Chapter 1279: His Turn to Leave

However, just because the Kyros family had managed to settle their little dilemma didn’t mean every family could resolve their issues quite as quickly.

Especially when one particular redhead was only now beginning to realize the horrifying implications of being away from the dungeon space for at least seven solid days.

Seven days outside.

Which, thanks to the time dilation inside the dungeon space, practically translated to around twenty-one!

"..."

Jax couldn’t help but stare at a certain someone.

Normally, being away for that long wouldn’t have been particularly groundbreaking for someone like Jax.

He’d grown up constantly moving from one place to another with just his friends, to the point that he’d learned to sleep just about anywhere and rarely felt unsettled by unfamiliar surroundings.

Things had changed considerably after he was allowed into the dungeon space.

For the first time in quite a while, Jax had something that genuinely felt like a home base.

Sure, they had several properties scattered throughout the Empire, and there was always somewhere to stay whenever they returned from missions or the Academy. But with how rarely he visited the same place for any meaningful length of time, he’d never really been able to maintain anything that required a regular schedule or consistent care.

At least, not until Luca came along with his ridiculously life-changing space.

Suddenly, Jax had somewhere he could reliably return to regardless of where they traveled outside. He’d become comfortable and settled enough to put down roots in an almost literal sense, considering the steadily growing number of photosynthetic children now under his care.

Even then, leaving for several days at a time had never been much of a problem.

Sure, he’d miss all of his children terribly, but it wasn’t as though they’d be left unattended. The Elders were there, and now his parents were around too. There were more than enough people he trusted to make sure every single one of his babies was properly taken care of.

Besides, most of his children were relatively easy to leave for a time.

His green and leafy babies certainly weren’t going to start crying because their father disappeared for a few days. If anything, some of them seemed perfectly content being left alone to grow in peace, while others had become particularly fond of spending time with his mother, whose abilities made her especially well-suited for their rather unusual bonding sessions.

But recently, something rather significant had changed in Jax’s life.

He now had one particularly active baby who was more than sentient enough to actually notice when her papa was gone.

Isabelle.

"Bzz?"

The little Queen Bee tilted her head.

Jax’s lips immediately trembled.

What was going to happen to his baby?!

Twenty-one dungeon space days!

Of course, he trusted Killian with Izzie. There was absolutely no question about that.

What Jax was only now discovering, however, was that he might not trust himself to survive being separated from the little bee he’d spent almost every waking moment with since she’d graced all of them with her presence!

How was he even supposed to explain it to her?

It wasn’t like Isabelle could fully understand something as complicated as ’Papa has a mandatory Academy activity and might not be able to come home for a while.’

Especially when they still didn’t know exactly where they were going or whether they’d have any opportunity to return in between!

Killian wasn’t around all day either, but that was something Isabelle had been used to since she was born. He had always needed to work, and even then, he made it a point to return several times throughout the day just to see her.

But Jax?

He was usually there.

Which made the redhead’s growing crisis considerably worse as he crouched in front of the little Queen Bee.

"Izzie..."

"Bzzzz?"

Her tiny head tilted curiously to the side.

Oh no.

Why did she look confused already?!

Unusually and unexpectedly worried about how to tell her, his gaze immediately darted toward his partner.

This guy too!

What was he supposed to do without Jax around?!

Of course, Killian was an extremely capable adult who’d somehow survived perfectly well long before Jax entered his life, but that was completely beside the point!

What if he started working without resting again?

What if he got too busy and skipped breakfast?

What if nobody bothered him enough throughout the day to remind him that there were things in life other than reports, investigations, and whatever disaster the Empire had decided to throw at the Chief of Staff that particular morning?!

Jax’s brows slowly furrowed.

Maybe he should prepare something.

A schedule?

But since when did the most spontaneous person in their group know anything about schedules besides those for training, watering, or feeding?

"..."

"..."

Jax rubbed his face.

There was already enough going on as it was. They still had the matter of that suspicious burner, and the investigation Eden and Curtis were helping launch certainly wasn’t going to disappear just because a group of cadets had an Academy activity.

Yet somehow, with Isabelle buzzing curiously in front of him, Jax found himself completely overwhelmed by a problem he’d never encountered before.

He’d left people behind plenty of times.

But this was different.

This time, unlike the guardian beast Tortie, who usually seemed to prefer seeing the food basket instead of him, Jax actually had beings who would be waiting for him to come home.

"Bzz?"

Isabelle fluttered closer, apparently wondering why her father had suddenly gone so quiet.

And as Jax watched her, a strange thought suddenly struck him.

Was this how Mom and Dad felt?

His expression slowly changed.

Was this what his parents had gone through whenever he’d disappeared for long stretches of time?

He’d always known they missed him, but apparently, understanding that and suddenly finding himself on the other side of it were two very different things.

And he was only going away for a week!

His parents had dealt with far worse.

How had they survived it?!

"Bzzzzz!"

Isabelle landed on him, her little face still carrying that unmistakable look of confusion.

Jax’s eyes immediately started burning.

No.

He was not going to cry over a one-week school activity!

"Bzz?"

The little bee reached toward him.

Jax’s lips wobbled.

Oh, who was he kidding?!

How was he supposed to survive twenty-one dungeon space days without his baby when she was already looking at him like that?!