Chapter: 16
The Perils of Gifting
Jusi was grateful to Ijeten for so earnestly helping her with her supernatural ability.
Perhaps it was because she had grown fond of the way he encouraged and comforted her, despite her clumsiness.
Lately, however, she couldn’t help but worry that Ijeten looked unwell and listless.
His constant, heavy sighs made her wonder if something was troubling him.
Since there was nothing she could do to help, she had simply picked a few flowers for him while on a walk in the garden.
‘This is a bit much for a thank-you gift.’
The gem was bigger than her own eye, and feeling overwhelmed, Jusi subtly backed away.
‘The man has no sense of moderation.’
Jusi regretted her thoughtless gift.
A moment later, however, Emperor Ritain arrived, wearing an openly offended expression.
“Jusi, Daddy loves flowers too.”
“Kyang?”
‘What is he on about now…’
Just then, Ritain suddenly leaned down, thrusting his face toward Jusi with a wide smile.
Jusi instinctively recoiled from the pressure, feeling as if he were threatening her with his face alone.
“Of course, the flower I love most is you, Jusi. I know you’ve grown close to Ijeten, but… still! You love your daddy most of all, right?”
A glint of madness flashed in the Emperor’s gently smiling golden eyes.
His gaze seemed to hold a silent promise to destroy the world if she didn’t declare him her favorite.
Jusi nodded frantically before bolting toward the garden.
‘Ugh.’
Jusi shook her head. With Ritain following close behind, she deliberately plucked the prettiest flower with her mouth and offered it to him.
Ritan beamed.
“Thank you, my daughter.”
His smile was utterly doting, but there was something cute about it, and Jusi couldn’t help but let out a small chuckle.
After receiving a few more flowers to make a bouquet, Ritain departed, looking satisfied and proud.
“My bouquet is bigger than my son’s!”
Ugh. Her father was so embarrassing. Jusi covered her eyes with her front paws.
‘I can’t bear to watch.’
A few days later, Emperor Ritain’s return gift arrived.
It was a solid gold statue of a tiger cub, its eyes inlaid with large, deep-blue sapphires. It was bigger than Jusi.
“Aaaah…”
Jusi was at a loss for words, letting out a small whimper.
Sir Xaviet remarked gravely.
“With this much solid gold, the diamonds individually set into the stripes, and these top-grade sapphires… couldn’t one rebuild the imperial palace?”
‘Gasp…!’
Fascinated by the enormous golden tiger cub, Jusi had placed a paw on its leg. But upon hearing Sir Xaviet’s words, she was so startled she stealthily pulled it back.
Was it really that expensive?
‘This terrifying father and brother… I’m never giving them gifts again!’
As Jusi silently made her vow, those around her watched her with warm smiles.
“His Majesty and His Highness the Crown Prince both dote on the Princess so much.”
“I mean, how they get jealous of each other. I shouldn’t say this, but isn’t it kind of cute?”
“At this rate, it’ll be a disaster the day the Princess gets a lover.”
“A lover, you mean a boyfriend?”
A chill fell over the room at Sir Xaviet’s final comment.
The mere thought sent shivers down their spines.
Those two terrifying royals would surely go on a rampage, vowing to kill the Princess’s future boyfriend.
They had no idea how they would even begin to handle that situation.
Xaviet, who had started it, tried to smooth things over by speaking loudly.
“That’s still a long way off!”
“Th-that’s right. A lover? Our Princess is everyone’s princess!”
Uni swept up the Princess, who was standing before the golden tiger statue, into a tight hug and exclaimed. Jusi, bewildered, could only sigh.
‘A lover? What are they even talking about?’
She had no need for such a thing.
Her greatest wish was to finally master her supernatural ability and become human.
But that very problem was approaching much sooner than she could have ever expected.
***
Two years passed. Despite Jusi and Ijeten’s diligent efforts, they had made no progress.
For better or worse, no further trace of the Dark Divine Beast was ever found.
The Anash birch trees scattered across the eastern continent withered and turned black.
