Chapter 18: The Official Spouse
At night, the shadow of a tiger’s swaying tail appeared faintly through the gap beneath the door.
Jin Chi’an lay on the hospital bed, tossing and turning, unable to sleep the entire night. His mind was filled with the thought that the little tiger from his childhood—the one who needed someone to coax him into eating, who loved pouncing on yarn balls, whose whole heart and eyes were filled with him—had grown up and even become his marriage alliance partner.
After thinking about it for an entire day, Jin Chi’an felt as if his head was about to explode. He tried to get up and walk around the hospital room, but in the end, he unconsciously stopped behind the door that separated them by only one wall.
“The world of beastmen is very simple, and Felix is the same…”
“If he cannot find you, then he will keep waiting…”
Aphrodite’s words kept invading his consciousness cloud. This made it even harder for him to distinguish Felix’s feelings toward him. Was it imprinting? Or was it love?
If it was love, then what was that cold face outside of frenzy periods supposed to mean? And what about his brand with Oshta? Was that mental cheating?
Jin Chi’an sighed and swept away the complicated thoughts piled up in his mind. When he came back to himself, tear tracks were already hanging on his cheeks.
When he saw that real, living tiger tail through the crack of the door, everything else became unimportant.
He only knew that his little tiger was still alive, and that at this moment, he had returned to his side again.
Jin Chi’an gathered his thoughts, wiped away the tears that had unconsciously spilled from the corners of his eyes, and opened the mirror function on his optical computer, checking the changes in his face over the past thirty years.
Only after he had tidied himself to satisfaction did he open the door that separated the two of them, doing his best to suppress the nervousness in his heart.
The moment the door fully opened, the white tiger lying on the ground with half-closed eyes instantly woke up. He looked exactly like he had as a child, flustered after being caught doing something bad.
Seeing that the other party was about to flee in panic, Jin Chi’an immediately pretended to be relaxed and tried to tease him.
“Why didn’t you come in? Did you do something bad again and didn’t dare see me, little tyrant?”
Little tyrant.
That was what he often called the young white tiger whenever it made a mistake.
During the period when Jin Chi’an had first arrived at the nursery, the little white tiger often bullied the other children. If he touched the little tabby’s fur, the white tiger would make the little tabby go bald. If he fed the little lion a strip of meat, the white tiger would scratch the little lion’s mouth…
But things were different now. The little white tiger had grown up. He was no longer the insecure little one who would roll over and show his belly to act cute and pitiful whenever Jin Chi’an got angry.
This made Jin Chi’an’s voice tremble as he spoke. He was terribly afraid that the other party would no longer give him face.
The adult tiger before him first stared at him blankly. Then, after reacting, he immediately came close and rubbed all over him.
Seeing this, Jin Chi’an finally let go of the heart he had been holding up. Carefully, he cupped the tiger’s head and placed a kiss on the tip of his nose.
Feeling the touch on his nose, the white tiger shyly tried to turn his head away, but the yarn ball caught in his fur fell to the ground because of his large movement.
Looking at that ball of yarn so dirty its original color could no longer be seen, Jin Chi’an wanted to confirm the thought that had flashed through his mind. He tried to crouch and pick it up.
Just as his fingertips were about to touch the yarn ball, a tiger paw pressed it beneath the pad of his paw. Awkwardly, the white tiger hid the yarn ball under his body again.
“Felix, let me see it.”
Jin Chi’an reached his hand beneath him, but unexpectedly, the white tiger simply lay down and completely pinned the yarn ball underneath himself.
Helpless, Jin Chi’an could only give up and sigh.
“Forget it. Come into the room first.”
The white tiger, having received an invitation, instantly brightened. He picked up the yarn ball in his mouth and jumped onto the hospital bed.
Seeing him carry that somewhat dirty yarn ball onto the bed, Jin Chi’an could only helplessly follow him onto the bed as well. He buried his face into the tiger’s fluffy neck and took a deep breath.
A pleasant shower-gel scent filled his nose. Jin Chi’an could not help curving his lips, then lifted his leg and rested it on the tiger’s back.
After inhaling him for quite a while, seeing that the white tiger’s guard had relaxed, Jin Chi’an slowly reached his hand under him and took out the yarn ball he had hidden.
Perhaps because so many years had passed, this yarn ball, covered in teeth marks, had already faded from its original color and turned a little yellow.
Jin Chi’an carefully rubbed the marks on the yarn ball. Some were shallow, some were deep, covering it with traces from the white tiger’s growth from childhood to adulthood.
Turning it to the back, a thread end with burn marks had been manually fixed and hidden inside the core of the yarn ball.
Jin Chi’an remembered very clearly. This was something he had made for the tiger cub to chew on during his tenth month at the nursery.
At that time, the little white tiger loved causing destruction. If he was not tearing down the place, then he was using the other children’s heads as chew toys.
But ever since Jin Chi’an had made this yarn ball for him, the little white tiger had treasured it so much that he could hardly bear to let go of it. He had to hold it while eating and even had to sleep with it in his mouth.
It could be said that in the nursery back then, aside from Jin Chi’an, the thing the little white tiger loved most was this yarn ball.
And that burn mark most likely came from the fire caused by the zerg attack.
Thinking of this, Jin Chi’an’s eyes could not help growing moist. Afraid the white tiger would see, he buried his face into the tiger’s fur.
