The Snow Leopard Baby of the Black Leopard Family - Chapter 246

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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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Side Story 14
Cassius led Tiel not to some distant place, but to his own chambers.
It was a room she had visited without fail every single day since arriving at the Asterian Mansion.
Cassius ushered Ferdi and Tiel into his study, settling them both on the sofa.
“Wait here a moment.”
“Yes, Father.”
“Of course.”
Ferdi and Tiel answered readily. The two sat on the sofa, waiting for Cassius to return.
He reappeared shortly, carrying a small velvet case.
The case, crafted from fine velvet, looked precious and costly at a glance.
“This is for you, Tiel.”
Cassius, who had taken a seat beside Tiel, opened the velvet case. A brilliantly radiant necklace emerged from within.
It was the most elaborate and beautiful necklace Tiel had ever seen.
Leaving aside the sheer number of diamonds, the delicate and exquisite ornaments adorning it were so countless that merely gazing upon it drew a gasp of wonder.
Cassius tapped the necklace lightly.
“I imagine you know whose this is? This is your mother’s necklace.”
Cassius smiled.
“You’ve never seen it before. She wore it only on our wedding day, and kept it stored away afterward. Your mother hated cumbersome things. She cherished that necklace you brought when you first arrived at Asterian far more than this costly, flashy one.”
Tiel nodded. Cassius gazed at the necklace with eyes glistening slightly, lost in memory, before he spoke again.
“When I asked her why she didn’t wear this one, she laughed and said such extravagant things bothered her. And then, she said that if ever a daughter was born to us……”
Cassius slid the velvet case toward Tiel.
“She wished to give it to her as a wedding gift.”
“……”
“Since your mother is gone, I give it to you in her stead. It seems marriage has already been discussed between you two, so I offer it to you now, in advance.”
Cassius looked at Tiel.
“Tradition holds that a husband bestows a tiara and parents bestow a necklace. I’m uncertain whether this pleases you, but……”
“I… I love it!”
Tiel answered urgently. She carefully lifted the necklace, case and all, with her hands.
The necklace glimmered without ceasing.
‘Mother had silver hair.’
When this necklace had hung upon her mother’s neck, she must have been truly beautiful. The thought alone made Tiel’s heart swell with warmth.
Tiel gazed upon the necklace with eyes brimming with affection, then lifted her head to look at Cassius.
“Will it suit me?”
“Of course. You are Rena’s daughter, after all.”
Ferdi, who had been quietly observing Cassius and Tiel from the side, offered his thoughts.
“That’s right, Tiel. It will suit you wonderfully. This necklace seems as though it was made precisely for silver hair.”
The platinum necklace was similar in shade to Tiel’s hair, yet far more luminous.
Tiel gazed at the necklace, her cheeks flushed, before a broad smile bloomed across her face and she nodded slowly.
“Yes, thank you. I’ll wear it when I marry Iandros.”
Tiel spread her arms and suddenly embraced Cassius, whispering once more near his ear.
“Thank you so much, Father!”
“There’s nothing to thank me for. Though I called it a gift, this necklace was always meant to be yours.”
“Well, if Iandros had been an unsuitable man, Father would never have brought out this necklace in the first place.”
Ferdi smiled gently. Yet his tone held no bitterness toward Iandros.
Cassius chuckled at Ferdi’s words, then turned to look at Tiel again.
“Since it seems you two have already discussed marriage preliminaries, when are you thinking of holding the ceremony?”
he asked.
“There will be much to prepare, so it’s best to consult early. The Crown Prince will surely wish to arrange things himself, but we cannot leave Asterian entirely without preparations……”
Tiel listened carefully to Cassius’s words and nodded.
“You’re right, there will be much to prepare. As for Iandros, he… seems eager to marry soon after ascending the throne. That’s what he told me.”
“Then it will be soon indeed.”
“Yes, likely so!”
“Once you marry, you’ll move into the Imperial Palace to live there as Empress. So it would be wise to formally appoint a deputy Head of Household before you go. While you’ll have freedom to come and go, it wouldn’t look proper for a newlywed to visit too often.”
Newlywed—Tiel’s face flushed crimson once more. Ferdi, watching his younger sister’s face turn nearly scarlet, asked her with the air of an older brother eager to tease.
“Tiel, you’ve already accepted a ring, yet you’re embarrassed by the word ‘newlywed’?”
