The Snow Leopard Baby of the Black Leopard Family - Chapter 7

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

Episode 7
The Asterian Family was thrown into chaos.
The Old Butler confirmed the color of Tiel’s eyes, then hurried away, saying he would fetch the household head and the Marquis.
Meanwhile, the servants guided Sedric, Ian, and Tiel to the Reception Room.
Tiel felt a quiet relief watching Ian and Sedric, both so kind, accompany her all the way to the Reception Room.
At first, she had resolved to manage on her own, unable to trouble Ian and Sedric any further.
But…….
She swallowed hard.
Tiel gazed up at the mansion’s ceiling, her small golden eyes reflecting in the grand Chandelier densely studded with enormous sapphires.
When she glanced to the side, her gaze caught on the lavish, extravagant wallpaper embedded with gold leaf.
‘……It’s enormous.’
The Chandelier, the sculptures at the entrance, the ornate gates of the mansion—
everything in the Asterian Mansion was far grander and more imposing than the Nestian Mansion.
So the small girl had no choice but to walk through the entrance with her spirit broken, her head bowed low.
At this rate, she would likely not even be able to meet the eyes of the Asterian Duke, let alone speak of herself as his daughter.
In such circumstances, Ian and Sedric’s company was nothing short of a small salvation.
Tiel glanced up slightly at Ian, who was walking with measured strides while firmly holding her hand.
She wanted to remember her kind benefactor’s face a little better.
She might never see him again.
Ian and Sedric seemed to think the Asterian Family would welcome her.
‘……But that’s not true at all.’
Chender had repeatedly told her that the Asterians harbored a terrible hatred for her.
Since her mother had died when she was born, the Asterian Family had no choice but to despise her terribly.
In truth, Tiel had secretly agreed with Chender’s words.
Even she felt guilt over her mother’s death—what could others possibly feel?
So Tiel knew: the Asterian Family would never welcome her as their “youngest daughter.”
Yet if she spoke it aloud, she feared she would cry, and it would feel like a betrayal of Ian and Sedric. So she kept her mouth shut.
When they arrived at the Reception Room, Ian pointed to the center of a plush sofa and spoke.
“Sit here.”
“I can stand…….”
But Ian didn’t bother to answer; he simply lifted Tiel up and set her on the sofa.
“Wait, no!”
“Stop squirming and sit. Everyone else is sitting—it’d be strange if the main character was standing.”
Ian easily contained Tiel’s struggling without effort.
His words seemed to make sense, so Tiel sat with her hands folded politely before her.
Before long, Asterian servants entered the Reception Room, bearing trays.
On the trays were simple pastries and tea, as well as several types of juice suitable for a seven-year-old child.
The servants placed a small plate before Tiel and served her a couple of Chocolate Cookies studded with marshmallow.
Tiel opened her mouth and looked up at the cookie once, then at Ian.
The child was actually quite hungry.
She had stubbornly eaten only the bread Ian had brought on the way there, though Tiel didn’t regret her own actions.
She truly, genuinely believed she couldn’t burden Ian and Sedric any further.
But the moment she saw the Chocolate Cookie before her, saliva naturally pooled in her throat.
That couldn’t be helped. Tiel was just a child, and she was hungry.
Watching Tiel’s expression, Ian let out a long sigh and picked up one of the cookies from her plate.
“Go on, eat.”
Sedric chimed in as well.
“Please do, Tiel. They’ve been brought out for you to enjoy freely.”
But Tiel shook her head, watching the servants’ faces carefully.
She didn’t want to be remembered as a shameless child before they began to dislike her.
When Tiel kept her mouth firmly closed and wouldn’t open it, Ian, still holding the cookie in one hand, dismissed the servants with a gesture.
The servants holding the trays filed out of the Reception Room in a line.
In the vast Reception Room, only Sedric, Ian, and Tiel sat in a row.
Ian brought the cookie to Tiel’s lips once more and spoke.
“There, satisfied? Now eat.”
