The Snow Leopard Baby of the Black Leopard Family

Breezee9-11 minutes 30.04.2023

Episode 18

When it came time to express gratitude to Cassius, Thiel felt strangely embarrassed.

However, Thiel shook off the embarrassment and spoke confidently.

“Thank you for the lovely room.
The room is really nice.
The bedding is pretty, and the rug is cozy.
Oh! The sun catcher is also really beautiful.”

“It seems you like the sun catcher.”

In response to Cassius’ words, Thiel blushed and nodded.

“Yes, I really like it.”

Thiel didn’t know the value of the sun catcher made of blue diamonds, but she could at least recognize that it was truly beautiful.

“I’m glad you like it.
Next time, I’ll get you a yellow sapphire that matches the color of your eyes.”

“Uh, well…”

There’s no need to go that far! However, Thiel didn’t want to disregard Cassius’ sincerity, so she just nodded her head.

Meanwhile, the maids brought out a three-tiered tray filled with desserts.
After carefully arranging the beautiful desserts on the table, they placed cocoa and Cassius’ coffee side by side and quickly left the room.

‘… Desserts!’

Thiel resisted the strong urge to immediately put the fluffy-looking cake in her mouth and turned her gaze away.

She had come here today to express her gratitude to Cassius, and she didn’t want to show herself being captivated by the cake.

However, she couldn’t completely hide the longing in her eyes that naturally drifted toward the cake.

Cassius, who noticed Thiel’s fixed gaze on the desserts from the moment the tray entered the room, unintentionally let out a laugh.

“Well, you can eat it.”

Cassius picked up the plate with the strawberry cake that Thiel’s gaze was fixated on and a small fork that was nearby and handed it to Thiel.

“Thank you…”

The child didn’t hesitate and took the plate, poking the corner of the cake with the fork.

However, unlike when Lia fed her, the cake didn’t cut into pieces but crumbled like powder at the tip of the fork.

As a result, Thiel’s eyebrows furrowed as she couldn’t put the cake in her mouth.

Cassius, who was quietly observing her, placed his hand over Thiel’s hand, firmly gripping the fork, and lifted a piece of cake to bring it to the corner of her mouth.

“There.”

A small smile appeared at the corners of Thiel’s mouth.

The child opened her mouth like a baby bird and ate the cake.
When the cream touched her tongue, a sense of happiness filled Thiel’s face.

“Eat slowly, I can give you more whenever you want.”

Cassius patiently waited as Thiel chewed and swallowed the cake, and when all the cake in her mouth was gone, he placed another piece in her mouth.

Occasionally, Cassius gently offered warm cocoa with floating marshmallows, fearing that she might choke.

As Cassius watched the child accept everything without hesitation and eat, he brushed her curly hair behind her ear to ensure the cake didn’t get stuck in it.

Suddenly, not too long ago.
He remembered the muttering of the knight who came out to the gymnasium wearing a brooch that his daughter had given him, as if making excuses.

These days, my daughter is the cutest! Oh, how adorable this little thing is.
I live for the joy of seeing my daughter these days!

At that time, it seemed like an ordinary bragging remark, so I didn’t pay much attention to it.

… Indeed.

As he said, raising a daughter must be fun.
Cassius muttered as he playfully poked Thiel’s cheek.

***

“You, you scoundrel! After telling, you not to approach the child too much because she’s wary of strangers!”

Alpheus glared at Cassius with a look full of betrayal and spoke.

“And yet, what did you do? You sat the child on your lap and fed her cake?”

“It seems rumors spread quickly within the mansion.”

Cassius replied nonchalantly.

As Alpheus became more agitated by Cassius’s casual response, Cassius, who had been sipping his tea with lowered eyes, shifted his gaze toward Alpheus.

“What do you mean, she came to me ‘directly’ to express her gratitude?”

“Don’t make excuses! You even took her away before and fed her cookies!”

Alpheus shouted at Cassius, full of anger.

Alpheus himself was struggling to hold back his desire to meet his granddaughter, Thiel, and gently stroke her little head!

