The Snow Leopard Baby of the Black Leopard Family - Chapter 23

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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 23
Ferdi’s expression froze for a moment at Tiel’s touch.
He turned his head, regarding the small younger sister who held his hand so firmly.
Still gripping his hand, Tiel continued carefully, “Would you… come with me? It’s not dangerous.”
“…Mm.”
Strange. Why was this happening?
Just moments ago, he’d thought Tiel was grating and tedious. Yet now, faced with her request, he found no desire to refuse.
“What about me, Tiel?”
Ludian spoke up then, his tone petulant. Tiel hesitated, then took his hand as well.
“Then Ludian too should—”
“No, Tiel. Ludian has things to attend to. I’ll go with you instead.”
Yes, it was all for the sake of watching over Tiel.
Ferdi gently freed Ludian’s sleeve from Tiel’s small grasp and spoke smoothly.
“What? Hey, what things do I—”
“Don’t you have Academy assignments left? The ones on Ability Utilization? There seemed to be quite a lot. You should get them done early, shouldn’t you?”
“You bastard—”
Ludian glowered as though ready to pick a fight right then, but soon relented with a resigned expression. Ferdi was right, after all.
“Come on, Tiel. Be careful getting up.”
Ferdi helped the small girl to her feet, holding her tiny hand as though Ian—standing right before him—was nowhere to be seen.
Tiel’s face brightened at being granted permission. The child nodded eagerly, beaming.
“Yes—”
“Good grief.”
Ian regarded Ferdi with a look of exasperation.
Yet Ferdi paid no mind, carefully adjusting Tiel’s bonnet and dress before turning to address the maid.
“Is the receiving room prepared?”
***
“I don’t know what he’s thinking,” Ludian muttered, shrugging his shoulders. His halfhearted hand sent page after page of yellowed parchment fluttering past.
Not a single drop of ink had touched the pristine sheets. Yet the boy leafing through them showed no intention of setting pen to paper.
“That bastard Ferdi—”
Ferdi and Ludian were twins.
So they knew each other well. No matter how skilled Ferdi was at concealing his feelings, he couldn’t hide them from Ludian’s eyes.
“Idiot.”
As Ludian scoffed at Ferdi, his mind drifted back to when he’d first heard the news.
‘Who… arrived?’
That moment when he’d received word at the Academy.
The letter from Asterian had stated that the younger sister they’d believed had perished alongside Rena was, in fact, alive and currently staying at the Asterian residence—they should hurry home.
But nowhere in that letter was there any mention of Rena.
The brothers’ mother had truly died seven years ago. Even as this miracle unfolded—a younger sister thought dead returning to life—that fact remained unchanged.
She had passed away giving birth to a child. And that could not be altered.
It wasn’t something that bothered him.
‘Of course not. It’s not her fault.’
An only younger sister—just the thought! How adorable she must be. How precious.
He’d wanted to meet her as quickly as possible. The moment Ludian and Ferdi received word, they’d climbed into the carriage bound for Asterian.
All through the journey, they’d spoken of nothing but their new sister. Ludian had asked excitedly,
‘Hey, Ferdi, what do you think? Didn’t you say before you’d always wanted to have a younger sister?’
‘That’s right. So I’m happy—a younger sister…’
His cheeks had flushed with anticipation as Ferdi murmured the words.
His voice had carried such expectation. They’d arrived back at the Asterian residence with hearts full of that same trembling eagerness to meet her. And yet—
‘Hello.’
Something was off.
‘What’s wrong with him?’
Despite all that anticipation, Ferdi’s eyes had gone cold the moment he’d seen Tiel.
He’d quickly returned to his usual smile, but that couldn’t deceive Ludian’s gaze.
Ludian had stared at him in bewilderment.
‘Was he disappointed?’
A chimera with a snow leopard’s fur and a black leopard’s eyes? Ferdi was the kind of fool who’d care about such things.
But Tiel was too adorable to have any such flaw concern him, so Ludian had stopped thinking about it after that.
Or rather, he’d never been interested in the first place.
All of Ludian’s attention had been focused on Tiel.