Only then did Tiel realize that sending away the servants had been Ian’s gentle consideration for her.
Not wanting to spurn his kindness, she carefully accepted the cookie with both hands. Then she opened her mouth very slightly and took a small bite.
Though it was just a small bite, it didn’t take long for the sweet and subtly bitter taste of the Chocolate Cookie to spread through her mouth.
Tasting the sweetness of a Chocolate Cookie for the first time in her life, Tiel’s eyes went wide.
But then—
Bang!
The door of the Reception Room swung open loudly. Tiel dropped the cookie she was eating and turned her head toward the sound.
A man with hair as dark as a moonless night sky and the golden eyes that marked him as a Black Leopard strode into the Reception Room.
“Marquis Celeste.”
Sedric rose from his seat first.
From those words, Tiel could finally understand who the man was.
‘So that’s…….’
My father.
Cassius Celeste Asterian.
Tiel had heard stories about him from Chender, her grandfather.
A man who didn’t know his place or his station—arrogant beyond measure.
……Much like Tiel herself.
Perhaps because she’d been told he despised her terribly, Tiel’s small heart began to pound heavily.
The small girl folded her hands neatly and looked up at the man before her.
He gazed down at her with a confused expression, as if unable to comprehend the situation.
His stare bore down on the small child.
For a moment, heavy silence fell.
It was Cassius who broke the silence first.
“……So you…….”
Cassius’s voice caught in his throat, and he couldn’t seem to continue.
But Ian and Sedric knew what Cassius couldn’t bring himself to say.
He was asking if she was truly his daughter.
After Lena Nestian died, the daughter he had buried in his heart, not daring even to hope she lived, was asking if it was truly her.
But Tiel didn’t—couldn’t—think that way.
She believed the Asterian Family hated her.
She thought Cassius’s inability to speak was born of anger at the sight of her.
His stiff, rigid expression was unmistakably that of an angry man.
Tiel knew anger well. It was the only expression she had seen over all these years.
Of course, she had expected Cassius to be angry, but facing him like this, her mind went blank.
All the practice she had done scattered like dust, and she found herself wanting only to beg that he at least spare her life.
But Tiel steadied herself. She had come this far with Ian and Sedric’s help—she couldn’t be sent back to the Nestian Mansion.
So Tiel decided to find her courage.
Instead of waiting for Cassius to speak, Tiel opened her mouth first.
“……Um, our mother’s name was Lena Nestian.”
As she spoke, Tiel’s golden eyes gleamed, reflecting the scattered sunlight.
The exact same color as Cassius’s.
“……This, this is…….”
Tiel nervously extended the Locket Necklace she had been clutching tightly to Cassius.
The necklace the girl had held for so long still retained her warmth.
Cassius said nothing and accepted the necklace with trembling hands.
“This is…….”
Without even opening the locket, he recognized whose it was at a glance.
It was the one Lena had worn around her neck until she disappeared.
Click.
When he pressed the protruding mechanism with his thumb, the locket opened, and a familiar portrait came into view.
“Lena.”
The white-haired woman smiling brightly bore a striking resemblance to the small girl before him.
Unconsciously, he reached toward Tiel. His trembling hand gently touched her soft cheek.
Then Tiel suddenly stood up and stepped before Cassius.
“……I, I have a request.”
And she spoke before he could open his mouth.
Taken aback by Tiel’s sudden outburst, Ian narrowed his eyes.
Tiel’s voice trembled as if she were terrified. But the small girl, preoccupied with her anxiety, didn’t even notice.
She spoke before Cassius could send her away or express his anger.
“Please, let me stay here.”
And with great effort, she forced out the words she had repeated in her mind hundreds of times over on the journey to the Asterian Mansion.
“I can eat very little, I can live as if I’m not here at all. I can sleep in the warehouse. I can sleep in the barn, so…….”
Tiel’s adam’s apple moved slowly.
“I want to stay here…….”
At Tiel’s final words, everyone in the room instinctively fell silent.
For a moment, silence filled the room.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————