Baby System: I'm the Beast World's Only Hope!-Chapter 215: Episode : Teach them well.

Nerissa looked at the shell. She looked at Roxy.

"You cooked?" Nerissa asked, skeptical.

"Yes mother," Roxy smiled.

She reached forward and popped the latch on the shell.

The lid swung open.

A cloud of steam, trapped spices, and savory aroma exploded into the water, hitting Nerissa squarely in the face. The thick red glaze on the crab glistened like rubies. The corn was bright yellow.

The entire court audibly inhaled.

Nerissa’s tentacles twitched uncontrollably. Her mouth watered instantly.

"Oh," the Matriarch whispered, her eyes dilating.

Roxy plucked a glazed potato from the shell. The heavy sauce clung to it perfectly. She held it out.

"Try it," Roxy urged softly. "But be careful. It bites back."

Nerissa hesitated for only a second. Then, driven by a primal hunger she hadn’t felt in centuries, she leaned forward and took the offering.

She chewed.

Her eyes went wide. The spice hit. The heat hit. The flavor exploded.

[System Notification: Quest Update - "The Queen’s Authority"]

[Action: Successful Royal Banquet.]

[Influence Gained: +500.]

Roxy smiled, a small, triumphant curl of her lips.

It worked, Roxy thought. Points secured. Now for the real pitch.

She turned back to Nerissa. The Matriarch was currently licking the red glaze off her fingers, a gesture so un-queenly it was almost endearing.

Caspian, who had been quietly enjoying his own bowl, looked up at Roxy. His golden eyes were shining with pride. He reached out and squeezed her hand.

"You continue to surprise me, my Pearl," he whispered. "You have turned a war council into a dinner party."

"Food is power, Caspian," Roxy winked. "Never forget that."

She swam closer to the throne, waiting until Nerissa had finished her third crab.

"Mother," Roxy began, her tone respectful but firm. "I am glad the flavor pleases you. But this meal was not just a gift. It was a demonstration."

Nerissa paused, a corn cob halfway to her mouth. She tilted her massive head, her black eyes narrowing with intelligence. "A demonstration? Of what? Your skill in the kitchen?"

"Of potential," Roxy corrected.

She gestured to the room, to the nobles eating heartily, to the warmth radiating from the trays.

"The Spires are rich in resources," Roxy said. "We have the best hunt in the ocean. But we eat like scavengers. We tear raw flesh. We eat things cold and dead."

Roxy floated higher, addressing the room at large, though her eyes remained locked on the Matriarch.

"I want to teach the people," Roxy declared. "I want to open the Royal Kitchens. I want to teach the Common Folk how to use the vents, how to cure the meat, how to extract the starch."

Nerissa slowly lowered the corn. The playful gluttony vanished from her face, replaced by the ancient, unreadable mask of the Ruler of the Deep.

"To cook?" Nerissa asked, her voice low and vibrating through the water. "You wish to bring fire-magic to the food chain?"

"Yes," Roxy nodded.

Nerissa leaned back, her tentacles waving lazily in the current.

"We are born to the Deep, Little Pearl," Nerissa said, her tone sounding almost bored, though her eyes were sharp. "We are predators. We are wild things. Our teeth are serrated to strip bone. Our stomachs are lined with iron to digest the raw hunt."

She gestured to the open ocean beyond the balcony.

"Civilization is a surface concept. Here, we survive. Cooking is... a luxury. A method we are not used to. Why should we spend hours boiling a crab when we can simply crush it?"

A murmur of agreement went through the older generals.

Why indeed? It tastes good, yes, but is it necessary?

Roxy was ready for this. She knew the "tradition" argument would come up.

"It isn’t about luxury," Roxy said, her voice turning serious. "It is about survival."

She swam forward, entering the Matriarch’s personal space.

"I have read the census reports in the archives," Roxy lied (she had actually just asked the System for stats). "The infant mortality rate in the Lower Trenches is thirty percent. Thirty percent of hatchlings do not make it to their first cycle."

The room went quiet. The mention of dead hatchlings was a taboo subject.

"Why?" Roxy asked, answering her own question. "Not because of starvation. But because of ’The Rot’. Parasites. Bacteria. Diseases that live in the raw flesh of the scavenge-fish."

She pointed to the empty clam shells.

"Cooking kills them," Roxy stated simply. "The heat of the vents destroys the rot. It kills the worms before they enter the stomach. It makes the nutrients easier to absorb."

Roxy placed her hand on her chest.

"I do not want to wipe away your nature, Mother. I do not want to make you human, if you know what that is. I want to make you stronger. I want the next generation of the Spires to grow up without the Rot eating them from the inside. I want hygiene to be our shield."

She looked at Caspian, then back to Nerissa.

"A King protects his people from enemies. A Queen protects them from themselves."

Silence stretched in the vast hall.

Caspian looked at Roxy with awe. He hadn’t thought of that. He just thought the food was spicy. But she... she was thinking about the survival of his species.

Nerissa stared at Roxy.

For a long moment, the Matriarch didn’t move. She just watched the girl with the strange ideas and the impossible skin.

Most rulers would be offended. Most would claim their way was perfect. But Nerissa wasn’t most rulers.

She didn’t look surprised by Roxy’s lecture on bacteria. She didn’t look confused by the concept of "hygiene."

A slow, knowing smile spread across Nerissa’s face. It was a smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes, eyes that held eons of secrets.

"Parasites," Nerissa murmured, tasting the word. "The invisible killers. Yes."

She leaned forward, resting her chin on her hand.

"You speak with the logic of the Earth," Nerissa said softly, too low for the court to hear, but loud enough for Roxy. "You speak of science. Of biology."

Roxy stiffened slightly. Earth?

Roxy frowned.

Nerissa straightened up, her voice booming once again for the audience.

"The Queen speaks the truth!" Nerissa roared, slamming her hand on the armrest. "If the heat makes us stronger, then we shall embrace the heat! If the spice kills the weakness, then we shall consume the spice!"

She pointed her trident at Roxy.

"You have my blessing, Daughter. Open your kitchens. Teach the people. Make them fat and healthy."

"Build your kitchens," Nerissa said, her voice soft, carrying a weight that sent a shiver down Roxy’s spine. "Teach them well. Change the currents."

Nerissa picked up the empty clam shell, turning it over in her massive hand, admiring the lingering red stain of the sauce.

"After all," the Matriarch whispered, her gaze drifting toward the distant, unseen surface. "There is nothing bad about leaving a legacy in the deep... before the tide takes you away."