So small and cute, and on top of that a genius who’d awakened Light Affinity—
From the moment Ludian first heard from Cassius that Tiel had awakened Light Affinity, he’d wanted to grow close to her as soon as possible.
His head had been full of thoughts of pinching those soft cheeks. But then—
‘Your sister is shy around strangers. Refrain from unnecessary conversation. And keep your distance for a while.’
Cassius’s command had struck like thunder, and Ludian was forbidden from contact with Tiel.
Not just contact—even seeing her was forbidden. Ludian had protested, but he couldn’t overcome Cassius.
So Ludian had lurked near Tiel when Cassius wasn’t looking.
He’d thought that if they happened to cross paths, he’d tell her once more that he was her brother.
He’d loitered outside her door and even used his Ability to climb to the second-floor window to peer into the room.
Of course, he’d been scolded each time he was caught, but such things hardly mattered to him.
Tiel was truly, genuinely small and adorable, and so such mischief was well worth the scolding.
But if there was something unexpected about it—
“Hey, why do you keep following me around?” Ferdi had asked.
It was clear that Ferdi had been disappointed in Tiel, yet he kept trailing after Ludian.
He’d lingered outside her door with him, spied on her with him from beyond the rose bushes.
Ludian knew Ferdi well. Ferdi didn’t care for Tiel.
So why keep following him?
‘Is he worried about losing the Family Headship?’
In any case, the Asterian Family Headship was no concern of Ludian’s.
The heir to Asterian was the eldest son—Ferdi Asterian.
The Family Headship was his as well. Everyone agreed on this.
But if news spread that the new younger sister had awakened Light Affinity—
The odds were high that Ferdi’s Family Headship would come under threat.
Light Affinity was that remarkable. Perhaps even grandfather would decide to hand the Headship to Tiel.
Was that why he disliked her?
“Look, it seems like you don’t really care for Tiel, so why keep tagging along? I’m enough by myself. If the youngest doesn’t suit your fancy, why don’t you just disappear?”
Ludian had hissed this with a nasty grin, waving his hand dismissively as if telling him to get lost.
At that, Ferdi—who had merely blinked his eyes until then—murmured quietly,
“Ah, it’s just… she bothers me.”
At this unexpected answer, Ludian’s eyes narrowed. Bothers him?
He’d expected some excuse about fearing the loss of the Family Headship, or worrying that everything he’d built would come to nothing.
But Ferdi continued on, unbothered by Ludian’s reaction.
“She’s too small. It bothers me. It’s like she might break any moment. Like she could disappear. There’s no one in Asterian as small as she is. And her eyes are rounder than ours, different… Did she look like mother?”
Madman. Ludian’s expression turned bitter. In that moment, a fragment of memory flashed through his mind.
‘It bothers me that it might break. It’s such a lovely ornament.’
The day Ferdi had received a Precious Sword as a birthday gift. He’d kept it enshrined in his room because the jewelry on it “bothered him”—it might break. Yet he’d shown no sign of disliking the sword itself, which had puzzled Ludian at the time.
‘This bastard… he’s doing the same thing now?’
Ferdi, born as the eldest son of the Asterian house, had a perfectionist’s temperament and a habit of not showing his emotions.
Even the way he couldn’t express fondness when he felt it was a manifestation of that habit.
So it wasn’t that Ferdi disliked Tiel at all. Rather, Tiel was…
simply so small and adorable that he adored her.
And Ludian’s assumption was confirmed as fact by Ferdi’s actions shown before Ian today.
‘I agree that Ian is a nuisance. And Tiel is still too young to meet Imperial Palace guests. Regardless of Ian bringing her here… it would be better to send her back today. Family should come before anything else.’
‘Asterian doesn’t treat a benefactor this way, but… when it concerns my younger sister, circumstances change.’
‘Come, Tiel. Be careful getting up.’
Idiot.
If she bothered him, he should just say she was adorable. He’d never know what to do with something so small and cute. He could simply say that much,
but instead he was just digging himself deeper, claiming she bothered him.
Ludian snorted and plunged his pen into the ink.

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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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