Chapter 283 White Tiger
"Really? I never thought there could be someone like that in this world..."
Kismet raised an eyebrow, about to say something more, when Flynn beside her smiled carelessly and said, "Alright, let's stop talking about irrelevant stuff. Let's hurry to the archery range."
"Okay."
Everyone headed toward the archery range.
——
Isabella walked into the deep mountains behind the castle. As she walked along, she suddenly spotted a tiger halfway through.
The tiger was perched on a small hillside, yawning comfortably and lazily. Its entire body was snow-white, and its half-closed eyes were actually crimson red.
Isabella stood fifty meters away from it, not daring to go closer.
Was this the captive animal Axel had mentioned? If you called it a tiger, it was white. If you said it wasn't a tiger, it had a tiger's face.
Isabella stared at the tiger for several seconds. Suddenly, the tiger turned its head, and its crimson eyes looked at her too.
Then, the tiger lazily got up and walked toward her with an elegant gait.
Come to think of it, the way this tiger walked was somewhat similar to Gwyneth—unhurried, naturally carrying a kind of regal presence.
One step, two steps, three steps—the tiger was getting closer and closer to her.
Isabella swallowed nervously and backed away.
Could the tiger be coming to eat her?
Honestly, Isabella felt like she might not be a match for this tiger.
When it yawned earlier, the sharp teeth it revealed looked like they'd been sharpened—they could probably bite off her hand easily.
And she had this vague feeling that this tiger was definitely not an ordinary animal.
Isabella wanted to turn and run, but she didn't dare. She'd heard people say that if you encounter a dog, you shouldn't just run away, because that would make the dog think you're a bad person and chase you to bite you.
So if you encounter a tiger, shouldn't you run either? Maybe just act calm and walk past it?
Isabella thought about it and decided not running was safer than running.
She clenched her palms and forced herself to stand still calmly.
However, the next second, the white tiger pounced at her ferociously.
Isabella was knocked to the ground by the tiger's two giant paws, falling so hard she felt dizzy.
The white tiger knocked her down and opened its mouth to bite her face.
Isabella saw the huge bloody mouth suddenly opening in front of her, and her face changed dramatically.
But the next second, the expected bite didn't come. Instead, there was a warm breath.
The white tiger stuck out its tongue and licked her face, again and again.
Isabella froze.
She was licked several times before she reacted, pushing the white tiger away and getting up from the ground.
The white tiger looked at her, wagging its tail.
Isabella looked at it too. Suddenly, the white tiger pounced at her again, rubbing its head hard against her body. From its body language, Isabella didn't sense any hostility—instead, it seemed excited?
Suddenly, a cold voice came: "Pippa! What are you doing?"
A masked person wearing the Powell family uniform flashed over from the distance and pressed down on the white tiger's head.
He held the white tiger's head to keep it from getting close to Isabella, and asked her, "Are you okay? Did Pippa hurt you just now?"
Isabella shook her head. "No."
Although the fall did hurt a bit, she felt the tiger had held back. If it hadn't, she'd probably be dead already.
"That's good." The masked person breathed a sigh of relief and said, "My name is Dane Powell. I'm Pippa's keeper. I'm usually responsible for feeding it."
"Pippa?" Isabella looked at the white tiger curiously. "Is that the tiger's name?"
"That's right. She's a female tiger, Ms. Powell's pet. Pippa is the name Ms. Powell gave her."
"But why is she different from ordinary tigers?"
"Because she's not an ordinary tiger—she's a mystical beast," Dane explained.
Isabella had heard of ancient mystical beasts. Unlike ordinary animals, they had special abilities. But she thought mystical beasts only existed in ancient times and were long extinct. She never expected Gwyneth to be keeping one!
Pippa pulled her head back from under Dane's hand and tried to press against Isabella again, her short tail wagging rapidly.
Dane had to stand between Pippa and Isabella to keep Pippa away.
"She looks really happy," Isabella said.
Dane naturally noticed this too and frowned. "This is so strange."
"What's strange?" Isabella asked.
"She's not just happy—she seems to really like you. But as a mystical beast, Pippa never actively approaches humans. She ignores people when she sees them and is only close to Ms. Powell. You're the first person besides Ms. Powell that she's actively approached."
Isabella was also curious. "Why would she act like this toward me?"
Dane shook his head. "I don't know either."
This situation was definitely a first.
You have to understand, he'd been feeding Pippa for so many years, and normally Pippa barely acknowledged him, let alone wanted to cuddle with him. Not killing him was already good enough.
Just now, when he saw Pippa pouncing toward Isabella from afar, he thought Pippa's wild nature had taken over and she was going to hurt someone. He never expected she just wanted to lick Isabella a few times.
"She doesn't hurt people normally, does she?" Isabella asked.
"Never," Dane said. "Mystical beasts are quite intelligent. They have the same mature mentality and intelligence as humans. Except for not being able to speak, they can understand everything humans can understand. So after Ms. Powell's training, Pippa would never hurt anyone, unless..."
"Unless what?"
"Unless the master gives a command, or when the master is in danger—then she'll show protective aggressive behavior."
"And with the strength and speed of a crimson-eyed white tiger, even top ancient martial arts professionals are no match for her. Ms. Powell keeps her as both a pet and a bodyguard."
As soon as Dane finished speaking, Pippa impatiently swatted him aside with one paw.
Pippa started rubbing against Isabella again.
Watching this scene, Dane was completely baffled. He couldn't understand why Pippa was so enthusiastic about getting close to Isabella. What was it about Isabella that made her so excited?
And Pippa's current behavior completely overturned his previous understanding. This white tiger was usually very quiet with a cool personality. Except for wagging her tail slightly and approaching when she saw Gwyneth, she would never act this abnormally, as if she'd taken some kind of stimulant.