The Snow Leopard Baby of the Black Leopard Family

They quickly crossed the mansion and arrived at Thiel’s room.

Lia, who had been wandering in the hallway, unsure of what to do, followed with a contemplative expression on her face when Cassius returned with Thiel in his arms.

“Oh, my lady. Unbelievable-“

“She’s just tired and fell asleep. What about the doctor?”

Cassius laid Thiel on the bed.

Her sleeping face shifted to one side.

Thiel didn’t seem to have collapsed as Cassius had said; she simply appeared to be fast asleep.

“He’ll come soon, right? Is she really okay…?”

Lia asked with a worried tone, looking at Thiel.

Cassius nodded.

“Yes, check on Thiel’s condition and report back if anything happens.”

Lia nodded in response to Cassius’s command.

Cassius watched the sleeping child for a while before leaving the room.

Outside the door, Alpheus was waiting.

Alpheus and Cassius slowly walked across the corridor towards the study of the Aestrian household.

“We need to obtain the confirmation of paternity test from the temple immediately. That way, we can protect Thiel under the name of Aestrian.”

Alpheus was the first to break the silence. Cassius nodded.

“Yes, the situation is not favorable.”

Indeed, the situation was not good.

The fact that the child possessed the power of light had been revealed before Thiel’s paternity test was properly conducted.

But this was the fallen Aestrian family.

They could handle such trivial matters within the Aestrian line.

However, it would be better if the results of the kinship test were available soon.

Cassius followed behind Alpheus into the study and said,

“I will submit a letter requesting the results of the kinship test to the temple first thing tomorrow.”

“Yes, and by now, the temple must have already noticed the true nature of this light. So we cannot exclude the possibility of them tampering with the kinship test results.”

“But if they wanted to manipulate the results from their side, there would be no way to find out.”

Cassius’s words were correct.

The kinship test at the temple was conducted by the Pope or his representative, who would dip a strand of hair into a special holy water.

If the kinship was confirmed, the holy water would turn golden, and if not, it would turn red.

But if someone wanted to manipulate it, they could easily manipulate the kinship test results.

Sending the hair in advance could lead to unfavorable results.

“Why not request a retest?”

“They won’t agree to it.”

At Alpheus’s casual remark, Cassius chuckled and tilted his head.

Only the Pope or his representative could conduct the paternity test. So if the Pope or his representative refused to do a retest, there was nothing more they could do.

A truly difficult situation.

However, there was not absolutely no solution. Alpheus calmly retorted,

“It’s alright. There is someone who can solve this problem.”

“Well, that’s fortunate. Let’s put that aside for now.”

Cassius paused for a moment. Soon, servants brought tea and coffee.

In front of Cassius was a cup of coffee, and in front of Alpheus was a cup of hot tea. Since neither of them enjoyed snacks, there were none separately provided.

“You’ve worked hard.”

Alpheus nodded to the servants.

Cassius, who had paused for a moment, raised his coffee cup and began to speak.

“It’s about the power of light. Truly.”

“Yeah, it seems to be able to calm the frenzy.”

Perdi and Ludian didn’t seem to be lying.

In fact, Perdi’s flow of power was unstable, just like the person who had gone on a rampage earlier.

Nevertheless, it had been calmed. That meant, really…, Thiel had calmed down Perdi’s rampage.

“I thought it was just a legend…”

Alpheus murmured with a faint trace of surprise.

Cassius felt the same way.

They were not unaware of what the “power in legends” meant.

It was an incredibly powerful and glorious force, but it also came with great hardship.

Everyone would be after that power, and there would come a time when Cassius and Alpheus couldn’t protect it.

Cassius sighed.

He had thought that all his fears had scattered and disappeared after losing Lena, but it seemed that a handful still remained.

He was afraid of losing Thiel.

He couldn’t bear the thought of everyone aiming for Thiel.

His precious daughter, too valuable to even be touched.

Cassius chuckled and brought the coffee cup to his lips.

