The Snow Leopard Baby of the Black Leopard Family - Chapter 132

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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 132
The girl who had given flowers to Tiel today was currently confined in the Underground Prison, undergoing treatment.
Lia added that while the girl had survived, her condition was far from stable.
Tiel slipped free from Lia’s embrace and hopped down from the bed.
“I need to go check on her!”
“That won’t do, miss! What if that child lunges at you again? If something like that happens once more—”
Lia held her back, her voice thick with worry.
Tiel paused to think, then shook her head firmly.
“I don’t think she’ll attack me. If she’d truly meant to harm me again, why would she have changed her mind and saved me?”
“Miss, that’s—”
“Besides! This is the Asterian Mansion. Within these walls, I’m safe!”
Lia considered reminding her that the place where she’d been attacked was also within Asterian Territory, but decided against it.
“Sigh. How could I possibly stop you? But at least let me tell your father before you go.”
“Has Father come home?”
“Yes, he should be here by now—”
Just then, someone knocked at the door. Both Tiel and Lia turned their heads at once. Tiel’s mouth curved into a gentle smile.
By now, the girl could recognize who stood beyond the door by the knock alone.
Tap, tap—neither hurried nor slow, the sound was unmistakable.
This rhythm belonged to none other than—
“Father?”
The moment Tiel called out, the door opened and Cassius stepped into the room.
His lustrous black hair was combed back neatly, making his handsome features stand out even more.
Tiel rushed to him and threw herself into his arms. Her dress swirled around her.
Cassius caught his youngest daughter with the ease of long habit. He was accustomed to holding Tiel tenderly, and she was accustomed to finding comfort in his embrace.
He adjusted his hold, carefully supporting her back so she remained pressed against him, and spoke.
“Tiel, I came to see if you were all right.”
Tiel nodded in response.
“I’m fine! I’m perfectly fine. Thanks to her taking me back, I wasn’t hurt at all.”
But Cassius appeared not to be listening to her words at all. Tiel tilted her head.
“…”
“Father, are you listening to me?”
Cassius paid only half attention to his daughter’s chatter as he examined her body carefully from head to toe.
Her soft palms where calluses and scars had once been, her plump cheeks, her neck and legs—he inspected every visible part meticulously. Only after confirming that Tiel bore no injuries did he plant a brief kiss on her cheek.
“I was worried. Your grandfather is also on his way back in shock.”
“I really am fine… But Father, about that girl—”
Cassius cut her off.
“That girl will be dealt with according to Asterian law. She endangered you, so she deserves punishment. Don’t worry. There’s no circumstance in which you’ll come to harm. As I promised you before.”
Startled by his resolute tone, Tiel quickly shook her head and added urgently.
“No! I wasn’t asking for her to be punished! I just… even though she tried to put me in danger at first, she changed her mind and saved me again. I was hoping you wouldn’t punish her too harshly.”
“Tiel, what are you saying? That girl nearly endangered the Head of the Asterian Household. She must pay for her crime with her life.”
“But Father! By that logic, it’s my fault for carelessly accepting the flowers without suspicion. Are you going to punish me?”
“What—”
Normally, Tiel never contradicted Cassius. Not since the day she first came to the Asterian Mansion.
She had occasionally exchanged words with Ferdi and Ludian, but she had never once answered back to Cassius.
Yet now his daughter was doing exactly that.
And for the sake of a beast who had nearly harmed her, no less.
Cassius raised an eyebrow, visibly taken aback.
“What are you talking about? Why would I punish you? You’ve done nothing wrong in this matter. And even if you had, you wouldn’t be punished. You’re my daughter.”
“Then couldn’t you spare her life? I think… there’s something else going on. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have held out the flowers with such a terrified expression.”
Tiel clung to Cassius’s neck, her words tumbling out. Cassius sighed.
Ferdi and Ludian were not the sort of children to speak this way, but if they had, Cassius would have shut them down immediately with a dismissal.
Yet Cassius had a particular weakness when it came to Tiel—and he was not alone in this. All of Asterian shared that weakness.
The girl could not go completely unpunished, but if Tiel pressed so earnestly, he could not ‘kill’ her.
Cassius stroked Tiel’s back gently.
“Very well. I’ll investigate the circumstances thoroughly as you suggest. If it turns out the girl bears no fault, I’ll impose only a light punishment. Are you satisfied now?”
“Yes! Thank you!”
Tiel planted a quick kiss on Cassius’s cheek and broke into a radiant smile.
The tension that had held Cassius’s face rigid with worry softened, and his lips curved gently upward.
“Oh, right. I want to go see that girl!”
“No.”
“Not even if I go with you?”
“…”
Cassius fell silent.
As he had said before, he possessed no talent for refusing Tiel’s requests.
He relented and lifted her into his arms, then set off at an unhurried pace.
Noticing that Cassius had not refused her, Tiel beamed and bounced her legs lightly with delight.
“Father, I have a feeling that girl isn’t bad at all.”
“She tried to hurt you, Tiel.”
“But she saved me again.”
“That doesn’t change the fact that she tried to hurt you.”
“It doesn’t change that she saved me either. If she’d just handed over the flowers and fled, she wouldn’t have been hurt. Instead, she chose to take my bouquet and suffer the consequences.”
Tiel regarded Cassius with surprising solemnity. He paused and met her gaze.
Two pairs of golden eyes faced each other, gleaming.
“I really don’t think she’s a bad person, Father. Truly.”
“Tiel.”
Cassius gently brushed back her hair and spoke her name.
When his touch neared her brow, Tiel closed one eye and tilted her head slightly.
“Perhaps you’re right. Perhaps she truly did mean to save you.”
“Yes.”
“But separate from that, you need to learn to be more cautious. Tiel, not everyone in the world is good.”
Cassius spoke in a low, grave voice. Tiel too set aside her playfulness and listened with a serious expression.
Father and daughter stood in the corridor talking for some time.
The conversation turned largely to matters of suspicion—how to be wary of strangers, how to mistrust at first glance.
***
The Underground Prison of Asterian.
“So she tried to harm the Head of Household?”
“That tiny little thing?”
“The Head is even smaller, isn’t she?”
The soldiers guarding the prison chattered among themselves, their emotions running high. In the midst of their conversation, one soldier even declared that the girl should be executed immediately.
This was what happened when everyone in Asterian adored Tiel. They could not forgive—could not abide—that a girl had dared to threaten their beloved master and precious lady.
Even if that girl was gravely wounded and on the brink of death.
“Why did he order us to spare her?”
“Could one small child have acted alone against the Head? Someone must have put her up to it. Until we find out who—”
It was then that the prison door opened and many footsteps echoed inside.
The soldiers guarding the prison fell silent and stood at attention.
The ones who had entered the Underground Prison were Cassius Asterian and Tiel Asterian.
“Where is the prisoner?”
Cassius, carrying Tiel, regarded the soldiers with eyes that had turned cold and sharp.

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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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