The Snow Leopard Baby of the Black Leopard Family - Chapter 141

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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 141
‘That face I saw in the Subspace!’
Iandros was certain.
Though the materials were aged, some faded and torn in places, the resemblance was unmistakable.
This princess’s portrait bore a striking likeness to the mysterious woman he had glimpsed within the Subspace.
‘Then was that woman yesterday a descendant of this princess?’
It was highly probable—a princess from centuries past could not possibly still be alive.
Iandros gazed at the portrait for a long time, unmoving.
The princess in the portrait was a beauty: a broad forehead, refined features, an elegant nose, full lips that drew the eye.
On the left side of her face was something that resembled a scar, yet paradoxically, the scar seemed to only enhance her striking beauty.
Iandros searched the Underground Library for any other records of the princess. Yet no further documents came to light.
It was decidedly strange.
Typically, records of imperial family members were organized into volumes bound in leather and preserved in designated shelves—at least ten such books per person.
Even the most obscure or short-lived royal would leave behind several volumes of documentation.
What made it odder still was that he had not found this book in the section dedicated to imperial genealogies, but rather among general reference materials.
The binding, too, appeared to be made of thick paper, layered and pasted together, rather than leather.
Certainly not a medium befitting the record of a royal life.
Iandros held the Records in one hand and gazed at the Underground Library—where no further documents of the princess remained.
Not a single word in this book mentioned the princess having gone mad.
Yet in the current age, all treated her as a madwoman, and the Subspace Creation Ability was regarded as a power dangerously likely to bring ruin upon the Empire itself.
Why?
‘When I think about it, there can only be one reason.’
Only the Emperor could alter imperial records.
It followed that the next Emperor, upon ascending the throne, had erased the princess’s records and spread false rumors about her.
This book was the sole surviving account.
Iandros sat and read the Records repeatedly, line after line.
As though he meant to commit them to memory, despite their containing no information that would aid him.
***
Those garbed in black robes moved in silence behind Osian.
They were elite knights of Asterian, skilled at concealing their presence, and Osian remained unaware of their pursuit.
“Jay, that bastard! Making me do such a thing!”
Osian muttered irritably as he climbed the mountain.
This peak lay in the far eastern reaches of Russell Territory, its steep terrain and sparse traffic making it an isolated place.
When Jay first approached Osian, he had demanded ‘a villa in a secluded area where work could be done.’
Osian had granted him the villa on this mountain. Jay had been pleased, and Osian himself had initially thought it acceptable.
But after traveling back and forth repeatedly, he had come to regret it bitterly—nowhere could be more steep and inconvenient! He had cursed more than once his decision not to place the villa lower down.
He climbed, breathing hard. The Asterian knights followed in silence.
Osian glanced back from time to time, checking whether anyone was pursuing him, but the Asterian knights remained undetected.
Osian stopped only when he reached the edge of the Black Fog.
The Asterian knights who saw the darkness rising thick as smoke narrowed their eyes.
Osian entered it.
The Asterian knights hesitated, choosing not to follow immediately.
“Hold.”
At the hand signal from the knight leading the pursuit, all of them stopped in their tracks.
It was unwise to follow blindly without knowing what lay within.
They did not approach the smoke. It might contain poison.
Poison had largely fallen from use, yet families and clans still existed in certain places that wielded it—caution, and more caution, was necessary.
“We return for now. Mark this location clearly on the map.”
“Yes, it has been marked.”
They unfurled their map and recorded their position. A circle was drawn upon it.
Beside it were four X marks—places they had deemed suspicious while trailing Osian.
Yet the knights could discern by instinct alone that this was the location they sought.
The knights returned and reported to Alpheus.
After hearing their account, Alpheus furrowed his brow and questioned them.
“The Russell Clan’s Ability was smoke?”
“According to our investigation, the Russell Clan’s Ability is the Fog Ability, and the current Head of the Russell Clan is believed to possess almost no Ability whatsoever.”
Cassius answered.
“Fog—that would make sense. But if he has almost no Ability, how could he maintain one of such magnitude? An Ability of that degree would demand considerable power.”
The smoke Osian had entered was presumed to contain the hideout that Lis had spoken of. Likely his sister was there as well.
Yet maintaining an Ability of that scale would require tremendous physical endurance and strength.
“Did this Jay fellow lend his aid?”
“That may well be the case.”
Cassius and Alpheus exchanged remarks in measured tones. They dismissed the reporting knights and examined the map they had brought.
“It would be best to scout first with the Salamander.”
“Yes. By now, Osian Russell surely knows he is being pursued. Even if the Salamander is spotted, little harm will come of it. Still, we should position knights about the perimeter as a precaution. Should they show signs of fleeing, we must encircle them.”
“Understood. That would be the prudent course.”
Cassius opened his palm. A small spark ignited within it, then expanded, taking the form of a tiny lizard.
It was a Salamander crafted by Cassius’s Ability.
With more power, he could have shaped it larger and stronger, but for reconnaissance purposes, this size was ideal.
Alpheus and Cassius first positioned Asterian knights throughout Russell Territory to guard against any escape.
Then they sent the Salamander into the darkness.
In the course of this, Alpheus and Cassius informed Tiel of the matter.
Upon seeing her father and grandfather come to inform her and request her consent, Tiel tilted her head.
“Is my approval necessary for this?”
Cassius answered without hesitation.
“Yes. You are the Head of Asterian. Though your father and I have stepped in because this is too dangerous for you to oversee, moving the knights of Asterian requires the Head’s authorization.”
Tiel nodded at Cassius’s words and examined the map.
Then she tilted her head again.
“Black Fog?”
“Yes. I’ve sent the Salamander in. I’ll be able to confirm what it is shortly. It may be a poison-based Ability…….”
Cassius replied.
Tiel narrowed her brow as if deep in thought, pondering for some time before opening her mouth slightly with a sound of recognition.
Black?
She had seen something similar in the Cursed Land, and before that, when Iandros’s Ability had run wild, she had encountered something comparable.
So that’s why Cassius’s explanation felt so familiar! Tiel recalled those memories more vividly.
Most of them would vanish without a trace when Tiel used her Ability to shine light upon them.
Tiel turned to Cassius and spoke.
“Um, Father. I think I’ve seen something similar…….”
“You’ve seen something like it?”
“Yes, but it might not be. I’ve only heard about it from you, and you’ve only heard it from the knights, so what we’re thinking might be a little different. But……!”
Tiel shot up from her seat and hurried off somewhere.
She went to the room where she kept all the things she had made and treasured so far.
Tiel picked up a small glass sphere from within.
A small light within it shimmered as though breathing.
It looked just as if it had swallowed light itself.
This sphere was a Light Sphere that Tiel had created by infusing it with her Ability.
Since giving Iandros a Holy Relic as a gift, she had been practicing often to create these. She had managed only a handful so far, but…….
“I’ve seen something similar many times, and most times, it would disappear when light was shone upon it. But since I can’t go there myself, take this instead…….”
Tiel clutched the glass sphere carefully in her hand and hurried forward to give it to Cassius.

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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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