The Snow Leopard Baby of the Black Leopard Family - Chapter 232

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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 232
The moment Tiel and Iandros emerged from the Subspace, Ferdi and Ludian, who had been waiting at the spot where they vanished, rushed toward them.
“Tiel!”
But Tiel had no time to greet Ferdi and Ludian warmly. Instead, she lifted her head and gazed up at the sky.
‘The Subspace? What happened to the Subspace?’
Fortunately, contrary to Tiel’s worry, the sky was brilliantly clear. The massive serpent’s coil that had appeared above the Temple was gone, and the Subspace—which had writhed wildly as if to swallow the world—had vanished.
“Not long after you went in, that thing shattered. And then the sky returned.”
Ludian spoke. Ferdi nodded beside him, adding to his words.
They told her that after Tiel disappeared, an intensely bright light had flashed, the Rift that had opened in the sky had closed, and all the Beast-kin of this land had returned to normal.
“So everything is truly all right now……?”
Tiel asked cautiously.
Then Cassius and Alpheus appeared, pushing through the gathered Ferdi, Ludian, and the Asterian knights.
“Yes, everything is all right.”
Alpheus said.
Everything was all right.
Everything had returned to how it was before this calamity. The Rift was gone, and the darkness that had held people under its sway had vanished.
Only then did Iandros set Tiel down from his embrace. Tiel had been so overwhelmed that she had already forgotten she was being held in his arms.
The moment Iandros released her, Tiel ran to Alpheus and threw her arms around him.
“Grandfather!”
“Yes, my darling…….”
There was something oddly tender in Alpheus’s voice. He held Tiel with all his strength.
So Tiel could not lift her head to look up at him.
“……Grandfather, are you crying?”
Tiel asked gently. But Alpheus did not answer. Instead, he held her with all his strength and would not let go.
As if she might vanish at any moment.
“When I heard you might be lost again, I was so frightened…….”
Alpheus murmured sadly, stroking Tiel’s hair. His lined eyes glistened with tears. Tiel embraced her grandfather warmly and tightly.
“But I’ve returned safely, so please don’t cry, Grandfather. I’m here…….”
Tiel whispered. Then Cassius, who had been watching silently from behind, naturally drew Tiel away from Alpheus’s embrace.
“……Huh?”
Tiel’s eyes widened in surprise. This time it was Cassius who held her with all his strength.
Ferdi and Ludian awkwardly stepped back, watching as Cassius embraced his youngest daughter—whom he had almost lost once more.
Tiel rested silently in Cassius’s embrace for a moment, then carefully spoke.
“Father, I… I saw Mother and you inside the Subspace…….”
Though that vision had been shown to her by the Princess’s Subspace to torment Tiel, to shake her spirit and wound her heart.
“You both looked so happy. It made me feel so glad…….”
Tiel did not mention that part. In any case, it was true that she had seen the younger versions of Rena and Cassius.
“And in my darkest moment, I kept hearing a familiar voice. Could it have been Mother’s voice?”
Tiel murmured dreamily.
“I’ve never heard Mother’s voice before, but somehow I felt certain it was her.”
“……If that voice called to you whenever you were suffering, it may well have been your mother’s voice.”
Cassius said.
“Rena would never leave you alone in your pain. She always wanted to be at your side, to protect you. So……perhaps that voice truly was your mother’s.”
Tiel recalled once more the warm voice that had spoken to her.
‘But I can barely remember it now…….’
All that remained in her heart was how warm and soft that voice had been, like morning sunlight. An inexplicable longing stirred within her.
Just then, as Cassius and Tiel spoke, Ferdi, who had stepped back, extended his hand to her.
Ferdi’s large, sturdy hand was offered before Tiel’s eyes.
Ferdi looked Tiel in the eye and smiled brilliantly.
“Let’s go home now, Tiel.”
Why did those words never grow old, no matter how many times she heard them?
In that moment, Tiel felt as if she had returned to her very childhood—to that time when a single word, “Let’s go home,” made her feel as though she possessed the entire world.
There is a home. There is a place to return to.
The world did not crumble, the Evil God has vanished, and those she loves are safe…….
