Noticing the cold, I looked outside my window. Large crystals of bright white snow were floating down from above.
Snow crystals? Where had I picked up that term at three years old?
Such thoughts had become a frequent occurrence recently. Tilting my head in confusion, I approached the window, stretched up to grip the frame with both my hands, and looked outside.
In front of the outdoor scenery, I saw myself reflected in the window, looking as I usually did. My straight, shoulder-length hair was jet black, matching my black eyes. I thought I looked rather plain.
I gazed further out at the vast lawn of the mansion courtyard being covered in white. It was the first time in my life I had seen snow on the ground. It would probably be up to my knees by tomorrow morning, and I’d be able to make a snowman. Would father be mad at me? Say, what was a “snowman” anyway?
Ah...there I went thinking of an unusual word again... I looked up at the sky and frowned pensively.
Just then, I heard the crunch of footsteps in the snow and looked back down.
The ground that had been pure white until just a moment ago was now dotted with a trail of red spots. At the end of the trail, something small, white, and fluffy writhed. Its front paw was covered in red.
Oh, no! Is it hurt?!
I grabbed the blanket from my bed and dashed outside. Leaving tiny footprints in the snow behind me, I ran toward it, breathing heavily. There I found...a tiger?
“Ah... Ahhh!”
High-rise buildings that shone silver, roads that intersected in multilevel crossings with cars driving down them at breakneck speed, a city that was brightly lit even at night; a series of images beyond my understanding sped through my mind.
Finally, a book came to the forefront of my memories. Dumbfounded, I cautiously took the sacred tiger in my arms.
I carefully wiped the blood off the baby tiger—who I now realized was the Holy Guardian White Tiger—using a damp towel. I disinfected the wound on its front right paw, applied medicine to it, and tore off a piece of the towel to wrap it with in place of a bandage.
I was a little too good at this for a three-year-old, don’t you think? I would agree. It wasn’t until just recently that I had been able to do this, but I could now that I had been remembering so much. It did take more time and effort on account of my smaller body, though.
“I was reincarnated in another world...” I muttered in my past self’s language as I wrapped the White Tiger in a pink blanket, laid it on my lap, and stroked its head.
I hadn’t been special in my past life, but I had been a self-sufficient member of society. I was around thirty, I think. My responsibilities at work had been increasing, and I had mentored a number of newer employees, except they soon quit after either finding other jobs or getting married. I’d had more and more work to do, and no time to meet anyone new, so the last thing I remembered was feeling totally worn down from everything I was doing on my own. I didn’t even remember how I died. Overwork?
My one joy in that rough life had been reading. I’d escaped reality through fantasy novels, one of which had been I Love You, My Wild Rose. The heroine, Maribelle, was born in a working-class neighborhood—a “wild rose”—but she got into the best magic academy in the kingdom, where she not only developed her magical talent but was recognized by the holy guardian beasts. Her humble, earnest attitude won her the friendship of one top student after another, culminating in a happy ending where she married a prince. It was as conventional as stories get.
The villainess of the story was named Serephione Granzeus. She was the prince’s fiancée, a powerful magician who acted as the heroine’s rival.
“That’s me...”
Not only was Serephione skilled in all kinds of magic, but she had even forced the White Tiger to serve her, using its power to stand in Maribelle’s way. After defeating Serephione, Maribelle released the White Tiger from its servitude, and she established an official master-servant relationship with it.
I petted the beautiful, exhausted creature lying on my lap.
This was probably the point in the story where I was supposed to make it drink my blood and turn it into my servant while its mind was dazed. That scene had been cut from the novel since it wasn’t part of the main plot, though.
I didn’t think the idea itself was necessarily mistaken. It was a good idea for a three-year-old; if the tiger drank my magic-infused blood, its wounds would heal immediately. I doubted that Serephione had intended to make it serve her at the time.
However, I was a woman of around thirty in a three-year-old’s body, and I knew how the story went. I couldn’t take the risk. The last thing I wanted to be was the villainess. Her fate was to be locked away in a tower, bled dry of all her magic, and left to languish. I couldn’t let that happen to me.
By the way, my past life wasn’t the only thing I remembered the moment I met this tiger. Many of Serephione Granzeus’s memories also came back to me, including things that hadn’t been written in Wild Rose: her true feelings, her suffering, the despair of being betrayed by her loved ones... It was like a cry of utter grief...
And I was meant to go through all that again? No way!
But the tiger’s condition was worsening by the minute. I couldn’t just let one of the few holy guardian beasts in the world die on my lap! It would only open another bad route. What was I supposed to do?!
“Does it hurt?”
I gently embraced the shivering tiger. It opened its eyes with a pained expression, as if reacting to my voice. Large teardrops spilled from its eyes; without thinking, I did as my father would do and sucked them up with kisses.
I was enveloped in a brief bright flash. It wasn’t a good sign, but I couldn’t let it bother me just then.
I looked into the tiger’s big, round, sky blue eyes. They reminded me of my little brother’s from my past life, although his were a different color. I remembered how I had always watched over him. Whenever he would take a sudden fall while toddling around and begin to wail, I would say...
“Pain, pain, go away! Come again another day!”
I rubbed the tiger’s wounded front paw and then mimed taking the pain and throwing it out the window.
“There, now it’s all better! Good boy!”
I rubbed its cheek up against mine and gave it a smooch. I was happy it was being calm, but I was at a loss for what to do.
Just then, the little tiger in my arms suddenly regained its strength. It didn’t feel limp anymore, so I stretched my arms out and set it down on my lap. Its eyes blinked open.
“What’s your name?”
It talked?! Holy guardian beasts can talk? And its voice is adorable!
“I’m Serephione...!”
“Sere? Your magic is great! I’m all better now! Thanks!”
I unwrapped the towel I’d used for a bandage, and the deep wound I’d just taken care of was...gone.
Huh...? It couldn’t be... But there’s no other way. It actually worked? Did my magic words work like some sort of video game cheat code?
“Your magic feels really good. I’ve decided I’m gonna stay with you! Okay?”
Can I even say no? I can’t, right? Would I get the death penalty for defying a guardian beast? Does this count as him serving me? It doesn’t, right? I’m not forcing him, am I? What am I supposed to do?!
“Um... Can we start as friends?”
“Friends!”
“Eek!”
The tiger leapt onto me with gusto and started licking my face. Its claw dug into the back of my hand, drawing blood. It licked the spot as if to apologize.
Suddenly, a ring of light appeared above my head, surrounded me and the tiger, and quickly closed in around us before vanishing.