The Snow Leopard Baby of the Black Leopard Family

After the meeting with Ian Lia tried to take Thiel with her but was stopped by Perdi.

“I’ll take her with me. She doesn’t seem too wary of strangers.”

Perdi took Thiel and returned to Thiel’s room.

Ludian, who had rushed over abandoning his academy assignment upon hearing the news of Ian’s departure, was also present.

“That guy didn’t do anything strange to Thiel, right?”

“Well, he didn’t.”

Perdi replied with a smile.

Thiel, feeling a bit embarrassed by Perdi’s response, fidgeted with the black doll she had received as a gift and glanced at Ludian.

“What? Did you say something?”

“Yeah, I told him to stay away as much as possible…”

Perdi, who made eye contact with Thiel, interrupted and reached out his hand to her.

“Thiel, come here.”

“Hey, you’ve been holding him this whole time! Thiel, come here. Come to me.”

Ludian extended his arms insistently.

Thiel fiddled with the hem of her dress and pondered over which of her two older brothers she should go to.

Thiel chose Perdi.

It was because Perdi was more familiar to her, as she had only met Ludian properly once before.

“Thiel!”

“I knew you’d choose that.”

The fate of the two boys crossed.

However, Ludian quickly accepted Thiel’s choice and sat next to her, looking at her.

He stroked her curly hair and held her small hand.

“She’s really cute.”

Ludian murmured in admiration, then turned to Perdi as if he had just remembered something.

“But when will the results of the bloodline test come out?”

“Well, it’s taking a while. It was supposed to be out before we arrived.”

“Why isn’t it out yet? How much did Asterian donate to the temple during that time?”

Ludian grumbled while poking Thiel’s soft cheek.

But not long after, the boy’s eyes sparkled mischievously.

“By the way, they say she really manifested the power of light, right?”

“Yes? Yes, Lord Cassius…”

“That’s something we don’t know yet.”

Perdi interrupted Thiel and Ludian’s conversation.

Thiel widened her eyes and looked up at Perdi.

The boy stared coldly at Thiel with a chilling expression. Thiel’s slender shoulders trembled.

“Even my father doesn’t know much about the power of light.”

However, Perdi soon smiled and tickled Thiel’s palm.

“But if father said so, it must be true.”

The cold expression that was just there disappeared instantly, and only the smiling young boy remained.

Thiel tilted her head in confusion and handed her palm to Perdi.

Meanwhile, Ludian looked at Perdi with a contemptuous expression from behind.

***

“The results of the kinship test, what about them?”

After chewing a large piece of roasted meat and meticulously wiping his mouth with a table napkin, Alpheus asked.

Ludian nodded his head.

“The results should have come out long ago, but they still haven’t.”

Ludian was right. Since he was the first to request the test, the results should have come out within a week of sending the hair sample.

Just the donation Astrian made to the temple exceeded the empire’s budget for several years.

So the temple should have prioritized Astrian’s request and processed it quickly.

“That’s strange.”

Cassius cut a piece of steak on Thiel’s plate and nodded his head.

Then he skewered the chopped steak with a fork and put it into Thiel’s small mouth.

Thiel’s tiny mouth chewed diligently, and her plump cheeks showed signs of gaining some weight. Her round golden eyes stared at the meat intently, and her hair was neatly tied back.

Black and white, the characteristics of both tribes were present in Thiel since she was the only child of Cassius and Lena.

So it was highly unlikely that Thiel was not their biological child, making the kinship test a mere formality that Cassius didn’t pay much attention to.

“But it’s taking unusually long.”

Was it Nestian who wrote down the numbers at the temple? It was a reasonable suspicion.

If the kinship test results were manipulated to show inconsistency, Nestian could avoid the charge of “abusing Cassius’s daughter” and take Tiel away.

It was necessary to confirm.

Cassius looked at his daughter as if she were the most precious thing in the world and wiped the sauce off her cheek before opening his mouth.

“Maybe we should urge the temple. We need the test results quickly so we can announce that Astrian’s youngest daughter is alive.”

“Yes, that would be a good idea. Then we can publicly announce it because Astrian’s household can afford it.”

