Chapter 575: Gifts from Draxil are unique

Sebastian stopped at the foot of the staircase.

Theo remained asleep against his shoulder, warm and heavy with the absolute trust of a child who had eaten pastry, finished a glass of milk, and decided someone else’s arms were an acceptable substitute for a bed.

Sebastian looked back at Eryx.

Then his gaze moved deliberately over the Rohan consort’s charcoal suit.

Simple tailoring. Minimal jewelry. No elaborate embroidery, dramatic layers, or decorative metalwork. By Eryx’s standards, he looked almost suspiciously ordinary.

"Did your survival instincts die with your usual wardrobe tonight?"

Eryx blinked.

Heather laughed first.

She had been speaking quietly with Amelie, but the question pulled her attention across the room immediately.

"My wardrobe is perfectly respectable," Eryx said.

"That is the problem."

Eryx looked down at himself.

"We are being photographed throughout the coronation. Apparently I was advised that appearing dressed like an independent ceremonial event would be inappropriate."

Amaru folded his arms.

"You were told not to compete visually with my coronation."

"I accepted the criticism with extraordinary grace."

"You complained for two days."

Heather was still smiling when she looked toward Sebastian.

"Forget his clothes. What marriage gift?"

Sebastian’s expression flattened.

"No."

That only made Heather more interested.

Dean glanced between him and Eryx.

"You already received it?"

"Two days ago."

Nero smiled.

Sebastian noticed.

"Stop looking pleased."

"I like our gift."

"That was never in dispute."

Arion’s attention shifted toward Amaru.

"What did you give them?"

Amaru’s expression acquired precisely the same satisfaction Sebastian remembered from the private garden two days earlier.

Sebastian sighed.

Dean immediately noticed.

"Oh, now I absolutely want to see it."

"You don’t."

"I definitely do."

Heather stepped away from Amelie.

"So do I. Eryx didn’t tell me anything."

Eryx looked almost proud of himself.

"It was confidential."

"You tell me everything."

"Not surprises belonging to other people’s marriages."

Heather narrowed her eyes.

"That principle has never existed before today."

Sylvia laughed from her chair.

"Can the surprise be brought here?"

"No," Sebastian answered.

Dean’s eyebrows rose.

That was enough.

"What did they give you?"

Sebastian looked at Nero.

Nero looked toward Amaru.

Amaru smiled.

Dean’s suspicion deepened.

"Why does everyone except us know?"

"Because," Sebastian said, "they apparently spent months arranging the transportation of a tiger."

Silence.

Dean stared at him.

Arion stared at him.

Heather slowly turned toward Eryx.

"A what?"

Nero replied, clearly pleased, and dramatically flicked his hair back.

"A white tiger."

Heather’s mouth fell open.

Eryx smiled.

"With purple eyes."

Dean made a sound somewhere between disbelief and laughter.

"No."

Amaru’s expression became defensive before anyone had even accused him of anything.

"It is a traditional gift."

"A tiger is traditional?"

"My father gave Tania to Dax and Chris when they married."

That explained everything.

Dean and Arion remembered Tania.

Everyone who had spent meaningful time around the Sahan imperial family remembered Tania: enormous, white, spoiled without apology and treated with roughly the same respect as a retired senior member of the household.

Nero had practically grown up against her side.

Arion looked toward Nero, a hand covering his face.

"Related?"

Nero nodded.

"Several generations removed."

"And you accepted her?"

Sebastian answered before Nero could.

"The discussion is technically ongoing."

Nero smiled.

"The tiger is coming to Saha."

Sebastian looked at him with a glare that made Dean pray for Nero’s soul. .

"That is why the discussion is ongoing."

Heather laughed.

"I want to see her."

Sebastian stared at her and let out a long, suffering sigh.

"Of course you do."

Dean was already smiling.

"I do too."

Arion glanced at him.

Dean caught the look.

"What?"

"You’re enjoying this."

"I haven’t seen the tiger yet."

"You’re still enjoying it."

Dean looked at Sebastian again, then suddenly thought of Ducky.

The smile widened.

Sebastian immediately became suspicious.

"What?"

Dean started laughing so hard that he had to grab Arion’s forearm as the connection fully formed in his mind.

"Oh, this is wonderful."

Sebastian’s eyes narrowed.

"Explain."

"Twelve."

Amaru frowned.

Dean managed to straighten.

"Twelve infected beasts from Claudia’s palace ended up following Arion, became dogs again, and somehow all became our responsibility."

Arion sighed.

"They needed somewhere to go."

"And now Sebastian gets a tiger."

Sebastian stared at him.

Dean laughed again.

"I wasn’t the only one."

Amaru looked genuinely offended.

"Those dogs were not a wedding gift."

Dean pointed at him.

"They came from Draxil."

"They came from Claudia’s compound."

"Ducky came from Draxil."

"Ducky was an infected beast!"

"Now he’s a dog who steals Theo’s socks."

"That has nothing to do with me."

Arion’s shoulders had begun shaking.

Amelie covered her mouth.

Even Sylvia was laughing while Thomas stood behind her chair, looking increasingly entertained by Amaru’s outrage.

Amaru looked around the room.

"I rescued none of you badly enough to deserve this accusation."

"You’re giving my brother a tiger," Dean said.

"It is a carefully bred, trained royal animal with professional handlers."

"That sentence isn’t helping."

Heather touched Eryx’s arm.

"We’re seeing her."

Eryx gestured toward the western corridor.

"Gladly."

Sebastian looked down at Theo.

The child had somehow slept through the entire argument.

Nero stepped closer and carefully took him, one arm supporting Theo beneath the legs while the other settled across his back. Theo shifted, buried his face against Nero’s shoulder, and continued sleeping.

Sebastian watched for a moment before surrendering.

"Fine."

The private garden was only a few minutes away.

By the time they reached the bronze enclosure, evening had deepened enough for the concealed garden lights to illuminate the trees and shallow pool beyond the fence.

Something white moved through the shadows.

Dean stopped.

The tiger stepped into view.

She was already large despite her youth, with an almost pure white coat broken by pale silver stripes. Her broad head turned toward the newcomers.

Then Dean saw her eyes.

"Oh."

Nero’s expression softened immediately.

The tiger recognized him too, approaching the fence before settling beside it with an easy familiarity that suggested the previous meeting had already established whatever judgment she needed to make.

Heather moved closer to Eryx.

"She really does look like Tania."

"That’s the point," Amaru said.

Arion watched the tiger for several seconds before looking toward Sebastian.

"So you lost the argument."

"I have not lost anything."

Dean looked at the tiger already rubbing her enormous head against the bronze fencing when Nero approached with Theo still asleep against him.

Then he looked at Sebastian.

"You’ve lost."

Sebastian exhaled.

Behind Dean, Amaru muttered, "At least nobody can claim the tiger accidentally followed them home."

Dean started laughing again.

Arion wrapped an arm around his waist before he could bend in half.

"Careful."

Dean wiped at his eyes.

"I spent years being mocked for Ducky."

"You named him Ducky," Sebastian reminded him.

"And now you have a tiger."

Sebastian looked toward the enormous white animal.

The tiger blinked slowly at him.

His expression became resigned.

Heather noticed and smiled.

"What is her name?"

Sebastian was silent.

Nero answered.

"We haven’t chosen one yet."

Dean laughed even harder.

That, more than anything else, told him the tiger was already theirs.