The Snow Leopard Baby of the Black Leopard Family - Chapter 3

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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 3
The day the Imperial Palace’s guests arrived at the Nestian Estate.
As expected, the Nestian Estate was in complete disarray.
Even Tiel, sequestered in the Attic, could sense that today was profoundly important.
The servants scrubbed the estate meticulously, while the gardeners trimmed the low hedge saplings into perfect spheres.
And in the center of the garden stood an enormous Snow Bear Ice Sculpture, seemingly created for this day alone.
The Nestian Family’s servants had prepared the estate with such devoted care that it looked far more impressive than one might have expected.
Tiel peered down from the Attic window at the servants bustling below.
‘If there are this many people around, they’ll catch me in no time.’
Though the servants were busy, they would not be so absorbed as to miss a fleeing child.
And besides, Tiel’s hair was exactly as her grandfather always said—”disheveled and dreadfully tangled.”
Hair like hers was always easy to spot, so if she ran now, she’d be recaptured within ten minutes.
‘So I’ll escape once the sun sets.’
Tiel nodded quietly to herself.
That no one paid her any attention was, in its way, a stroke of luck.
‘After dark, everyone will be asleep, so escape will be easier.’
Tiel reviewed her plan once more, the one she’d been meticulously working out for two days.
First, once everyone was asleep, Tiel would sneak into her grandfather’s Study.
‘His desk drawers are full of shiny things, after all.’
Her grandfather always kept gleaming coins and rare-looking items—beautiful fountain pens—in his Study’s drawers.
And Tiel knew her grandfather left the Study’s lock unsecured.
That was because Rowen liked to come and go from his Study freely.
Tiel did not care for Rowen, but for this, she was grateful to her.
Knowing that shiny things could be traded for money, Tiel meant to steal her grandfather’s valuables and flee.
After that, her plan was to give the valuables to a coachman and ask him to take her to the Asterian Family.
Had a girl been spotted carrying such precious items, she might have been reported or come to harm, but Tiel had no way of knowing this.
Satisfied with her careful review, Tiel hugged the Blanket to herself.
Hidden inside the Blanket were two loaves of bread that Tiel had carefully stashed away.
Emergency rations for the journey to Asterian.
As she did this, commotion erupted outside—the Imperial Palace’s guests had arrived.
Tiel peeked out through the Attic window.
From a carriage far more ornate than anything the Nestian Estate possessed, a man in an equally resplendent uniform and a boy who appeared to be his attendant stepped down.
Seeing the carriage from the Imperial Palace, the reality of her escape today suddenly became vivid.
Tiel’s small chest thudded with anticipation as she gazed at the magnificent carriage, her hands clasped tightly before her.
***
Only after sunset, when all in the estate had fallen asleep, did Tiel carefully open the Attic door.
Creak—
The aged door made an eerie sound. Tiel crept forward carefully, afraid she might wake the servants.
Creeping down from the Attic, Tiel quietly turned the handle of her grandfather’s Study door on the second floor.
The Study door opened smoothly.
Relieved that it was unlocked, Tiel quickly closed it behind her.
Then she hurried to her grandfather’s dresser and rummaged through the drawers.
Though the space was always left open and held nothing truly valuable, there were several Coins inside.
Tiel pocketed the Coins and yanked open the third drawer.
“……What’s this?”
In the third drawer lay only a single rusted Locket.
Tiel carefully picked up the Locket and touched it. Its color had faded with age.
Click.
She must have touched something wrong, for the Locket made a sound and sprung open.
‘Oh!’
Tiel calmed her startled heart and touched the Locket cautiously.
Inside the Locket was a portrait.
Tiel recognized the subject of the miniature at once.
“Mother…….”
The woman was Tiel’s mother, Rena Nestian.
Tiel had rarely seen a portrait of her mother. Cornelia, who had despised Rena intensely, had removed all of Rena’s paintings the moment she died.
Yet several pictures still remained in Chender’s Study, which was how Tiel could recognize that this portrait in the Locket was indeed her mother.
Tears welled in her eyes as Tiel pressed her lips tight together and hurriedly fastened the Locket around her neck.
Since she would never return to this place again, she needed at least one thing by which to remember her mother.
Tiel caressed the Locket as though it were the most precious thing in the world.
Then she tucked one of her grandfather’s Fountain Pens and several Coins into her pockets and opened the door.
Creak—
The way in had been quiet, but coming out, the door made an unpleasant sound.
Tiel’s brow furrowed slightly.
‘I hope no one woke up.’
The second floor of the estate was empty at this hour, though Tiel, unaware of this, crept forward cautiously.
