The Snow Leopard Baby of the Black Leopard Family - Chapter 213

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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 213
“Rowen’s been thrown in prison?”
Thender, upon hearing the news of Rowen Nestian, demanded in a furious voice. The Nestian knight who had brought word of Rowen bowed his head deeply.
“She is currently confirmed to be imprisoned in the underground dungeons beneath Lucet Temple in Arcadia.”
“Who’s in Arcadia right now?”
“Currently there are members of Asterian, as well as the heirs of Wolfgang and Arne, and several other heirs confirmed to be present, but it appears that the heads of other households and His Imperial Majesty himself will be arriving in Arcadia shortly.”
“The Emperor? Why!”
“It seems to be because of the rift that has appeared in the sky.”
Thender Nestian struck the carriage door with a bang. The moment he received reports that Rowen’s condition was not good, he set out immediately for Arcadia.
However, since the Nestian carriage did not have any of Wolfgang’s Abilities attached to it, no matter how hard he pushed the horses, their speed could only be sluggish.
“What is Rowen’s condition?”
“I am not certain, sir. The Asterian knights are guarding the underground dungeons with strict vigilance…….”
“I sent you precisely to find out such things!”
Thender shouted.
Thender instinctively sensed that the ‘rift’ that had appeared in the sky and Rowen were very closely connected.
Because Je had told him almost nothing concrete, he could not know the exact details, but it was certain that Rowen was involved in all of this.
Yet the way things were unfolding seemed wrong.
Je had explicitly promised him that in exchange for hiding him, he would grant Rowen a strong Light Ability.
He would steal the Ability from Tiel and transfer it to Rowen, he’d said. If he did that, Rowen would become the sole, unique light of this world and would be able to vanquish the long darkness.
Thender had believed those words.
If Rowen could truly seize the Light Ability that Tiel possessed, then Rowen would be able to enjoy everything that Tiel now enjoyed.
Was that all? If Rowen gained the Light Ability, the ruling house of the next generation of the Leopard Clan might well become Nestian.
So Thender had permitted Je to teach Rowen. He did not interfere with whatever Je did to her.
Because he believed in those words—that Je could grant her tremendous power.
Je’s words sounded preposterous at times, but his voice carried a power that beguiled the human heart.
Consequently, Thender had ordered Je to produce results within a month, and Je had truly delivered.
Rowen became the only beast-kin capable of using both the Ice Freezing Ability and the Light Ability simultaneously, and by all accounts she would gain power surpassing Tiel’s.
But now Rowen had gone into a rampage, harmed the priests, and a massive rift had appeared above the Temple?
“Father, please calm yourself.”
At that moment, Cornelia spoke in an even tone. She dismissed the knight who had been reporting just moments before with a wave of her hand and ordered the coachman to depart with haste.
“Go and bring Je to me. I need to speak with him directly.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
The knight bowed deeply and departed. The carriage door closed completely. Cornelia, who had been sitting across from Thender, shifted to the seat beside him and spoke.
“Getting angry here won’t solve anything. What matters is reaching Rowen as quickly as possible…….”
“All of it—all of it is your fault, Cornelia! If you had been born with a useful Ability, I would never have had to go this far!”
The anger ricocheted toward Cornelia. She narrowed her eyes, staring at Thender. Thender paid no attention to whether she was looking at him or not and continued speaking.
“Do you know why Rowen had to strive to become Head of Household from such a young age? Because of you, Cornelia! Because the Ability you possess is so pathetic!”
For a moment, Cornelia thought she saw the image of her sister in Thender’s clouded blue eyes.
The specter of Rena Nestian still clung to Thender Nestian’s blue gaze.
The specter of Rena Nestian was frozen in Thender’s pupils exactly as she had been in her strongest and most beautiful days. It seemed there was no way for it to thaw.
‘Is all of this truly my fault?’
Cornelia herself knew that her Ability was pathetic. Even without comparing herself to Rena Nestian, her Ability was pathetic.
