The Snow Leopard Baby of the Black Leopard Family - Chapter 51

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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 51
***
“How are they reacting?”
Chender asked slowly. Cornelia, standing across from him, smiled faintly in response.
“There’s been no reaction yet.”
“They must be feeling the pressure.”
Chender spoke with ease.
Just as the Asterian had anticipated, it was indeed Nestian who had spread the other hidden legend.
It couldn’t have been anyone else. That legend was passed down exclusively through the two families of the Leopard Clan.
“Do you think I’m doing them any favors?”
Both Nestian and Asterian struggled to freely use their Abilities due to the bloodline curse that flowed through their veins.
Even in such circumstances, the Asterian Ability completely dominated Nestian—and if that curse were resolved, there would be nothing left to stop the Asterian.
That alone had to be prevented.
If Nestian’s power proved insufficient, they would borrow the strength of other families!
Wolfgang had already sided with the Asterian, but if the remaining three families united their force, there was nothing they couldn’t stop.
‘Damn it. If only I’d known sooner.’
Who could have imagined that a child who hadn’t manifested her Ability until age seven would suddenly awaken the Light Ability the moment she arrived at the Asterian Mansion?
So it certainly wasn’t Chender’s fault. Yet it was.
If he hadn’t abused her so terribly while raising her, Tiel would never have thought to escape Nestian.
Had that been the case, the legendary Ability would have naturally become Nestian’s.
According to legend, Nestian would have reclaimed its original power and become the mightiest family in the empire….
“Curse it!”
Chender ground out a curse. What good was regret now? The deed was done.
He had spread the “Hidden Legend” passed down through the generations of the Leopard Clan to each family, and now the Asterian would have to move swiftly to protect that little girl.
Perhaps if this had been the old Nestian, they wouldn’t have dared such recklessness.
After all, the Asterian Family was the head of the Leopard Clan. Nestian was a family under the Asterian’s authority.
But now the situation was different.
‘The Asterian has already cut off the trade routes connecting to Nestian.’
And that was far from all—they had halted material support as well. Something they had never done before, no matter what had transpired between the two families!
Nestian had lost far too much in exchange for letting one small child slip away.
And a person with nothing left to lose is far more dangerous than one with much to protect.
“Rena….”
At the growl in Chender’s voice, Cornelia’s body trembled.
Chender loved Rena. Truly.
She had been a fine daughter—until she was deceived by Cassius Celeste Asterian, that wretch.
But separate from how much Chender cherished Rena, she had dealt Nestian severe damage.
In life, by refusing the Family Head Position; in death, by leaving behind a useless daughter.
Cornelia caught the flash of Chender’s fury redirecting toward Rena and laughed softly.
“Don’t worry, Father.”
“…….”
“I’m here. I’ll perform my sister’s duties brilliantly…….”
“You understand nothing! Absolutely nothing!”
Chender shouted. Cornelia’s eyes widened in shock, and she stumbled back a step.
“You don’t know what Rena meant to Nestian, Cornelia.”
His gaze had turned as cold as ice, fixed upon his daughter.
A child born with the Ice Ability who had overcome flame.
Perhaps the first and last of her kind….
Cornelia watched her father’s murmured words in silence, her lip trembling.
Drops of blood, darker than the deep color she had painted her lips with, beaded at the corners of her mouth.
‘You’ll see, Father.’
That I’m more useful than Rena, who died so pathetically.
That our Rowen is more valuable than that little girl Tiel!
“……Rest now.”
Cornelia spun sharply on her heel.
***
The Crown Prince’s birthday was far from grand.
When the servants asked how to prepare, Ferdi let out a dry laugh in response.
“Keep it simple. I’m spending my birthday away from my own home—if I ask you to make a fuss of it, that’s hardly conscientiousness on my part.”
Ferdi was right. It wasn’t a proper banquet at all—merely a small gathering among the Asterian children.
Yet his words were perhaps a touch too irreverent for the Crown Prince of the empire.
Fortunately, Iandros paid little mind to their words or behavior.
Moreover, Iandros himself sympathized with Ferdi’s sentiment. He had no intention of holding a grand reception in the Asterian Mansion.
