Baby Lynx of the Tiger Family - Chapter 21

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Baby Cat of the Tiger Clan
Chapter 21
“A guest of the Khalif at a time like this? Surely the Young Family Head isn’t planning to announce a fiancée?”
Clan Head Kalvin Glosa gnawed at his fingernails in agitation.
The Glosa family was one of the many Vassal Families under the Kalif, and until recently it had not been counted among the influential houses.
Then, a few generations back, Glosa’s son had become the consort of the reigning Kalif’s Clan Head, and the family had shot up to the rank of a respected house in a single leap.
But that was all it had been.
As time passed and other Vassal Families pushed ahead, its standing began to slip, and Glosa grew anxious.
Once he had tasted power, there was no going back to what came before.
“Obli! Do you have any idea who it might be?”
Kalvin, who had been pacing the study restlessly, barked at his daughter Obli, who sat on the sofa.
“You must know the rumors circulating among the young ladies!”
If the Khalif’s honored guest truly was Young Family Head Sirka’s fiancée, Glosa would be left empty-handed.
For years he had been scheming by every means to push Obli, who was the same age as Sirka, into becoming his wife.
“…There is one, I suppose.”
Obli, who had been silent the whole time, finally gave in to her father’s badgering and spoke.
“What? Who?”
“The other day I went to the tailor’s shop and caught sight of the Lady and the Young Family Head. …They were with a young girl.”
Kalvin’s eyes flew wide open.
“A girl? You mean a girl…?”
“But there’s no need for you to worry, Father. She was so young that the Young Family Head could have held her in one arm.”
Obli had been quite startled at the time, seeing that not only Sirka but Sabrina too doted on the girl.
But when she calmed down and thought it over again, the chance that the girl would become Sirka’s fiancée was not even a sliver.
“She was seven at the very most, perhaps eight.”
Would Sirka take a girl ten years younger than himself as his fiancée?
He was not so thoughtless as that.
If anything, he was so rational and cold-headed that there wasn’t room for Obli to slip a word in.
“I don’t know why that girl is a guest, but in any case there’s no need to worry….”
“Nonsense! You speak as though your belly is full!”
Despite Obli’s calm explanation, Kalvin bellowed at the top of his lungs.
“If you go on thinking so carelessly and she really takes the fiancée’s place, what will you do?”
“Father, what on earth are you thinking, dragging in a child of seven or eight…!”
“The Chieftain is still in good health. Waiting ten years or so is nothing at all.”
Good heavens.
At her father’s remark, which fell below any measure of common sense, Obli let out a sigh.
But Kalvin, blinded by power, seized his daughter’s shoulders with a firm grip.
“Obli, my daughter. At this banquet, you must catch the Young Family Head’s eye no matter what. You must look your loveliest. You must become the Young Family Head’s fiancée!”
“Ah, Father. My shoulder….”
“Remember this. Your only worth lies in that.”
Under the merciless grip of the beast-kin’s hands, Obli winced in pain, and at her father’s words her eyes wavered.
“Now go and groom yourself. Make every effort to win the Young Family Head’s favor!”
Kalvin grabbed his daughter’s arm and hauled her to her feet by force.
Then he stepped out of the study and barked at the maid waiting outside.
“Make Obli the most beautiful woman in the world. If she doesn’t become one bit prettier, I’ll cut off the hands of every useless one of you.”
“Y-yes! We’ll keep that in mind, Clan Head!”
The maid threw herself flat to the floor, trembling.
Kalvin left his daughter right where she stood and went back the way he had come.
“….”
Obli rubbed her shoulder, which had flushed an angry red.
She could feel everyone standing in the corridor sneaking glances at her, trying to read her mood.
‘My worth is nothing but that.’
Becoming the Young Family Head’s fiancée was the only reason she had to go on living.
Her value.
Then what becomes of her if she fails to become the fiancée, if she turns out to be of no use?
‘I can’t breathe.’
Though there was nothing there at all, it felt as if an invisible rope were binding her from head to toe.
“Miss, please come along.”
Obli, who had been touching her throat, finally headed for her room at the maid’s urging.
Whether she could breathe or not, she had to become beautiful right away.
Not in order to catch the Young Family Head’s eye, but for the sake of the hands of the maids who cared for her even more than her father did.
* * *
“Oh my, Miss, you look absolutely lovely!”
The day of the banquet arrived.
For today, Madame Renoir had poured every ounce of her skill into Bariya’s gown, and it truly dazzled.
“Madam’s eye is simply exceptional. Deep navy suits you this well!”
Midnight-blue silk, edged with white lace and gold thread embroidery.
Instead of a heavy jewel necklace, a ribbon of the same silk was tied at her throat, and both wrists were trimmed with lace and ribbon.
