Chapter: 8
A Hostile Reunion
The words that spilled from Crown Prince Ijeten’s mouth were completely unfiltered.
A stunned silence fell over the room, but the boy continued speaking.
“It’s strange, isn’t it? They say white tigers are so weak they usually die. Are you only alive because you’re a tough Penterin royal?”
“Grrrr.”
“Or does that mean you’re really the reincarnation of Anash? This tiny little thing?”
The boy tilted his head and stroked his chin, his expression one of pure curiosity.
But the attendants and maids, waiting with their heads bowed, trembled, not knowing what was about to happen.
Jusy slowly looked Ijeten up and down, from his feet to the top of his head. The moment their eyes met, she gulped without realizing it.
He was the first person to speak so crudely to her since she was born.
She wanted to bite him, but her teeth were still just tiny, round nubs like grains of rice. They wouldn’t pose much of a threat.
Besides, though he was still young, this boy was no ordinary person.
‘He’s the most dangerous one in this room.’
Her instincts screamed a warning.
“Why are you looking at me like that? Oh, right. I haven’t introduced myself, have I?”
Crown Prince Ijeten grinned at Jusy.
“Hello?”
The lopsided smile on Ijeten’s handsome face was so intimidating that it made the fur on her back stand on end.
To exude such a chilling aura at his age…
Sophie had constantly warned her to be careful of Ijeten, her older brother and the Crown Prince.
She hadn’t met him until now because he had been away from the imperial palace. Today was the first time she had seen him in person.
Ijeten Rumiare Penterin.
Twelve years old this year.
The first son of Emperor Ritain and the late Empress Brianna.
As a member of the Penterin imperial family, he had received Ganash’s blessing, a potent one that followed right after Emperor Ritain’s.
It was an unprecedented event.
Never before had such strong blessings been passed down consecutively.
Usually, a powerful blessing would only manifest in a royal born two or three generations later.
So, it was no wonder people found it remarkable.
Crown Prince Ijeten was rumored to be powerful despite his youth.
Seeing him now, he looked exactly like a younger version of Emperor Ritain.
‘Damn.’
Jusy felt a pang of envy toward the Crown Prince, who clearly wasn’t a typical twelve-year-old.
So this is what it’s like to be born a proper Penterin royal, blessed by the divine beast Ganash.
Jusy wanted to muzzle her own flesh and blood, who was mocking her for being a tiny white tiger and taunting her for not being dead yet.
‘Damn it!’
But what infuriated her more was that his words were true.
“……”
As Jusy glared at him in silence, Sophie discreetly moved closer to her side.
“I greet His Highness, the Crown Prince of the Penterin Empire.”
Bowing her head to the Crown Prince, Sophie naturally stood in front of Jusy.
“Ah, Aunt Sophie. It’s been a while. Have you been well?”
Ijeten replied to her quite casually.
Sophie continued.
“Your Highness, I heard you successfully completed your mission and returned after clearing out all the pirates around the Escarte Archipelago in the South Sea. It is most impressive.”
“Well, it took longer than I thought, thanks to some annoying orca beastmen.”
Ijeten grumbled, running a hand roughly through his bright blond hair.
Crown Prince Ijeten was only twelve.
However, his swordsmanship was astonishing, and his supernatural abilities were so exceptional that he had been fighting on the front lines since he was ten.
He had been away for a long time since last summer, sent to suppress a rebellion in the southern part of Penterin as part of his training and duties as Crown Prince.
And while he was away from the imperial palace…
His mother, Empress Brianna, had become pregnant, and without his knowledge, Jusy had been born.
Ijeten’s eyes, fixed on Jusy, curved like crescent moons.
“So I didn’t get to see Her Majesty the Empress on her deathbed, nor did I get to see that thing be born, did I? It’s such a shame.”
The more Ijeten smiled, the higher the tension in the room rose.
The air itself seemed to crackle and hum.
Nervous, Jusy swallowed hard.
Her brother, Crown Prince Ijeten, was said to be not only exceptionally skilled as a Penterin royal but also had a notoriously eccentric and volatile temper.
