The Snow Leopard Baby of the Black Leopard Family - Chapter 38

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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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Episode 38
“I told you to find a pair-bond and form a contract quickly, yet here you are gadding about! What are you doing?”
…….
“There may come a moment when you cannot control your Innate Ability! How much longer will you remain so irresponsible, Iandros Crasion?”
Iandros bowed his head in silence. The Emperor waved his hand dismissively, as though he could not bear to look upon him.
“Get out at once! I cannot stand the sight of you!”
Iandros did not resist. He rose as if he had been waiting for nothing but these words all along and slipped from the room.
The Emperor did not look back at Iandros. Nor did Iandros look back at him.
Cedric moved to follow, but Iandros waved him back with a gesture.
For now, he could not bear to be with anyone.
Not a soul.
Back at the Crown Prince’s Palace, Iandros dismissed all the attendants. The palace fell silent in an instant.
He stood motionless for a moment, staring into the distance, then swept his hand through the air.
Whoosh—.
Subspace Creation—Iandros’s Innate Ability. A space large enough for a single person yawned open.
Without hesitation, Iandros stepped into that space.
…….
He gazed upon the ruined manor with dead, unfeeling eyes.
The eyes that beheld its interior were hollow, stripped of all light.
Iandros’s Innate Ability—Subspace Creation.
The subspaces Iandros could generate were limited in scope.
In his earliest childhood, he had been able to create far more varied spaces, or so it seemed, though he could no longer recall them.
Now, the only subspace Iandros could generate was this manor.
This place that had burned and vanished—where Iandros and his parents once lived…….
Iandros looked around him. Everything was dark; he could see nothing.
The darkness was so profound that without eyes accustomed to it, one could not move from where they stood.
Yet to Iandros, this darkness was far too familiar, and so he walked without concern.
Whenever he grew weary or lonely, Iandros retreated into his subspace. Unlike the clamor beyond, the world within was silent as a grave.
Here, nothing could disturb him.
Within this manor, Iandros alone was sovereign.
He could move freely between rooms and summon objects into being at will.
Yet there was one thing he could not do.
……Ha.
Iandros looked down at the candle he held, his voice bitter with mockery.
Within this space, he could do anything—everything except kindle a light within the manor.
No matter what he attempted, he could not bring fire to these halls.
Once, when he yearned for those days of happiness with his parents, he had desperately tried to fill the manor with light, striving without end.
But Iandros had never succeeded in kindling that flame.
Not a chandelier, not a single candle would ignite. Complete darkness held dominion over the space.
Iandros crushed the candle in his grip. It shattered in the air, crumbling into dust.
He walked on with cold, lifeless eyes. Then his foot struck something unfamiliar.
……?
He picked up the mysterious object his foot had caught upon.
It was a cushion, smooth and beautiful in a way that seemed incongruous.
One thing was certain: it did not belong in this manor.
‘Why is this here?’
Iandros wondered briefly if he had placed this cushion inside himself.
But it could not be. He had never seen such a cushion before, and even if he had left it here long ago, it should not have survived until now.
Objects brought into Iandros’s subspace other than those that were originally present would fade away after a certain time.
Iandros picked up the cushion. Then a familiar scent rose from it. The boy’s eyes narrowed.
‘Snow Leopard.’
It was unmistakably the scent of a young Snow Leopard.
Iandros recognized the owner of that fragrance at once. This must have been the cushion on which Tiel sat.
He could not say when this cushion had appeared here…….
Iandros collapsed wearily where he stood and drew Tiel’s cushion to his chest.
The scent grew stronger. The sharp lines of his gaze softened.
“Tiel.”
Iandros murmured the little Snow Leopard’s name almost to himself.
Had Tiel brought this cushion? Whatever the truth, it was certainly something she had left behind.
He could not know why it had not yet faded away, but one thing was certain: this small cushion was offering him solace.
Iandros was often seized by a keen loneliness.
A day like today was no exception.
Perhaps it was because he had come here from bustling Asterian……. The Imperial Palace, by comparison, was little more than a dead space.
There was no laughter, no tears.
Iandros had grown up almost entirely alone within the Imperial Palace.
A grandfather who scorned him. Attendants and knights who dared not approach for fear of his power…….
Cedric had been with him, but Cedric could not play the roles of his parents or his friend.
He was merely an aide, after all.
Yet now, simply because he had found this cushion, simply because he held it in his hands…….
