The Snow Leopard Baby of the Black Leopard Family - Chapter 92

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

Chapter 92
“Where is Tiel going!?”
“……An endless morning that never comes…….”
“Where!?”
Olivier’s eyes widened as she pressed for details. Alpheus, observing his granddaughter, smiled faintly and opened his mouth with measured calm.
“Quiet! Keep it down, will you……! My ears are ringing, you wild thing!”
“You can’t just send her to that mad place like it’s nothing!?”
Olivier slammed the desk with a Bang! and shot to her feet. Alpheus shook his head at his granddaughter’s spirited temperament and spoke as if in self-defense.
“I’m not sending her. Tiel wants to go…….”
“Oh, really?”
The moment Olivier heard that “Tiel wanted to,” she dropped back into her seat like a docile lamb and blinked.
“If our little one wants to go, there’s nothing we can do about it!”
“Just one thing, just one…….”
Alpheus muttered in a weary voice.
But Olivier paid him no mind and spoke to him directly.
“So Ferdi and Ludian hid this from me on purpose? Trying to leave without me!”
“They’re your cousins.”
“Not a chance! When do we leave? Obviously, as the heir of Wolfgang, I should go along.”
“Do as you wish, do as you wish.”
There was no point in saying more—it was like preaching to the wind. His words simply never took root with this one. What good was it to continue?
Alpheus gazed at his young granddaughter with an expression of resignation.
Though they say Olivier looks mature when standing beside Tiel…….
‘Mature? Really?’
Even next to her, she doesn’t seem particularly grown-up……, in any case!
When beside Tiel, Olivier might appear relatively older, but she was still just an eleven-year-old girl.
Of course he would send them.
Tiel needed protectors. And knights alone would not suffice to keep her safe.
Even if Ferdi, Ludian, and Olivier were young, there was no one in any of their houses who could match their Abilities, save for the Heads of Households themselves.
‘Still, I’m uneasy about sending all three of them…….’
The three children were the future heirs and direct blood of their respective families.
In ordinary circumstances, they would be kept close and nurtured until they came of age, never driven into danger…….
A Crown Prince, the heirs of Asterian, the heir of Wolfgang.
Somehow these children had ended up carrying such momentous titles and were now in motion. He couldn’t shake the thought.
“Grandfather, when are we leaving?”
“Grandfather is thinking about it!”
At Olivier’s prodding, Alpheus finally lost his patience and burst out. But Olivier showed no sign of being cowed; her eyes sharpened instead.
“What are you thinking about? I can guess—something strange again! ‘Can I really send children on their own?’ or some such!”
“…….”
“There’s no good way to prevent it anyway! Since you’ve already decided to send them, you might as well just say, ‘Go on, have a good trip.’ That’s all you need to say!”
“You’re right, you are right…….”
He should have wrestled with such doubts before telling Olivier, not after.
Alpheus nodded.
“We’ll return to Asterian Territory first. Preparations are necessary. We can’t leave immediately.”
“Why not? Why can’t we leave right now?”
“You think it’s that simple?”
“Why not! Honestly.”
Alpheus swallowed the urge to scold his complaining granddaughter and pressed his forehead, speaking quietly.
“……I’ve said what needs saying. Now go and play…….”
“Yes! But Grandfather, can’t I stay in Asterian until we leave?”
“Have you told your mother?”
“Come on, when would I talk about such things?”
Olivier grinned and stuck out her tongue, darting from the study.
Left alone, Alpheus gazed at her retreating figure and let out a soft laugh.
‘Now that I think of it, I’ll have to tell Etienne too.’
Who knew how much fuss that would cause.
It might be better to have Cassius deliver the news instead…….
Alpheus’s worries deepened.
***
“You’re really coming with us?”
Ludian’s eyes conveyed a plea: “Say it’s a lie.” Ferdi turned his head away as if even being asked irritated him.
“Of course! Who else would go if not me? If you two go without me and Tiel gets hurt, what then?”
“Tiel is safer when you’re not there.”
Ferdi spoke flatly, but Olivier looked as though she had no intention of listening.
“Tiel, you said you wanted to go, didn’t you?”
“Yes? Yes, because you said there’s something I must do…….”
Tiel answered carefully.
“After all, this whole situation started because Grandfather was trying to protect me. If there’s something I can do, then of course I should do it!”
“Yes! That’s the spirit—you’re truly my little sister!”
“Who’s your little sister?”
“But Tiel, remember this.”
Olivier cleanly ignored Ludian’s words, smiled prettily, and took Tiel’s hand, gently brushing the back of it.
Her lovely pink eyes gazed at Tiel. Tiel looked up to meet her gaze.
“Even if you fail, never be disappointed, understand? However much you’ve manifested your Light Ability, you are still only seven years old, and there are many things in this world that you cannot accomplish…….”
Olivier continued speaking gently.
“People expect too much of you. And you don’t need to meet every expectation they place on you. Of course, I’d be glad if you succeed this time, but if you don’t…….”
“Don’t be disappointed?”
“That’s right!”
At Olivier’s kind and warm reassurance, Tiel smiled brightly.
“I will! Even if I don’t succeed, I won’t be disappointed!”
“That’s the way! If anyone dares to express disappointment in you, I’ll send them flying to the ends of the earth!”
Ferdi and Ludian didn’t object this time, simply watching Olivier and Tiel chat away happily.
Whatever others might think of Olivier elsewhere, she was a good older sister to Tiel.
For Tiel as she was now, she needed someone who could say such things.
“Even the ends of the earth aren’t enough—I’d drive them into the very ground head-first……, oof!”
“Keep it reasonable, keep it reasonable!”
“No sense of limits, this one.”
Ferdi and Ludian clamped their hands over Olivier’s mouth simultaneously. With her mouth blocked, Olivier giggled—before biting down on Ludian’s hand with a Snap!
“Ow!”
“Tiel, come here!”
Olivier shook off their hands and spread her arms wide. Without hesitation, Tiel nestled into her embrace.
“I’m so proud of you.”
“Sister.”
“Why does everyone expect so much of you? You’re barely seven years old. And you’ve only had your Ability for less than a year. Chender Nestian—even that man couldn’t build an ice castle at two if you asked him, and here he is making such demands of you.”
Olivier stroked Tiel’s round head absently as she grumbled. Tiel blinked, nestled in Olivier’s arms.
“Next time I see him, I’ll ask if he could build an ice castle at two. What’s the difference between what he asked of you and that?”
Olivier muttered her complaint. Listening to her words, Tiel smiled softly.
‘Sister thinks I can’t do this, which is why she’s saying these things.’
In truth, Olivier was right. Tiel was only seven years old and had manifested her Ability less than a year ago.
Even if the legend were truly possible to fulfill, it would be something for Tiel to achieve after she had grown more.
But…….
‘Why do I feel like……I can do this?’
Was it baseless confidence? Was it because she was loved in Asterian, because her family encouraged her, that she felt this way?
Tiel quietly closed and opened her eyes.
‘No.’
That wasn’t it.
It was simply knowing. Knowing that she could accomplish this task.
Just as she had run forward with certainty that Ferdi’s rampage would not harm her, just as she had rushed toward Iandros knowing he would not hurt her.
Because there was no anxiety or worry, she had been able to speak confidently before the Emperor.
If this was something she had to do.
Then I will do it, as I must.
So this was a feeling difficult to put into words. Like a very gentle and kind voice whispering at her ear for a long time…….
‘If it’s not me, there is no one else who can do it…….’
Tiel murmured, almost soundlessly.
In that moment, from very far away, it felt as though someone kind and warm beyond measure was watching over her and smiling.

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