The Snow Leopard Baby of the Black Leopard Family

Tiel was a hybrid.

A hybrid born between the most noble Snow Leopard Clan and the Black Leopard Clan.

Unlike Rowen, who was born with the silver fur that symbolized purity and nobility, or the other members of the family, Tiel’s fur was dull and faded white, lacking any luster.

“You useless thing!”

These words were the ones Tiel had heard most often since she was born.

Because Tiel was a "hybrid" who couldn’t manifest any abilities.

The Snow Leopards of the Nestian family were known for their innate ice manipulation abilities, passed down through generations.

Tiel’s mother, Lena Nestian, was also an exceptionally strong ice manipulator, destined to inherit the position of family head after her father, Chender Nestian.

...If only Tiel hadn’t been born.

Lena Nestian fell in love with Karsus Asterian, the head of the rival Black Leopard Clan.

Despite the opposition of her family, she gave birth to Karsus’ child and lost her life in the process.

That child was Tiel.

Chender Nestian had lost both his most powerful successor and his beloved daughter in an instant.

All because of Tiel, that hybrid!

If only the child had inherited strong abilities.

Chender had clung to the faint hope that Tiel would awaken her abilities later, but by the time she turned seven, it was clear that no awakening would come.

Most children manifested their abilities within the first year of life, so the fact that Tiel hadn’t by that age all but confirmed she never would.

And so, Chender threw Tiel away into the attic.

If not for the occasional glances from the maids, Tiel would surely have died.

Chender subjected her to merciless abuse, and the rest of the Nestian family turned a blind eye.

Yet somehow, Tiel managed to survive.

But Chender never stopped tormenting her. One of the reasons was her golden eyes—a symbol of the Black Leopards.

That day was no different.

“Do you know what you did wrong, you stupid thing?” Chender roared.

Tiel flinched, her small body trembling as she scuttled backward on her knees.

The little girl, petrified, curled into herself and nodded frantically.

All she had done was steal a piece of hard bread because she was so hungry.

The bread was tough, blackened, and so hard that it couldn’t even be bitten into without soaking it in soup. It was something that had been set aside to be thrown away—something Tiel had found and eaten to survive.

But even that was not allowed for Tiel. When Chender discovered her transgression, he lashed out at her mercilessly.

Her worn clothes, already in tatters, revealed old scars on her skin. The marks were left by sharp ice shards that had grazed her before. Yet the child showed no sign of pain, only biting her lips tightly.

At Chender’s feet lay the piece of black bread that Tiel had been chewing on moments ago.

Gulp.

Tiel’s eyes lingered on the bread, and she swallowed hard.

Her throat bobbed, and her stomach growled incessantly. The prolonged starvation made her insides ache.

She couldn’t even remember the last time she’d eaten proper food.

As Tiel glanced longingly at the bread, Chender’s fury erupted once more.

“You still haven’t learned your lesson, have you?”

At his raised voice, Tiel quickly lowered her head. Her small frame trembled as she crawled into a corner.

“I’m sorry...”

To Chender, Tiel was nothing more than an inconvenient disgrace—a hybrid, no more, no less.

Looking down at his granddaughter with cold, disdainful eyes, he grabbed her roughly and dragged her to the balcony attached to his study.

Outside, a snowstorm raged. Tiel, dressed in nothing but a worn, tattered nightgown, barefoot and trembling, was thrown out onto the icy balcony.

“You are a disgrace to the Nestian family.”

Chender’s icy glare left Tiel gasping for air.

The little girl hurriedly dropped to her knees, bowing low as she begged for forgiveness.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, Grandfather, please...”

It’s too cold out here.

Please forgive me.

The words she couldn’t bring herself to say scattered silently on her dry, cracked lips.

Tiel desperately pounded on the locked door. But it didn’t budge.

Her hands, swollen and red from the cold, were now useless. Snow piled up on her small frame, but Chender remained indifferent, ignoring her entirely.

Left alone in the biting cold, Tiel had no choice but to huddle and shiver uncontrollably.

The stinging pain in her frostbitten limbs was nothing compared to the sharp, cutting gaze of Chender.

But what hurt the most—what filled her with the deepest sorrow—was something else entirely.

The door to the study swung open with a bang. Cornelia Nestian, Tiel’s aunt and the current heir of the Nestian family, strode inside.

Her silver hair, smooth and glossy, shimmered in the light. Her piercing blue eyes—so unlike Tiel’s—sparkled coldly.

“A-Aunt...” Tiel called out with a trembling voice.

But instead of defending her, Cornelia snapped sharply, “Be quiet! Who gave you the right to call me your aunt?”

Tiel’s shoulders shook as she recoiled. Cornelia despised Tiel even more than Chender did, and Tiel knew it well.

