눈덩이 같은 찹쌀떡
I was sprawled across my personal cushion by the window of the princess’s palace, rolling back and forth with my tail thumping the floor in lazy rhythm.
“Kyuuu…”
‘Bored out of my mind.’
While the princess attended the imperial council, the crown prince was drilling the knights, and the emperor was deep in talks with foreign envoys, there was nothing left for me but the palace grounds and the maids.
Seeing Saintess Lina dash over every time she caught a glimpse of me used to be thrilling, but now even she had vanished into the pope’s court, leaving only me and the maids in this vast imperial palace.
The maids always greeted my approach with wide-eyed delight: “Oh my! Lord Divine Beast! Just one quick pat on my hand—please?!”
I was so tired of it I could scream.
I needed something exciting, something that would actually break the monotony.
I pushed myself up and padded to the window as usual, peering out at the garden.
The flowerbeds were neatly trimmed and glowing crimson under the late sun—beautiful, yes, but so painfully ordinary it made me want to yawn.
I snorted a fart, turned my head, and…
My silver eyes narrowed.
In the farthest corner of the garden, tucked behind a thicket of rose bushes that no one’s feet had ever touched—the third restricted zone—something utterly alien was unfolding.
It looked like someone had Photoshopped only that patch and inverted the colors. A narrow rectangle of pure, blinding white.
‘What the heck…?’
Instinct flared hot in my chest.
With practiced ease I batted my front paw against the window latch until it slid open. Leaping onto the terrace rail, I dropped gracefully to the grass below.
If they wanted to cage me, they should have brought the cat tower. Come on, butler!
The moment my paws touched the lawn the breeze felt good—cool, light, carrying the faint scent of coming rain.
I melted into the tall grass and lowered my body, inching toward the glowing white rectangle like a ghost.
Squish… squish…
I stepped silently, crushing fallen leaves beneath my weight, ears forward, heart hammering with pure curiosity.
The closer I got, the colder the air grew.
It felt like the door to a massive freezer had been left open, a freezing draft seeping straight through my fur.
And then I pushed past the last rose branch and peeked out.
My eyes widened in disbelief.
“……!!”
Three imperial grand mages stood in perfect formation, faces stern, staffs swinging in precise arcs.
Faces I recognized from the grand banquet hall.
“Output at forty percent and hold.”
“Humidity control—perfect. The snow crystals are too coarse. Her Majesty demanded a ‘cotton-candy texture.’”
“Wind direction fixed. One stray current and the flowers will freeze solid.”
They moved with the focused gravity of soldiers on a battlefield.
…Grandpa’s generation. So elegant.
Around them, within a thirty-meter radius, white powder rained from the sky in glittering sheets.
The ground was already ankle-deep, piled high like fresh snowfall.
What in the world were they doing?
I pricked my ears and strained to catch their words.
“This is the emperor’s decree. The climate-control test must not fail.”
“I thought it was for next year’s drought preparation… Why snow?”
“We don’t know. Who can truly understand His Majesty’s deeper intentions?”
Aha.
An imperial magic experiment, ordered straight from the throne.
Of course Emperor Carchion would spend a sunny day tinkering with snow magic.
Doesn’t matter why. The fact that there was snow right in front of me was all that counted.
I slipped across the invisible boundary.
The grass beneath my pads turned damp and freezing, then I crossed the white barrier and—
Squelch.
“……!”
It was cold!
My paw sank deep into the powder.
It looked like sugar, felt nothing like it, looked like cotton candy but melted the instant it touched my tongue. A strange, electric tingle raced up my leg.
“Kyuu!”
This is real snow!
The moment I made a sound, the mages who had been chanting turned in shock.
“Eek! L-Lord Divine Beast?!”
“How are you even here?! The barrier was flawless!”
“Warning! Output is extreme! Withdraw immediately!”
They yanked their staffs back, faces pale with panic.
“Kyuu!”
Stay right there! I’m playing!
I blew a fart at them and pounced onto the snow field.
Squelch.
Half my body disappeared. The cold was intense, but my fluffy fur kept me from feeling it. Instead a delightful chill spread all the way to my bones.
“Kyaaa!”
This is it! It’s fluffy and every step makes that perfect squishy sound—it feels so good!
I dove in headfirst, rolling, pawing, tumbling in pure delight.
The mages were frozen between terror and inability to stop me. They could barely speak.
“Y-Your Majesty… this is the restricted test zone…”
“Lower the output! The Divine Beast will catch a cold! Prepare thermal magic!”
I don’t care about your experiment! I’m having fun!
Plop-plop-plop!
I carved tunnels between the snow, laughing as I leapt and spun.
Thanks to their panicked extra spells the field grew even better. It felt like a private five-star ski resort had been dropped into the palace garden just for me.
I became the mad white tiger lord of the snow, leaping and rolling without a care.
“Kyuuuuwuuu!”
When the council meeting finally ended, Kailian returned to the empty room and sighed the familiar sigh of someone who had seen this exact scene a thousand times.
“Blanc? Escaped again? Where are you today?”
She stepped onto the terrace, scanning the garden, and spotted the swirling white mist rising from the third zone—and the tiny white dots bouncing wildly inside it.
“What… is that snow?”
She threw her shawl over her shoulders and sprinted into the garden.
The closer she came, the colder the air grew.
Soon she saw Blanc, a tiny white blur racing across the snow, and beside him the mages desperately maintaining the barrier.
“Mages? What are you doing here?”
Kailian leapt into the snow field and shouted.
The moment she entered in her light traveling clothes, she shivered hard.
“Princess! You mustn’t! This is the emperor’s climate-control test!”
“Test this, test that—Blanc is here!”
She scooped me up in her arms.
Her warm hands wrapped around my freezing body.