Some even said his fiery nature was worse than Emperor Ritain’s.
Moreover, Ijeten was said to have adored and followed his mother, Empress Brianna.
Empress Brianna had apparently been an incredibly kind and gentle person.
Jusy had never met her, so she wouldn’t know, but for Ijeten, twelve long years of memories with his mother were like jewels. Of course, it would be different for him.
The depth of his feelings.
And that mother had died while he was on a battlefield in the south.
Upon hearing the news, Ijeten was said to have been overcome with despair and grief.
Rumors had even reached the imperial palace that on that day, the heads of several hundred pirates were severed by an enraged Ijeten as he vented his fury.
So, it was only natural.
For him to see the younger sister who had devoured his beloved mother to be born as a monster.
The feeling of being hated by the brother she had just met was far from pleasant.
‘That bastard… he hates me.’
Having reached this conclusion, Jusy grumbled to herself.
She felt wronged and annoyed.
She had only just begun to forgive the Emperor.
And now, another infuriating person had appeared.
‘What do you want me to do about it? If I could have saved Mom, I would have.’
She had no memories of Empress Brianna.
Sophie had only shown her a portrait; she had never felt her mother’s warmth.
She had simply been born, locked away in a dark, narrow room without ever seeing her mother’s face.
‘In the end, aren’t we both the same, having lost our mother? At least you got to see her for a long time! At least you were loved!’
Muttering internally, Jusy felt a surge of resentment toward Ijeten, who seemed like a childish fool for taking his anger out on her.
So, she impulsively opened her mouth.
“Nyaaaargh!!!”
Everyone froze, startled by the baby white tiger’s sudden roar.
The most surprised of all was Ijeten.
But after a moment of confusion, he slowly tilted his head to the left and twisted one corner of his mouth into a smirk.
“Well, well. Hey, white tiger. Are you angry at me right now?”
As he sneered, Sophie Langrasse and everyone else turned deathly pale.
“Looking closely, you even dare to scowl? Our little white tiger has no fear, does she?”
“Hmph.”
Jusy, flustered, tried to smooth the deep frown on her face.
She hadn’t thought he would notice.
‘How did he read my expression when even Ritain has trouble with it?’
But it was too late.
Ijeten took another step closer to Jusy, crossed his arms, and lowered his voice, a grin playing on his lips.
“You cunning little tiger. How dare you challenge the Crown Prince? Huh? I hear you can’t do anything. Your true form is so small it hasn’t even grown properly. At this rate, human transformation will be impossible for at least ten years…”
As he got closer, Ijeten’s voice trailed off as he looked at Jusy, who was as small as a tiny doll.
Her fur and tail were puffed up in defiance, which was rather pathetic, and she was, he had to admit, quite cute.
He had come to hate the little sister who had devoured his gentle mother.
So why wasn’t she hateful at all?
Ijeten was confused.
Moreover, seeing her in person, she was even adorable.
‘Are tiger cubs normally this small and pretty?’
While Ijeten was deep in thought, Jusy was in a state of panic.
The problem was that he wasn’t just hot-headed; he was fundamentally ill-natured.
Ijeten’s golden eyes met Jusy’s blue ones.
But despite her flinching, Jusy did not back down.
She would rather die than lose.
Even if she survived by begging a guy like this, she would probably be killed by him someday anyway.
Perhaps it was the tiger’s fighting spirit awakening.
‘I am not weak!’
Jusy recalled a faint image of her past self and glared.
Ijeten looked down at her dismissively, but then his eyes widened as he sensed something.
‘Ha. This is…!’
Ijeten pondered for a moment, then drew his sword from its sheath and pointed it at Jusy.
*Shing—!*
“Your Highness!”
“Y-Your Highness the Crown Prince!”
The attendants and royal guards cried out in alarm and tried to stop him, but Ijeten was faster.
He flashed a grin at Jusy, revealing his pearly white teeth.
Then, his sharp golden eyes glinted as he tightened his grip on the hilt of his sword.
“Come at me, little tiger. Your big brother is about to teach you a lesson.”
