The Snow Leopard Baby of the Black Leopard Family

"May the blessing of Crassion be with you," Iris said as she saw the children off. The children split into two carriages. Arne’s carriage wasn’t as large and spacious as Asterian’s, but it was designed for traveling over snowy fields and icy paths, making it perfect for this journey.

Ian Dross, Ludian, and Clemence shared one carriage, while Ferdie, Olivia, and Tiel shared the other. This arrangement allowed the two fire-powered ability users, Ferdie and Ludian, to keep the journey warm as they traveled.

"Tiel! Are you cold? I’m worried you’ll catch a cold! All this trouble because of that scoundrel Chender!" Olivia asked as she adjusted Tiel’s earmuffs, which she had been wearing.

"We haven’t even left Arne yet! I’m not cold, I’m actually too warm..." Tiel mumbled, glancing down at her clothes. She was bundled up in thick outerwear and a cape.

As they crossed Arne's border, the bitter wind hit them, a sharp contrast to the warmth inside the estate. Because of this, Iris had made sure the children were dressed warmly.

‘It was fine on the way here!’

‘It's different now. We're heading toward the land where morning doesn't come. The journey to that place is very cold.’

Recalling Iris’s words, Olivia covered Tiel with a blanket. Despite Tiel insisting that she was fine because she was a Snow Leopard, Olivia didn’t seem to hear her protests.

"Yes, Olivia, you're being a bit overboard."

Ferdie, using his ability to keep the inside of the carriage warm, clicked his tongue while looking at Olivia. However, Olivia, not noticing his comment, made sure Tiel was snug and satisfied.

Tiel, not wanting to dismiss Olivia’s kindness, endured the slight discomfort of being too warm. Fortunately, she didn’t have to endure it for long. As soon as they crossed the border, a fierce, icy wind began to blow.

The sharp wind hit the carriages and the knights. The knights, accustomed to the cold, calmly directed the horses, which were specially trained to adapt to the cold weather and didn’t react to the sudden drop in temperature.

The problem came with the snowstorm.

The snow and wind combined to blow out the torches the knights were holding. The knights looked confused.

"This is strange. These torches shouldn’t go out in this kind of snowstorm."

The torches, made with a special oil from Arne, were resistant to wind, yet today, for some reason, they kept going out.

The commander of the knights halted the group for a moment.

"We’ll need help. We have someone with the Light ability here..."

"But to do that, Tiel will need to come out! What if she catches a cold?" a voice of concern came from behind.

Ludian, dressed warmly, leaped out of the carriage.

"Ah, ah, achoo!"

Ludian sneezed, shivering from the sudden gust of icy wind. The commander, now flustered, spoke hurriedly.

"Your Highness? It’s freezing. You need to get back into the carriage."

"But Tiel is still too young, and to use her ability to light the path, she needs to leave the carriage. She’ll definitely catch a cold if she does."

Though Ludian, a Black Leopard, had a higher chance of catching a cold than Tiel, who was a Snow Leopard, he didn’t seem concerned.

"So, all she has to do is light the path, right?"

Ludian stretched out his hand. The knights nodded, still unsure of what to do.

With a whoosh, a massive flame erupted from Ludian’s hand. It was larger and fiercer than usual, burning brightly and strongly enough to melt the snowstorm that raged around them.

"Ah, this feels much better!"

Ludian grinned and threw off his cape, feeling much more at ease.

"...Isn’t this the wrong approach?"

However, as the cold wind hit again, Ludian quickly grabbed the cape and wrapped it back around himself, throwing the flame lightly forward.

The flame transformed into a massive fire leopard, much like the one Ferdie had shown during the Luminarie event. But there wasn’t just one.

Of the three flame leopards, two moved ahead and illuminated the path. While not as bright as Tiel’s light, it was sufficient to light the night.

The third flame leopard stayed close to Ludian, and Ludian took a knight’s horse to climb aboard. He now wore a satisfied expression, much more content than when he was inside the carriage.

"What are you waiting for? Let’s go."

"Yes? Yes, thank you!"

The knight, who had been watching the flames in awe, quickly urged the horse forward.

The fire ability of Asterian.

The knight had heard of Asterian’s fame, but never expected the ability of an eleven-year-old to be this strong...

Now, it was clear why the beastkin families had a hierarchy. Even if Arne produced a brilliant genius, they wouldn’t be able to surpass Asterian.

As the commander of the knights marveled at Ludian’s ability, Ludian secretly made a troubled face.

"Hmm... Why is this happening?"

Ludian, who was using his ability, felt something was wrong.

The ability... wasn’t working properly.

It was as if someone was deliberately interfering. The flames Ludian had summoned were flickering, almost on the verge of going out.

However...

"I’m Ludian Asterian!"

Ludian grinned and clenched his fist. The strange situation only seemed to fuel his determination. The flames, which had almost flickered out, blazed up once more. 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮

***

"Ugh, I think I’m dying..."

Ludian, barely able to stay on the horse, muttered tiredly. Ferdie and Ian, who had dismounted the carriage, clicked their tongues as they looked at Ludian’s exhausted form.

"Should we leave him behind?"

"Should we? He probably wouldn’t be much help anyway."

"Not helpful?! Who do you think got us all the way here safely tonight?"

Ludian snapped, suddenly springing back to life. The boy, who had been as limp as wilted spinach, now seemed fully energized again. Ferdie and Ian watched him with amusement.

Just then, Tiel, who had jumped out of the carriage, trotted over to Ian, Ludian, and Clemence.

"Big brothers, Ian! Clemence!"

Tiel’s thick, fluffy tail swayed behind her as she ran toward them. Ian and Ludian both widened their eyes when they saw her tail.

"Tiel, why did you take your tail out?"

"Ah, well... Snow Leopards have a habit of holding their tails in their mouths when it’s cold. Even though I wasn’t cold thanks to Ferdie, it’s just instinct..."

Tiel gave a shy smile and gently held her tail with her hands. The thick tail fit perfectly into her tiny hands.

Watching this, both Ian and Ludian looked at Tiel with expressions of pure adoration.

After a brief pause, Tiel put her tail back in, and the two boys' faces quickly turned disappointed. Olivia, who had quietly approached from behind, observed the situation and thought to herself that the boys were rather easy to understand.

Ferdie, who had been admiring Tiel’s soft, thick tail the whole time, wasn’t disappointed.

Seeing the disappointment on Ian and Ludian's faces, Tiel hesitated for a moment, wondering if she should take her tail out again...

But she decided against it. There was no way she could keep it out in front of everyone, so she ignored their wistful looks.

"You can board the boat now."

Clemence pointed toward the boat floating near the shore. The boat wasn’t as big as expected, but there were several prepared.

The children followed Clemence to the boat. Clemence, who boarded the boat first, extended his hand.

Then, plant vines began to grow along the stairs to the boat, forming a secure staircase that allowed them to ascend without slipping.

"Take your time, make sure you don’t fall."

Clemence smiled gently.