Perhaps the tears that seeped out dampened the other party’s fur. His tears were still discovered by the white tiger.
Felix helplessly raised his paw, trying to pry him out of his embrace, but the person in his arms held on even tighter.
“Felix…”
“…”
“From now on, I’ll always be here.”
…
The next morning, a tiger’s low growl woke Jin Chi’an from his dream.
Jin Chi’an grasped at the air, but he did not catch the comfortable big furball from his dream.
“Roar…”
Jin Chi’an turned his head and saw the white tiger under the hospital bed, growling at the tightly shut door.
“Felix?”
Before Jin Chi’an could figure out the situation, knocking sounds came from outside the door.
Immediately afterward, a woman dressed in an imperial military uniform pushed the door open and entered. The moment she saw the white tiger, she let out an exclamation of surprise, though she did not seem panicked as if she had encountered a wild beast.
“Oh, is this Marshal Felix?”
“Teacher Amelie!”
Seeing who had come, Jin Chi’an’s eyes lit up. He lifted the blanket and was about to get up, but the other party stopped him.
“Your injuries have just recovered. Sit for now.”
Amelie smiled kindly, her gaze occasionally circling around the tiger under the hospital bed.
Understanding the meaning of her expression, Jin Chi’an awkwardly smoothed down the fur bristling on Felix’s back.
“Felix, can you go out for a little while?”
“Awoo…”
Felix turned his head back in grievance. His two paws rested on the edge of the hospital bed as he let out a protesting cry.
Jin Chi’an’s helpless gaze jumped back and forth between his teacher and the white tiger. In the end, he could only lean close to the tiger’s ear and coax him.
“All right, be good. Look, you’ve already stayed with me for so many days. Go catch up with Father and Big Brother first. I’ll come find you later.”
Hearing his persuasion, the white tiger could only leave the hospital room, looking back every few steps. At the end, he even reluctantly helped close the door.
“Looks like your relationship has been quite good recently,” Amelie remarked.
Jin Chi’an awkwardly smiled along. “Some things happened recently…”
“I won’t tease you anymore.”
Amelie sighed and returned to the main topic.
“You know I wouldn’t come looking for you for no reason.”
“Is it the royal family?” Jin Chi’an predicted what she was about to say.
“Looks like you guessed it too. Something has happened on the royal family’s side. There was an error in Talir’s treatment, which triggered the emperor’s frenzy period.”
“A frenzy period? Isn’t that something only beastmen have…”
“It is exactly what you are thinking. We invited a beastman mental specialist from Iskan, and his diagnosis was that the emperor has entered a frenzy period.”
Amelie’s expression darkened.
“According to the usual development of the royal family’s illness, the emperor should currently be in the period of mental-power extinction. But after using Talir’s mental device, he displayed a frenzy period that only beastmen have.”
“But frenzy periods belong to the peak stage of a beastman’s powerful mental strength. That contradicts mental-power extinction.”
“Exactly as you said. The emperor’s mental power has returned to growth. Now the ministers are promoting Talir’s mental device within the royal family, and the first royal family member to undergo the experiment is the Fourteenth Prince—Brayden.”
“Brayden?”
Jin Chi’an’s left hand trembled slightly. He looked at her in disbelief.
“Yes. He is the first royal family member for whom the experiment succeeded. Not only has his mental power returned to growth, even his consciousness cloud has begun rebuilding.”
“But…”
“Chi’an, I know what you want to say.”
Amelie interrupted him.
“Only you and a few high-ranking members of the Allied Forces currently know about what happened in Iskan District Fourteen. We need to observe the situation for now.”
“Then what do you need me to do…”
“Accept the royal family’s invitation and attend the palace banquet.”
Amelie’s gaze glanced toward the door outside. Then she said in a low voice, “And while you’re at it, soothe Marshal Felix’s emotions. He had a fight with the Allied Forces’ higher-ups a few days ago because of this decision.”
Jin Chi’an hesitated inwardly, but when Oshta’s image flashed through his mind, he made up his mind.
“All right. I’ll explain things to Felix.”
…
At this moment, inside the command room, Aphrodite had set up an afternoon tea table and was slowly savoring the Pu’er tea prepared for him by the empire with Charles beside him.
Only when the door to command opened did Felix, in human form, slowly walk in.
“I wondered who it was. So it’s Felix.”
Aphrodite took a small sip of tea.
“What’s this? You finally remembered your neglected daddy?”
Felix placed the birdcage in his hand on the table and awkwardly turned his head away.
“He drove me out.”
“Cough, cough…”
Charles, who had been drinking tea, choked halfway through and immediately began coughing. He looked at Felix with amusement. That serious face was mixed with a trace of grievance.
“Didn’t you say yesterday that he didn’t need you and that you’d just guard outside? What happened? Did you sneak into his room at night, or did he invite you in?”
Hearing this, the invisible tiger tail behind Felix swayed. His tone carried a hint of smugness.
“He was the one who let me in. It’s just that he had to talk with someone from the empire just now, so he drove me out.”
“Yo, looks like you’ve made up.”
Aphrodite suppressed the slight curve of his lips and inwardly built himself the image of a good father.
“Mm. We’re married. I won’t divorce him. Even if other beastmen try to seduce him, I’m still the official spouse.”
