The Snow Leopard Baby of the Black Leopard Family - Chapter 25

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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 25
After the meeting with Iandros ended, Lia stepped forward to take Tiel away, but Ferdi stopped her.
“I’ll keep her. She doesn’t seem to be particularly shy.”
Ferdi returned to Tiel’s room with her in tow.
Ludian came rushing in as well, having abandoned his Academy assignments the moment he heard that Iandros had left.
“He didn’t do anything strange to Tiel, did he?”
“Oh, he did.”
Ferdi answered with a bright smile.
At Ferdi’s reply, Tiel felt a flutter of embarrassment and fiddled with the Black Tiger Doll she’d been given, glancing sideways at Ludian.
“What? He did?”
“Yeah, I tried to keep them from meeting as much as possible…”
Ferdi’s eyes met Tiel’s, and he trailed off mid-sentence, extending his hand to her.
“Tiel, come here.”
“Hey, you’ve had her this whole time! Tiel, come here. Come to me.”
Ludian spread his arms wide, not to be outdone.
Tiel fiddled with the hem of her dress, torn between which brother to approach.
In the end, Tiel chose Ferdi.
She was more familiar with Ferdi than with Ludian, whom she’d only properly met once before.
“Tiel!”
“I knew you would.”
The two boys’ fortunes reversed in an instant.
Yet Ludian quickly accepted Tiel’s choice and sat down beside her, watching her intently.
He ruffled her fluffy hair and played with her small hand.
“You’re really tiny.”
Ludian murmured in wonder, then as if suddenly remembering something, he looked at Ferdi and spoke.
“So when are the results of the paternity test coming back?”
“I’m not sure. It’s taking longer than expected. It should have come back before we arrived.”
“Why hasn’t it come yet? Do you know how much the Asterian family donated to the Temple?”
Ludian griped while gently poking Tiel’s soft cheek.
Yet shortly after, the boy’s eyes sparkled with mischief.
“Anyway, she really did manifest the Light Ability, didn’t she?”
“Pardon? Yes, Master Karthus said…”
“That’s still something we don’t know for certain.”
Ferdi cut off both Tiel and Ludian’s words.
Tiel’s eyes widened as she looked up at Ferdi.
The boy gazed down at her with a coldly set expression. Tiel’s slender shoulders trembled.
“Father himself doesn’t have a complete understanding of the Light Ability.”
But Ferdi’s expression quickly shifted, and he smiled brightly, tickling Tiel’s palm.
“However, if Father said so, then it must be true.”
The cold expression from moments before vanished without a trace, leaving only a gentle, smiling face in its place.
Tiel tilted her head curiously and placed her hand in Ferdi’s.
Behind them, Ludian watched Ferdi with a look of disdain.
***
“The paternity test results?”
Alpheus asked the question after thoroughly chewing and swallowing a large piece of meat, carefully wiping his mouth with a table napkin.
Ludian nodded.
“The results should have come back long ago, but they still haven’t.”
Ludian was right. Since they’d submitted the request first, the results should have been delivered within a week of sending the hair sample.
The Asterian family’s donation to the Temple alone exceeded the Empire’s budget for several years.
So the Temple should naturally have prioritized the Asterian request above all others.
“That is strange indeed.”
Karthus nodded, cutting the steak on Tiel’s plate into small pieces.
He then carefully speared a piece with his fork and placed it in Tiel’s small mouth.
The tiny mouth chewing contentedly, the now-plump cheeks, the round black eyes of a Black Tiger fixed on the meat, the well-braided Silver Hair cascading down her back.
In this generation, only Karthus and Rena among the Black Tiger and Snow Tiger bloodlines had married and borne children,
so the likelihood that Tiel, who bore the distinctive traits of both clans, was not their biological daughter was virtually nonexistent.
For this reason, the paternity test was merely a formality, and they hadn’t given it much thought.
‘Still, it is taking an unusually long time.’
Could Nestian have used influence at the Temple? It was a reasonable suspicion.
If the paternity test results were manipulated to show no match, Nestian could escape the charge of ‘abusing Karthus’s daughter’ and take Tiel with him.
It was worth investigating.
Karthus gazed at his daughter as though she were the most precious thing in the world, then wiped the meat sauce from her cheek and opened his mouth.
“Let’s press the Temple. Demand the test results quickly.”
“Yes, that would be best. That way we can announce that the youngest daughter of the Asterian family is alive.”
Ferdi nodded with a loose smile. At the word “announce,” Tiel’s gaze turned toward him.
