The Snow Leopard Baby of the Black Leopard Family - Chapter 183

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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 183
But.
“…….”
Nothing happened.
The surroundings fell silent. Everyone turned their gaze toward Tiel. Tiel took a breath to steady her startled mind and tried to use her Ability once more.
“…….”
But it was the same.
Her Ability wouldn’t activate.
‘Why, why is this happening? When I practiced with Iandros, it worked fine……?’
Tiel fumbled as she tried to use her Ability. But it was the same. She tried again. Still nothing. Again, again, again.
But no matter how many times she tried, her Ability would not manifest.
Tiel’s face drained of color. Panic was written plainly across her features.
The Asterian leopards and Iandros, who sensed something was terribly wrong, both turned to look at Tiel at the same moment.
“Tiel!”
Iandros called out to her. He took a long stride toward her.
Something had to be wrong.
And Iandros immediately sensed that Tiel’s Ability had vanished again.
At that moment, Tiel turned to face Iandros.
Her golden eyes, which had always sparkled like gemstones, had lost their luster as she gazed at him.
Iandros, unable to wait any longer, reached out as if to pull Tiel away at once.
But in that very instant.
“What an ominous turn of events…….”
Rowen furrowed her brow and murmured. In an instant, every eye snapped toward Rowen Nestian.
Rowen continued without regard to the attention.
“At a festival meant to restore the broken balance of the Crasion Empire…… such an inauspicious thing should occur.”
“Rowen!”
Alpheus called out, unable to restrain himself. But Rowen ignored him entirely and spoke without so much as glancing in his direction.
“So the rumor was true—that Tiel Asterian, once praised as a Child of Light, has lost her Light Ability?”
Rowen laughed with an air of mockery.
“……Lost her Light Ability?”
“She lost her Ability?”
The gathered beasts began to murmur among themselves. Tiel continued to stare at Rowen, her face ashen.
‘How, how does she know?’
Only Tiel, her family, and Iandros knew that her Ability had briefly vanished.
There was no way that fact could have leaked to outsiders.
Besides, hadn’t she reclaimed her Ability immediately afterward? There was even less reason for it to spread. And yet…….
‘How does Rowen know about that?’
Tiel’s complexion grew increasingly pallid. She bit her lip, attempting once more to summon her Ability.
But her Ability still would not come. As though something were blocking it.
The beasts who had gathered in this distant land to witness this ‘festival’ began to whisper among themselves.
“She lost her Ability?”
“How is that possible? Lost her Light Ability?”
“Wait…… then could that be why the Day-Night Balance of the Crasion Empire broke?”
“No, no—couldn’t she have lost her Ability after the balance broke? Couldn’t that be the sequence?”
“No way! The Child of Light lost her Ability, and that’s why the balance shattered! She must have done something sacrilegious…….”
They began to murmur among themselves.
The suspicion and unease Rowen had sown swelled rapidly. Like a wave, the swelling doubt spread and washed over the gathered beasts.
Hundreds upon hundreds of eyes, thousands upon thousands, fixed upon Tiel.
Tiel’s eyes widened. Her lightless golden gaze met theirs in blank bewilderment. This cannot continue. Tiel fumbled as she tried again to summon her Ability.
But her Ability remained…….
Then.
“Something sacrilegious, you say!”
A voice cried out loudly. It was a beast who had stood silently watching Tiel and this unfolding scene the entire time.
He held a basket brimming with warm bread, prepared to distribute among the other beasts.
He was a farmer from Arcadia, one who had witnessed firsthand, a decade ago, how Tiel had restored Arcadia to life, and one whose own life she had saved.
He cried out in a thunderous voice.
“Nonsense! Lady Tiel would never do such a thing! She is our savior, the one who rescued Arcadia! Bah, if you’re going to spout such absurdities, then get yourselves back to your own lands!!”
His words served as a signal, and the beasts of Arcadia raised their voices in Tiel’s defense.
“That’s right! She’s only been exhausted!”
“If you’re going to doubt and slander Lady Tiel, then all of you get out of Arcadia! Every stone of this land has been blessed by her grace!”
The hillside descended into chaos. Tiel watched it all unfold, trembling.
Some fought fiercely, throwing blows at one another. Tears welled up in Tiel’s wide eyes.
“No, no…….”
How did it come to this?
Tiel looked desperately around her.
Even the fish that had always circled her were nowhere to be found.
She tried calling them into her hand, thinking perhaps the sunlight was too strong and obscuring them, but it was in vain.
They had vanished.
The fish…….
Cassius’s Salamander poked its head from within Tiel’s arms.
It looked about, as though searching for its companions, and tilted its head in confusion when it found no fish.
Andres exhaled deeply as he watched the chaos unfold below. If things continued this way, there was no way to proceed with this ‘festival.’
Moreover.
‘I had planned to ease the beasts’ anxieties, but instead I’ve only deepened their fears…….’
When did Lady Tiel’s Ability become like this? When did she lose her Ability?
Has she truly lost her Light Ability completely, as Rowen suggested?
Countless thoughts crowded Andres’s mind. He gazed at Tiel, who stood among the beasts with a bewildered, almost tearful expression.
And in that moment.
“I had such a thought.”
Rowen spoke.
“Could it be that Tiel Asterian lacked sufficient character, and the Lyusette Deity has withdrawn that glorious power from her……?”
“Rowen Nestian!”
Cassius called out, unable to restrain himself. But Rowen did not stop. Rather, she seemed to enjoy it, continuing her words with evident pleasure.
“And so…… is this power now given to me……?”
The moment Rowen finished speaking, clouds rushed in and blotted out the sun.
The light vanished.
The beasts forgot their quarrel and looked up at the darkened sky, whispering among themselves.
“Is it going to rain?”
“A sudden downpour, now of all times?”
But no rain came. The clouds had appeared as if ‘for the purpose of blocking the sun,’ obscuring the sunlight that would have illuminated Arcadia.
Andres could not shake the feeling that something ominous was about to occur.
All eyes held their breath and fixed upon Rowen Nestian. Tiel and Iandros were no exception.
Tiel opened her mouth carefully.
“I…… did not lose my Ability.”
“Oh, is that so?”
“It’s true! I didn’t lose it! Until just now, it was working fine…….”
But before Tiel could finish, Rowen smirked, her lips curling upward, and used her Ability.
She brought both hands together before her chest and carefully closed her eyes—just as seven-year-old Tiel had once done when using her Ability before all.
For an instant, the image of young Tiel seemed to overlap with Rowen.
As Rowen used her Ability, tiny, delicate ice crystals formed within her palms.
The crystals drifted within her hands, then in a flash transformed into the shape of fish.
The fish that Tiel always carried with her, the very symbol of Tiel and the Lyusette Deity, now rested in Rowen’s hands.
“……!”
Tiel’s eyes widened as she stared at Rowen.
‘What is she doing?’
Her question was soon answered.
The fish formed in Rowen’s hands began to swim, emitting light.
Was it the overcast sky?
Was it because the light was blocked……?
Rowen’s fish shone with a brilliance and beauty that rivaled Tiel’s light as they flicked their fins.
They circled around Rowen.
Then Rowen closed her eyes once more and used her Ability again.
A small Light Fragment appeared in her hand.
It was exactly the same shape as the Light Fragments Tiel had created.
The Arcadian beasts who had watched Tiel use her Ability most closely that day recognized instantly what Ability Rowen was now wielding.
That is…….
The Light Ability.
Rowen Nestian laughed.

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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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