with her appearance, she left her room and headed up to the second floor, specifically to a guest room that had been converted into a baby beast room.

Inside, Vivienne sat on a lounge sofa, casually browsing through holographic displays of this season’s newest designer bags.

A few paces away, a maid was administering vitamins to a little Night Panther resting inside a crib.

”Dammit! If my allowance hadn’t been slashed, I could’ve bought this new bag!” Vivienne shrieked in frustration.

Both the maid and Ennie jumped in fright. The maid quickly began stroking the baby beast’s back to soothe it.

Nora swallowed hard. She had picked a terrible moment to walk in.

Vivienne shifted her gaze away from the holographic bag display to Nora, her eyebrows knotting into a tight scowl.

”Hey! Where the hell have you been? You’re supposed to be preparing Ennie’s meal!”

Nora dropped to her knees immediately. ”I’m sorry, Miss Vivienne. I swapped shifts with—”

”Swapped? Who do you think you are, taking it upon yourself to swap shifts with other maids?!”

”I allowed you into Grand Academy specifically so you would learn how to properly care for my baby beast!” Vivienne snapped in a piercing, screeching tone.

Every word sliced directly into the pride Nora fought so hard to maintain. Nora kept her head bowed, secretly gritting her teeth in humiliation.

A second later, muffled sobs echoed from behind the veil of hair obscuring her face.

”I’m so sorry, Miss. I was truly in the wrong... but I was just so shaken when I read the posts about me on the school forum.”

Vivienne clicked her tongue in disgust. ”What post now? Hey, don’t try any funny business with me!”

”I didn’t do anything, Miss. Shani Rowan—that F-Ra... Prince Jeryon’s partner, she made all the other students misunderstand me,” Nora whimpered, putting on her most aggrieved tone.

”You still haven’t handled her? Even after I let you drop the Ashbourne name? You really are useless!”

”She’s far more cunning than I anticipated, Miss. Now the forums are dragging the Ashbourne name into it. If we don’t resolve this...” Nora trailed off strategically, waiting for the short-tempered Vivienne to explode on her own.

Sure enough, Vivienne snapped. She snatched up a glass off the side table and hurled it straight at Nora.

SHATTER!

The glass smashed right in front of Nora, sharp shards spraying outward and slicing across her forearm. She bit her lower lip hard, holding back the pain.

Vivienne stood up, glaring daggers down at Nora. ”This is the absolute last time the Ashbournes bail you out. If there’s a second time, I’ll be the one disposing of you.”

She brushed past Nora to the doorway, turning back to glare at the maid who had been standing with a bowed head and trembling hands.

”Don’t let Nora leave this room. Make her eat Ennie’s food—actually, no, Ennie’s food is way too expensive for her. Feed her just one meal a day.”

With that, Vivienne yanked the door open and slammed it shut with a deafening BAM.

Nora’s body went limp. She glanced at the maid, who scrambled out of the room as fast as her legs could carry her.

Once the maid was gone, Nora approached Ennie’s crib. The little panther tilted its head, staring up at Nora with curious eyes.

Nora roughly scooped Ennie up by her scruff with a single hand, making the cub deeply uncomfortable.

Meowing frantically, the baby beast lashed out, attempting to claw her. A thin red line of blood welled up on Nora’s hand.

Nora let out a sinister chuckle. THUD! She callously tossed Ennie back into its crib.

While the little panther wasn’t injured, its eyes trembled with shock. ”Meow~” Ennie whimpered meekly, curling herself into a tight ball at the corner of the bed.

Nora smiled with twisted satisfaction. ”Blame that brazen mother of yours!”

She took a deep breath and let out a long sigh of relief. ”It feels so good to be back in a house without surveillance cameras.”

...