“Blanc, aren’t you cold? Your nose is red.”
She cupped my nose and blew warm air across it.
The instant her breath touched me, my body melted into pure bliss.
Butler’s warmth is unbeatable.
Then—thud… thud… the heavy, commanding footsteps of the emperor echoed.
Emperor Carchion, master of the empire in his black uniform and crimson cloak, appeared with Crown Prince Demian and his attendants.
“I’ve come after hearing the report.”
The moment his voice rang out, the grand mages bowed their heads in unison.
“Your Majesty! The test was proceeding perfectly until the Divine Beast intruded—”
“Data collection is compromised. I apologize!”
The mages were sweating bullets. The emperor was never merciful to imperfection.
Carchion frowned at the snow field, then at me curled in Kailian’s arms.
“Blanc.”
I wagged my tail happily.
“Kyau!”
‘This is fun! I want more!’
My fur was snow-covered, little icicles clung to my whiskers, but my expression was brighter than ever.
The emperor stared at the ruined snow around my paw prints, then swept his gaze across every single one of them before looking back at my face.
“…?”
His expression twisted subtly—mouth stretched into a forced smile he was desperately trying to suppress.
I could see the corner of his lip twitching.
“Abababa-mama…”
Demian spoke carefully beside the throne.
“The test may have a glitch, but since Your Majesty approves of Blanc playing here, why not let him continue?”
“Hmm… fine.”
“Kyuu…”
I stared at the emperor with my cutest puppy-dog eyes.
I want to play here more. Please?
The mages and Kailian all turned to look at him at once.
He thought for a long moment, then spoke.
“Continue.”
The emperor said it with deliberate gravity, hands clasped behind his back.
“Data collection appears sufficient. We have confirmed the variable reactions.”
He turned to the mages.
“Extend the experiment.”
“Understood!”
“Furthermore… I mean, the Divine Beast’s response to this extreme environment—its psychological comfort effect—requires additional study.”
It was blatant, shameless manipulation. The emperor’s pride would never allow him to say “Because I like my grandson, keep going,” so he wrapped it in fancy words.
“However, conditions will change. Temperature fixed at minus two degrees. And…”
He flicked his finger.
“Cast thermal magic into the ground.”
“E-Eh?! Your Majesty! Thermal magic under the snow field?! That’s water and oil! The snow will melt!”
“Maintain warmth while keeping the snow intact. Is that not the very definition of superior magic?”
The empire’s greatest mages looked as if their jaws had been unhinged.
It defied every law of magecraft—impossible on the surface. But the emperor’s gaze was absolute.
“If you cannot, the research budget for this study…”
“Ah! Understood! We will do it!”
The mages clutched their staffs with tears in their eyes, preparing to fight an impossible battle. From now on they were not imperial mages—they were “divine-beast-only luxury snow park managers.”
A short while later I was rolling joyfully across the upgraded snow field.
I wanted to build a snowman.
But my short front paws were hopeless. Every roll made the snowball collapse.
“Kyuu…”
I wanna build a snowman… someone help me!
I looked straight at the emperor.
He understood my wish in an instant and nodded.
“You want a snow mold?”
He started rolling up his sleeve, but then…
He snapped his fingers.
“Send them in.”
At the garden entrance five burly men sprinted in, tools in hand.
The empire’s finest royal sculptors.
They were hired in advance…?
While ordinary sculptors carved marble heroes, now they gripped snow shovels and chisels.
“Your Majesty! You summoned us!”
“Create a snowman worthy of the Divine Beast. Quality…”
Carchion glanced at me and commanded.
“High enough that it could be displayed in the imperial museum.”
“Understood!”
The sculptors charged into the snow with burning eyes.
They did not compact the snow. They piled it into mountains and began chiseling.
Squelch… squelch… squelch…
The professionals moved like artists.
This was not a simple snowman. They were creating art.
“Preserve the muscle definition!”
“Exactly replicate the fur texture—no tolerance for error!”
I watched with my chin on my paws.
Power is the greatest. I just said “make some snowballs,” and suddenly the sculptors appeared.
Thirty minutes later.
In front of me stood a massive snow statue of myself.
A roaring snow tiger, sharp claws, every strand of wind-tossed fur perfectly rendered—an absolute masterpiece carved from snow.
“Oh…”
“Amazing…”
Demian and Kailian could not close their mouths.
I struck the same pose beside the giant snow tiger.
‘How is it? Pretty much the same, right?’
“Khuh.”
The emperor covered his mouth.
Next to this enormous, awe-inspiring snow tiger stood a tiny, cotton-ball-sized me pretending to be dignified.
The gap was heartbreakingly cruel.
“Indeed… it carries an overwhelming sense of majesty. Perfectly identical.”
Carchion praised shamelessly. Honey dripped from his eyes, and the sculptors sobbed tears of joy, repeating “Thank you! We have been blessed with glory!”
“Blanc, it’s time to stop playing and come inside. Time for milk.”
Demian brought a steaming milk pitcher.
Butler instincts activate even at a distance.
I rubbed my cheek against the tiger’s leg once, then leaped into the emperor’s arms.
“Well done. Cast a preservation spell so this snow statue never melts.”
Carchion left the mages and sculptors with one last impossible demand, then turned away.
The nobles were probably dying inside, but later I would sneak over and let them pat my paws.
I nestled against the emperor’s warm chest and began my purr song.
When we returned to the princess’s palace the fireplace was glowing warmly.
I flopped onto the softest wool rug and sighed in contentment.
“Kyuu…”
I had a blast.
As I closed my eyes under the warm blanket, I caught a glimpse of the massive snow tiger statue glowing in the dark garden, surrounded by mages taking turns on night watch.
I let myself drift off to sleep.
Tomorrow I would climb onto that statue and slide down it like a ski jump.
