I’m a Hamster Born in a Tiger Family

My twin brother who had been absentmindedly staring at me hesitantly opened his mouth.

“What, what is it? What is this small and cute thing?”

“For some reason, her face looks like Byo…”

“I feel like I might accidentally kill it while moving it by the scruff of its neck.”

“Hyung, were we this small when we first became tigers?”

When my twin brother asked, brother Tigris spat out briefly.

“No way.”

It was obvious.

My twin brother could never have been as small as me.

Why, you ask?

“Because this is not a tiger.”

“Not a tiger? Then what is it?”

I stared at what appeared to be my twin brother’s likeness, as if he couldn’t figure it out.

Brother Tigris asked.

“Who lives the most in Gladwin Castle?”

“That would be the cats and werebeast. This place is Gladwin Castle, which governs the feline and canine.”

“That’s right. So what do they like the most?”

“Nap, hunting, fish…”

Brother Razvan, who had been answering without much thought, stopped talking, and then the figure that appeared to be brother Tavian stood up and pointed a finger at me.

“Uh! Ugh! Rat! That’s right, it’s a rat!”

“Squeak! Squeak! Squeak! (It’s not a rat! It’s a hamster!)”

As I squeaked loudly, my wise brother Tigris looked at me and said.

“I don’t think it’s a rat, I think it’s an extinct hamster.”

After all, brother Tigris is different.

I tried to smile in gratitude for his understanding, but my body didn’t listen and all I could do was twitch my pink nose.

Sigh. It seems like not just anyone can handle a baby hamster.

Regardless, the shocked twin brother screamed.

“Rat! My sister is a rat? It can’t be! She is my sister Sisthia Gladwin, the last female of Gladwin whom my mother gave birth to right before she passed away!”

“That’s right. I still have vivid memories of hugging the newborn Sisthia in the reception room of my mother’s room on the day Sisthia was born!”

It was natural to be shocked.

This was due to the fact that she was the only daughter of the Great Tiger Gladwin and the last woman to give birth to children who would inherit the lineage, but she had become a hamster instead of a tiger.

“This is nonsense! My sister is not a rat!”

“That’s right! And on top of that, she had to become a measly, insignificant mouse! How did this even happen?”

Hey, Brother Tavian. Do you really need to emphasize insignificance so much?

Of course, I’m a small and weak hamster compared to my big brothers.

“Kyung! (Hmph!)”

I turned my head in frustration.

Brother Tigris looked at me like that and quietly warned the twin brother.

“Razvan, Tavian. Be quiet. You’re scaring Sisthia.”

No, I wasn’t.

I was just trembling because it was hard to turn my head, and Tigris must have thought I was frightened by the noise the twin was making.

But thankfully, the twins immediately quieted down, and Tigris nodded.

“Thanks.”

“…Brother. What should we do now?”

“We’ll figure it out.”

Brother Tigris answered Razvan’s cautious question quietly.

“We should bring her back to her room.”

I immediately went back to the main residence of Gladwin Castle, where I was residing, with the assistance of my older brothers.

Tigress spoke with a serious expression.

“I’ll take care of the situation outside, so don’t leave the chambers. Understand?”

“Squeak! (Yes!)”

As Brother Tigris cleared up the situation, he would explain that although I had made it through the Growth Period safely, I had collapsed during the Growth Period ceremony due to health issues.

All the servants who worked in the chambers would be dismissed, and they would hide me securely within the chambers.

How do I know?

Because it was like that in the original story.

Everything that happened from the moment I transformed into a hamster on the day of the growth period ceremony followed the original story exactly.

There was only one thing that was different, and that was…

“Squeak squeak squeak… squeak squeak. (Hehehe… I’m cute.)”

… It was me.

In the original story, Sisthia cried out in shock at the fact that she had become a hamster, but I was very satisfied with my appearance as a hamster.

I couldn’t see them clearly with my eyes yet, but I could tell they were there because of the faint shapes.

A small and fluffy body, tiny ears that were slightly perked up, a pink nose, short and chubby legs, and an even chubbier tail!

If I could fully open my eyes and have sparkling black pupils, it would make me irresistibly cute.

Though I still had fur, the golden coat covering my back and the white fur on my belly were truly adorable.

Hehehe.

All the effort I had put into taking care of my hair paid off.

Perhaps because I had become a hamster, my sense of smell had improved, and a sweet floral scent emanated from my body.

In an attempt to see a little better, I wiped my eyes with my small front paws and sniffed while looking at myself in the mirror, wrinkling my nose. I repeated this process of wiping my eyes and sniffing, trying to take in scents.

