A Squirrel Will Raise the Little Tiger
The Duke stood towering right behind us, having approached without making a sound.
And here I had thought Duke Blantiger was the one person Hokan genuinely feared….
This, however, was something the boy flatly refused to concede on, his face flushing crimson as he screamed at the top of his lungs.
Even so, the Duke did not so much as bat an eyelash, barking out the command in a stern voice.
As Hokan wheezed through short, ragged gasps, pheromones began rolling off him.
Thick with aggression, they were potent enough to make my head spin.
A dizzying fog crept over my mind in an instant, and I vigorously shook my head to clear it.
After a burst of coughing, I managed to steady my breathing and looked back and forth between the two males.
The Duke’s face bore an incandescent glare that bore down on Hokan, while the boy’s shoulders heaved as he glared back with fierce defiance—both looked utterly murderous.
In this moment, Maurice was the only calm soul in the room.
He seemed quite accustomed to such scenes.
Maurice spoke in a polite, soothing tone.
Overwhelmed with emotion, Hokan repeatedly choked back his tears.
Dropping immediately to his eye level, I wrapped my arms around the boy and pulled him tight.
My mind held only one thought: I had to calm him down.
It was already too late, however.
The Duke’s unyielding voice rang in my ears.
I pleaded in a hushed voice meant for him alone.
Hokan flailed, trying to break free from my embrace.
When I looked up at the Duke with an imploring gaze, he gave a faint nod of reluctant consent.
Scooping Hokan into my arms, I turned toward the stairs.
Thump, thump—Hokan rained punches down on my back.
It was hardly the strength of an ordinary seven-year-old.
The blows hurt enough to force ragged gasps from my lips, but I gritted my teeth and endured them.
Once we reached the room, he ceased his barrage and shoved against my shoulders, tearing himself from my grasp.
The child paced around the room with furious strides before finally bursting into bitter sobs.
Muttering under his breath as if trying to hold back the flood of tears, Hokan kept pacing erratically.
He must have been holding it all in while downstairs in the drawing room.
Taking his hand, I led him toward the bed.
I sat him down on the soft mattress and waited for his sorrow to run its course.
After a long while of hitching and weeping, Hokan finally stared blankly into empty space with reddened eyes.
Hokan spat out the sullen words without looking me in the eye.
His lips had been tightly pressed together, but at the mention of Jackjack’s name, Hokan slowly lifted his head to meet my gaze.
His head drooped again, his voice far more subdued than before.
Sitting beside Hokan, I looked down at him gently.
Hokan slowly turned his head back toward me.
It was entirely possible.
Word was that His Majesty the Emperor considered Hokan his heir, and rumors were rampant that Her Imperial Majesty the Empress could no longer bear children.
Furthermore, the men of House Blantiger had historically never taken mistresses.
They adhered to monogamy as though it were divine law, their family tradition calling for devotion to a single woman throughout life.
Divorce was unthinkable, and should they be bereaved, they never remarried until the day they died.
House Blantiger firmly believed this creed was the very strength that had forged them into the most powerful empire in the world.
Other empires forged alliances and brokered diplomatic deals through marriages, even waging war if those bonds broke.
Once foreign realms realized early on that Blantiger’s ancestral traditions were unbending, no other nation sought to bind themselves to our empire through wedlock.
They had nipped those expectations right in the bud.
“…”
Hokan stared at me for a long moment with tear-rimmed eyes.
“Hokan. Teacher will never leave first.”
I replied with unwavering resolve.
“Hic….”
Did he feel the strength behind my words?
Fresh tears began streaking down Hokan’s cheeks.
Gently gathering him into my arms, I patted his back.
Pulling back from my arms, Hokan looked up at me with a puzzled expression.
Hokan’s eyes wavered dramatically.
His gaze was a tangle of doubt and a yearning to believe.
The sharpness in his gaze softened noticeably.
The wild turbulence in his chest seemed to have quieted considerably.
Becoming heir to the empire was an exceedingly delicate and arduous matter.
On top of that, only those of the Blantiger bloodline had the qualifications to bear that mantle.
In a sense, it was Hokan’s destiny.
Expecting this young child to fully grasp that weight was impossible.
Hokan shook his head side to side, unconvinced that such a day would ever come.
Right. I couldn’t push him too quickly.
I decided I would wait until Hokan was ready.
