The Snow Leopard Baby of the Black Leopard Family - Chapter 252

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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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Special Side Story 2
Luna was a half-breed.
Luna’s mother was the most beautiful Snow Leopard in This Land, and her father was the noblest emperor in This Land.
So no one could ever speak ill of Luna’s birth.
It was not a flaw in any sense whatsoever.
‘My beloved daughter.’
Those words were what Luna heard most often from the moment she was born.
From her earliest memories, her mother and father held her every night and whispered that they loved her.
But what did it matter that the blood of two clans flowed through Luna’s veins?
Her mother and father loved her.
For five-year-old Luna, that was all that truly mattered.
But lately, Luna had one worry on her mind.
‘Why don’t I have an Ability?’
Luna’s older brother, Ain, possessed a remarkable Ice Manifestation.
But Luna had no Ability at all. It was strange, considering that most children manifested their Abilities within a year of birth.
Of course, just as Luna’s status as a hybrid of two clans was not a flaw in her noble birth, the fact that she lacked an Ability was not a serious shortcoming either.
Her parents loved her just the same, Ability or no.
‘But I wish I had one!’
Ain could make ice slides with his Ice Manifestation, and even freeze entire rinks.
When it was hot, he would use his Ability to lie comfortably in a frozen room.
But Luna couldn’t do any of that.
She had no Ability!
‘This won’t do.’
In the end, Luna pushed herself up.
She hurriedly stuffed things into a small bag: two soft, fluffy rolls of bread, and her precious Teddy Bear Doll—all nestled snugly inside.
Luna’s personal attendant, who had been watching this peculiar activity, asked carefully.
“Your Highness, where are you going?”
“Luna’s going to practice.”
“Practice?”
“Yes, practicing to manifest an Ability.”
“Pardon?”
“I’m going to see Mother. You don’t need to follow.”
“What? But the Empress Palace is so far and so vast—it’s too dangerous for you to go alone!”
“No, I can do it!”
“Your Highness!”
Leaving the bewildered attendant behind, Luna walked out with determination. She intended to visit her mother.
According to what she’d been told, her mother hadn’t manifested her Ability until she was seven years old.
So if Luna took after her mother, maybe she could manifest hers eventually, even if it came late!
Patter-patter-patter.
Luna ran quickly toward her mother’s quarters, her bag bouncing on her back.
Though her personal attendants followed quietly and discreetly behind her, Luna didn’t notice.
When Luna arrived at the Empress Palace, she boldly seized the captain of the guard and spoke up.
“Take me to Mother.”
Originally, she’d planned to find her way alone.
But the Empress Palace was far larger than Luna had anticipated.
Though she’d walked through it every day since childhood, she’d never come alone before—always with her mother, father, or attendants. So Luna switched to Plan B.
And that Plan B was none other than the captain of the guard.
“Your Highness?”
The startled captain’s eyes went wide.
Normally it was the Empress and Emperor who visited the Princess Palace themselves, so the captain rarely saw the young princess wandering the Empress Palace alone.
As the captain looked up, he spotted Luna’s personal attendants in the distance, watching from afar.
They were gesturing frantically, their faces silently pleading—something like ‘Please do whatever Her Highness wishes!’
‘Please grant Her Highness’s wishes!’
‘Please take her to the Empress!’
The captain’s perplexed gaze moved from the young princess with her bag to the attendants behind her.
After assessing the situation, he bowed respectfully to Luna and spoke.
“I shall take you to Her Majesty the Empress at once.”
The captain was granted an opportunity that neither the Empress Palace attendants nor the Princess Palace attendants often had: to escort the five-year-old princess alone.
He led Luna to the door of the chamber where the Empress was staying and knocked.
“Your Majesty, Her Highness the Princess has come to visit.”
There was a soft rustling from within, and then the door opened.
The attendant who emerged and saw the captain and the little princess standing side by side blinked in surprise.
“Your Highness?”
“I came to see Mother.”
Just as Luna spoke those words with careful precision, Tiel emerged with graceful steps.
Wearing a thin outer robe, Tiel caught sight of her daughter who had come to visit with a bag on her back, and her eyes widened. She approached quickly.
“Luna! Did you come alone? Where are your attendants?”
“I wanted to see you, so I came by myself. I said my attendants didn’t need to come since I could do it alone.”
