🐅 🐅 🐅
THE next day, Angelina held Ryuho’s hand while wearing decorative tiger ears. Ryuho’s true Flame Tiger ears sprouted from his head as well. Meanwhile, his tail twitched back and forth. He was anxious.
“Let’s go!” Angelina cried, pulling Ryuho’s hand to encourage him.
Ryuho’s tail stood straight up, and he broke out into a grin. “Okay!”
The two of them dashed towards the Advancing Wisdom Academy. As usual, students gathered around them at the entrance, shouting with delight. While the group included Hisame, Shua observed them from afar.
“Your ears are so cute, Princess Angelina!” one student exclaimed.
“And so are Ryuho’s!” another added.
Being surrounded by so many friendly voices allowed Ryuho to sigh in relief. “Mine are actually real!” he shouted, causing his ears to twitch.
As silence fell over the crowd, Shua’s chest ached. She’d expected that reaction.
“…They’re real?” a student asked.
“What do you mean?” another pressed.
Following the moment of silence, the crowd stirred with obvious bewilderment. None of them could hide their discomposure.
“Here’s what I mean!” Ryuho cried, bobbing his tail in front of them. “This one’s real too! Cool, right?”
The crowd fell into even greater confusion. Apparently, no one knew how to react. Ryuho’s shoulders slumped. He loved his tail, after all. Though he knew everyone would be surprised at first, he’d expected them to cry out with delight in the end, as Angelina had done.
When Angelina noticed Ryuho’s tail drooping, she squeezed it in her arms. “Ryuho’s super fluffy!”
The tail responded by embracing her back. When Angelina grinned, satisfied, cheers rose from the crowd, and the children swarmed around Ryuho.
“Can I touch it too?” someone asked.
“Me too!”
“Me three!”
“Nope!” Ryuho shouted. “Lina’s the only one who can touch my tail ’cause she’s special!” As he spoke, his tail puffed out.
“Wow, that’s amazing!” a student cried out.
Ryuho fled into the academy while surrounded by children.
A moment later, Hisame approached Angelina with nary a sound. “Angelina. Is Ryuho…?”
Angelina folded her hands together while wearing a guilty expression. “I’m sorry for lying. Both Ryuhos are the same person.”
“You mean the Flame Tiger?”
“Yep. But I promised to keep it a secret, so… I’m sorry.”
Hisame felt somewhat shocked, but considering how despondent and remorseful Angelina appeared, he had no choice but to forgive her.
There are things I can’t talk about either, Hisame thought. Who am I to criticize Angelina? We’re both royalty, and I’m Andan, after all.
“No, it’s fine,” Hisame said. “There are things we can’t talk about sometimes.”
Despite being somewhat sad, Hisame fixed a smile on his face. Seeing Hisame force himself to smile broke Angelina’s heart. Ryuho and I hurt him, she realized, her chest aching.
“I really am sorry…” Angelina repeated herself.
When Angelina hung her head, Hisame patted her on the hair, his fingers grazing her decorative ears. Come to think of it, do I still have the White Tiger ears I bought at the festival? he wondered.
“Would it be okay if I wore my White Tiger ears too?” he asked.
Angelina’s head shot up. “Yeah!” she cried, her eyes sparkling. All traces of guilt had disappeared from her azure irises. “Of course it would!”
“Well then, I’ll wear mine tomorrow!”
And so, the two friends shared a laugh together.
✦ ✦ ✦
🐅 🐅 🐅
FOR some time thereafter, wearing decorative cat ears and tails at the Advancing Wisdom Academy became popular.
Princess Angelina makes everyone around her happy, Shua thought.
Seeing that filled her with relief, and thus, she sent a report to Nanran.