The Butler's Mark
I stretched until my spine popped and opened my eyes.
Beneath my rump — or rather, on what might as well have been my personal cushion — Kailian was still wandering through dreamland. She had buried her face in my belly and gone utterly still, sunk so deep in sleep that last night's harrowing nightmare felt like a lie. Even her breathing was quiet.
"Kyau."
Wake up, Butler. The sun's high in the sky. Feed me.
I flicked her nostril with my tail. No reaction. Insolent butler. This time I mashed my wet nose all over her face, and the instant that cold snout touched her, her brow finally twitched.
"Mmnh... Blanc...?"
Kailian laboriously lifted her lashes. She stared blankly at the ceiling, then dropped her gaze to me, sitting squarely on her face.
"Sleep well...? I thought I was going to die, you little pig."
"Kyau."
Hmph. She keeps calling me a pig. Where else are you going to find a pig this handsome?
Her voice was still hoarse, but her expression looked far more at ease than before. There was life in her eyes. She staggered up from the bed.
"I should get ready... Father and Brother are waiting."
The imperial breakfast. A faint shadow crossed Kailian's face as she spoke those words. This was no cozy family meal. It was closer to a solemn ceremony than breakfast — at least until this ball of fluff had arrived.
"You lucky little pig."
"Kyaaaaang... waaang."
She pinched and stretched Blanc's cheek as he stretched out luxuriously beside her. Before Blanc came, they had almost never sat down together at all. Just seeing her father's and brother's faces had been enough to tie her in knots. Even now, she couldn't exactly call them comfortable. It was only because Blanc existed as a connecting thread that they could even be called a family. It felt as if they had gone back to the way things were before... that incident.
"It's all thanks to you."
"Kyaaaak!"
The instant she let go of his cheek, he smacked her wrist with his tail as if sulking, then wriggled his rump and put some distance between them.
What's that butler's problem?
"Kyuu..."
No paw kneading today. And I'm not grooming you either.
The butler wore a peculiar little smile as she headed for the vanity. She washed her face, put herself in order, and once again donned the flawless, impenetrable mask of an imperial princess. And then a tragedy — or rather, a comedy, except for one person — unfolded.
Seated before the mirror, Kailian's body locked up like a statue. The silver comb in her hand slipped and clattered to the floor. She didn't even think to pick it up.
The woman in the mirror. The pale, composed face of an ice-sculpture princess. Dead center on her forehead, a vivid red jelly stamp had been slammed into place — the crystallized pressure of Blanc, who weighed over ten kilos, sitting on her all night. Four round toe pads and the plump cushion beneath them had formed a perfect heart, so deep and distinct it almost looked as if it had drawn blood. As if he'd stamped her with a declaration: This human is MY butler.
"What... what is this..."
Kailian's pupils shook as if in an earthquake. She hurriedly splashed her face with cold water. She even tried icing it, but the mark was stubborn. The paw print showed no sign of fading. If anything, the more she rubbed, the redder it grew, flaunting its presence.
"What do I do... How am I supposed to go out like this..."
She stared at the mirror with a woeful expression. To appear before her always-strict father looking like this — just imagining it sent a chill down her spine. She hastily pulled her bangs down. She usually wore her forehead bare and cool, but today she had no choice. She resented her past self for cutting those bangs short because they always got in the way.
The butler shot me a resentful look.
Why... sorry.
I avoided her gaze and licked my hind leg on the bed. Grooming is important, you know. It's a medal for guarding her from nightmares all night. She ought to be honored. If the Saintess had seen her trying to wipe off a Divine Beast's butler stamp, she'd have wailed.
In the end, the butler picked me up with a look of resignation. They were out of time. As they passed through the corridor, knights and maids startled and stared at her forehead, then hurriedly bowed their heads.
"Kyau..."
"Blanc... no snacks for you today."
The high ceilings and glittering chandeliers were wasted on air as heavy as lead. A silence so complete you hesitated to even breathe. At the head of the long table sat the master of the empire, Emperor Karsion, and to his right sat the next emperor, Crown Prince Demian. A distance more befitting strangers than family hung over the table. Silence lingered between them. The attendants set the food with practiced ease.
Before the Divine Beast had arrived, it had been worse than this. Meals where they didn't even bother to hide the frost they scattered had been an object of terror for everyone.
"Her Highness the Princess is entering."
At the Imperial Chamberlain's call, the heavy doors opened and Kailian came in. Her steps were more withdrawn than usual. She kept her head bowed, her gaze fixed on the floor, like someone desperately hiding something.
"I offer my morning greetings... Father, Brother."
Kailian's voice trembled faintly. She pressed her short bangs down with her hand as she bowed. The Emperor returned the greeting indifferently.
"Yes. Sit."
"Kyau."
Hello!
I slipped out of Kailian's arms and raised a front paw in greeting.
