Side Story: Angelina and the Blue Ocean Bar
ANGELINA and company were heading to the Blue Ocean Bar for lunch. Officially, the Banquet Ceremony had ended the day before yesterday. Nevertheless, a festive spirit still lingered in the air that afternoon. As the final day of celebration, it had been declared a holiday in the outer enclosure. Since the paper lanterns hadn’t yet been removed, Angelina could still visit the lower city until the end of today. As such, she’d planned to visit the bar today from the beginning.
“I want to go to the festival as a human,” Ryuho had said right before departing. Accordingly, two knights were escorting them today.
Angelina was fully prepared for a day out. She’d even changed into an outfit for walking around town. The brown-haired knight and the gray-haired knight were escorting them.
“Lina, Liiina, I can’t hide my ears,” Ryuho said.
Until minutes ago, he’d been maintaining a perfect human form. However, just as they’d been leaving, his ears had popped out due to sheer happiness. Likewise, he couldn’t hide his tail, which now drooped in a dejected manner. If he couldn’t conceal his ears and tail, he couldn’t visit the outer enclosure.
Watching Lina and Hisame have so much fun at the festival made me jealous, he thought. I want to visit the outer enclosure with Lina as a human, too. Will our plan get canceled because of this?
Panicked, Ryuho tried to hide his ears over and over again. Yet no matter how much magic he used, and no matter how many times he pushed down on them, his cute ears didn’t budge. His adorable tail remained visible as well.
“I can’t go out like this, can I?” Ryuho asked, glancing at Lina. Tears welled in his eyes as he pressed down his ears. “I know how much you were looking forward to this, too. Could I be more pathetic…?”
Angelina cocked her head. “You can’t go out as a tiger?” She didn’t see any problem with that solution.
“No!” Ryuho shouted, tears now spilling from the outer corners of his eyes. “I want to hold your hand too! Hisame getting to hog you isn’t fair!”
Ryuho’s adorable tantrum melted Angelina’s heart. “Wait right here!” she cried before racing to her wardrobe room. She put on a headband with tiger ears matching Ryuho’s, specially made for her earlier. She also had a palace lady attach a fake tail to her lower back. Finally, she brought out the White Tiger ears and Blue Dragon horns she’d previously bought at the festival.
Grinning, Angelina handed the ears and horns to the knights. “Here you go!”
The knights were unsure how to react.
“…What’s this?” the older one asked.
“Costumes,” Angelina answered. “Can you put these on, Mishter Knights?”
In response to her adorable pestering, the brown-haired knight smiled dopily. “O-Of course!”
Without hesitation, he placed the White Tiger ears on his head. He couldn’t help but dote on Angelina. Even if she weren’t the princess, he would still follow her every order.
Yet when Angelina thrust the horns into the hands of the gray-haired knight, he scrutinized them with a perplexed expression. The idea of wearing a festival headband made for children embarrassed him. Furthermore, he was wearing the rugged fatigues of a knight. This costume would make him stick out like a sore thumb.
“You want me to wear this…?” he asked, unable to hide his discomfort.
Angelina nodded fervently. “Yep! If we all wear these, everyone will assume Ryuho’s ears are a festival headband, y’know?”
I’m pretty clever, huh? Angelina thought, grinning smugly. And so, the knights gave into her persuasion.
“So cute…” the younger one mumbled.
That earned him a menacing glare from Ryuho.
Reluctantly, the gray-haired knight placed the horns on his head.
“Everyone’s matching!” Angelina exclaimed with a satisfied grin.
“So cute…” the gray-haired knight mumbled as well.
“Well then, Princess, we’ll take a boat down the waterway to the outer enclosure,” the brown-haired night said. “I’ll carry you to the pier. Is that okay?”
When the young knight spread his arms out in front of Angelina, she squealed with delight and grabbed him. That put Ryuho in a sour mood. However, since he wasn’t in his feline form today, he couldn’t let her ride on his back. Yeah, being a tiger is way more convenient, he thought with a sigh of resignation. At the same time, he was more afraid of water and disliked boats in his feline form. Those distressing thoughts swirled around his mind as he looked up at the knight holding Angelina.
✦ ✦ ✦
🐅 🐅 🐅
THE group arrived in the outer enclosure of the Purple Forbidden Palace. Once the young knight set Angelina down, she held hands with Ryuho, their arms swinging back and forth. Passersby turned back to look at the two children, as their matching tiger ears and tails were positively adorable.
One child pointed to Ryuho’s tail and pestered his mother. “Buy that for me, Mommy!”
“I just bought you the Vermillion Bird’s wings the other day!” the mother chided him.
Just as Angelina had predicted, tiger ears and tails didn’t stick out during a festival.
Before long, children began whispering among themselves.
“Is that the imperial princess?”
“Yeah, I think so. What other girl would have guards accompanying her?”
“Look, that knight is wearing horns!”
When the children pointed at the gray-haired knight, he could hardly stand the embarrassment. Yet, in contrast to his inner feelings, he remained impassive.
“The other one has tiger ears!” a child shouted. “White Tiger knight!”
In response, the brown-haired knight grinned and waved to the children in high spirits.
“I used to be terrified of anyone who lived in the palace,” an adult man said. “But maybe they’re not so fearsome, after all.”
“You’re right,” an adult woman replied. “Everyone’s aura has completely changed. They seem easier to approach now.”
The whispers reached the gray-haired knight’s ears. His horns were helping the people feel a sense of kinship with the knights. Previously, people fled into their homes upon seeing a knight, fearing punishment for committing some discourtesy. Outrageous rumors had created a constantly on-edge atmosphere. Now, everything was different. Rather than running and hiding, passersby watched over Angelina and Ryuho warmly.
This is how things should be, the gray-haired knight thought. Though the people had submitted to Feilong’s reign of terror, his governance had been twisted in some ways. And so, the gray-haired knight puffed out his chest. Moments before, he’d considered his appearance shameful, but now, he felt somewhat proud of himself.
I owe this to Her Highness.
As the gray-haired knight watched Angelina and Ryuho walking in front of him, the two dazzled his eyes. Both were in high spirits, pointing to various things as they talked to each other. Their orange ears and striped tails were quite adorable. Angelina wore the most extravagant dress, her glossy hair sparkling in the sunlight. Meanwhile, Ryuho’s tail stood straight up, swaying back and forth happily.
Remembering the day he’d met Angelina, the gray-haired knight’s chest tightened painfully. She’d been a young girl living in a rundown storage shed. Worse, her thin arms and legs had been poking out of her simple, white clothes. She hadn’t seemed like a princess, her skin rough and hair damaged. As tears had welled in her azure eyes, she’d pleaded to join her mother’s side.
The gray-haired knight squeezed his eyes shut. As tears threatened to spill down his cheeks, he hurriedly rubbed the back of his fist against his eyes.
“Thank goodness…” he spoke without thinking.
I’m grateful that Her Highness didn’t have to die, he thought. From here on out, I want to help her become even happier. I want her to experience so much joy that it cancels out all the sadness of her early childhood.
“Mister Knight!” Angelina called, waving to him from up ahead. “Mishter Blue Dragon Knight!”
The gray-haired knight started in surprise. Basking in sentimentality during work was proof that he wasn’t paying attention.
“Coming, Your Highness!” he called back.
Being a principled fellow, he roused himself and ran over to Angelina’s side.