The Snow Leopard Baby of the Black Leopard Family - Chapter 145

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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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Episode 145
Tiel and Ferdi arrived at the Imperial Palace not long after. Those who recognized the young Head of Household of Asterian left at once, saying they would fetch Iandros.
Tiel and Ferdi waited for Iandros in the reception room. Soon enough, the door opened.
And Iandros stepped inside.
“Iandros!”
Tiel turned to greet him cheerfully by name, but froze. The Iandros she hadn’t seen in a while was terribly gaunt.
His complexion was pallid, and dark circles shadowed the hollows beneath his eyes.
“Iandros, you don’t look well…….”
Tiel spoke with concern, her brow furrowed. Ferdi, watching from beside her, chimed in as well.
“What’s wrong with your face? Anyone would think you haven’t slept in a week straight.”
“I actually haven’t slept all week.”
After greeting Tiel, Iandros dropped onto the reception room sofa with a heavy sigh.
“Why? Is it because of ‘that matter’?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
Iandros took a sip of tea and replied. Ferdi and Tiel nodded as if they’d expected as much.
Certainly, what happened that day was no ordinary affair.
Someone had breached Iandros’s Subspace. Whether such a thing was even possible was beside the point—they still had no idea who had invaded his Subspace or why.
And moreover.
Tiel, recalling the face she’d glimpsed that day inside Iandros’s Subspace, bit her lip with a serious expression.
‘It resembled Iandros…… ‘.
A resemblance. Similar features.
More than mere likeness—there was something that felt even more akin. Who could he possibly be? An unrecognized member of the imperial bloodline?
Noticing the gravity of Tiel’s expression, Iandros placed a cookie in the little Head of Household’s mouth.
Crunch.
Tiel reflexively bit down on the cookie. Her furrowed brow smoothed naturally. Iandros stroked her hair a few times before speaking.
“I found records in the Imperial Palace Library about a princess who used Subspace.”
“A…… princess, you mean.”
Ferdi, unable to commit treason against the imperial family before the Crown Prince—despite having done so countless times already—fumbled over his words, and Iandros filled in for him.
“Yes, the one who’s passed down as the mad princess.”
“I wouldn’t have put it quite that way.”
“But that’s the truth of it, isn’t it?”
“If Your Highness says so…….”
“In any case, I found her records. And…….”
Iandros began to open his mouth as if to say more, then closed it firmly.
“No, I’ll discuss it once everything is clearer.”
Tiel and Ferdi didn’t press further. As Iandros fed her pieces of candy and cookies one by one, Tiel watched him sideways.
Despite Tiel’s worries, Iandros seemed fine. His state appeared stable.
Tiel and Iandros were Bonded, so Tiel could sense his condition.
‘That’s a relief.’
Tiel thought that even their incomplete Bond was quite convenient.
Had it been a complete Bond instead of a half-formed one, it might have been even more useful…….
“Tiel.”
Lost in thought, Tiel startled at the sound of her name and looked up.
Iandros and Ferdi were both looking at her.
“Did you call for me?”
“Yes. Nestian’s movements have been strange lately. I thought you should know.”
“Nestian?”
“Rowen Nestian, the granddaughter of the Nestian family head, has vanished.”
“Rowen?”
“More than that, we’ve detected signs they’re hiding something. I suspect whatever your clan is searching for might actually be within Nestian.”
Iandros turned to look at Ferdi. Ferdi raised an eyebrow.
“You mean the one who fled?”
“Yes, Osian Russell’s accomplice. Honestly, in the entire Crasion Empire, are there that many places where one could hide from both the imperial family and Asterian?”
“Ah, so what you’re saying is that Osian Russell’s affair might be tangled up with Nestian as well.”
“It’s only a suspicion for now.”
During the time he’d been unable to contact Tiel, Iandros seemed to have investigated and learned much. He turned to Ferdi and spoke.
“Osian Russell couldn’t have acted alone. It’s a given there’s someone behind him. I suspect it’s either Iker or Nestian.”
“I was thinking the same thing, actually. But…… without concrete evidence, we can’t exactly search inside Nestian.”
“Can’t you use your Ability?”
“The Salamander loses its flame’s power once it’s separated from us. If we send it into Nestian’s territory, the fire that barely stayed alive would be snuffed out and dispersed entirely.”
Ferdi replied.
Ferdi, Iandros, and Tiel discussed many other things. However, Iandros refused to elaborate on the matter of the ‘princess’ all the way through.
Why? Was it truly because, as he said, everything remained uncertain?
The three finished their conversation after the sun had begun to set.
“You should go now. You both need rest.”
“I was thinking the same thing anyway.”
Ignoring Ferdi’s words, Iandros turned to Tiel.
“Forgive me for not being in contact. I’ll send a reply as soon as I can.”
“No, I wouldn’t want to rush you when you’re busy. Just knowing that you’re well is enough. And…….”
Tiel gestured to Iandros, and he bent down, bringing his ear to her mouth.
Tiel cupped her hands and was about to whisper something into his ear, when she caught sight of Ferdi watching them and stared at him directly.
“…….”
“…….”
“Leave.”
First Ferdi, then Tiel, then Iandros—each spoke the same word.
Ferdi’s expression resembled that of someone who’d had his precious younger sister stolen away. He shrugged and exited the room.
Only after confirming Ferdi was gone did Tiel bring her hands to her mouth and whisper.
“I haven’t told anyone about the Cushion.”
“……!”
“So…… don’t be embarrassed.”
***
“He’s dead?”
Alpheus let his monocle drop into his palm as he repeated the words.
The guards from the Underground Prison who had come to report to him nodded.
“He suddenly screamed, so we brought him to the doctor immediately, but his breath had already stopped.”
“The cause of death?”
“It appears he died from a fright of some kind.”
“Died from fright?”
Alpheus rose from his seat and asked. Died from fright? What in the world was that supposed to mean? Was there anything in the Underground Prison that could possibly frighten him?
The Underground Prison was so pitch-dark you could barely see an arm’s length ahead—how could anyone die of fright in such a place?
Thinking Alpheus was reproaching them, the guards trembled and bowed their heads deeply.
“It is our negligence!”
“Explain properly.”
“When we discovered him, his eyes were wide open and foam flecked his lips. We recall nothing else unusual. We brought him to the doctor at once, but by the time we arrived, he had already expired.”
Alpheus exhaled sharply.
They hadn’t caught the escaped accomplice, and now the one they’d finally detained was dead. Died from a fright, at that? No matter how much he thought about it, something felt wrong.
Not just with Osian Russell’s affair, but with all of these events—there was always something subtly amiss.
In the end, Alpheus decided to examine Osian Russell’s body himself.
The timing was right since Tiel and Ferdi were away from the mansion.
Tiel might not make a fuss, but Ferdi—that man would surely cause an uproar, insisting they should dissect the body to determine the unknown cause of death.
Alpheus passed by the kneeling guards and spoke.
“I’ll go and examine it myself. For now, don’t mention this to Ludian…….”
That was when Alpheus’s study door was flung wide open. The guards’ shoulders jumped.
Without even turning around, the guards knew that the person who had just burst through the door was Ludian Asterian—the very one Alpheus had just said not to inform.
With Ferdi and Cassius away, only Ludian Asterian would dare burst into Alpheus’s study like this.
Alpheus regarded his grandson, who had just flung the door open as if to destroy it, with eyes gone cold.
And that ‘grandson’ brazenly met his gaze and turned the question back on him.
“Don’t mention what, exactly?”

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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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