Chapter: 11
A Brother’s Devotion
If it was a matter important enough to make the Emperor himself move, the only possible conclusion was the ‘oracle.’
The White Tiger so desperately awaited by the Penterin imperial family had finally been born, so it was time to seriously prepare for what the oracle foretold.
Honestly, as the Crown Prince, Ijeten had never put much faith in the oracle.
Despite it being a prophecy passed down through the imperial household for ages, no royal had ever conceived a White Tiger.
Thus, he had planned to let such prophecies go in one ear and out the other should he become emperor.
He would rather spend his time honing his abilities and strengthening the empire than clinging to an oracle.
He had vowed that if the so-called Dark Divine Beast reappeared and stirred up trouble like the ancient battles, he would go and crush it himself.
Of course, Ijeten had been educated about the Penterin family’s tiger divine beasts, the siblings Ganash and Anash, so he naturally believed in Anash’s sacrifice and strength.
But the fact that all White Tigers born to families other than the imperial line had died young made the very idea of a ‘White Tiger’ seem unreliable.
He couldn’t accept a weak White Tiger being born into the Penterin imperial family, nor could he accept having such a fragile creature as his younger sibling.
A Penterin royal had to be strong, without exception.
From a young age, Ijeten had to survive all sorts of threats, including assassination attempts.
He himself was strong enough to kill assassins with his supernatural ability, even in his true form before he could humanize.
How could a creature like a White Tiger, said to be born frail, possibly withstand such dangers?
There was a limit to how much one could protect another; without the strength to survive on its own, it would never last.
But then, the unbelievable happened.
It was during his first campaign as a commander, appointed by his father, while he was suppressing rebels and their pirate allies in the southern Escarte Archipelago.
News arrived that a true White Tiger had been born to the Penterin imperial family.
He was dumbfounded.
A White Tiger born by sacrificing the life of his mother, Empress Brianna.
He wouldn’t have cared at all, even if it had been an ordinary tiger royal and not a White Tiger.
But he hated this sibling, for whom Empress Brianna had risked her life, refusing treatment to give birth.
The fact that it was a pathetically weak White Tiger infuriated him even more.
However, when news came that, contrary to his expectations, the child was not dying but surviving well day by day, his hatred turned to curiosity.
…And a younger sister, at that.
The boy, who for the first time felt something called ‘interest’ in his sibling, was overcome with a fanatical urge to ‘meet her.’
He personally took to the front lines, swinging his sword like a madman and devising brilliant tactics to pacify the southern Escarte Archipelago far ahead of schedule.
The moment he returned to the capital, he rushed to the Princess’s Palace.
And the sister he met there was…
Ijeten, who had been lost in thought for a long time, called his adjutant in a serious voice.
“Lord Talon, do you have any younger siblings?”
“Yes, Your Highness. I have two twin sisters.”
“…Is that so? Then are your younger sisters this pretty and lovely?”
Count Talon’s lips twitched.
He shuddered, recalling his own damn leopard sisters’ cubhood, when they had been busy deliberately chasing, biting, and tormenting him.
“No. Not now, and not ever.”
“I knew it. It must be because my sister is especially cute and valiant. I’m not the strange one.”
A satisfied smile graced Ijeten’s lips as he nodded in agreement.
“You must be envious, Lord Talon. My sister is just that special.”
Count Talon’s mouth twitched uncontrollably.
“Haha. Of, course.”
Forcing a laugh, he began to think.
This arrogant Crown Prince was crazy about the precious White Tiger Princess.
As an adjutant who had served the Crown Prince for a long time, Count Talon had been quite worried about Ijeten’s excellent combat skills but lacking character.
But now, seeing him grinning foolishly while fawning over his sister felt so unfamiliar it gave him the creeps.
In particular, the Crown Prince who constantly boasted about the princess was a world away from the man who had earned a reputation as a demon on the battlefield.
He looked like an idiot with a screw loose.
‘Ah, no. This is an opportunity. Thanks to the princess, there’s a chance to improve his character.’
He thought it was better for the Crown Prince with the ruined character to learn familial love by cherishing his sister and mending his broken personality, rather than becoming emperor as he was.
In that sense, the birth of the White Tiger Princess was truly a blessing.
