The Snow Leopard Baby of the Black Leopard Family - Chapter 59

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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 59
Etienne held Tiel in her arms for a long time, as if making up for all the days they’d spent apart.
No one tried to stop her. Everyone present understood perfectly how much Rena meant to Etienne.
And then, a moment later.
“Um…”
Tiel spoke first. She’d been nestled deep in Etienne’s broad embrace, and now she called out to her hesitantly.
“Aunt, are you alright?”
At Tiel’s question, everyone in the room’s eyes widened.
A child’s innocent question. More than that—an utterly innocent gesture of comfort.
Yet those few words wrapped around everyone’s hearts, warming them through.
These people had never once asked each other “Are you alright?” since losing Rena.
They had only swallowed their longing, unable to offer even such light words of solace.
At the girl’s voice, Etienne—who had held the child to her all this while—slowly raised her head. The golden eyes that marked her as one of the Asterian clan were revealed, along with the reddened, chafed skin surrounding them.
“…My dear.”
Etienne reached out and gently caressed the little girl’s cheek. Tiel offered it without resistance.
Her soft, full cheek pressed gently under Etienne’s hand. As the flesh yielded, one of her eyes naturally closed.
“…You look just like your mother.”
The trembling in her voice came through clearly. Tiel didn’t bother to answer, only gazed steadily back at her.
That was enough.
“You look just like your mother… I’m sorry. I’m sorry I couldn’t bring you here sooner.”
“I…”
Tiel took a breath. And then she looked back at the others. Her family. The black panthers of the Asterian clan who had embraced her as one of their own.
And then, slowly and deliberately, she spoke.
“I’m alright. It’s not too late.”
So that all could hear.
Nothing is too late.
Tiel had died once, but she was alive and breathing here now.
Right here.
And so nothing is too late. The Asterian family had loved and cherished her—unlike Chender’s words, which said they would despise her terribly.
That was enough.
She was glad to be loved, and glad to love. That was enough.
So.
Tiel spoke once more, each word clear and deliberate.
“It’s not too late. I’m alright. I’m… happy to meet you, Aunt.”
The girl finished speaking and broke into a bright smile.
In that moment, they all saw it.
The warmest light in all the world.
A faint but undeniable light sparkling at the heart of the Asterian Mansion.
***
“So at last we can properly introduce ourselves. My name is Stefano. I’m your uncle by marriage.”
Stefano smiled warmly. His shoulders were broad and thick, his frame massive and muscular—the kind that looked ready to burst through his clothes at any moment—yet his voice was unexpectedly gentle.
“Hello, Uncle. I’m Tiel.”
“Good. Tiel, Olivie hasn’t been bothering you, has she?”
“…Pardon?”
“Oh, Dad!”
Olivie yelped loudly. But Stefano paid no mind, calmly wiping the sweat from his brow as he continued.
“If she ever does bother you, you tell me. I’ll fight that… well, that girl and drag her back home myself.”
The beads of sweat on his forehead testified to just how heated his exchange with Olivie had been.
“Why are you like that to me!”
“Don’t call that talking. Stop spouting nonsense and go sit in that corner over there!”
There was nothing like a heartwarming family reunion happening.
Olivie had been badgering about taking Tiel to Wolfgang without Cassius knowing, and now she was receiving a barrage of scolding from Stefano, staring at him in a huff.
The girl, seemingly tireless, was rattling off all the wonderful and amazing things her house had to offer.
“Tiel, you’d like to come to my house, wouldn’t you? If you do, I’ll buy you everything you want and all the food you could ask for.”
“Well…”
“Still that one!”
“Look, just wait a minute! If Uncle won’t say yes, I can just sneak her away when she’s asleep!”
“That’s kidnapping! Kidnapping, you thoughtless thing!”
Stefano bellowed. The veins in his face were bulging as if they might burst from how fiercely he was arguing with Olivie.
He now looked like a piece of iron heated white-hot… Tiel carefully tugged at Stefano’s sleeve.
“It’ll be alright.”
“Hm?”
