Side Story 4
Translator: RaidenTL
Side Story 4
At that, one of Ga-ya’s eyebrows arched crookedly.
“You really have no charm.”
“I’m past the age where I should look cute to you, Brother.”
“Who decided that? You’re still a baby to me.”
Ga-ya grumbled, pouting as he playfully tugged and stretched Ga-hyeon’s cheeks.
The soft flesh of his cheeks pulled and lengthened easily in Ga-ya’s grip.
If it had been Ga-yul, he would have jumped up and down, protesting that he shouldn't be treated like a baby, but Ga-hyeon simply stared back at his older brother with a blank, hollow expression.
With his pale, doughy skin, he looked as soft and adorable as a ball of rice flour, yet his speech and actions were always so precocious.
“You’re no fun to tease,” Ga-ya said, shaking his head.
Ga-hyeon, who had been staring up at him, suddenly asked, “Father has returned. Does that mean you’re really going to the battlefield in his place next spring?”
“I’m not going ‘in his place.’ I’m fulfilling my duty as the heir to the clan,” Ga-ya answered nonchalantly.
There wasn't a trace of fear regarding the battlefield in Ga-ya’s voice.
If anything, it was Ga-hyeon who was worried.
Noticing the flicker of concern on his stoic younger brother’s face, Ga-ya grinned.
“What? Are you worried about me?”
“…”
Instead of answering, Ga-hyeon’s expression hardened as he gave a small nod.
Now, that was a little bit cute.
“It’s not that big of a deal. Nam San-ho of the Indigo Wolf Clan is only fifteen, and she’s already gone to the front lines to assist her father. And the Head of the Blue Dragon Clan is younger than me, yet he’s been on the battlefield for years.”
Though because of that, those fish-bastards from the Eastern Land took his mother away…
“So don’t worry. Your big brother is going to end this war and come back. I’ll bring you a present then, too.”
“…?”
Ga-hyeon tilted his head at the sudden mention of a gift, but Ga-ya only offered a smirk.
Ga-ya knew what his brother wanted most.
He had heard his brother’s whimpering murmurs from under the covers on rainy nights, caught in the throes of a nightmare.
Once the war ended and everything returned to its rightful place…
Then, the nightmares of this baby tiger—who acted like an adult while secretly crying for his mother—would finally vanish.
* * *
Ga-yul sat huddled on the dirt ground, sobbing and sniffling.
A handful of his proud tail fur had been ripped out.
It was all because of Ah-rang. That wicked brown tiger had plucked out his tail fur!
Of course, Ga-yul hadn't just taken it lying down.
“Rawr, rawr! (That mean brown tiger! I should have plucked every single hair off her front legs!)”
Ga-yul huffed, looking at the tufts of fluffy brown fur still stuck in his claws.
“Are you upset because you fought with Lady Ah-rang?”
“Rawr! (Why would I be upset? I taught that mean brown tiger a lesson!)”
Ga-yul snapped at Su-ri’s question, his voice rising in indignation.
“Rawr! Grrr, huff! (Look at this! I pulled out this much of her leg fur!)”
“But you lost more fur from your tail, Young Master. Doesn't that mean you lost to Lady Ah-rang?”
“…”
Ga-yul’s mouth clamped shut.
Right. That was upsetting, too! The feeling that he had lost to that wicked brown tiger!
But that wasn't the real reason Ga-yul was so distraught.
After a long silence with a sullen pout, Ga-yul suddenly whipped his body around and spoke in a sharp, huffy voice.
“Grrr, huff… (That’s not the point. What I’m really upset about is something else.)”
Su-ri stared at Ga-yul’s turned back.
The way his tail flicked back and forth was a clear signal: Ask me what’s really upsetting me, right now.
If Su-ri ignored that signal, the Young Master would undoubtedly fall into an even deeper sulk.
“So, what is it that’s really upsetting you?”
“…”
But when actually asked, Ga-yul didn't answer. He just hung his head low.
His slumped shoulders and his tail, which had stopped flicking and now lay limp, were a pitiful sight.
“Young Master?”
“Grrr… (I… was so…)”
Finally, Ga-yul opened his mouth and mumbled weakly.