Luna hugged Tiel and made a purring sound as she spoke. A soft, soapy scent emanated from the child’s body.
When Luna met her mother, her joy was so evident that two lion ears suddenly popped up atop her head.
“Still, Luna, you shouldn’t come alone—you should come with your attendants. Alright?”
“I understand. Next time I’ll make sure to come with them.”
“That’s my good girl.”
Tiel smiled brightly. Luna grinned back and rubbed her cheeks repeatedly against Tiel’s.
A thin tail sprouted near Luna’s rear and swished contentedly. It was a lion’s tail.
“Mother, Luna’s curious about something.”
“Curious? I wonder what our Luna is curious about?”
Tiel held Luna close and settled carefully into a rocking chair as she asked.
Luna’s small form swayed gently on Tiel’s lap, rocked by the chair’s soft rhythm.
“You said you didn’t have an Ability until you were seven years old.”
“That’s right.”
“So could Luna get an Ability later too?”
Luna’s eyes widened as she asked the question.
At the brightness in her daughter’s voice, Tiel smiled softly.
“Luna, would you like to have an Ability?”
“Yes.”
Luna answered without hesitation.
At Luna’s answer, Tiel felt a pang of sorrow.
Luna hadn’t manifested an Ability. And that was not a flaw.
Tiel and Iandros loved Luna equally despite her lack of an Ability, and Ain, Luna’s older brother, never looked down on or neglected her.
After all, wasn’t the current Empress herself a case of manifesting an Ability very late?
So no one in the Imperial Palace whispered about Luna’s Ability—or lack thereof.
But there were some things that affection and reassurance couldn’t entirely prevent.
‘I suppose I always knew this day would come…’
How much had Tiel envied those with Abilities when she herself was a child without one?
She had poured love and attention into Luna to spare her those feelings, but it was natural that the absence of an Ability that her older brother Ain possessed would weigh on Luna’s mind.
Tiel rested her cheek against her small daughter’s head. As the chair rocked gently, Luna nestled into Tiel’s embrace, her body pressing close with familiar comfort.
“Did someone say something unkind to you?”
“No.”
Luna shook her head.
Then she placed both hands on Tiel’s body and lifted her chin, meeting her eyes directly.
Hair of brilliant gold, eyes of emerald hue—the large, beautiful eyes that symbolized the direct lineage of House Crassion gazed steadily at Tiel.
“But I want to have one, like older brother Ain does.”
“Ain?”
“He can make slides, and he can make Ice Blades, but Luna can’t.”
“…Ain made an Ice Blade? I told him not to do dangerous things…!”
“Oops, I let it slip.”
Luna had been explaining why she wanted an Ability when she accidentally revealed her brother’s secret. She blinked, realizing what she’d done.
But she didn’t worry much about it. It was his secret, after all, not hers.
Besides, if he didn’t want to get scolded, he shouldn’t have made an Ice Blade in the first place. Luna felt no sympathy for the scolding Ain was about to receive from her parents.
“Anyway, Luna wants an Ability too.”
Each time Luna spoke, her ears perked and her tail swished.
“If I get an Ability, can Luna make an Ice Blade too?”
“Well, I’m not sure.”
Tiel’s expression became troubled.
Though she was a Snow Leopard, she possessed the Light Ability, and she had never tried to create anything like a light sword.
“Then can Luna do something cool like older brother does?”
“Luna.”
“When will Luna get an Ability?”
Luna’s eyes blinked in waiting.
Tiel felt troubled by the brightness in her beloved daughter’s gaze and suddenly pulled the small child into a tight embrace.
If Luna manifested an Ability, it would certainly be something to celebrate.
Besides, there was no guarantee it wouldn’t happen. Tiel herself had manifested her own Ability quite late.
‘But.’
Tiel’s Ability had come to her in her darkest and most painful moment.
So she had unconsciously come to believe that being driven to such extreme circumstances had helped awaken her power.
And if that truly was the condition for manifesting an Ability, then Tiel desperately wished that Luna would never face such pain.
Tiel loves Luna.
So she wished for her never to know sorrow or hardship.
But when Luna said ‘I wish I had an Ability,’ Tiel’s heart became unsettled and confused.
Perhaps it was because she saw her own young face overlapping with Luna’s innocent, beaming smile.
Near Tiel’s body as she held Luna close, fragments of light began to shimmer.

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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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