“Well, that’s……”
Tiel nodded.
“Of course I am—it’s my first marriage, after all……”
“Most people experience marriage for the first time.”
“I haven’t married yet.”
Only then did Tiel realize her slip of tongue. Her eyes widened and she laughed in embarrassment.
“You’re right, that’s true.”
“In any case, don’t worry overmuch. Once preparations begin, you’ll be far too busy to feel shy. So stop fretting and……”
That was when—
Knock, knock.
Someone rapped at the door. Cassius raised one eyebrow, then nodded toward where the door stood.
“Who is it? Come in.”
The one who opened the door was a butler employed at the Asterian Mansion. He bowed in greeting, then adjusted his spectacles and spoke carefully.
“You have a visitor, sir.”
“Is it the Crown Prince?”
“No, sir. She has come from Wolfgang.”
Before the butler’s words were even finished, a woman in an elaborate dress appeared behind him.
A beautiful woman with wavy grey hair cascading to her waist stood behind the butler, regarding Cassius, Ferdi, and Tiel with a radiant smile.
“Tiel!”
There was not a soul present who did not know this woman.
She was Olivier of Wolfgang.
“I heard you traveled together with the Crown Prince—so you two will be marrying soon!”
Tiel’s cousin, cherished and loved by Tiel as dearly as Ferdi and Ludian—a beloved member of her family.
At her welcome arrival, Tiel beamed with joy, while Ferdi shook his head with a somewhat wearied expression.
“Your information travels fast.”
And Cassius, watching the scene unfold, smiled with evident delight.
***
“Welcome back, sir. How was your journey?”
Cedric, Iandros’s aide, stood beside him and inquired. Iandros nodded with evident satisfaction as he received his attendant’s ministrations.
“It was splendid in every way.”
“Did you accomplish everything you had planned?”
“Yes. I gave Tiel a ring. I asked her to live with me, and……”
Iandros’s memory of that moment drew a low laugh from him. For an instant, his expression softened.
“She said yes.”
“Miss Tiel has been betrothed to you for some time, so of course she would not refuse. Yet you seem so pleased about it?”
“Of course I am, Cedric.”
Iandros turned to regard him.
“It’s quite different to know something intellectually and to hear it with your own ears. And did I not tell you before? I have no wish to marry as though drifting with the current.”
“Yes, I remember.”
“That is why I’m satisfied. After this, I wonder if we might travel together to other places. Tiel seemed to enjoy traveling……”
Iandros trailed off mid-sentence.
He frowned as though considering something for a moment, then with a soft “Ah, that’s right,” he turned to Cedric.
“Is His Majesty in his chambers?”
“Yes, sir. He has been waiting since hearing of your return.”
“Good, I’ll see him at once. I have something to discuss with him as well.”
Cedric nodded and withdrew. Iandros did not linger long after Cedric’s departure before making his way to Wilhelm.
His grandfather had been waiting as though the moment he heard news of Iandros’s carriage arriving at the Imperial Palace, and he received the young man without surprise when he entered.
“You’ve returned well?”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
An awkward silence fell between them. Unable to bear the discomfort, the Emperor nodded first.
“Then go rest if you wish. I’ll hear of your travels another time. You must be tired, so for now……”
At that moment, Iandros interrupted the Emperor’s words.
“No, Your Majesty. Before that, there is something I must ask you.”
“What is it?”
“You have never told me the exact circumstances of my parents’ passing.”
At Iandros’s words, Wilhelm narrowed his eyes and regarded him.
Iandros continued regardless.
“I retain some memory of those events.”
Iandros harbored vague recollections of that time.
The Emperor had sought to kill the young Iandros, and his parents had thrown themselves between the blades to save him.
And through their sacrifice, Iandros had lived. Yet—
‘I feel as though there is something more beyond this.’
This suspicion had grown clearer and more solid after hearing what Tiel had said.
Before Tiel, he had claimed not to know who had come to the estate that day, yet in truth, Iandros remembered.
And according to his memory, the one who had come to the estate that day was his grandfather alone.
Iandros gazed upon the Emperor.
“But I believe my memory may not be complete.”
“……”
“Before I ascend the throne, I wish to hear of my parents. And of you, Your Majesty.”
A small crack had formed in the complexity of this grandfather and grandson’s entanglement.
‘Tiel.’
And as it happened, it was Tiel who had created it.

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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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