His own son, who had warned him not to meet the child because she was wary of strangers, now had enjoyed tea time with her.
It was enough to make him tremble with a sense of betrayal.

However, Cassius calmly retorted as if he didn’t care.

“Now that she doesn’t avoid my touch, I don’t mind meeting the child.
Besides, I called her here to explain her abilities.”

“Abilities?”

“Don’t you think she should know what kind of abilities she possesses?”

Recalling Thiel, who had looked down at his palm intently as soon as she regained her composure that day, Cassius murmured in response.

“Still, it hasn’t been long since she came to the mansion, and yet we’re already talking about this…”

“We need to know.
Thiel, she thinks she’s a useless child.”

“What? Useless? What’s useless about her?”

Alpheus abruptly stood up from his seat.
His widened eyes and the low, menacing tone in his voice were unsettling.

“She’s useless! Why would she be useless! 

Thiel was Alpheus’s own granddaughter and the rightful heir to Asterian.

It wasn’t just because Thiel manifested the “Ability of Light.” It was simply because Thiel was Thiel.

Because Thiel was Thiel.

She was the daughter of Cassius Celest Asterian and Lena Nestian.

There is no such thing as a “useless child” to parents.
Even if the child hadn’t manifested any abilities, Alpheus would have cherished and adored the child they had found.
That’s what parents do.
That’s what family is.

But to be called useless! Alpheus’s face became complexly colored.
His emotions were complicated.
However, he couldn’t simply blame the child for thinking that way.

There was clearly responsibility on the part of the adults, including Alpheus, for Thiel becoming like that.

It was regretful that they couldn’t protect her.
It was horrifying to have lived all those years without even knowing that she was alive.

Cassius looked at Alpheus, whose face was quickly darkening, and quietly spoke.

“You asked if she can be of help to Asterian.”

“Well then… Can I be of help to the Asterian family?”

Cassius’s face faintly wrinkled, recalling Thiel’s trembling voice.
Alpheus was at a loss for words, only parting his lips slightly.

“Grandfather said that if you’re a child, you should be a support to the family.”

“Zender, you bastard!”

To say that if you’re a child, you should be a support to the family, where is that forced notion coming from? It should be the family supporting the child!

Moreover, Thiel was only seven years old.

Nevertheless, the fact that he dared to say such things while being cautious meant that the child had been hearing such words for a very long time.

Alpheus, who had been fuming, slumped into his chair.

Afraid of easily startling, the face of his granddaughter, whom he hadn’t properly met yet, kept appearing before him like an adult.

“So, now is the time to discuss an important matter.”

Cassius’s gaze instantly became sharp and intense.

As he set down the teacup, the tea inside swirled.
Cassius’s figure was reflected in the tea but quickly disappeared.

“Nestian’s disposal.”

It was the most important issue.

At the same time, it was a matter that everyone in Asterian, including Cassius and Zender, was eagerly hoping for.

“Well, I was planning to send a letter to Nestian anyway.”

Alpheus’s face, which had been roiling with anger towards Nestian and guilt towards Thiel, suddenly calmed down in an instant.

Since Thiel had come to Asterian on her own, the rest was up to the adults.

It was time to send a letter to Nestian, informing them that they would be taking the child from Asterian.

In my heart, I wanted to ignore even such formalities, but I couldn’t.
If I did that, Nestian could later protest and take the child away.

Since Thiel had manifested the ability of Light, I couldn’t leave any traces that could be caught.
It had to be handled meticulously.

Without any hindrance.

And I also had to express my gratitude to the Crown Prince, who had brought Thiel all the way to Asterian.

The task that had been postponed under the pretext of taking care of the child had now arrived at the doorstep.

It had to be resolved step by step.
Alpheus tapped the armrest of the sofa and said,

“While Thiel is your child, she is also Lena’s child, so we cannot hold them responsible for hiding the child.”

Alpheus’s words paused and then continued.

“… But there might be other ways to make them pay the price.”

“Yes, I understand.”

Zender Vukan Nestian had hidden and abused the daughter of Cassius Celeste Asterian.

Now it was time for them to pay the price.