‘The youngest daughter is alive… and they’re announcing it.’
But what did “announce” mean?
Tiel was still only seven years old and had never received any proper education, so she didn’t understand difficult words.
As Tiel looked at Ferdi with curious, round eyes, he tilted his head slightly, never losing his gentle smile.
“It means we’re telling everyone that you’re our sister.”
“Oh…”
“You’re becoming an official member of the Asterian family. Do you understand, Tiel?”
“Yes, I understand!”
Tiel nodded vigorously. Ferdi’s lips hardened momentarily before the smile returned.
It was only for an instant, so no one witnessed the change in Ferdi’s expression.
Ludian, who had been quietly listening to the conversation between Ferdi and Tiel, suddenly lifted his fork laden with a large piece of meat and looked at Tiel.
“When they announce that the youngest daughter of the Asterian family is alive, all sorts of gifts will come pouring in! Of course, compared to what the Asterian family can give you, they’d all be useless, but still—you’ll feel amazing seeing a mountain of gift packages.”
This time, Tiel didn’t panic at the talk of mountains of gifts.
It was because she’d heard about it from Iandros beforehand. Instead, her round eyes sparkled briefly with anticipation.
Ferdi, catching the light of hope in Tiel’s eyes, continued where Ludian had left off.
“And if you wish, you could attend banquets with us, or invite friends your age to the mansion for Tea Time.”
But this time, her eyes didn’t sparkle as they had before.
Rather, a hint of fear showed through. If she’d been in her Snow Tiger form, her ears and tail would surely have drooped.
Ferdi, who hadn’t anticipated this reaction, blinked in confusion.
“…You don’t like that?”
“I told you—your sister is shy. It seems she warmed to you quickly, but meeting other people will still be too much for her.”
Karthus placed his large hand on top of Tiel’s soft hair as he spoke.
Feeling the warmth from his palm, Tiel looked up.
“Don’t be too afraid, Tiel. If you don’t want to, we can delay the announcement. You don’t have to meet strangers either.”
“Yes, Master Karthus.”
“That’s right. You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to. If you don’t like something, just say so. Everything will be resolved.”
…
“You’re still young, so it’s fine either way.”
***
After dinner had ended,
Ferdi and Ludian, believing they’d grown somewhat closer to Tiel, both offered to look after her.
Karthus naturally tried to refuse, but—
‘Is it all right?’
‘Yes, it’s fine. My older brothers are kind to me.’
Since Tiel said as much, Karthus had no grounds to refuse his sons caring for his youngest daughter.
He ultimately allowed Ferdi and Ludian to look after Tiel. And now—
“How about it, Tiel? Want your big brother to give you a piggyback ride? You could ride on my shoulders and take a tour around the Asterian Mansion. Wouldn’t that be fun?”
“Fun? Don’t be ridiculous. Tiel, come here. I’ll read you a fairy tale.”
Ferdi patted the space beside him.
Tiel hesitated between Ludian’s offer of a piggyback ride and Ferdi’s offer to read a fairy tale.
…
After her deliberation, she carefully sat down beside Ferdi. She was curious about the piggyback ride, but she preferred the fairy tale more.
Ever since arriving at the Asterian Mansion, Lia had read her one fairy tale every night before bed, and Tiel truly loved that time.
At the Nestian Mansion, the fairy tale books had belonged to Rowen and the other children.
But Tiel loved fairy tales.
In the magical kingdoms of her imagination, she could eat plenty of delicious food and sleep in a warm place.
So whenever she could escape from the attic, she would sneak to Rowen’s door and listen quietly to the sound of fairy tales being read through the gap.
‘But I don’t have to do that anymore.’
Tiel’s cheeks flushed softly. Now she had Lia, who read her a fairy tale every single night without her having to eavesdrop. And…
“Once upon a time, there was a great lion…”
She also had Ferdi, her kind older brother, reading fairy tales just for her.
Ferdi’s soft voice tickled Tiel’s ears.
The girl sat close against Ferdi’s side, absorbed in the fairy tale.
Then, Ludian, who had been repeatedly pushed aside and now felt lonely, pouted and squeezed between them.
“What’s so fun about this? Seeing it in person is way more interesting.”
Ludian pointed at a page in the fairy tale book with his finger.
The page showed a massive lion using its ability.
Ferdi, who could predict what the twin would do next, felt his expression crumple in frustration.
Ferdi pushed his fallen hair behind his ear and opened his mouth.
“Surely you’re not going to…”
“Just watch, Tiel.”
Ludian swung his hand through the air with a confident expression.

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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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