But just as she was about to descend the stairs—
Gasp.
Tiel’s breath caught. Her small chest swelled as though it might burst.
“Young Miss Rowen, I’ve told you not to wander at this hour, and—wait?”
It was Zayra, Rowen’s nursemaid.
Zayra had assumed the small figure before her was Rowen, but the moment she saw those luminous golden eyes catching the moonlight, her eyes widened.
Realizing at once that the child wandering the estate at this hour was not Rowen but Tiel, she began to shriek.
“You! What are you doing here at this hour! Get back to your room at once!”
Zayra’s shouts echoed through the corridor.
Tiel’s face flushed a deep red before Zayra, and she bit her lip in panic.
‘What do I do.’
She needed to run, but her legs would not obey.
To make matters worse, the servants throughout the estate were being startled awake, and the whole house was beginning to stir with commotion.
Zayra strode toward Tiel to grab her.
Tiel shook her head frantically and bolted, clutching the Blanket tightly to her chest.
“Don’t you come near me! If I’m caught this time, they’ll put a lock on your room!”
Tiel ran down the corridor, trembling violently. She could hear Zayra’s footsteps pounding behind her—thump-thump, thump-thump.
‘Where, where should I go?’
Zayra’s footsteps were growing closer. Tiel rushed downstairs to the first floor and hid herself in the shrubbery.
“The young lady has fled! Search for her!”
Zayra’s shout rang out. Tiel huddled in the shrubbery, shaking uncontrollably.
Her eyes were filled with tears. She covered her face with both hands and whimpered.
“What do I do……, they’ll catch me for sure.”
Hearing Zayra’s shouts, servants stumbled out one by one.
A servant who had been roused from sleep approached the shrubbery where Tiel was hiding.
Startled, Tiel bolted again without releasing the Blanket.
“There she is! Catch her!”
Running in a panic, Tiel slipped into the Guest Quarters—a place she had never entered before—and hid.
Seeing Tiel rush into the Guest Quarters, the servants hesitated and withdrew.
The Guest Quarters was reserved for honored visitors and could not be entered without permission.
And besides—
‘The Imperial Palace’s guests are staying here.’
‘What should we do?’
The servants, uncertain, turned to go inform Chender of the situation.
Yet a few remained stationed outside the Guest Quarters, watching lest Tiel attempt to flee.
Tiel, frantic, reached the door of a room on the first floor of the Guest Quarters and yanked it open.
The door gave way without resistance. Tiel did not pause to think—she simply stumbled inside.
Then, peering through the keyhole into the Guest Quarters corridor, she caught her breath.
Then—
“……Who the hell are you, breaking into my room at this hour?”
An unfamiliar voice came from behind her.
Tiel spun around on instinct, trembling.
A boy who seemed a full head taller than her stood silhouetted against the moonlight at her back.
He held sharp claws against her throat.
“Tell me who you are—clearly. Otherwise, I’ll pierce your throat.”
“……Please……, save me…….”
“What?”
“Please……, save me…….”
As she finished speaking, tears streamed down Tiel’s cheeks.
***
Ian withdrew his claws in alarm and turned the girl around to face him.
A small, delicate girl—dwarfed beside him—stood weeping, tears streaming down her face.
“You…….”
Ian’s eyes narrowed as he took in her white hair.
White hair was unmistakably the mark of the Snow Bear lineage. Yet the Snow Bear estate, the Nestian Family, had only one girl.
Rowen Nestian.
Ian turned over in his mind what he knew of Rowen Nestian’s appearance.
He had paid little attention and his memory was hazy, but……this girl did not have golden eyes—her eyes were a clear blue.
In other words, the girl who had so audaciously infiltrated the Crown Prince’s room was not Rowen Nestian.
He examined the child’s shabby appearance carefully.
A nightgown so threadbare it was nearly transparent; hair matted and tangled from neglect; bare feet covered in cuts and scrapes.
……And a tattered Blanket clutched against her chest.
He did not know how she had come to enter his room, but anyone could see she was fleeing in secret. Bewildered, Ian let out a low sound as he studied her.
Then, wiping the tears from her cheeks with his own sleeve, he spoke.
“Don’t cry. Stop crying and answer me. Who are you—clearly and precisely. Do you understand? If not, I’ll throw you out this instant.”
Ian made his threat. Tiel hesitated, gathering her courage. Then her small lips trembled as she opened her mouth.
“I……, I am Tiel Nestian of the Snow Bear……Snow Bear Family. I have to escape from here. I must…….”
Knock-knock.
But before the girl could finish, someone knocked on the door.

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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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