The Snow Leopard Baby of the Black Leopard Family - Chapter 30

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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 30
“Miss, are you all right?”
Lia pressed her hand to Tiel’s forehead and spoke softly.
Tiel rubbed her sleepy eyes with her sleeve cuff and nodded. Aside from being a little tired, she felt fine.
“Yes, I’m fine. But Ferdi—is my brother Ferdi all right?”
Tiel asked, blinking her eyes.
Her last clear memory was of embracing Ferdi as he succumbed to Magical Runaway in the Training Grounds.
Everything after that had vanished like spilled ink—not a single moment remained.
Just then, the door opened quietly, and familiar figures stepped inside.
It was Ferdi and Ludian. Tiel’s eyes widened with joy.
“Tiel—!”
The moment they spotted Tiel sitting on the bed, leaning against the headboard with her eyes blinking drowsily, both Ferdi and Ludian called out her name in unison and hurried to her bedside.
Ferdi and Ludian had just been summoned by Cassius to hear what Tiel had endured at the Nestian Mansion.
The abuse this small child had suffered at the hands of the Nestian Mansion…….
Ferdi’s usually composed face was now twisted with distress.
Ludian’s was no different.
Confused by her brothers’ disheveled appearance, Tiel reached out toward them.
“Brother……?”
“Tiel, you’re okay, right?”
Ferdi asked, his eyes clouded with worry.
Both Ferdi and Ludian blamed themselves for everything—Tiel’s collapse, the trouble that had befallen Cassius and Alpheus. All of it was their fault, they believed.
Ferdi especially tormented himself with guilt.
‘If only I hadn’t been so reckless…….’
Then Tiel would never have collapsed.
Even now, when he closed his eyes, he saw Tiel falling from his embrace.
He saw her small hand drop limply away.
“Brother.”
Though Tiel didn’t understand the full weight of what her brothers carried, she could tell they were deeply worried about her.
She carefully cupped Ferdi’s cheeks in both small hands and nodded firmly.
“I really am fine! But, brother Ferdi—are you all right?”
Tiel studied his condition with an anxious gaze.
The last image she had of Ferdi was of him standing precariously amid those terrible flames.
‘Is he okay now?’
Thankfully, though Ferdi looked somewhat disheveled, he showed no sign of the terrible danger he’d been in, nor any hint of pain.
What a relief.
Tiel smiled brightly.
“……Tiel, you should worry about yourself first in moments like this.”
Not about others.
Ferdi murmured, looking at Tiel with a heavy heart.
His voice seemed drained of strength.
“That’s right, you little fool! Thank goodness it turned out fine—what would we have done if it hadn’t? You nearly got yourself killed!”
“But…….”
“But nothing! Do you have any idea how terrified I was? You’re so small, and fearless as anything, you…….”
Ludian sputtered indignantly.
Tiel’s expression grew flustered, her large eyes rolling with confusion.
Ferdi turned his head, seeming to try to calm Ludian.
“Hey, Ludian. Choose your words.”
“Was I wrong? Do you know how scared I was?”
Sparks flew between Ludian and Ferdi.
Their concern for Tiel had somehow transformed into a quarrel between the two brothers.
The girl quickly seized Ludian’s hand firmly.
“I really am fine! So please stop worrying about me. Next time, I’ll be more careful. And…….”
“……And what.”
“I know you won’t hurt me.”
Tiel looked up at Ludian as she spoke.
Her grip on his hand tightened ever so slightly.
Tiel’s eyes gleamed.
“……What do you know, little thing.”
“No, I really do know.”
That you won’t hurt me.
Tiel spoke softly, as though confessing something sacred.
Everyone in the room held their breath.
Ludian turned away sharply, making a strained sound deep in his throat.
“This time only, you hear? This time only. If you do this again, I really will scold you.”
“Yes! Don’t worry! I won’t do it again, I promise!”
“That’s right, Tiel. Never again, all right?”
Ferdi, who had been silent until then, finally forced out a single strained word.
Tiel’s gaze shifted back to Ferdi. He now looked as though he might cry.
“B-brother.”
“Never again. Do you hear?”
Ferdi suddenly pulled Tiel into a tight embrace.
The child buried her face in his warm chest, nodding vigorously.
It was only after a long while that Ferdi finally released her.
Having rested in that warmth for so long, Tiel’s small body was now suffused with gentle heat.