Cornelia’s Ability did not even match a five-year-old Rena’s. It was the kind of thing that might as well not exist. That was precisely the level.
Fortunately, Cornelia’s daughter, Rowen Nestian, had been born with an Ability superior to Cornelia’s.
Rowen’s Ability, though insignificant compared to Rena’s, was far superior to Cornelia’s—proving the old saying that children surpass their parents was not entirely wrong.
That was why Thender cherished Rowen and declared that he would pass the position of Head of Household to her, despite his daughter Cornelia being alive and well.
Yet Cornelia had not voiced a single complaint.
It was a situation that would never have occurred if her own Ability had been strong, and besides, the one inheriting the position of Head of Household was not Tiel, descended from Rena Nestian’s bloodline, but her own daughter, Rowen!
‘But now he says Rowen’s predicament is my fault?’
Rowen being imprisoned is my fault? Cornelia opened her mouth as if she had something to say, then pressed her lips shut.
From past experience, she knew full well that nothing she said would reach Thender in his current state.
“Father, please don’t become so agitated. Rowen will be all right.”
Cornelia spoke, choking back the rising indignation.
Thender clamped his mouth shut as though he had nothing more to say. The Nestian coachman urged the horses on roughly.
The horses tore across the ground, racing forward. The carriage bearing the Nestian crest cut through the road at a speed like winter wind.
***
“We need to find the Princess.”
Tiel spoke with a resolute expression. Iandros also nodded in agreement with her words.
“We need to find the Princess.”
“But didn’t you say she’s already dead? How do you find a specter?”
Ludian spoke. There was nothing wrong with what Ludian said. The Princess was already among the dead.
If she were still living, they would do whatever it took to find and capture her, but how does one find the dead?
Moreover, even if they found her, whether they could actually seize the Princess was uncertain.
Only Tiel and Iandros had ever encountered the Princess directly, and even then it was merely a distant ‘encounter’, so there was no way of knowing how the already-dead Princess was remaining in this world.
Had she obtained a physical body? Or was she wandering this land as a specter…….
They had learned that the rift was connected to the Princess, Rowen, and Je, but after that there was nothing they could do.
“Why not try asking your Ability like you did before? When we came to Arcadia earlier, your fish guided us, remember?”
At Ferdi’s suggestion, Tiel immediately summoned forth a fish made of light. The luminous fish spun in lazy circles around Tiel’s fingertip.
“Can you guide me? I’m looking for the Princess…….”
Tiel’s Ability was part of Tiel.
Because it was a power that resonated with her, detailed explanation was unnecessary. One need only recall earnestly in one’s heart the person one wished to find.
Yet the fish did not move toward any destination, spinning helplessly in place.
“You can’t find her?”
The fish continued spinning in place like a broken compass. Tiel withdrew her Ability, her expression slightly disappointed.
“It’s not working…….”
“But what would you do if you found the Princess anyway?”
At that moment, Ferdi spoke. Tiel and Iandros turned their heads simultaneously to look at him.
“According to what you said, the Princess is essentially a phantom. How would you capture a ghost? And moreover……. You said she possessed extraordinarily great power?”
Ferdi spoke of how Tiel and Iandros had just moments before lost the Princess’s Record to her within Iandros’s Subspace.
“In a situation where you can’t even properly protect a single Record, what could you possibly do if you encountered the Princess’s specter?”
“Speak with her…….”
“Isn’t that realistically impossible? If conversation had been possible, you wouldn’t have lost the Record in Iandros’s Subspace in the first place.”
Every word of Ferdi’s was utterly correct. Tiel understood that the Princess was the starting point of all this and the key that could resolve it.
But a key only functions when it falls into the hands of someone who can open the door, and right now the Princess was nothing more than a formidable adversary to Tiel and Iandros.
Tiel and Iandros fell silent for a moment. But then,
BOOM—BOOM—BOOM!!!
A deafening explosion erupted from the direction of the Temple where Rowen was confined. The massive sound shook the very earth. Tiel’s eyes flew wide open.

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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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