The Snow Leopard Baby of the Black Leopard Family - Chapter 77

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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 77
Alpheus had returned.
The children gathered together in the dining hall and took their evening meal with Alpheus and Cassius.
“Grandfather!”
Tiel called out warmly as Alpheus entered the dining hall. He chuckled softly and gave her head a gentle pat.
“Did you have a pleasant time, Tiel?”
“Yes, I did! Where did you go, Grandfather?”
“I had an audience with His Majesty the Emperor. Let’s eat before the food grows cold.”
As Alpheus took his seat and picked up his utensils, the children followed suit, each reaching for their own.
Silver knives and forks moved quietly across the plates. Alpheus ate in silence, methodically cutting his food with his fork. Cassius did the same.
“Grandfather.”
Ferdi, who had been waiting quietly for Alpheus to speak, finally broke the silence first. Alpheus looked up.
“What is it?”
“Is there something you wanted to tell us? Is that why you asked us to gather?”
Ferdi set down his knife as he asked. Alpheus paused, as if deliberating, then shook his head.
“……No.”
Yet his expression was clearly that of someone with much on his mind.
“Ah, Grandfather, what are you trying to say? Your words just now……, umph!”
“Quiet.”
Olivier’s mouth, which had been about to press the matter, was abruptly stopped by a piece of meat that Ferdi had stuffed in.
Olivier chewed the meat thoughtfully, his eyes darting between Alpheus and Cassius.
While Cassius’s expression remained perfectly serene, Alpheus looked distinctly displeased about something.
The children abandoned their probing questions and ate quietly, stealing glances at one another.
Tiel lifted her head and looked at Cassius.
Cassius, seated across from her, smiled and blinked when he caught her eye.
“Is the food not to your liking?”
Cassius asked, noticing how much remained on Tiel’s plate.
Tiel cut a small piece of meat, speared it with her fork, and popped it into her mouth, shaking her head.
“No, it’s delicious!”
“Then why are you eating so little tonight?”
“Well…….”
Tiel glanced at Alpheus.
He still wore that troubled expression.
How could she have an appetite when Grandfather looked so displeased?
Yet Tiel said nothing of this, simply shaking her head.
Instead,
“There’s something I need to tell you.”
Tiel spoke carefully.
Cassius and Alpheus, Ferdi and Ludian, and Olivier all turned to look at her at once.
Tiel wiped her mouth thoroughly with the napkin from her lap, then met Alpheus’s gaze and began to speak.
“I……saw something strange in the street.”
“Something strange?”
Alpheus repeated her words.
Tiel paused briefly, then spoke again, carefully and deliberately.
“In the street, I had the feeling that something was watching me. I’m not entirely certain, but…….”
“……What do you mean, something was watching you?”
Cassius, who had been listening quietly, asked softly. His golden eyes, which had been calm and measured, flashed suddenly.
Tiel, startled, pressed her lips together and shook her head.
“I’m not certain, but I thought it best to tell you beforehand, in case something happens next time…….”
“What could possibly happen?”
Ludian, who had been listening in silence, spoke up. He set down his fork with a sharp clink.
“Nothing’s going to happen to you, Tiel.”
“……Brother.”
Ludian pointed firmly toward Olivier, who sat across from him.
“Because he’s here.”
“?”
“If anything were to happen, he’d be hurt instead of you, so don’t worry.”
At those words, Olivier’s expression crumpled for an instant before resetting.
“……That’s right, isn’t it?”
“Of course.”
“Then if our little one were ever in danger, naturally I would…….”
“Don’t talk nonsense. None of you will be harmed.”
Cassius spoke in a low voice. The children fell silent immediately at that tone.
“Tiel, finish your account.”
Alpheus took over. Tiel nodded and resumed her account slowly and carefully.
“I cannot describe it precisely, but…….”
“So you had a sense of foreboding?”
“Yes.”
She had not intended to tell Ferdi and Ludian originally.
She could not say exactly what she had seen, but the sensation of dread and unease remained vivid in her mind.
‘But just in case.’
What if it truly meant her harm?
It was better to inform Cassius and Alpheus beforehand.
‘I hate danger.’
Nothing frightened Tiel more than separation from her family.
And that unpleasant sensation she had felt then was beginning to overwhelm her with anxiety—the fear that it might truly tear her away from them.
Cassius nodded in understanding and spoke in a gentle voice.
“Don’t worry, Tiel. Once Luminarie ends, we’ll return to Asterian immediately. Within our territory, you’ll be safe. Still, I’ll look into whether anyone witnessed what you saw.”
“Yes, Father.”
“And you have your brothers and the knights of Asterian as well, so there’s little cause for serious concern, but…….”
Ferdi and Olivier were heirs who would become Heads of Household of their respective houses, and Ludian was a direct descendant of Asterian with Ability comparable to theirs.
To threaten all three of these children would require someone of the caliber of another house’s Head of Household.
So those of ordinary standing could not hope to wound them. What did concern him, however,
was this: “Tiel, make sure you’re never alone.”
Young creatures separated from the pack are always vulnerable to attack.
Within the group, they are perfectly safe, but once outside it, such safety cannot be guaranteed.
What Asterian feared most was not anything else, but Tiel being separated by herself.
“Ferdi, Ludian.”
At Alpheus’s call, both boys looked up at him.
“Yes, Grandfather.”
“Yes.”
“Watch over Tiel carefully. Make sure she never leaves your sight.”
Both boys nodded without hesitation.
The meal ended there.
Cassius and Alpheus, in the end, told the children nothing more.
***
The children did not venture out the next day.
Though Luminarie’s streets bustled with crowds and festival-goers laughed and chattered merily, Ferdi, Ludian, Olivier, and Tiel remained in the mansion.
‘We’ve seen all there is to see anyway.’
Ferdi shrugged. Ludian and Olivier nodded in agreement.
‘Festivals don’t have much to offer after two days anyway.’
‘True, by the second day it’s all the same.’
Tiel had worried whether her older siblings were staying inside because of her…….
But Ferdi, Ludian, and Olivier loudly declared their contentment, easing her concerns.
They were kind people. Thanks to them, Tiel was able to spend the day at leisure in the mansion.
And that evening.
“Brother?”
“What is it?”
At that moment, a maid standing behind Ferdi carefully dressed Tiel in an outer coat she had been holding.
“Huh?”
Tiel blinked and looked back and forth between Ferdi and the maid.
“Tiel.”
Ferdi grinned and gently stroked her small, soft cheeks.
“Let’s go see the fireworks.”
“Fireworks? But…….”
Tiel tilted her head, remembering how Ferdi had burned down all the garden plants that afternoon.
‘Why does he want to do fireworks again?’
Did Brother Ferdi dislike the gardener?
Ferdi, paying her no mind, scooped up the small child and strode briskly down the staircase landing.
At the bottom of the landing, Olivier and Ludian waited for them, already dressed and prepared.
Both Olivier and Ludian wore distinctive half-masks on their faces.
“Sister? Brother?”
Tiel looked back and forth between Olivier and Ludian, tilting her head in confusion.
“Why are you wearing those?”
“You too.”
Ferdi accepted a small half-mask from the maid and carefully placed it over Tiel’s face.
It was a small, adorable leopard-shaped mask, densely adorned with jewels.
While Ferdi’s and Ludian’s were black as ebony, Tiel’s was pure white and beautiful.
It was a half-mask specially commissioned by Ferdi and Ludian for this occasion, designed to match their younger sister’s image.

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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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