Lia, watching this scene with quiet joy, gathered Tiel’s hair back and tied it, then spoke.
“Since you’ve just woken, you should eat something. I’ll go downstairs and bring back some soup and soft bread. Rest here with Ferdi and Ludian for a bit.”
“All right.”
After Lia had left the room, Ferdi and Ludian apologized to Tiel again and again.
Ferdi in particular seemed deeply shaken by what had happened.
The subtle wariness he had once shown Tiel had long since vanished without a trace.
Consumed by guilt, Ferdi remained at Tiel’s side throughout her sleep.
Ludian snorted at the sight, but Ferdi paid him no mind.
Tiel did not dislike her brothers.
No—she had grown to love her brothers.
The older brothers she had believed would despise her terribly now showed her worry and affection instead, and Tiel’s thick wall of caution melted away like snow under spring sun.
And besides.
‘Those flames…….’
The Pillar of Flame that had seemed ready to consume Ferdi had subdued itself obediently in Tiel’s hands.
[Jump in, little one. Jump in.]
[You can save him…….]
What had that voice been in that moment?
But whatever its nature, one thing was certain.
‘I can save him.’
If such a thing happened again, I could save him once more.
Tiel’s bright Golden Eyes gleamed again.
That single fact alone made her heart soar with joy.
She could be of use to House Asterian.
She could help the kind people of House Asterian, her two dear brothers.
“What are you grinning about so much, you little thing? Hmm?”
Ludian gently pinched Tiel’s cheek.
Tiel giggled.
But his hand was quickly swatted away. Ferdi had slapped the back of it.
“Don’t pinch her carelessly.”
“You, you——?”
The two brothers were about to bicker again when the door slowly opened.
All three children naturally assumed it was Lia entering.
“What trouble are you two cooking up now. Ferdi, Ludian.”
But to their surprise, it was Cassius Celeste Asterian who stepped through the door.
Tiel’s eyes widened. Ferdi and Ludian’s narrowed.
They were wary lest he come to drive them from Tiel’s room.
Cassius let out a dry chuckle and gestured to them.
“I’m not kicking you out, so move over a bit. What’s with those looks, my sons?”
Cassius gently pushed the two boys aside and sat beside Tiel to assess her condition.
Tiel placed her small hand in Cassius’s large one and looked up at him.
“How is your body feeling?”
“Yes, I’m fine. It doesn’t hurt.”
“Good, I’m relieved. Ferdi and Ludian told me what happened last night. They said you stopped Ferdi’s Magical Runaway.”
“Yes, yes!”
Tiel beamed and nodded enthusiastically.
At that endearing sight, everyone in the room broke into warm smiles.
But Cassius quickly schooled his expression into one of mock severity as he studied Tiel.
“It was reckless, Tiel.”
“Y-yes…….”
“It was reckless. Ferdi was in a dangerous state then. If you had been an ordinary child, you would have died.”
Cassius’s voice was sharp. Tiel’s face fell at once, and she nodded obediently.
Had she been a beast, her ears and tail would surely have drooped in shame.
Unable to bear the sight of her despair, Ferdi suddenly broke in.
“It’s not Tiel’s fault! This is my——!”
“Ferdi.”
At Cassius’s call, Ferdi fell silent, though his expression remained troubled. Cassius watched his son for a moment longer, then turned his gaze back to Tiel.
His eyes softened.
“But thank you.”
“……!”
“You saved Ferdi’s life.”
Cassius gently stroked Tiel’s soft cheek as though soothing her.
“I wasn’t scolding you out of anger. I was worried about you. I’m your father, after all.”
Tiel nodded.
Cassius was truly concerned for her. They were nothing like Chender Nestian, her grandfather.
Cassius always, in every circumstance, put Tiel first.
Thanks to him, Tiel was gradually learning to cherish herself.
Tiel nodded and smiled gently.
“Yes, I’ll be much more careful from now on. Thank you.”
She hesitated for a moment, then grasped Cassius’s thick hand firmly and began to speak haltingly.
“F-father…….”
“Yes……, good girl. My daughter.”
Cassius smiled warmly and stroked Tiel’s soft hair.
His large hand touched the child’s head with infinite care.
“Tiel.”
Cassius looked at Tiel calmly. Tiel met his gaze without flinching.
Two pairs of matching Golden Eyes gazed at each other.
He paused for a moment, then spoke in a low voice.
“There’s somewhere I want you to go with me.”

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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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