Perdi chuckled and nodded. Thiel’s gaze shifted to Perdi at the mention of “announce.”

“She’s alive… announce it.”

But what did “announce” mean?

Thiel was only seven years old and had never received proper education, so she didn’t know difficult words.

As Thiel looked at Perdi with a curious expression, Perdi didn’t lose his polite smile and tilted his head slightly.

“It means that you let everyone know that you are our sibling.”

“Ah… I understand!”

Thiel nodded vigorously. Perdi’s lips momentarily stiffened before regaining his smile.

It was a fleeting moment, and no one witnessed Perdi’s change in expression.

Perdi continued where he left off, taking the fork with a large piece of meat raised in the air and looking at Thiel.

“And if you want, you can also attend the banquets. Or you can invite your friends of the same age to the mansion and have tea time.”

But this time, Thiel’s eyes didn’t sparkle with anticipation.

Instead, a slightly fearful expression could be seen. It was the appearance of snow leopard.

If it were snow leopard, her ears and tail would have drooped for sure.

Perdi, who didn’t expect such a reaction, blinked in surprise.

“…Is that not good?”

“I told you, your younger sibling is shy. She might quickly warm up to you, but meeting other people is still difficult for her.”

Cassius placed his large hand on Tihel’s smooth hair and spoke.

Feeling the warmth from her forehead, Thiel looked up.

“Don’t be too afraid, Thiel. If you don’t want to make the announcement yet, it’s fine. You don’t have to meet unfamiliar people either.”

“Yes, Mr. Cassius.”

“Yes, if you don’t want to do something, you don’t have to. If you dislike it, just say so. Then everything will be resolved.”

“…”

“You’re still young, so it’s okay, even if that’s the case.”

***

After dinner.

Perdi and Ludian, who thought they had become somewhat close to Thiel, stepped forward to take care of her.

Cassius naturally intended to refuse.

‘Is it okay?”

“Yes, it’s okay. They are kind to me, my older brothers.”

When Thiel said so, Cassius had no grounds to refuse his sons taking care of his youngest daughter.

In the end, he allowed Perdi and Ludian to take care of Thiel. And now…

“How about it, Tiel? Should I give you a piggyback ride? We can go for a round around the Asterian Mansion on my back. It must be exciting, right?”

“Exciting? Stop with the nonsense. Thiel, come here. I’ll read you a fairy tale.”

Perdi tapped his seat next to him.

Thiel hesitated for a moment between the offer of a piggyback ride from Ludian and the promise of a fairy tale from Perdi.

“….!”

And after the conflict, Thiel cautiously sat next to Perdi. She were curious about the piggyback ride, but She preferred the fairy tale book.

Since arriving at the Asterian Mansion, every night before going to sleep, Lia would read Thiel a fairy tale book. Thiel truly enjoyed that time.

In the Nestian Mansion, fairy tale books belonged to Rowan and the other children. But Thiel loved the fairy tales.

In the mysterious world of imagination, Thiel imagined that she could also eat delicious food and sleep in a warm place.

So sometimes, when Thiel could come out of the attic, they would go to Rowan’s room and quietly listen to the sound of the fairy tale being read through the crack in the door.

‘But now, I don’t have to do that anymore.’

Thiel’s face lit up with a faint smile. They now had Lia, who would read her a fairy tale every night without having to eavesdrop. And…

“Once upon a time, there was a giant lion…”

There was also Perdi, the kind older brother who would read fairy tales to Thiel.

Perdi’s soothing voice tickled Thiel’s ears.

The child sat closely next to Perdi, fully focused on the fairy tale.

At that moment, Ludian, who had been continuously pushed aside and became increasingly upset, interjected with pursed lips between the two.

“What’s so interesting about this? It’s more fun to see it for real.”

Ludian pointed his finger at the pages of the fairy tale book as he spoke.

The book depicted a giant lion with extraordinary abilities.

Upon Ludian’s words, Perdi’s face, having predicted the next action of the twins, crumpled in disappointment.

Perdi tucked his hair behind his ear and spoke.

“You wouldn’t…?”

“Watch closely, Thiel.”

Ludian swung his hand through the air with a confident expression.