The Snow Leopard Baby of the Black Leopard Family - Chapter 140

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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 140
Tiel explained in detail to Ferdi and Ludian what had happened in Iandros’s Subspace.
Of course, she left out any mention of the Large Pink Cushion. It seemed like something Iandros wanted to keep hidden.
After hearing everything from Tiel, Ferdi and Ludian both wore grave expressions.
“It’s probably best not to tell anyone else…… until Iandros tells them himself.”
“Right, that’s how it should be. There’s nothing good about word getting out. Still, I’m worried.”
“So that’s why he bolted out of here looking so dazed?”
Tiel nodded at Ludian’s words. Ferdi gently rubbed her cheek.
“Are you alright? You weren’t too shaken, were you? You mentioned having nightmares lately, and I’m worried this might cost you more sleep.”
“I’m…… fine! I was a bit startled, but I’m okay. More than that, I’m worried about Iandros.”
Ludian and Ferdi nodded in agreement.
Jeon Seo-gu, who had been sitting quietly where Iandros left him, fluttered his wings and settled lightly on Tiel’s shoulder.
***
“A Cadet Branch of the Imperial Family?”
The Emperor narrowed his brow. Iandros nodded with a grave expression. The Emperor set down his papers and removed his spectacles, placing them aside.
“There is no child with Emerald Eyes among the Cadet Branches of the Imperial Family. You know this as well, don’t you? Those eyes are an Imperial Symbol that only the Pure Bloodline of the Crasion Imperial Family can possess.”
“I am aware, Your Majesty.”
“Then why are you asking such a thing? It’s unlike you.”
……
Iandros did not answer. The Emperor thought his grandson seemed particularly strange today, but he did not press further.
This relationship between grandfather and grandson was more shallow and devoid of trust than others might imagine.
Iandros disliked his grandfather. For this reason, the Emperor did not bother questioning him about this or that.
Their relationship was built on a fragile trust formed by what remained unasked.
This was the last trust that existed between the Emperor and Iandros. The Emperor did not wish to shatter even that.
After a long silence, Iandros lifted his head and spoke.
“Then, is there any record remaining of those who possessed the same Ability as I do in times past?”
“Why do you suddenly seek such a thing?”
“I have need of it.”
“As you well know, there are scarcely any records remaining of Subspace Creation. Nevertheless, if you wish to search, examine the Underground Archives of the Imperial Palace. None save the Emperor may enter that place ordinarily, but…… I will grant you permission to do so.”
“I am grateful for Your Majesty’s benevolence.”
Iandros bowed with proper courtesy.
The Emperor nodded. Iandros left the chamber without hesitation.
The Emperor watched his grandson’s departing figure for a moment, lost in thought.
“Is something troubling him……?”
In all his years raising Iandros, he had never once seen such an expression on the boy’s face.
Iandros had experienced some grave ordeal in his earliest childhood, and perhaps as a result, he carried himself with a detached, composed, unflappable demeanor. Unbecomingly so for a child.
The Emperor deeply worried over this aspect of Iandros.
Detachment and composure were qualities befitting a good emperor, but such an unchildlike bearing meant the boy was losing the very years in which he ought to grow as a child.
He had thought the situation improved considerably after Iandros met the youngest daughter of the Asterian Family, began to care for her like a younger sister, and now treated her as a friend.
“Still, Iandros troubles me greatly.”
Before he was Iandros’s grandfather, he was Emperor of Crasion, and thus he could not help but prioritize the empire over his grandson in all matters.
Sometimes he resented this necessity. How could he not wish to shelter and embrace his beloved grandson?
But the weight of the throne beneath him and the crown upon his head did not permit Wilhelm to do so.
Wilhelm gazed with a bitter expression at the spot where Iandros had stood moments before.
Throughout their entire conversation, Iandros had remained standing, never taking a seat.
***
“The Underground Archives of the Imperial Palace, Your Highness?”