Finally, a blue headband with a large, eye-catching pearl was set in her soft, honey-colored hair.
It held both a child’s cheerfulness and the refined elegance of a noble guest of the family.
“Right? Even I think she’s stunning.”
Standing before the mirror, Bariya was just as flustered at her own reflection.
She had only ever worn plain, comfortable dresses or nightclothes, so she had never known she could look like this.
“I suit fancy things this well, huh.”
Ten years as a wildcat, and this was the first time she’d realized it.
‘Mom would have loved this.’
Claire had always fretted and felt sorry that she couldn’t dress Bariya in fine clothes.
Mom would have said it cleared a hundred years of worry from her heart, and she would have been so delighted.
It’s a little bittersweet.
“Well, better late than never.”
Just then, Sabrina threw the door open and strode in.
Bariya, who had been gazing blankly at her reflection, jumped when she saw Sabrina.
A deep purple gown that traced every curve of her chest, waist, and hips, with a fur stole draped over one arm.
Lavish jewelry, and silver-white hair slipping elegantly over one shoulder.
She was always beautiful, but today she looked even more striking, and Bariya’s mouth fell open.
“…Take back what I said about fancy things suiting me. Standing next to you, I was far too bold.”
At Bariya’s sincere words, the corner of Sabrina’s mouth twitched.
“That’s an unusual way of paying a compliment. Fancy things suit you this well already, so once you’ve grown, you’ll wear them as well as I do.”
“Do you really think so?”
“I do. So start wearing fancy things often from now on, so you’ll suit them even better. That’s what I did.”
Coming from Sabrina of all people, it was surprisingly convincing.
“Understood.”
When Bariya nodded with a serious face, Madame Renoir and the maids who were dressing the child bit down hard on their lips.
Once again, Bariya had been taken in by Sabrina’s not-quite-nonsense, but everyone was in full agreement with Sabrina.
They, too, had hoped this adorable young lady would toss away that dull, nightgown-like dress and wear something dazzling.
And there were the garments Sabrina and Sirka had recently gone on a shopping spree to buy.
The thought of dressing her in them had them excited already.
Knock, knock.
“Bariya.”
“Bariya.”
Then Baiden and Sirka poked their heads into the room together.
Their eyes met Sabrina and Bariya standing side by side, and both of them widened their eyes.
“You look perfect today.”
“If we hadn’t held this banquet, what would we have done with you?”
At the sight of the two most beautiful women in the world, Baiden’s and Sirka’s faces melted into soft smiles.
Standing beside Sabrina, who never falls short when it comes to splendor, Bariya was surely the only one who held her own.
“Grr.”
Then the last guest arrived.
It was Hwaiteu, the White Tiger who always attended banquets with Sabrina’s favor.
After first fawning over Sabrina, Hwaiteu ignored Baiden and Sirka and walked straight up to Bariya.
Then, like an obedient puppy, it plopped its rump down and lowered its head.
As if asking to be petted.
“Oh, Hwaiteu’s dressed up too.”
Bariya gently stroked Hwaiteu’s head.
“Oh my.”
At the sight, Madame Renoir and the maids quietly broke into laughter.
Looking around now, Bariya wasn’t the only one who had chosen blue as an accent.
Sabrina wore a purple gown but had chosen blue for all her other accessories; Baiden and Sirka had picked blue for their ties and boutonnières; and finally, Hwaiteu wore a blue ribbon necklace strung with pearls.
It was obvious they had all coordinated with Bariya.
‘Madam must have chosen a different color for the gown so the young lady would stand out. And yet she matched the accessories to it.’
Feeling the affection everyone had for Bariya, they all smiled with quiet contentment.
Seeing them like this, they really did look like one family.
I do hope Bariya stays at Khalif for a long while.
* * *
“A special guest of Kalif, you say? Who could it be?”
“Right? If Kalif itself is throwing a banquet to welcome this guest, they must be someone truly important.”
“And yet nobody here knows who they are. How strange.”
Moonlight Hall, the grandest and most lavish banquet hall in the Khalif Mansion.
It was the perfect setting for the beasts’ nighttime feasts, but it was opened only a handful of times a year.
The New Year Assembly, the Clan Head’s birthday, and the Young Family Head’s birthday.
That a hall opened for only three occasions a year was now being used for a welcome banquet for a guest left everyone no choice but to be astonished.
“Surely she isn’t the Young Family Head’s fiancée?”
At someone’s words, Moonlight Hall fell silent in an instant.
“Kalvin Glosa, Clan Head of the Gloss Family, and Miss Obli Glosa are now entering!”
How fitting, in the most irritating way: the Gloss Family, which had been eyeing Sirka’s fiancée position relentlessly, had arrived.
Every gaze in the room turned toward the doors at once.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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