The Day Our Baby Debuts
The entire Imperial Palace was wound as tight as a pressure cooker. Not so much as an ant could have found a moment's rest. Maids sprinted down every corridor with bolts of silk in their arms, while gardeners brandished their shears, frantic to trim even one more thorn from the roses. From the kitchens, the scent of the finest spices poured out without pause, twenty-four hours a day.
The Empire Foundation Day Ball.
They'd called it the greatest event of the year, and the heat of it was no joke. Hope and excitement tangled together in the air, rising like some strange magic you could feel against your skin.
But of everyone in that palace, no one was busier than me. They'd been hauling me around since dawn until even the pads of my paws were sweating.
"Blanc, stay right here. Five minutes. You are not to leave this spot. You must concentrate."
Emperor Karsion set me on a golden cushion beside the throne, then clasped his hands behind his back and walked toward the office door. Patience training, apparently — sitting still by myself for five whole minutes.
On any other day I would have just taken a nap, but I couldn't help myself. I toddled over and clambered up onto the throne. That cushion over there looks so much fluffier.
"Where do you think you're going?!"
Bang! The Emperor spun around without even opening the door. He'd been watching from the threshold the whole time, only pretending to leave. He wagged a finger at me.
"Five minutes! You cannot even last five minutes? At the ball, you must sit with dignity by yourself while We deliver Our speech!"
The Emperor's voice was sharp.
"Kyauu..."
I drooped and trudged back to my cushion. Please. He couldn't even stand to leave me alone for five minutes, hovering at the door like that — and he's the one training me? No paw kneading for him today.
"Your Majesty, your method is mistaken."
That was when Lina, who had been watching quietly from the corner, stepped in. She was wearing her snow-white clerical robes as usual, holy water in one hand and a rosary in the other.
"The Divine Beast abhors confinement and oppression. What His Grace requires is peace of mind — that is to say, meditation."
Lina lit incense in front of me and started jingling a wooden fish... no, a little bell.
"Now, Divine Beast. Please follow my lead..."
...This woman, I swear.
The incense made my nose itch.
Achoo!
The moment I sneezed, Lina cried out in rapture.
"Did you hear that, Your Majesty? The Divine Beast has expelled an evil aura! The purification has begun!"
"...Be silent. Get out."
The Emperor pressed a hand to his throbbing temple and tried to shoo Lina away. She refused to budge, and only burned more incense.
In the end, the training session was a complete disaster. The Emperor gave up and opened a secret drawer.
"Bah, forget it. Come, let us have a snack."
He pulled out the finest jerky, wrapped in gold foil. Lina nearly had a heart attack.
"Your Majesty! Meat, on the eve of such an important occasion? Body and spirit must be kept pure..."
"Would the Saintess like one as well?"
"...Thank you."
Lina accepted the jerky without a second's hesitation. Sacred meat, apparently, because the Divine Beast was eating it. And so a peculiar morning tableau unfolded: three of us sitting side by side, chewing jerky.
That afternoon, in the dressing room of the Princess's Palace. This was the real battlefield.
"No! That's far too drab! It'll kill Blanc's white fur! Look at that sheen!"
"But Your Highness, midnight blue is this season's trend... and the fabric even has gold-thread embroidery."
"Who cares about trends? Blanc's face is what matters! Get that out of here this instant! And never bring a color like that in front of me again!"
Kailian's sharp shout rang through the dressing room. Lined up before her were the most renowned designers in the Empire, standing with their heads bowed like condemned prisoners, the fabric samples in their hands trembling.
I sat on a dais in the center of the room and yawned. Boring. It had already been three hours of this tedious process — taking my measurements, holding fabrics up against me, picking designs, all so they could make clothes that fit my body.
Honestly, I didn't get it. I'm a tiger. I was born wearing natural leather... no, the finest fur in existence. What clothes could possibly be better than this glossy white coat?
"Blanc, just hang in there a little longer. I'll make you the most magnificent tiger in the world. We can't have you looking shabby, can we?"
As if she'd read my mind, Kailian soothed me in a honey-sweet voice. Her eyes were blazing. I could see the ambition in them — she was going to debut me into high society at this ball and seize the upper hand. It was the look of a butler heading into a show-off-my-house-cat contest.
Bang!
The door burst open and Demian strode in, a line of attendants trailing behind him with boxes in their arms.
"Kailian. Still haven't decided?"
Demian asked, arms crossed, his tone slanted and skeptical.
"This isn't any of your business, Brother. He's my partner, so I'll handle it."
"Partner? Blanc is the imperial mascot. Naturally I, as the next Emperor, should be the one looking after him. This ball is about upholding the Empire's dignity. Trust your taste alone and Blanc will be a laughingstock."
Demian snorted and gestured to the attendants.
"Open them! This is the real thing!"
The boxes opened, and glittering objects were revealed within. They weren't clothes. It was a tiny suit of... armor, forged from mithril. A full set, from helmet to breastplate — there was even a tail guard.
"..."
The Empire's doomed.
Silence filled the dressing room. The designers' mouths hung open. Kailian shot him a look of pure contempt.
"Have you lost your mind? You want to put that heavy lump of metal on Blanc? His joints will give out the second he moves. What is he, a general marching off to war?"
"Lump of metal? This is ultra-lightweight mithril armor! A predator ought to display its strength. This is a hundred times better than some lacy outfit. And who knows? Someone might step on his paws. The defense is unmatched."
Demian was dead serious. He picked up the helmet — complete with ear holes — and came toward me himself, his eyes sparkling. He looked like a kid who'd just bought a robot toy.