“Indeed.”
Iandros replied. His aide, Cedric, showed visible reluctance.
“The Underground Archives are accessible only to Your Majesty the Emperor, Your Highness.”
“His Majesty has granted me permission to enter. Don’t waste time with objections—follow me.”
Faced with Iandros’s sharp tone, Cedric closed his mouth and followed.
Though Iandros frequented the Imperial Palace Archives, he had never once set foot in the Underground Archives. As the Emperor had said, that place was accessible only to the Emperor himself.
Even the Crown Prince was no exception.
Iandros walked with long, purposeful strides toward the Archives.
The palace guards stationed at the entrance straightened and saluted sharply as they recognized Iandros and Cedric.
Iandros passed them and stepped into the Archives.
The Imperial Palace Archives, where vast records of the Crasion Empire were kept, was meticulously maintained, and despite the sweltering heat of summer, it remained cool and pleasant.
Iandros stopped before the staircase leading down to the underground level and turned back to Cedric.
“Wait here.”
“Yes, Your Highness. But what matter brings you here?”
“You need not know. I will inform you when the time comes.”
The boy answered coldly and descended into the underground.
Before him stood two guards stationed at the entrance to the Underground Archives, and upon recognizing Iandros, they showed visible hesitation.
“Access is restricted to His Majesty the Emperor alone, Your Highness. Our apologies.”
“His Majesty has granted me permission to enter this place. Open the door.”
The soldiers exchanged glances, uncertain whether Iandros spoke truth or falsehood.
Yet Iandros was the Crown Prince, and they were mere soldiers.
Even if his words were a lie, they could not refuse to open the door.
The soldiers opened the door to the Underground Archives. A musty smell hit his nostrils sharply.
Iandros, who ordinarily preferred cleanliness, furrowed his brow as he stepped inside the Archives.
The Archives were impeccably maintained, yet because all the books and documents stored within were extraordinarily old, the smell was unavoidable.
Iandros methodically examined the materials.
What he sought was specific: whether anyone outside the Crasion Imperial Family had ever possessed the Ability of Subspace Creation.
Publicly, no such person existed, but perhaps one could have.
Records might remain of someone born into a Cadet Branch who possessed it.
Iandros first located all books and materials that appeared to contain records of Subspace.
Thanks to the thorough organization and categorization, finding the materials he sought did not take overly long.
Iandros found several documents recording information about Subspace. He settled himself and began turning through the pages.
The material was left behind by a scribe who served an Emperor ruling Crasion in the distant past, documenting ‘Subspace Creation.’
Iandros indifferently skimmed past a page containing records of an Imperial Princess who possessed ‘Subspace Creation.’
What he sought was whether the ‘Ability of Subspace Creation’ could be born in the Cadet Branches as well, and whether ‘those who possess the Subspace Ability can connect their Subspaces to one another’—matters of that nature. He had no interest in records of a princess.
He turned the pages rapidly. The book lavishly detailed how wise, beautiful, and great the Imperial Princess of Crasion who possessed ‘Subspace Creation’ had been.
The princess was said to be all but designated as the next Emperor.
Even the scribe’s biased prose suggested that she was eminently worthy of becoming the next master of the throne.
Iandros’s eyes narrowed in surprise.
It is common knowledge that there once existed an Imperial Princess who possessed ‘Subspace Creation.’
Yet that princess had been a madwoman, nearly caused the deaths of all Imperial Subjects through her Ability, was imprisoned as a criminal, and died in captivity.
But the record told a starkly different story.
“She was wise and prudent?”
Everyone in Crasion knows that the Imperial Princess who possessed Subspace was a lunatic.
Iandros turned the remaining pages with considerable interest.
Perhaps this book contained far more information about Subspace. The answer he sought might lie within these pages.
In that moment, Iandros’s hand froze mid-page turn.
Before his eyes lay a portrait of the princess.
A face disturbingly familiar.

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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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