The Snow Leopard Baby of the Black Leopard Family-Chapter 8

Karsus was at a loss for words.

“...The storage room? The barn?”

He looked down at the trembling little girl before him.

What kind of life must this tiny child have endured for her to say, even after meeting her father, that she would be fine sleeping in a barn or a storage room?

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Karsus couldn’t begin to fathom what had happened to his young daughter to make her utter such words.

Moreover, her expression, on the verge of tears, seemed so fragile that Karsus himself felt like crying.

“I thought she was dead.”

After Lena disappeared while heavily pregnant, Karsus had scoured the entire empire searching for her but hadn’t even caught a glimpse of her dress hem.

Desperate to know the fate of the child, he had searched every orphanage in the empire, tirelessly poring over rosters day and night, hoping against hope that the baby might have survived.

Years passed, and eventually, the Nestian family officially informed the Asterian family of Lena’s death.

The Nestians claimed that Lena Nestian had died giving birth that very year—both she and the baby.

The Asterian family, unable to even recover Lena’s body, had held a funeral for her and the presumed-dead child.

And yet, here was the daughter he had believed dead, standing before him alive.

The realization that he had been powerless to protect her, to prevent her from reaching this state, filled Karsus with a terrible sense of helplessness.

At the same time, the guilt of never having held his daughter, not even once since her birth, weighed so heavily on him that he couldn’t lift his head.

Unconsciously, he reached out toward the child.

Since losing Lena, Karsus had often dreamed of her and their blurry-faced daughter.

He had heard their voices calling to him in hallucinations countless times. Through the small warmth of this child, he yearned for comfort.

He needed to confirm that the little girl standing before him was not some figment of his dreams, hallucinations, or delusions but truly his living daughter.

But the moment his hand moved toward her, the girl shut her eyes tightly.

Did she think he was going to hit her? Karsus could feel her frail body trembling under his hand.

Realizing that he couldn’t even begin to comprehend the scars this child carried, he slowly withdrew his hand.

Only then did the girl cautiously open her eyes. She glanced at Karsus before taking a small step back, retreating to Ian’s side.

There were so many questions he wanted to ask her.

Where had she been? How had she lived? Was she eating properly? And Lena... what had happened to her?

But judging by the child’s current state, Karsus knew these weren’t questions he could ask right now. He decided to give her some time.

With a troubled expression, he rubbed his face with both hands. Then, turning his gaze toward the closed drawing room door, he called out.

“...Is there anyone out there?”

At his call, two maids entered the room, bowing their heads politely.

They were kind-looking maids, one with light brown hair and the other with reddish-brown hair.

“Take the child with you. She seems startled—give her something warm to eat and prepare a temporary place for her to stay.”

He paused briefly before continuing.

“...She seems shy, so make sure she doesn’t encounter any other servants.”

Karsus then looked down at Tiel and asked gently, as if seeking her understanding.

“I have some matters to discuss with the guests. Would you mind stepping out for a moment?”

Tiel hesitated, glancing at Ian and Cedric for reassurance, then slowly nodded.

The maid standing to Karsus’s right smiled softly and extended her hand toward Tiel.

The little girl clung tightly to the maid’s hand and hurriedly toddled out of the drawing room.

***

‘...Is he very angry?’

Tiel walked briskly, holding the maid’s hand, lost in thought.

When she told Karsus that she wanted to stay here, his expression had hardened immediately.

And he hadn’t given her any response—neither an agreement nor a refusal.

Naturally, Tiel interpreted his silence as a rejection.

With that understanding, she couldn’t help but feel tears prickling beneath her eyes as she walked, unable to lift her head.

‘...What should I do now?’

If he hated her, there was no way he would give her money to live on her own.

If she was thrown out, she would truly be left with nothing but the clothes on her back. Tiel glanced down at the dress she was wearing.

Ian and Cedric had kindly bought it for her... but she might have to sell it to afford a meal.

The thought made her feel a wave of guilt toward Ian and Cedric, and fresh tears welled up in her eyes.

As Tiel and the maids continued walking, they arrived at a small, pretty room near the kitchen.

The smell of freshly baked bread wafted into the room, its warmth filling the air.

The maid guided Tiel to a small, charming cream-colored sofa.

“Here, please have a seat, miss... Oh!”

It was then that the maid noticed Tiel’s tear-streaked face. Her eyes widened in shock.

“Oh my goodness, are you all right? Shall I take you back to Lord Karsus?”

The maid seemed to think Tiel was crying because she had been separated from her father.

Tiel shook her head fervently.

“No, hic, no...”

Once the tears started, they wouldn’t stop. Tiel rubbed at her face awkwardly, trying to wipe them away.

The maid, looking concerned, spoke softly.

