Chapter 1112: Unforeseen Circumstance
He definitely had grand plans.
Plans that inevitably involved a few other innocent souls.
However, before the mop could dash off to the room where, unbeknownst to the currently distressed blonde, several people were already gathering to brainstorm solutions for his licensing dilemma, Ollie suddenly paused.
"Hmm..."
Granted, there was an entire crisis looming over his head.
Yet of all the things he could have chosen to focus on, the reformed temporary assistant somehow latched onto something else entirely.
Something that was, quite frankly, mind-boggling to him.
"Is this really okay though?" he asked, turning toward Jax with concern. "Have you been eating other things too? The Elders said you need to stay healthy!"
His voice was filled with genuine worry.
Which was rather ironic, considering that Oliver Mylor was a serial snacker who routinely needed reminders to eat more vegetables.
But finally, the newest ornament in the room decided to contribute.
"The Elders say it’s cravings. Or something like cravings."
Killian spoke with his arms crossed over his chest.
He looked composed.
He looked dignified.
He looked exactly like the sort of person who should be discussing civilian evacuation protocols and national crises.
Unfortunately, the words coming out of his mouth were not helping maintain that image.
"They say he’s like this because of the evolving bee. Apparently, it’s normal." Killian paused briefly before continuing. "Comparable to pregnancy cravings from our human ancestors. This one just changes depending on the spirit’s preferences."
"WHAT?! IS IT—!"
"It’s not actually pregnancy," Killian clarified immediately. "Just similar in concept since the bee is feeding off him—"
"Us," Jax corrected innocently to give credit where credit was due.
Killian closed his eyes.
"Us," he amended, clearing his throat before continuing with the resignation of a man who had already accepted his fate.
"So yes. He’s practically eating for two right now."
The shortest guy in the room looked scandalized but for a different reason...
What a great benefit! Being able to eat for two!
It was a good thing that the others couldn’t tell what he was thinking and that all he said was, "And the mass is getting bigger, too! So does my niece want more food now?! And how do you even sleep like that?!"
"Not just food but spiritual energy as well. And yeah, that was honestly a problem I didn’t see coming," Jax admitted, scratching the back of his neck.
"I don’t even know how big she would really get; hopefully not like a small watermelon coz how do I even hold that up?"
The redhead looked thoughtful.
"I tried sleeping without moving around, but apparently I break restraints pretty easily."
"..."
"..."
"But it’s fine now."
"If I move too much, he’d just reposition me."
Jax shrugged, then casually pointed a thumb toward the other person in the room.
The Chief of Staff immediately knew he’d just been sold out.
He stood there with his sleeves rolled to his elbows, trying very hard to maintain a neutral expression.
It wasn’t working.
Mostly because Killian himself was still trying to process how his life had somehow arrived at this point.
Honestly, he didn’t know how Kyle survived.
Then again, his younger brother also had his own particular brand of troublemaking, so perhaps their respective insanities simply happened to be compatible.
Between those two—not even counting Luca and the Imperial Crown Prince—there was always something happening that felt impossible to prepare for.
Worse, they kept coming up with questions that most ordinary people wouldn’t even think to ask.
The whole thing ran contrary to his usual way of living. After all, someone in his position practically survived by having contingency plans for everything.
Plans A through Z.
Several backups for each, and enough foresight to account for disasters, political incidents, and unforeseen complications.
But who would even account for a gestating bee as an unforeseen circumstance?!
Even his father, the great Minister, wouldn’t have that on his list to prepare for. Much less keeping someone’s head literally straight at night!
Not to mention how he needed to do the same thing for his own head, but figuratively.
In truth, there was a possibility he’d gone insane in the head... he just couldn’t prove it yet.
Lately, his nights—and occasionally even his days—had been filled with hallucinations and suspiciously accurate prophetic murmurings.
And that was on top of everything else, since his days were already split between mental gymnastics at work and physical gymnastics involving Jax, of all people.
At this point, Killian no longer woke up with any confidence that he could predict how the day would unfold.
Just the other night, he ended up hunched in front of bushes all because he seriously heard a plea for them.
So he foraged.
Who even does that?!
Well, him apparently!
"..."
"..."
Still, surely things would return to normal after this, right?
The Chief of Staff found himself clinging desperately to that hope.
At the same time, he silently thanked his insane younger brother.
Because whatever Kyle had done all this time had allowed for this particular gremlin to hear and see all of that only to arrive at the completely odd conclusion.
"Ah!"
The blonde brightened.
"Kyle used to do something like that too!"
Killian froze.
"Because I kept sleeping with my leg hanging off the bed," Ollie explained happily. "So he’d pull it back up whenever it happened."
The mop nodded sagely.
"I don’t do it anymore though!"
"..."
"..."
That was it.
That was the conclusion he reached.
Completely ignoring the fact that an entire government office would likely descend into absolute hysteria if they ever learned what their perpetually work-bound Chief of Staff had been up to lately.
Instead, Ollie focused entirely on the wayward head and legs rather than asking about the logistics of how said head was even being aligned at night.
"Soon, you’ll get better at it too," the blonde said sympathetically, much to Killian’s disbelief.
Meanwhile, Jax, a bread roll still in hand, was already nodding.
"Hopefully, all this would end soon."
The redhead glanced around the room filled with bees.
"Not that I mind too much. I just miss my other children even if I can still watch them all day."
He sounded genuinely wistful as he stretched his back.
"And because of bed rest, I feel like my muscles need serious rehabilitation."
Jax shook his head.
"Honestly, I can’t imagine what it’d be like if women still had to do this for months."
"Not being allowed to leave, having to stay put all day, and being unable to use your spiritual energy for anything except nurturing a little one..."
Phew!
It was a random observation born from remembering how modern interstellar children would have fed on their mothers during development, often leaving them severely weakened—something their ancestors had never needed to contend with back when ambient spiritual energy was still abundant.
And if he already felt this exhausted despite sharing the burden with someone else and constantly replenishing himself with the best spiritual resources available, just how difficult would it have been if his mother had carried him the traditional way?
He didn’t even want to imagine!
However, the redhead, who felt he could somehow empathize a little better, was completely unaware of how one particular mop had interpreted his simple statement.
"!!!"