“I must have become very weak, Father.”

“That’s how parents are in the first place.”

Alpheus nodded as if understanding.

His state of mind was no different from Cassius’. If anything, it was even more so. He added and added, never diminishing.

While Cassius took a sip of his coffee, Alpheus pondered for a moment and cautiously spoke.

“When Thiel wakes up, bring her to me. There’s something I need to confirm.”

“Are you planning to take her to the Astelian Vault?”

The Astelian Vault.

It was a secretive space known only to the Asterian lineage for generations, and it was also a place where papers containing legends about the power of light were stored.

It was also a place where numerous other treasures were kept and at the same time, a chamber prepared for those who manifested the “power of light” in future generations.

Alpheus nodded his head.

“It’s a place for those with the power of light. If Thiel is truly…, if she is the child with the power of light from the legends…”

“Astelian vault will surely approve. Is that what you want to say?”

“….”

With those words, no further conversation took place between the two for a while.

Only the occasional sound of a teacup being placed down could be heard.

***

As Cassius and Alpheus had feared, most people became aware of the existence of a child with the “power of light.”

It couldn’t remain unknown.

The light that took the form of a fish in the Karison Empire symbolized the deity of the Karison state religion, Luset.

Such light surged from Asterian Manor and spread beyond the territory of the Black Leopard to the territory of the Snow leopard.

“It’s no surprise.”

Cassius said casually.

Naturally, everyone in the Karison Empire was discussing the “legend of light” and the “power of light.”

The imperial palace said,

“Send a letter to Asterian immediately! We must identify the person who has this ability.”

The temples said,

“The power from the legends has appeared! This is clearly the will of the deity Luset! We must bring this person to the temple and protect them under the divine blessing!”

And the Nestians said,

“What? In Asterian?”

On that night, Asterian remained silent about the beams of light that stretched out from the northern part of Asterian Manor and covered the night sky in an instant.

But everyone was convinced that there was someone with the “power of light” in Asterian Manor.

Among them, the first to send a letter were the imperial palace and the temples.

“Well, I knew this would happen.”

Alpheus muttered as he carelessly put aside the letter from the imperial palace.

The letter from the imperial palace requested that Duke Ewald urgently attend the palace and provide a detailed explanation of what had happened at Asterian Manor the previous night.

Cassius quickly skimmed through the letter that Alpheus had casually discarded and then threw it aside just as carelessly.

“They mentioned the results of the kinship investigation. They want Thiel to attend the temple with them.”

Cerceus sighed.

Normally, the results of the kinship investigation were often discreetly delivered to the manor. It was unusual for them to request attendance like this.

“The results come out right after the incident last night… It’s delayed until now…”

It seemed like the temple had discovered that Thiel was the possessor of the “power of light.”

While others were unaware of Thiel’s existence in Asterian at the moment,

They had no knowledge of someone using the power of light at Asterian Manor.

The temple knew that Astelian had requested the kinship investigation for their youngest daughter.

Moreover, they had Thiel’s hair in their possession.

“Since the power of light is the closest ability to the deity Luset.”

Perhaps they had even determined that Asterian had manifested the power of light based solely on her hair.

Cassius muttered, seemingly unconcerned, as he crumpled up the letter from the temple and tossed it aside. Then…

“Did you contact them?”

“Yeah, I contacted them immediately last night. They asked me to visit the temple on the day of attendance.”

“It’s much appreciated. After this is over, I should personally express my gratitude.”

Asterian’s expression seemed somewhat uncomfortable as he spoke.

However, just like Ferdinand, he was skilled at concealing his emotions, so he quickly masked his expression.

“Then let’s visit the temple as soon as Thiel’s condition improves. We can’t delay it any longer.”

“Yeah, but before that, we need to bring Thiel to me. Got it?”

“Don’t worry.”

Cassius stood up first and said. Alpheus nodded his head.

Soon after, Cassius left the study.

An untouched teacup was left sitting alone in the spot where Cassius had been sitting.