“Rubbing so roughly might hurt your skin. Please wait here, and I’ll bring you some water to wash up. Ria, stay with the young miss!”

Tiel wanted to stop her, but the kind maid had already dashed out of the room.

Before long, the maid returned with a basin of warm water.

After asking for Tiel’s permission, she gently wiped the little girl’s face with a soft towel.

The careful dabbing of the towel on her cheeks soothed Tiel, and the washing was soon finished.

Meanwhile, the other maid, Ria, had gone to the kitchen and returned with a tray of snacks and bread.

Among the treats was the chocolate cookie Tiel had dropped earlier when Karsus entered the drawing room.

Growl—

A loud noise escaped from Tiel’s stomach. Embarrassed, she blushed and wrapped her arms around her midsection.

“I-I...”

She tried to explain, but no suitable excuse came to mind.

The maids merely smiled knowingly and began placing the desserts one by one on the small tea table in front of her.

“It’s lunchtime, so it’s only natural to be hungry. Please eat this while Lord Karsus is speaking with the guests,” one maid said as she handed Tiel a fork.

Finally, Tiel nodded.

If she was going to be thrown out anyway, it was better to eat as much as she could now.

She didn’t know when she would next have warm food again once she left the Asterian estate.

No, warm food wasn’t even the issue. She might end up digging through trash bins on the streets to survive.

‘...I have to eat as much as possible.’

She resolved to fill herself up enough to stave off hunger for at least a couple of days after being thrown out.

Determined, Tiel gripped the fork tightly with all five fingers.

Although she had rarely used a fork in the Nestian household, she had seen Rowen using one and knew how it worked.

Awkwardly, Tiel speared a corner of the cake with the fork and brought it to her mouth.

The sweet and slightly bitter taste of chocolate, combined with the melt-in-your-mouth cream, spread across her tongue.

Tiel’s eyes widened in surprise.

And then, without a second thought, she began shoveling cake into her mouth.

***

Meanwhile, Ian was explaining to Karsus how he had come to meet Tiel.

He recounted how the child had been terrified of her grandfather and had run away, and how pitiful her condition had been when he found her.

He described the countless scars on her small body and how the Nestians had dismissed the runaway child as a “delusional little maid.”

Cedric chimed in as well.

“During the entire carriage ride, she was constantly on edge. She barely ate, too busy gauging everyone’s mood to even consider a proper meal.”

Listening to their accounts, Karsus clenched his teeth.

Anger surged within him, burning so fiercely that he felt he couldn’t contain it.

What kind of atrocities had they committed against that tiny child?

‘...I can imagine, though.’

The reason the Nestians had hidden Lena’s child was obvious.

The two Leopard clans—Nestian and Asterian—had been sworn enemies for generations.

The Snow Leopards, with their ice abilities, and the Black Leopards, with their fire abilities, were locked in an eternal rivalry.

Every time a new head of the family was chosen, the two clans would meet, and their leaders would duel. The clan with the stronger head would take the position of the Leopard Tribe’s leader.

For six generations, the Asterians had held that position.

Over time, the Nestian family’s influence had waned, reducing them to little more than a hollowed-out dukedom.

As the leader of the Leopard Tribe, the Asterians ruled over everything within it—including the territories of both the Asterian and Nestian families.

Given this dynamic, the Nestians loathed and resented the Asterians deeply, though they could do little about it.

It was almost impossible for ice to overcome fire.

That was when Lena Nestian, a powerful ice manipulator, had been born.

Lena possessed abilities far stronger than Karsus Celeste Asterian, who was the most promising successor to the Asterian leadership.

People believed that once Lena and Karsus took their positions as heads of their respective families, the Nestians would finally reclaim leadership of the Leopard Tribe.

But Lena had refused to become the head of the Nestian family.

“I am not fit to lead the Nestians, Father,” she had said before choosing to become Karsus Celeste Asterian’s wife.

Her decision had cost the Nestians their most powerful heir and their chance at leadership.

The current Nestian successor, Cornelia Nestian, was far weaker in both ability and character than Lena. Without Lena, it was clear that the Asterians would retain their dominance.

‘...So they must have hidden the child.’

Because she was Lena’s daughter.

The Nestians must have believed that Lena’s child would inherit extraordinary abilities. If the child could manifest such powers, they could use her to challenge the Asterians.

They had been willing to exploit a child for the sake of their political ambitions.

Karsus felt nothing but disgust at Chender’s obvious, sinister motives.

At that moment, someone knocked urgently on the drawing room door. Karsus permitted the visitor to enter.

The maid who had taken Tiel out earlier stepped inside, beads of sweat glistening on her forehead as if she had been running.

She spoke in a panicked voice.

“T-The young miss that the guests brought with them...!”

There was only one young miss the guests had brought—Tiel.

At her words, all three men shot to their feet.