He simply wanted to spend time with them. That was all.
Still, because it was the children’s first party together, the Asterian servants decorated the mansion with great care.
The Asterian Mansion, already immense and magnificent in its usual state, shone all the brighter for their devoted efforts.
Tiel couldn’t bring herself to venture out into the garden and instead gazed through her window in wonder.
“It’s truly beautiful…. The Asterian servants are all so very skilled. Isn’t that right, Lia?”
“Of course. They are Asterian servants, after all. They ought to be.”
Lia smiled brightly and agreed. Tiel nodded her head.
The Asterian servants were all extraordinarily capable.
The cooks went without saying; the gardeners were skilled enough to revive even withered plants.
The maids polished the corridors of the mansion until they gleamed, and the knights patrolled in formation, their armor glittering.
It was all truly magnificent.
And truly wonderful.
Except for the fact that Tiel herself couldn’t go out and see it directly….
“Are you still warm, Miss?”
Lia placed a small piece of ice in Tiel’s mouth and spoke.
Tiel happily took the ice and nodded.
“Yes….”
“And summer hasn’t even arrived yet…. This could be serious.”
Unlike Nestian, where snow fell year-round and biting winds blew constantly, the Asterian lands were warm in every season.
So no matter how short Tiel’s fur was as a snow leopard, she couldn’t help but feel the heat in this place.
“What are we to do…. We can’t scrape together all of Nestian’s ice.”
Mm?
Tiel’s eyes widened upon hearing Lia’s murmur.
Wouldn’t that be impossible? The Asterian servants adored Tiel so dearly, and that affection sometimes emerged in rather unusual ways.
“It certainly would be.”
Ferdi appeared quietly from behind, smiling wryly as he spoke.
“Oh, Young Master.”
Lia carefully withdrew from Tiel’s side. Ferdi settled familiarly beside Tiel and took the cup of ice from Lia’s hands.
“Here, open up.”
“Ahhh.”
And he popped another piece of ice directly into Tiel’s mouth.
“It wouldn’t work anyway. The ice would melt on the journey.”
Is that why? Tiel’s eyebrows rose very slightly.
“Once it melts, what we brought would be useless.”
Ferdi spoke matter-of-factly.
He seemed not to have entertained the thought at all that scraping ice from another’s territory might be problematic.
“Well, that’s true, but….”
“Wait, Tiel. Your brother will give you Nestian territory as a gift later.”
Territory? Not ice?
Mm…?
Tiel turned a bewildered look toward Lia. But Lia’s eyes sparkled as she gazed at Ferdi.
It was the look of someone thinking, ‘What a brilliant idea!’ Tiel gave up trying to argue further.
“Let’s go now. Iandros has arrived.”
“Already?”
Tiel’s eyes sparkled. At the same moment, two small fish of golden light burst forth and swirled around her.
Since the day of the outing when she had eaten cake with them, Tiel hadn’t properly contained her Ability.
So whenever her mood brightened, small lights would burst out of their own accord and envelop her surroundings.
Yes, he understood it all. It was all fine with him.
The glimmering lights were adorable, and the swimming fish were beautiful.
His little sister, with eyes that sparkled, was needless to say adorable.
But why….
‘When I arrived, she didn’t react like this.’
She showed such a passionate response to the news of Iandros’s arrival? Ferdi couldn’t hide the feeling that he had lost to that wretch Iandros.
Tiel herself was equally startled that her Ability had burst forth so freely.
“Oh my, why is this? Come here, you all.”
At Tiel’s word, the lights gathered into her small palm like obedient children.
She closed her fist, and the lights that had pooled in her palm vanished in an instant.
‘It seems they’re listening better now.’
When she first manifested her Ability, it had been a burden for Tiel to control.
The lights seemed to obey her words and yet simultaneously did not.
But after several days of practicing alone through the night, Tiel had learned how to handle her Ability.
Of course, she couldn’t wield it with the ease that her brothers or Sister Olivier could….
Still, even this much was a significant achievement.
‘Don’t be greedy just yet.’
Tiel clenched her fist firmly.

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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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