"Did my grandson — ahem. Did the Divine Beast sleep well?"
The Emperor's eyes widened the moment he saw me. He glanced around, then quietly offered me a greeting as well. Demian quietly greeted me too, and the meal began.
Clink. Clink. The scrape of a silver knife on a plate, the tap of forks — those were the only conversation. Attendants moved like shadows, ferrying dishes.
Chomp, chomp. Mm. Delicious today too.
From my dedicated seat beside Kailian's chair, I stuffed my mouth with meat and observed my butlers. Everyone was stiffly, mechanically putting food in their mouths. Over and over. Honestly, such inflexible butlers. If I don't intervene, conversation doesn't even start. And yet they have the gall to think they've become quite the harmonious family. It's absurd. These are people who talk just fine when they team up over my antics, you know.
Then it happened. The appetizer — cream of mushroom soup — was served. The moment Kailian lowered her head to scoop it, the bangs she'd been pressing down couldn't bear their own weight and slowly parted. The jelly stamp revealed itself. Dead center on her pale forehead, a heart-shaped paw print glowing red like a bullseye was laid bare. Catching the chandelier light, the mark shone even more brilliantly.
"Hhk...!"
Demian's eyes went wide as he was drinking water. His shoulders jerked up. He hurriedly clamped a hand over his mouth. His face flushed in an instant as if he'd choked, but he couldn't make a sound. His pupils darted, lost.
What is that? What's that on her forehead?
Sensing something odd, Emperor Karsion turned his head. Frowning at the Crown Prince's sudden strange behavior, he shifted his gaze toward Kailian — and stopped. Precisely at the dead center of Kailian's forehead.
Silence. A silence of an entirely different kind from before. Not the heavy, cold, leaden kind, but something bewildered and peculiar. Kailian couldn't lift her head, the spoon still in her mouth. Shame had turned even her ears red. Even I, tearing into meat beside her, could hear her heartbeat.
Did he see it? No. He couldn't have. Please...
"Kailian."
The Emperor's low, solemn voice cut across the table. Kailian's shoulders flinched. The spoon in her hand rattled.
"...Yes, Your Majesty."
Kailian answered in a trembling voice and slowly raised her head. Her bangs had already split completely — beyond salvage. The jelly mark was shouting, I'm right here.
The Emperor's brow twitched. A fine crack ran through that blunt, iron-faced expression. The corner of his eye trembled, and his mouth twisted in a peculiar way.
"Ahem."
The Emperor hurriedly lifted a napkin to his mouth. Or rather, he was desperately hiding the fact that the corner of his mouth was lifting. Unable to look his daughter in the forehead, he turned his gaze toward my plate to conceal his fluster.
"That red thing... on your forehead."
"...Yes."
Kailian squeezed her eyes shut. Was she about to be scolded? For failing to uphold imperial dignity? Her fingertips went white.
"Is it a new... fashionable design?"
The words that left the Emperor's mouth were unexpected. It wasn't a reprimand. It was the clumsy, not-quite-a-joke of a father who had never told a joke in his life, awkward to the extreme. The end of his voice was trembling faintly. He was clearly straining to hold back a laugh.
"...It is not."
Kailian answered in a voice that crawled into the floor. Her face burned red.
"All night... Blanc was chasing away my nightmares..."
"Nightmares?"
"It seems he treated you... rather vigorously. It's stamped quite clearly. Like an imperial seal."
At Demian's words, the attendants standing behind bowed their heads deeply so as not to be caught laughing. Even the Imperial Chamberlain was biting his lip hard, staring at the ceiling. Kailian wanted to crawl into a mouse hole. To look this ridiculous in front of family who were already awkward enough. She looked down at me with resentment.
"Kyau?"
Why? Everything that happened was for your sake. Be proud of it.
Then Emperor Karsion spoke again.
"Pardon?"
Kailian looked at her father with startled eyes. The Emperor set down the napkin and picked up his knife again.
"Your complexion... looks better. That's a relief."
With that, the Emperor continued his meal in silence. Kailian understood what was packed into that blunt single sentence. I'm glad you didn't have nightmares. I'm glad you aren't hurting. And... I'm glad you look comfortable enough to wear a mark like that.
The air over the table shifted, subtly. It was still quiet, but it no longer felt suffocating. Demian propped his chin and snuck glances at Kailian's forehead, smiling, while Kailian kept fussing with her bangs in embarrassment. But a faint smile hung at the corner of her mouth as well.
"Blanc."
The Emperor had an attendant pass over the largest, juiciest steak from his own plate.
"Well done."
"Kyau."
I gave a slight nod and bit into the steak. He didn't say what the thanks were for. Even so, I could tell the meaning hidden inside.
"Kyuu."
If you know, treat me well. It's all thanks to me, after all.