The Snow Leopard Baby of the Black Leopard Family - Chapter 152

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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 152
“Tiel.”
Tiel turned at the sound of her name, her hair—long and pale as fresh snow—scattering around her like beautiful flakes of winter.
No longer a child, Tiel stood in place and gazed at Cassius with eyes that shone like molten gold.
“Father!”
She’d known who was calling before she even turned around. Breaking into a radiant smile, Tiel threw herself into Cassius’s arms. He held her as he had when she was small.
Tiel had grown so much that she could no longer spend hours nestled against him the way she once had, but she could still run to him.
“What were you doing?”
Cassius asked gently. Tiel’s eyes flicked sideways toward the newspaper she’d been reading only moments before.
Turning her body so that Cassius couldn’t see it, she pulled him into an embrace and answered.
“Nothing at all! I was just sitting here by myself. What about you, Father? What were you doing?”
Tiel chattered on cheerfully.
But Cassius had already seen what she was reading.
Having caught sight of the newspaper’s headline, he swallowed a sigh and stroked his daughter’s hair.
“Tiel, don’t look at things like that.”
Cassius pulled her closer, drawing her deeper into his embrace as he spoke.
The newspaper’s headline read:
[The nights grow longer—catastrophe descends upon the Crasion Empire!]
Below it, a lengthy article detailed how the Day-Night Balance of the Crasion Empire had been disrupted, and how ominous it was that such calamities were befalling them now, in an age when a Child of Light had been born.
Because of this, Tiel had developed a habit of checking the weekly papers every single day.
Ever since the Temple first announced that the lengths of day and night had begun to diverge, the nights had grown progressively longer and the days shorter.
Now, after several years had passed, the daylight in the Crasion Empire had shortened so drastically that all its people lived in a state of trembling dread.
The Temple continued to labor ceaselessly to receive another Oracle, but no new words came.
Though Tiel’s Ability remained intact, this was not something that could be solved by her power alone.
Until now, the Temple had appeased the empire’s people by having Tiel demonstrate her Ability at Luminarie each time, but there was no knowing how much longer such displays would work.
In truth, the people of the empire were growing increasingly anxious, even beginning to doubt whether Tiel’s Light Ability was a true Light Ability.
Some urged the girl onward, insisting that since she had once called light to a land where it did not shine, she could somehow resolve this crisis.
As a result, Tiel had long since severed contact with everyone except Olivier, Iandros, and a few close friends.
Fortunately, the people of the Asterian Mansion cherished and cared for Tiel with love, but…….
Tiel tilted her head up, looking at Cassius.
Cassius gazed down at her, his eyes brimming with worry. Tiel smiled sheepishly.
“I only looked at it once, truly! And I’m perfectly fine. I’m the sorry one—that there’s nothing I can do for them…….”
“Tiel, no one is indebted to you, and you have no obligation to do anything for them. You don’t have to participate in Luminarie either, if you don’t wish to. Just as when you were small.”
Cassius continued.
“The reason I allow you to use your Ability at Luminarie is simply that it seems to ease your mind somewhat. But if you begin to feel burdened by it, if you start bearing too much stress from this matter…….”
“Don’t worry, Father…….”
Tiel’s voice trailed off as she embraced him again.
To be honest, saying that Tiel hadn’t been stressed by everything that had happened would be a clear lie.
After all, she herself was the most deeply connected to this crisis.
Moreover, Nestian and Iker had been suspiciously quiet, and after Osian’s death, she hadn’t been able to find Je.
The Oracle had ceased, the people were anxious, and…….
‘Is my strength fading too?’
Her Ability itself remained sound. Yet lately, for reasons she couldn’t quite place, it felt as if her light had grown weaker than before.
The difference was so subtle and minute that even Tiel herself was uncertain, but she had begun to sense that her Ability had diminished—ever so slightly.
How could she not be anxious?
But Tiel knew well how deeply the Asterian family and Iandros cared for her, so she never let them see her despair.
“I’m truly fine, Father—you look after me every day anyway! Later, I’m having tea with Ferdi and Ludian. Iandros said he’d visit the mansion too.”
Tiel spoke in a voice bright and pure as a lark’s.
It was a remarkable change from when she’d first arrived at the Asterian Mansion, speaking in a timid whisper and watching everyone’s faces.
Love transforms a child.
The Asterian family’s love had transformed Tiel…….
And it would give her strength to endure all of this. At least, that was what Cassius believed without doubt.
Cassius listened quietly to his beloved daughter’s prattle for a long moment, then lowered his head and pressed a kiss to her forehead.
“Yes, my daughter. Remember this—never push yourself too far. What matters to me is not the peace of the Crasion Empire or the safety of the Asterian house. You alone, Tiel, are all that matters.”
“Yes, Father.”
“Now then, shall we get to the real matter? What would you like for your twenty-second birthday gift?”
Cassius asked. Tiel’s eyes widened as she looked up at him.
“That’s right! Is my birthday coming soon?”
“Yes. Had you forgotten?”
Tiel pressed her lips together and nodded vigorously. She’d been so preoccupied lately that it had completely slipped her mind.
Cassius pinched her cheek gently, as if to say he’d expected as much.
“Tell me what you’d like. I’d love to throw you a grand birthday celebration, but I suspect you wouldn’t enjoy that…….”
“No, Father, I wouldn’t…….”
Tiel had never enjoyed parties, even as a child. More precisely, she didn’t enjoy parties where strangers came to celebrate her.
What Tiel loved was a celebration with people she adored—the servants of the Asterian house, her family, and Iandros’s friends, along with her own.
She had no interest in parties with others present, and besides, now was hardly the right time for celebrations, so she had no intention of holding one.
“I’ll think about the gift slowly! Actually, since Father, Grandfather, Iandros, and my brothers send me gifts whenever they’re bored, I’m not sure there’s anything I actually want…….”
Tiel’s voice trailed off. Cassius nodded. It truly was harder to find something she didn’t already have.
Thanks to Iandros sending her rare treasures whenever he felt inclined, Tiel’s room overflowed with precious items from every corner of the Crasion Empire.
Ferdi, Ludian, Cassius, and Alpheus were no different, so Tiel needed a separate storehouse just to keep her gifts.
Cassius had even given her a key to the storehouse, which he’d decorated beautifully and inlaid with jewels.
“That’s why I came to ask—but it seems I should have just figured it out myself…….”
Cassius wondered if perhaps it was finally time to give Tiel territories of the Asterian lands or a beautiful estate as a gift.
“I always say this, but I truly don’t need gifts, Father.”
Tiel looked up at him. Her white hair—wavy and soft—gleamed beautifully like firelight whenever she lifted her head.
“I only need you, Grandfather, and my brothers. As I’ve always said, family is the greatest gift to me…….”
Tiel’s voice was dreamy and tender.
“Every single day spent together with all of you feels like a gift, like a joy. It’s like living a dream…….”
Cassius listened quietly to her words, gently stroking down her back.
“I feel the same, daughter.”
And he whispered softly:
“Every day spent with you feels like a dream to me too—and brings me such joy.”
Cassius felt a small pang at how much Tiel had grown.
If she were still small, he could carry her in his arms all day long and slip cookies into her mouth…….
***
Tiel, who had been burying her head in the Crasion weekly papers, suddenly lifted her head with a bright exclamation.
“Iandros has arrived?”

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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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