‘Less lonely than before—how ridiculous.’
Iandros’s lips twisted into a wry smile.
He pulled the cushion close to his chest.
The scent of the baby Snow Leopard clung to it.
For some reason, he found himself thinking of Tiel.
He thought he might wish to see her.
***
“I heard the Crown Prince is skipping his birthday celebration this year.”
Cassius placed two pieces of meat on Tiel’s plate as he spoke.
Ferdi, sitting pressed close beside his younger sister, carefully wiped her face with a napkin.
While receiving Ferdi’s attentions, Tiel looked up at Cassius.
“Iandros’s birthday?”
“That’s right.”
Tiel tilted her head. To think the Crown Prince would skip his birthday celebration. Had something happened to him?
Tiel had never attended a celebration at the Imperial Palace herself, but through Cornelia and Rowen’s frequent visits, she had come to understand how grand and magnificent such gatherings were.
She also knew how important these events were to the Crown Prince and other nobility.
It was as Tiel was worrying whether something had befallen Iandros that——
“But setting aside Iandros’s birthday celebration, Tiel, when is your birthday? I forgot to ask you.”
…….
At Rudian’s words, the knives moving across the table all came to an abrupt halt. The thoughts of everyone but Rudian froze.
Ferdi’s eyes widened as he glared at Rudian.
“Rudian, you——”
“Huh? Why? Is it wrong to ask?”
Ferdi shut his eyes tightly at Rudian’s oblivious reply.
Asterian regarded the day Rena Nestian had departed as the anniversary of her death.
Nestian had never told them when she actually died.
But since she had vanished and then given birth to Tiel, there must have been a separate date of death.
The reason they had all refrained from asking Tiel about the anniversary of Rena’s death was…….
……Ah.
Rudian’s quiet sigh spoke of sudden realization. Tiel’s birthday was the anniversary of Rena’s death!
Nestian had reported that Rena had died giving birth to Tiel.
Rudian looked at Tiel in alarm. Had his thoughtless question wounded her? The boy was seized by an urge to strike his own head for asking without consideration.
But contrary to their fears that the child might be deeply hurt, Tiel showed no signs of crying or sorrow. Instead——
“My birthday? I don’t know when it is. My grandfather said it was an unlucky day and never told me…….”
…….
“Because my mother died giving birth to me. It’s a day that cannot be celebrated. But this is the first time anyone has ever asked me about it. I’m happy.”
Tiel paused, wondering if she should even be allowed to use the word “happy.”
Her birthday was the anniversary of her mother’s death, after all.
Tiel still carried guilt, believing that her birth had caused her mother’s death.
And perhaps that guilt would never fade. And yet——
‘……Isn’t it alright to say something like this?’
This was the first time anyone had asked about her birthday. And it was not just anyone—it was Tiel’s own brother.
So surely Mother would forgive me for this much.
Tiel nodded and continued.
“My birthday is likely in winter. My grandfather became sharp whenever winter came.”
All four men of Asterian thought the same thing simultaneously.
They wanted to kill Chendeur.
As though bound by a pact, their hands gripping the knives tightened in unison. They struggled to contain their murderous intent.
It was Cassius who spoke first.
His expression was heavy with confusion—he could not even tell where to begin correcting the situation.
“Tiel, ……Rena’s death is not your responsibility. It was not your fault.”
“Yes, Father.”
“I mean it truly. I’m not saying this to console you. You were only a newborn then. How could any fault lie with you?”
……Yes.
“If Rena had heard such a thing, she would have raged and torn your grandfather in half.”
……?
……Torn? In half?
“And I would have been torn apart too, for the sin of not knowing my daughter was being treated so poorly.”
Tiel blinked.
But—Mother? That was very different from what Chendeur had said.
Chendeur had always said, “Unlike you, Rena was such an obedient child!” and sternly rebuked Cornelia whenever she said, “Rena was headstrong.”
But what Cassius described sounded more like what Cornelia had said.
Tearing people apart……. Mother did that……? Cassius spoke casually even as Tiel’s eyes blinked in shock.
“So Tiel, help your father commit no further sins. If you continue to blame yourself for Rena’s death, when you meet your mother later, you will be killed without a chance to excuse yourself.”
…….
“You understand?”
“Yes…….”
“Then let’s eat, my daughter.”
Cassius popped a piece of meat directly into Tiel’s mouth.
Tiel chewed, her expression still reeling from the shock.

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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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