“It’s just because Olivie loves me so much. She doesn’t really mean to…”
“While Uncle’s not looking!”
“She doesn’t mean it. She won’t…”
“…”
“…Probably?”
Tiel tilted her head and let her words trail off.
Stefano sighed and muttered mournfully.
“When I’m gone, that one will take over as head of house…”
“…”
“And Wolfgang too will…”
That was when.
“Honey, what are you saying in front of the child?”
Etienne, who had stepped away briefly to speak with others, had returned.
Tiel’s eyes lit up as if she’d been rescued by a savior.
“Aunt!”
“There now—were you having fun, my dear?”
Etienne lifted the child lightly into her arms and swept her hair back for her.
“Yes. Did you finish your talk?”
“We did.”
Etienne broke into a bright smile.
Tiel glanced over Etienne’s shoulder toward the room where Alpheus and Cassius had gone. Alpheus’s face had gone pale, as if his very soul had fled, and Cassius looked somewhat subdued.
‘What on earth did they discuss…’
Why were they like this?
Her curiosity was answered quickly.
“Honestly! I understand the child had to be kept secret, but how could you keep it from me too? Really.”
‘Ah, so that was it.’
Cassius and Alpheus had kept Tiel’s existence carefully hidden since she first arrived at the mansion.
For fear that word of her Ability might leak out.
Apparently that’s why Etienne hadn’t been told until now.
She was still fuming, glaring at Alpheus. Alpheus shook his head in surrender. Cassius quietly avoided her gaze.
Tiel quietly grabbed the edge of Etienne’s collar, trying to keep the two men from suffering any further of her wrath.
“Aunt, how long will you be staying here? Are you and Olivie planning to stay for a while?”
And she smoothly changed the subject.
Fortunately, Etienne was easily distracted.
“I’d love to stay for ages, but Olivie and I have to return to Wolfgang in a few days.”
“So soon?”
“Yes, we can’t leave our lands unattended for long. But the Luminarie Festival will be coming up soon, so we’ll see each other again before long.”
That was when Olivie, who’d drawn close without anyone noticing and had been fiddling with Tiel’s hand, drooped her eyebrows and asked.
“Go back? Why? Can’t I stay here and go to the festival with Tiel?”
“Nonsense. You’re the heir to Wolfgang—you have to stay and tend to your duties.”
“Ugh—being heir is such a pain. Can’t someone else do it instead?”
Stefano and Etienne had only one child between them: Olivie Wolfgang.
And their precious daughter had just suggested abandoning the position altogether.
“Dear.”
Etienne smiled softly.
“Handle it.”
“…Come here, Olivie. Your mother’s quite angry.”
Stefano, reading Etienne’s expression, scooped Olivie up bodily and disappeared with her.
Etienne turned back to Tiel with a sunny smile, as though nothing had happened.
“Tiel, I have something for you.”
“For me?”
“Yes.”
Etienne picked Tiel up in her arms and moved with light, graceful steps. Ferdi and Ludian quietly followed behind.
Alpheus and Cassius, who’d received quite the earful from Etienne, also followed along from a distance.
Tiel, nestled in Etienne’s arms, waved toward her father and grandfather. Both their faces brightened instantly.
They were heading toward a hall that was stacked high with things brought from Wolfgang.
Servants moved about busily, sorting and organizing the items.
“Dex.”
At her call, a man who’d been standing at a distance speaking briefly with the head servant quickly approached and bowed his head.
“You called, Etienne?”
“Bring that thing.”
“Yes.”
Dex hurried away. Tiel waited obediently in Etienne’s arms for whatever he would bring.
‘I wonder what it is?’
Having received many gifts so far, Tiel had become accustomed to presents, but somehow Etienne’s ‘gift’ felt like it meant something different.
Because.
“…”
“…”
Everyone else in the room had fallen silent, their expressions grave, and was watching Tiel.
It seemed that everyone here already knew what Etienne had prepared.
Then Dex entered, holding a small box in his hands.
For a moment, silence fell over the room.

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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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