"Here, Blanc. Try this on. You'll look like the lord of the battlefield. How magnificent you'll be."
No. Get that away from me. I turned my head away, firm. It'd pinch my fur. It'd hurt. I spend every morning grooming until my tongue's about to fall off, keeping this coat in order.
"A gift from His Majesty has arrived!"
At the Imperial Chamberlain's cry, another procession poured in. This time, it was a gift from the Emperor. Resting on a crimson velvet cushion was... a gold cape.
Not merely gold-colored. Real gold-thread embroidery, rubies set along the hem — the blinding peak of ostentation.
"His Majesty sent it with the words, 'The Emperor's tiger must shine wherever he goes.' He said it ought to glow on its own, even without lighting."
...No, that's way too shiny. That's a disco ball. If I wore that out there, never mind drawing every eye in the room — I'd go blind first. Grandpa Emperor, your taste is so outdated.
"Wait! You are all mistaken!"
Then the curtain in the corner of the dressing room was swept aside, and Lina appeared. How long has she been there? She was holding a flower crown and a scrap of white cloth.
"What befits the Divine Beast is neither worldly armor nor lavish gold. Only purity! Only innocence! Only the sacred!"
What Lina thrust forward was a wreath woven of leaves, and an angel-wing costume made of sheer, see-through fabric.
...If I wear that, I'll actually look like a pet dog.
"If His Grace enters wearing this, every noble in the hall will repent on the spot and praise the Divine Beast!"
Lina's eyes glittered with mania. Dear God, is there seriously no other candidate for Saintess besides her?
In the end, the dressing room became a four-way war: Kailian's Luxury Formalwear Faction, Demian's Mighty Armor Faction, the Emperor's Sparkling Gold Faction, and Lina's Pure-and-Lovely Cosplay Faction. The designers had been driven into a corner, their backs about to snap.
I let out a long sigh from atop the dais. At this rate, we won't decide by the end of the day. Time for me to step in.
I got up and walked over to the racks the designers had brought. Dozens of outfits hung there. I looked for the simplest thing, the one that seemed like the least hassle.
Tap.
What my front paw nudged was a small black silk bow tie. And beside it, a red velvet cape. This'll do. It won't squeeze my body, it'll be easy to put on and take off, and most of all, it'll look striking against my white fur.
"Oh my!"
The head designer gasped in admiration.
"As expected of the Divine Beast's eye! A black bow tie and a red cape! Simple, yet a perfect combination that symbolizes imperial authority!"
At the designer's praise, all four pairs of eyes locked onto me. I picked up the tie in my mouth and handed it to Kailian. Do this one. I'm exhausted.
"...All right. If that's what Blanc wants."
Kailian set down the dress with a hint of regret, but she respected my choice. I'll groom you later, so don't sulk. Demian quietly hid the helmet behind his back. Lina looked like she wanted to rip the angel wings to shreds, but she held it in.
As expected, it's fastest when I pick.
As the hour of the ball drew near, the imperial family's tension hit its peak. Kailian, in particular, had a strangely flushed, excited look about her. In the carriage bound for the ballroom, she held me tight — so tight I could barely breathe.
"Blanc... you... you look so beautiful today."
She murmured, fussing with my bow tie.
"What if people faint when they see you? What if they want to kidnap you because you're too cute? I can't exactly go around stabbing everyone's eyes out."
...Okay, why did we jump to stabbing eyes. She was genuinely worried. That my cuteness might destroy the world. Butler, even flattery gets you roasted if you overdo it.
"Don't overdo it, Kailian."
Demian, sitting across from us, clicked his tongue. He straightened his uniform and looked out the window.
"But we do need to stay on guard. Plenty of hands will be reaching for Blanc. Especially the young noble ladies. They lose their minds over anything cute. Blanc's fur might get pulled right out."
"What? His fur? Absolutely not! No one is laying a finger on him!"
Kailian flared up. These siblings looked less like they were going to a ball and more like soldiers heading to a battlefield. The enemy, apparently, was anyone who tried to touch me. My butlers' overprotectiveness was getting worse by the day.
Then Lina knocked on the window from outside the carriage. She was supposed to be riding in a different one, but she'd insisted on walking alongside ours.
"Your Highness! Do not forget! Should the Divine Beast sneeze, you must wipe him with holy water! And should he happen to wink, the nobles may collapse from heart failure, so you must warn them in advance!"
"Ugh, shut up! Just get in your own carriage!"
Kailian slammed the window shut. Lina kept shouting something from outside, but we couldn't hear her. That dedication of hers was something else.
The Emperor sat with his eyes quietly closed. He looked far more at ease than usual — because I was sitting on his lap, singing him a Purr Song.
"Worry not."
The Emperor opened his eyes and spoke.
"So long as We do not permit it, not a soul shall lay so much as a fingertip on Blanc. Today is the day we display the Empire's majesty. Let us show them how harmonious our family is — and how magnificent this tiger is."
At the Emperor's words, Kailian's and Demian's expressions turned grimly resolute. They looked like a suicide squad about to go show off the baby of the family.
I wrapped my tail around Kailian's hand. Relax, butlers. I'm here, aren't I? I'm the star of tonight's ball. I'll go in there and charm every last one of them.
The carriage stopped. From outside came a murmur of voices and the sound of music. We'd arrived at last.
"Let's go, Blanc."
Kailian scooped me up and opened the carriage door. Light poured down. Countless eyes. I puffed out my chest and lifted my head with pride.