Honestly, when he had seen the princess, she was so small and adorable that Count Talon himself had felt the urge to clutch his heart and make a fuss.
He was especially moved by how she, a fragile-looking cub, confronted Crown Prince Ijeten without fear.
Was it because she was a Penterin royal, after all?
‘Or…’
Count Talon paused in his thoughts, something occurring to him, and asked cautiously.
“By the way, Your Highness. The princess hasn’t shown her supernatural ability since then, has she?”
“That’s true.”
As soon as Ijeten finished his duties as Crown Prince, he would rush off to see Jusi.
Jusi, with her tail held high and her little mews, still seemed wary of him, but she didn’t seem to hate him as much as before, which he found even cuter.
But just as Count Talon said, Jusi hadn’t shown her supernatural ability since.
‘Why is that? I seem to recall burning down the Prince’s Palace several times because I couldn’t control it when I first awakened.’
Recalling his own cubhood, Ijeten stroked his chin and spoke gravely.
“Lord Talon.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
Whenever he called him like this, he always said something foolish. Surely not…
Just as Count Talon began to feel uneasy, Ijeten spoke.
“Our Jusi must be a genius. She already knows how to control her supernatural ability. What am I to do? She’s so cute, pretty, adorable, and lovely, and now she’s brilliant on top of it all.”
‘…Character development, character development.’
Ignoring the frozen Count Talon, Ijeten grinned.
“If she asks for the crown prince’s seat, I’ll give it to her. So grow up big and strong, my little cutie.”
Grinning foolishly, Ijeten suddenly declared his heart ached with the need to see Jusi and shot up from his seat.
As he chased after Ijeten, who vanished with ghostly speed, Count Talon thought in all seriousness.
Yes, it might be better if the princess—with her cool, valiant, yet calm supernatural ability—became the heir instead.
***
After awakening her supernatural ability, Jusi was finally allowed on the terrace.
Ijeten had severely reprimanded the royal guards and maids, questioning how an eight-month-old tiger cub could live without ever breathing fresh air.
“Krrng…”
But a sigh escaped Jusi’s lips as she sat on a chair at the terrace table, gazing out at the arboretum.
The reason was that she hadn’t been able to use her supernatural ability since.
After Ijeten left, Jusi had tried all sorts of things on her own, trying to figure out how to use her power.
But she couldn’t make it snow, let alone summon the blue flames.
Her heart had swelled with pride when Sophie hugged her that day, telling her she did well and that the blue flames and snow were the powers of the divine beast Anash.
She just couldn’t figure out how to use them.
She wanted to ask how to use her supernatural ability, but she had no way and no one to ask. She tried to calm herself and feel the power flowing through her body, but…
In her quiet body, only her heart fluttered.
Does it come out when I’m angry?
So whenever Ijeten, the strongest beastman in the imperial castle, visited, Jusi would deliberately get angry, glare at him, and even bite his arm.
-Hahaha. Do you like your big brother that much? You little cutie!
-Grrr?!
But her own blood was no help.
Seeing Ijeten’s goofy, slack-jawed expression, delighted that she was giving him attention, she lost all will to fight out of sheer pity rather than feeling any anger.
Crown Prince Ijeten was following the same path as Emperor Ritain.
Seeing him grow more and more obsessed with her, Jusi shook her head.
‘Are all the Penterin royals actually idiots? …Why do they dote on me so much? Like fools.’
Jusi suddenly thought of Emperor Ritain, who had been away from the imperial castle for quite some time, and rested her chin on her front paws.
‘…I think I miss him a little.’
Her eyelids grew heavy, and she closed her eyes.
***
‘Ah, a white tiger.’
The white tiger looking down from the mountaintop was immense and beautiful.
As Jusi stared blankly at its back, the white tiger suddenly turned its head, and their eyes met.
Seeing its piercing blue eyes, her heart seemed to drop with a thud.
The white tiger said nothing, only gazing at Jusi.
“Who are you?”
Human words came from Jusi’s mouth as she broke the silence first.
Startled, Jusi raised a hand.
Her eyes fell upon the small, pale palm of a child, with short fingers and a wrist.
‘Human form?’
Just then, the white tiger turned as if to leave, and Jusi rushed toward it frantically.
“Where are you going!”