I wished I could see a bit more clearly; it was a disappointing situation.

My twin brother stood next to me, watching me restlessly.

“Hey, Razvan. Stop breathing. You’re making Sisthia tremble because you’re breathing too heavily!”

“What nonsense are you talking about? She’s trembling because of you, Tavian. She gets scared when a big guy like you speaks so loudly!”

“Stop talking nonsense! Sisthia likes my voice! She always found it entertaining when I read her fairy tales! But look at this. Every time you breathe, Sisthia’s fur trembles!”

“You think you read her fairy tales so much! You always ended up falling asleep while reading! And your breath shakes Sisthia’s fur more than mine!”

“That’s not true!”

“It’s true!”

Aigoo, they fight over the silliest things.

It’s just because I’m a baby hamster and don’t have much strength, that’s why I tremble.

Besides, my transformation into a hamster is a significant matter that could cause problems not only in Gladwin but throughout the entire kingdom, but these brothers seem to have no concerns about that aspect.

I let out a small sigh and looked up at my older brothers and twitched my nose.

“Kyuu kyuu. (Don’t fight.)”

Hmm… it’s not working.

There was definitely a way to speak while in an animal form.

How can I do it?

Although I failed to speak, it seemed like my intentions got through as my brothers stopped arguing.

One of the twin brothers stared at me with his golden eyes shining.

“Did she just say ‘kyuu’ to us?”

“Yeah. She said ‘kyuu’.”

“Did she really call us?”

“Of course. She called us in the cutest way possible, didn’t she?”

…That’s not it.

Frustrated by not being able to communicate, I tried to convey my intentions by shaking my trembling body around.

“Kyuu, kyuu kyu kyu kyuu? (Hey, how do I speak?)”

“What is she saying?”

“Maybe she’s asking if she’s cute?”

“No, in my opinion, she’s saying that we look the coolest in the world.”

“Kyuu! Kyuuu! (No! Neither!)”

It was really not easy to convey my opinions through the body of a baby hamster.

After shaking my tiny paws, I felt so drained that I had to lie flat on the ground for a moment to catch my breath.

Fortunately, all the effort paid off, Razvan soon recognized my meaning.

“Oh, speaking in the form of an animal, right? Oh, I forgot to tell you about that. Instead of using your mouth, you use your head to speak.”

“Kyuuu? (With the head?)”

“Yeah. Just think of it as sending telepathy to us. It’ll be easier.”

Isn’t that even harder?

Feeling exhausted, I sat on the ground, closed my eyes, and tried to make sounds with my head, exhaling softly.

[L… Li-like, t, his? (Like this?)]

Ugh…

I knew that when you first become an animal, you speak like a child, but experiencing it firsthand is incredibly embarrassing.

The tip of my nose, which was pink, turned bright red.

My brothers, too, seemed taken aback and became stiff.

“What, what is it? Sisthia, what did you just say?”

“I heard it. She said ‘Like his’.”

“Crazy. ‘Like his’?”

Can you stop imitating me?

I’m feeling really embarrassed right now…

But my brothers seemed completely unfazed by my embarrassment.

The golden pupils of my twin brother shimmered even brighter than the sun.

I blinked in surprise at the breath that my brothers exhaled.

“Sisthia, say more. Huh? Say something else.”

“Me! Call me! Just once, say ‘Tavian oppa.'”

[N-naw! (N, no!)]

“Argh!”

Tavian crouched down, pressing his chest like a prisoner beaten in the pit of the stomach.

“Did you hear that, Razvan? ‘Naw’! ‘Naw’! I didn’t think I would hear such a cute pronunciation anymore since Sisthia was three years old, but I love it!”

“Quiet down. She’s giving me a heart attack from being so cute!!”

…This won’t work.

I’ll practice speaking later and avoid talking when I’m in hamster form.

I deliberately sighed with my mouth, not my head.

“Kyuuuu. (Hyuuu.)”

“Sigh. Look at her making a kyuu sound this time to be evenly cute!”

“As expected, Sisthia is the best!”

“…”

For fear of causing another misunderstanding, I kept my mouth shut. Tigris then arrived just in time.

The sight of Tigris entering the room felt like a hero.

“I’ve taken care of urgent matters for now. How’s Sisthia doing?”

“Hyung! Hyung! Something terrible happened! Sisthia! Sisthia is…!”

Tigris’ brother’s complexion darkened as Tavian’s brother made a fuss. He hurriedly approached the table where I was sitting and asked.

“What’s wrong with Sisthia?”

“Sisthia has gone crazy!”

“What?”

[Naw! (No!)]

Before he starts talking nonsense, someone please cover his mouth, not his teeth!