The Snow Leopard Baby of the Black Leopard Family - Chapter 127

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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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Chapter 127
“It’s a promise!”
At Tiel’s words, Iandros nodded. Tiel released him without hesitation.
Iandros and the knights he’d brought returned to the Imperial Palace. The moment Iandros left, the physician of Asterian entered the children’s room.
“Ferdi, Ludian, Olivier, Tiel. Congratulations on returning safely.”
The physician bowed respectfully. Alpheus waved his hand, signaling to skip the pleasantries and begin. The children’s faces filled with enormous question marks.
“Suddenly?”
“We’re not even hurt, and you’re calling a doctor?”
“Grandfather, can’t you see we’re perfectly fine?”
“Oh, hello there!”
Only Tiel greeted the suddenly-arrived physician. The physician ignored the children’s protests and began examining Ludian’s condition first.
“We really haven’t been injured, you know?”
“I know. But you’ve traveled a long distance, so it’s necessary to check your physical condition once.”
The moment Alpheus finished speaking, the door burst open, and servants filed in carrying all manner of tonics to restore vitality.
Ludian looked at Alpheus.
Alpheus quietly turned his head away.
“Grandfather…”
“I said it’s necessary to check your condition!”
“Isn’t this a bit much?”
Alpheus thoroughly ignored Ludian’s objection. The physician carefully examined each child’s body in turn, then delivered a diagnosis that there was nothing seriously amiss.
“All four of you have accumulated fatigue, but you should recover quickly with proper rest. I recommend staying at the estate for some time.”
He recommended they each drink a cup of restorative tonic, then quietly left the room.
Tiel closed her eyes, determined not to spit out the bitter medicine on her tongue, and swallowed.
Behind her, Olivier promptly spat the medicine back into his cup.
Cassius, who had been quietly watching this, spoke softly.
“At the next Council Summons, it would be best not to bring Tiel. Father.”
At Cassius’s words, Tiel looked up. The maid standing beside her immediately slipped a small candy into her mouth.
The child held the candy, her cheeks rounded, and stared at Cassius.
“Council Summons… you mean the meetings like last time, when everyone gathered at the Imperial Palace?”
“Yes.”
Now that Tiel had successfully completed her mission and returned, there would be a need to discuss her living arrangements once again.
Cassius was saying he would not bring Tiel to ‘that place’ this time. Tiel tilted her head.
“Why? Would I be in the way if I went?”
Alpheus, standing behind Tiel, gently lifted his granddaughter into his arms. Held against his chest, Tiel looked up at her grandfather.
“It’s not that, Tiel. It’s simply that from here on, it’s a problem only adults can resolve. You’ve completed your task admirably, so what comes next is for your grandfather and father to handle.”
“But if I don’t go… will there be any trouble?”
Tiel asked carefully, recalling the ominous aura Thender had given off that day.
Thender had tried by every means to keep Tiel separated from Asterian.
So if she didn’t attend this Council Summons…
“There will be no trouble from you not attending. Rest assured—we’ll simply say the child has accumulated travel fatigue and cannot move about. Even they are not so utterly shameless as to insist on dragging along a small child with travel fatigue.”
At Cassius’s words, Tiel finally looked relieved.
Then it happened.
Poof!
“Huh?”
“Wait…”
“Wha—?”
“…Squeak?”
In an instant, Tiel, who had been nestled in Alpheus’s arms, transformed into a small snow fox.
Fortunately, Alpheus held her firmly enough that she didn’t fall to the floor.
Tiel looked down bewilderedly at her raised front paws, taking in the soft pink jelly-like paw pads.
‘Why again all of a sudden?’
She hadn’t overexerted herself this time, and she’d even drunk the medicine the physician gave her. Why had she transformed? Tiel cocked her head.
“You must have been quite exhausted.”
Cassius took Tiel from Alpheus’s arms. Tiel pressed her front paws gently against his chest as she nestled against her father.
“Squeak…”
“Your body pushed itself hard without you realizing it. That’s why you transformed the moment the tension eased.”
Cassius gently stroked the small fox’s back. Nestled in his arms, Tiel nodded slightly, thinking to herself, ‘At least I didn’t transform while Iandros was here…’
***
“Tiel, come here!”
“Chirp!”
Tiel bounded into Ludian’s arms. Ludian settled onto the bed with his younger sister cradled tenderly against him.
“Have you been resting well?”
Tiel nodded eagerly at Ludian’s question.
Once word spread throughout the estate that Tiel’s body had strained itself, causing her Transformation, every servant in the household fretted over her.
So worried were they that they wanted to carry the small miss everywhere—on her feet or piggyback—to prevent any stumble, and Lia brought all of Tiel’s meals right to her bed.
Tiel could confidently say that there was no one in all of Asterian’s territory who had ‘rested’ more thoroughly than she had.
“The child still seems a bit weak… Ferdi, don’t you think so too?”
“I think so too. Lay her back down.”
“Chirp?”
Tiel was caught by her brothers’ hands and laid back on the bed. A plush blanket was draped over her.
Tiel, who was now eager to stop lying down, flailed her front paws.
‘I’m perfectly fine!’
She could have released the Transformation immediately. But the reason Tiel didn’t was simple.
‘Being in animal form is more comfortable…’
It was easier to be held in someone’s arms, more comfortable to curl up on the bed. Moreover, Ferdi had ‘snatched’ Cooling Artifacts from Thender, and they were scattered all over Tiel’s room, so it wasn’t hot at all.
Ferdi set down the tray he’d brought and patted his knees.
“Come here, Tiel.”
Tiel scurried over and sat on Ferdi’s lap.
Ferdi scooped up a generous spoonful of sweet, fluffy Cream Cake and held it to Tiel’s mouth.
Tiel opened her mouth wide and bit the spoon, licking the whipped cream with her tongue.
While Ferdi earnestly fed Tiel the cake, Ludian wiped the cream from the corners of her mouth.
“Now that I think about it, wasn’t it today?”
Ferdi, who had been calmly feeding Tiel cake, looked up and asked. Ludian squinted.
“What? You need to include the subject when you speak. You have this bad habit of omitting the subject…”
“The day Father and Grandfather are going to the Imperial Palace.”
“Oh, yeah, today’s the day.”
Ludian answered matter-of-factly. Ferdi likewise nodded matter-of-factly. The only one who was not calm was Tiel.
Tiel’s tail puffed anxiously and swished left and right.
‘What if something goes wrong because I’m not there?’
Thender might cause trouble for Cassius and Alpheus. Though Cassius and Alpheus never lost to or gave an opening to Thender, they became infinitely vulnerable when it came to Tiel—so her worry never eased.
Ferdi, noticing Tiel’s anxiety, placed a small strawberry slice from atop the cake into her mouth and spoke.
“Don’t worry. You’re not going because you’re ill. And no matter how shameless they are, they won’t say anything about a child who’s too sick to attend.”
Tiel accepted the strawberry and nodded.
***
“This conference was convened to determine the fate of ‘Tiel of Asterian.’ Yet the person in question is absent. Where in the Law is such a thing permitted?”
Thender spoke in a querulous tone. Alpheus and Cassius regarded him with tired exasperation.
Thender of Nestian was truly ‘shameless, unscrupulous, and devoid of principle’—a fact they’d momentarily forgotten.
However, there was no problem.
“There is no reason Tiel must participate. That child fulfilled her duties faithfully, and her role is complete. So why does Nestian keep trying to drag her into this?”
The Emperor himself had stepped in to block Nestian before Asterian could respond.

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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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