“Grrr… (I was looking forward to it so much… because they said I could finally meet a younger sibling…)”
Judging by his voice, which was uncharacteristically faint and trailing off, he was truly heartbroken by what had happened earlier.
“But what Young Master Hyeon said wasn't exactly wrong. Lady Ah-rang is your younger cousin.”
“No! She’s not a sibling!”
Ga-yul suddenly leaped up, releasing his beast transformation as he shouted his denial.
“A younger sibling should be…! They should be smaller and softer! They’re supposed to be tiny and precious, making you want to protect them! But she’s nothing like that!”
He shouted with such fervor that spit practically flew.
“It can’t be helped, Young Master. It’s not like you can just make a sibling appear because you want one. I think Lady Ah-rang is quite cu—”
“No! She’s not cute at all!”
“Yes, yes, of course, Young Master. Lady Ah-rang isn't cute in the slightest.”
Su-ri chimed in, agreeing with everything he said, but Ga-yul’s mood didn't improve easily.
‘They said storks bring younger siblings.’
Ga-yul, who had been thinking deeply with a serious expression, vividly recalled something Ga-ya had once told him.
Suddenly, he jumped to his feet and started heading somewhere.
“Wh-where are you going, Young Master?”
“The library.”
“Huh? What business do you have in the library? Are you going to play hide-and-seek among the books?”
“I’m going to find a stork.”
“Pardon?”
Su-ri followed behind Ga-yul with a bewildered expression.
Upon arriving at the library, Ga-yul searched through the countless volumes until he found an illustrated guide to winged creatures.
It was all to find a stork.
‘I’ll find a stork and tell it to bring me a younger sibling.’
With a look of utmost gravity, Ga-yul crouched in front of the bookshelf and flipped the book open.
On the very first page was a bird more beautiful and radiant than anything he had ever seen, shimmering with five brilliant colors.
For a moment, Ga-yul forgot why he had even come to the library and stared at the illustration, mesmerized.
“Wow, it’s a Phoenix. The King of Birds,” Su-ri explained, peeking over his shoulder.
“The King of Birds?”
“Yes. Just as tigers are the kings of land beasts, the Phoenix is the original King of Birds. Right now, the Vermilion Bird, one of the Four Divine Beasts, leads the winged creatures as their head, but the true King of Birds is the Phoenix.”
“I see… Its feathers are so sparkly and pretty.”
Ga-yul, who had been murmuring blankly while staring at the Phoenix, suddenly snapped back to his senses.
‘Wait, this isn't the time for this.’
Ga-yul quickly flipped through the pages again to find the stork.
Then, he suddenly spotted a bird that looked like a tiny, pure-white cotton ball, and his eyes went wide with surprise.
‘C-Cute…!’
Because he had neglected his studies, he couldn't quite read what was written, but he knew one thing for certain: the tiny bird in the picture was incredibly cute.
Small, adorable… it looked like something that absolutely had to be protected.
Just like a younger sibling should be!
“L-Look at this, Nam Su-ri! It’s such a, such a cute bird!”
Ga-yul said, his face flushed with excitement as he showed the illustration to Su-ri.
“I’m definitely going to have a small, soft sibling like this! Not a fierce tiger like Ah-rang!”
“But Young Master, if you were to have a sibling, wouldn't they be a tiger? Since the Clan Head is a tiger.”
“…!”
At Su-ri’s words, Ga-yul froze as if he had just received a world-shattering revelation.
“B-But…! But…!”
His eyes trembled violently as he asked in a desperate voice, “Couldn't there be a small and cute tiger among tigers?”
“Oh, please. A small and cute tiger? Where in the world would you find something like that?”
The tactless Su-ri, failing to notice the desperate glimmer in his master’s eyes, shut the idea down instantly.
Eventually, tears began to well up in Ga-yul’s round eyes, and he turned and bolted out of the library.
* * *
Sa-eon found Ga-yul huddled in a corner of the White Tiger Palace.
Hearing footsteps, Ga-yul peeked up, but as soon as his eyes met Sa-eon’s, he whipped his head away again.
He was making it very obvious that he was throwing a massive sulk.