However, no other signs of the creature appeared in the places known in ancient times as the habitats of the Dark Divine Beast—the Black Snake.
The Dark Divine Beast was a colossal black snake.
On the theory that a beastman of the same species might more easily detect its trail, scholars dispatched snake beastmen to scout the area near the Rossart River.
But it was a futile effort.
No distinct aura or trace of the Black Snake could be found.
It was impossible to tell whether the creature had vanished completely or was simply hiding with great cunning.
The search grew more difficult, leaving the special response team at a loss.
Some of the Anash birch trees withered completely and were felled; others survived.
The situation was ambiguous.
The same could be said for the growth of the White Tiger Princess, Jusi.
Her teeth had grown a little sharper, but her frame remained small and petite.
‘Damn it.’
Jusi ferociously crunched on an apple, thumping her tail against the floor.
Why was her growth so half-hearted?
She tried to be positive, thankful that her teeth had at least grown enough for her to eat meat.
To be precise, her teeth had started growing from the moment she first used her supernatural ability.
This convinced Jusi that she needed to use her ability freely again to grow large like the other Penterin royals.
But her efforts were in vain.
Ijeten, the priests, and even Ritain had helped her stir the supernatural ability within her, but that was as far as it ever went.
Whenever she felt her ability, a warmth would spread through her chest.
It would swirl silently within her before gradually subsiding, growing quiet as if falling back asleep.
It was as if it had no reason to emerge.
‘Ugh, this is so frustrating! My ability is so lazy! It’s useless!’
Jusi vented her frustration by punching the golden tiger statue, which looked far more impressive than she did.
But no matter how hard she hit it, her own soft, jelly-like paws only ended up hurting more.
With tears welling in her eyes, Jusi looked back at Sophie and the maids, prompting another round of fussing from her attendants.
And so, time continued to pass without purpose.
‘Dad’s birthday is coming up.’
Jusi blinked, holding a crayon in her mouth as she drew an X over the current date on the calendar.
The birthday banquet for Emperor Ritain Dester Penterin was five days away.
A cold sweat broke out on her brow.
Last year, she had thoughtlessly forgotten a gift, and her rather petty father had sulked for three whole days, making life difficult for the palace staff and vassals.
If she failed to give him one this time, he would probably take it out on the entire empire.
She had gone through enough trouble cheering him up last year.
Jusi resolved to put aside her worries about her ability, at least until after Ritain’s birthday banquet, and focus all her energy on preparing a gift.
What could she possibly get for an emperor who already had everything money could buy?
Effort and love, she supposed.
Which was, frankly, a bit of a hassle.
‘Still, I have to do it.’
By now, she could communicate reasonably well with her maids through various paw and body gestures.
She requested a card from them, then personally dipped her paws in colorful paints to write Ritain’s name.
Then, she dabbed her paw pads in paint to make heart shapes, pressing them firmly onto the card.
“Kyah, haah…”
Jusi looked proudly at the birthday card she had diligently completed with time, effort, and love… and spun around in a circle.
Behold! The world’s first birthday card crafted by a White Tiger Princess!
“Wow! That’s amazing!”
“You did wonderfully, Your Highness!!!”
“Kyah!”
As the maids clapped for her, Jusi preened, flicking her tail back and forth.
The congratulatory card, three times her size, was the product of three days of diligent work using her soft, jelly-bean-like paws and tail.
Xaviet and Hamston watched from a distance, their mouths watering with envy.
‘I want one too.’
‘You can get one if you become the emperor.’
‘Or a father.’
‘You should just give up.’
‘…You should give up on life.’
While the Royal Guards bickered amongst themselves, Sophie carefully wiped the paint from Jusi’s paws.
As Uni carried the card away to let it dry, Jusi saw the flames of jealousy flare in her eyes and let out a small laugh.
It was just a little paw print.
Jusi looked down at her now-clean pink paw pads and sighed.
Then she made a mental note to make a paw-print birthday card for Uni, too.