Even so, she had called out to her in a faint hope—a fragile expectation that Cornelia might save her from the balcony.

Cornelia clicked her tongue, looking at the pitiful Tiel as if she were a stray dog.

“Stop wasting time here. Didn’t you promise Rowen to take her dress shopping today? She’s so excited, and yet you’re just lingering here again because of this hybrid. Weren’t you going to go out last time too, but skipped it because of her?”

Rowen was Cornelia’s daughter, Chender’s beloved granddaughter, and Tiel’s cousin.

Though they were treated worlds apart in this household.

“That’s enough. I remember. Stop nagging, Cornelia,” Chender grumbled, casting one last furious glance at Tiel.

The little girl could only mouth words soundlessly, unable to say anything aloud.

“Rowen! Tell her I’m coming now—Rowen!”

At that moment, a small girl peeked through the crack in the open door. Her silver hair gleamed, her blue eyes sparkling like Cornelia’s and Chender’s.

The symbol of the Snow Leopard—the pure blue eyes.

“Mom, Grandpa!”

The child ran toward Cornelia and Chender with tiny, hurried steps. Without sparing Tiel another glance, Chender lifted Rowen into his arms.

“Rowen! I was just about to come out to see you.”

“You weren’t coming, so I came to get you myself, Grandpa! Let’s go, hurry!” Rowen laughed gleefully, tugging at Chender’s hand. Cornelia looked at her daughter with a fond yet exasperated expression.

Tiel silently watched them from her corner.

She was an outsider here, through and through.

Between Chender, Cornelia, Rowen, and herself, there was an invisible wall—vast, impenetrable, and indestructible.

Chender, holding Rowen in his arms, looked like any other doting grandfather, filled with happiness.

Tiel had never once received such a gaze in her entire life.

Everyone had always looked at her with contempt.

‘If only Mother were still alive...’

If she were, would things have been different?

A tear slid down Tiel’s cheek. Once the first tear fell, they didn’t stop.

She placed her small hand against the cold glass, crying quietly as she watched the scene before her.

Chender and Cornelia left the study with Rowen in tow, not sparing Tiel even a passing glance.

Now, only Cornelia remained in the study. Walking gracefully, she approached the balcony and looked down at Tiel.

Clinging to a faint hope that Cornelia might let her out, Tiel called out in a trembling voice.

“A-aunt... no, Lady Cornelia.”

“Ugh, how disgusting. You look exactly like your mother...” Cornelia muttered with disdain.

“Please... It’s so cold out here, Lady Cornelia, please...”

“Cold? You’re part of the Snow Leopard Clan. How can a little cold bother you? Pathetic.” Cornelia looked at her as though she were beneath her notice, then turned and left the study.

Tiel was left alone on the balcony.

‘So cold...’

Huddled into herself, Tiel wrapped her thin, frail arms around her body, shivering uncontrollably.

As a hybrid of the Snow Leopard and Black Leopard clans, Tiel didn’t have the thick fur that other Snow Leopards possessed.

The biting cold seemed to gnaw at her relentlessly, as though it would consume her whole.

She pounded on the balcony window desperately, but no one came.

The balcony, three stories high, offered no escape. Jumping down was impossible.

Tiel stared blankly into the study.

The candlelight flickered faintly, as though it might go out at any moment.

She didn’t know how much time had passed.

Snow had begun to pile on her head. Her hands and feet had long since lost all feeling.

‘Someone like you will never be loved.’

‘You’re useless.’

‘You killed your mother just by being born!’

‘Why did something like you have to be born...’

Chender’s voice echoed in her ears like a relentless ringing.

Her consciousness began to fade, her vision blurring.

‘I wanted to be loved, too...’

She had once hoped.

Hoped that Chender would one day cherish her, like he cherished Rowen and the other children.

Hoped that Cornelia would one day acknowledge her as her niece...

After all, Tiel was a part of the Nestian bloodline. She was a hybrid, but half of her was undeniably a Snow Leopard.

But now she realized how futile those dreams had been.

Her grandfather’s warm embrace, her family’s love—none of it was meant for her.

“...Just once.”

I want to be loved.

Even if it’s just once. Please.

Tiel whispered desperately, her breath visible in the cold air.

The sound of Chender and Rowen’s laughter seemed to echo in her ears.

...Was it a hallucination?

Regardless, the laughter told her the truth.

There was no place for her anywhere.

She never belonged here to begin with.

Tiel slowly closed her eyes.

Her trembling body stilled, and the faint breaths she had been taking came to a stop.

The candle in the study snuffed out with a soft hiss.

And just like that, Tiel died.

***

She should have, anyway.

Tiel’s trembling fingers touched her face.

She felt a faint warmth against her fingertips.

‘This... can’t be.’