That truth filled her heart with a warmth like gentle light.
“……Yes, let’s go home.”
Tiel answered with a radiant smile.
***
Arcadia stabilized rapidly. It was thanks to support from the Imperial Palace and the Asterian. The Eberard Mansion was rebuilt, and all the land and walls damaged by the Rift were fully restored.
Days grew longer and nights shorter once more. The balance had returned. There was no more early sunset. Farmers could work their fill and return home.
Everything had returned to its former state.
When the Emperor heard Tiel’s story, he ordered that it be recorded in full detail in the Imperial Records.
And he also ordered that the Records of Princess Adelaide, which had been marked as “mad princess,” be preserved as well.
An ordinary emperor would not have issued such a command. To sit upon the throne meant to be descended from Liam, who had betrayed Adelaide to ascend.
But Wilhelm was capable of doing so. Crasion had once experienced succession through a collateral branch of the royal line.
So Emperor Wilhelm and Liam were, strictly speaking, only very distant relatives, not direct descendants of the imperial ancestors.
Now, at last, the world was truly returning to its rightful place.
The newspapers that had once cursed Tiel now busied themselves printing stories of her virtue. Many came to the Asterian Mansion seeking to apologize to her. Tiel sent them all away.
“Why should they apologize? They were only deceived by Orpheo’s schemes…… weren’t they?”
Tiel sat on the sofa reading the newspaper, laughing lightly before folding it and setting it aside.
Iandros, sitting beside her sipping tea, frowned as if displeased with something.
“I still think you should have accepted their apologies.”
“For what? For hating me? Or for coming to our doorstep and tormenting me?”
“Yes, for all of it.”
“But Iandros, if I accepted every apology like that, it would be endless……. They simply needed someone to blame.”
Tiel laughed. Iandros shook his head as if admitting defeat, then slipped his hand behind her waist and pulled her into his arms.
“Your heart is far too soft. Too gentle. If it were me, I would never do such a thing.”
“What would you have done if it were you?”
“I would have made them all apologize to you. Sincerely, and begging your forgiveness.”
Iandros pressed a gentle kiss to her forehead. Tiel laughed beneath his soft touch.
“That’s because you care for me deeply…….”
“Yes, I care for you. That’s why I couldn’t bear to see others treat you carelessly.”
Iandros’s voice was firm and clear. He held Tiel more tightly, resting his chin on her shoulder.
“So from now on, no one will ever dare treat you carelessly. I’ll make you the most precious and treasured person in the world, so that no one can ever treat you without respect.”
“Iandros, that tickles……!”
“Tiel, now no one will ever dare treat you carelessly.”
Iandros whispered. Tiel laughed happily, then pressed a gentle kiss to his lips.
Around Tiel and Iandros, tiny droplets of light drifted lazily.
Behind the sofa where Tiel and Iandros sat, the pink cushion—now grown so vast it occupied a portion of the mansion—came into view.
Once so small that a young snow leopard could barely curl up on it, it had now become enormous, large enough to fill a corner of the entire mansion.
Tiel and Iandros seemed to understand what that cushion meant.
“I love hearing you say that, Iandros. I want to hear it more.”
Tiel rested her head against his chest, trembling softly with laughter.
“Your voice is so kind and tender. Just listening to it makes my heart flutter so…….”
“Tiel, I will cherish you above all others in the world. I’m certain of it. From now on, I will protect you—so you’re never hurt. So nothing harms you.”
Iandros and Tiel laughed joyfully in each other’s embrace.
Beyond the windows of Iandros’s ancient mansion, sunlight poured in brilliantly.
Bright light flooded down, illuminating Tiel and Iandros. The fragments of light that drifted around Tiel transformed into the shape of fish, swimming in all directions.
On the nape of Tiel’s neck and on the nape of Iandros’s neck……a very small, faint mark appeared and then faded away.
Darkness cannot overcome light.
Light has finally conquered darkness.
Tiel now felt as though a long night had finally ended and daylight had come.
Night may come again after day, but this time she was not afraid.
The sun will rise when night passes.
Light will return when the sun rises.
(The End)

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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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