The Snow Leopard Baby of the Black Leopard Family

"Not an accident...!" Tiel protested in an aggrieved voice. What happened to her wasn't an 'accident,' and she hadn't been hurt at all, thanks to the girl changing her mind at the last moment.

But how had Ian Dross Crassion heard the news and arrived so quickly, even though he should have been at the imperial palace? Tiel, looking a bit tired, jumped down from her bed again.

"Would you like me to tell him to come back another time, since you're tired?" Ria asked, knowing how much Tiel had been through that day.

Tiel had already been through a lot, first enduring the concerns of Ferdie and Ludian, who witnessed everything, then dealing with the worries of Karsus and Alpheus, who heard about the situation later. On top of that, the servants of the Asterian estate had bombarded her with questions every time she walked through the hallways to check on her well-being, so Tiel was absolutely exhausted.

But not wanting to send Ian back, Tiel shook her head and stopped Ria.

"I’m fine, I’ll go meet him. He came because he’s worried about me, I can't just send him away... Is Ian in the reception room right now?"

"Yes, he’s waiting there."

"Alright..."

Ria opened the door, and Tiel made her way to the reception room at a steady pace, not too fast nor too slow.

Although Tiel wasn’t in the best shape, and frankly had little energy left, she stubbornly continued towards the room to meet Ian.

When she arrived at the reception room door, she lightly pushed it open. °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° The servant at the door reached out to help her open it, but Ria, standing behind her, shook her head, signaling for the servant to hold off.

Tiel liked to open the door herself whenever meeting someone, even on days like today when she was unbearably tired.

Inside the reception room, Ian Dross Crassion sat on the sofa, his arms crossed, looking anxious. With his sun-like golden hair and the precious, beautiful emerald eyes, he seemed much more mature compared to five years ago.

His once sensitive appearance remained, but his taller frame, broader shoulders, and well-built physique made him appear older than his actual age.

The nervous boy, who had been pacing the sofa, stopped as soon as he saw Tiel enter and quickly walked toward her.

"Ian!"

"Tiel... you said you were hurt?"

"I wasn’t hurt! Who told you that? It’s only been a few hours since the incident—how did you know and get here so fast?" 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

"I heard from Duke Evalt, and I was nearby, so I came right away. You’re sure you’re not hurt?"

"Yes!"

"They said you had an accident?"

"I didn’t have an accident! It was... I almost did, though!"

Ian’s expression softened a little at Tiel’s words. After carefully checking her body for visible injuries and confirming she was unharmed, he finally relaxed and let go of her.

It was just like Karsus. Tiel, proving she wasn’t injured, spun around once on the spot.

Her white indoor dress fluttered, and her pure white hair swayed with it.

"See, I’m fine!"

"Don’t spin around! What if you get dizzy and fall down? You already don’t have much stamina as it is. Even though you’re not injured, you might still be shocked, so you need to rest for the day."

Ian spoke firmly.

"By the way, you said you almost got hurt—what’s that about? I heard that you had an accident, but I was in such a rush to get here, I didn’t have time to read the details. Tell me the whole story in short."

"In short? Well, the girl who tried to give me the poisoned bouquet ended up taking it back at the last moment, and because of that poison, she collapsed and is being treated right now. She’s currently locked up in the dungeon."

Ian nodded as if finally understanding, then asked seriously,

"Did you find out who was behind it? No, wait. I think it’s better to talk to the Marquis about this."

"I heard she hasn’t regained consciousness yet, so they haven’t figured it out. But I know a bit of what happened!"

"Really? Once she wakes up, I’ll have to figure out who was behind it and then... deal with them myself."

"No, you can’t!"

Tiel immediately threw her arms around Ian and clung to him. Surprised, Ian looked down at her as she clung to his waist.

The boy who once had a sharp, sensitive expression was now completely replaced by a look of surprise. Ian lightly patted Tiel’s shoulder and asked,

"Tiel... what’s wrong?"

"You can’t kill her! I told you, she changed her mind at the last moment and tried to save me..."

"But she tried to hurt you, didn’t she?"

"I’ve already had this conversation twenty times... The fact that she tried to hurt me doesn’t matter. What matters is that she changed her mind and saved me. So stop talking about killing her! You don’t know how hard it was for me to stop my dad from doing it!"

"In fact, with the Asterian ability, we could have forced her to wake up, find out who was behind it, and then kill her. But Tiel, it was because of you, wasn’t it?"

"She’s young! She must be younger than you, Ian..."

"Younger than me?"

"She’s definitely younger than me."

"But you’re calling her young? She’s still so tiny."

Ian teased, ruffling Tiel’s hair. Truthfully, Ian had been deeply troubled since hearing the news.

Why had something like this happened on Asterian territory? He was angry at Ferdie, Ludian, and the Asterian guards for not properly protecting Tiel.

He had even promised himself that if the person responsible for this was still alive, he would kill them with his own hands.

If you are reading this translation anywhere other than Novelight.net or SilkRoadTL, it has been stolen.

But upon seeing Tiel unharmed and hearing her plea to spare the girl, Ian’s hardened heart melted like pudding drizzled with caramel, and he couldn’t remain firm in front of her.

"Alright, I won’t say that anymore. But Tiel, why didn’t you reply to my letter?"

Not wanting to argue with her about this topic any longer, Ian quickly changed the subject.

Since Tiel was Ian’s partner, once the culprit woke up, Asterian would contact the imperial palace to handle the matter. They could decide on the punishment then.

As Ian changed the topic, Tiel let go of the hold she had on his waist and looked up at him.

"Oh, right! I completely forgot! I wrote the reply, but I forgot to ask Ria to send it for me."

"You made me wait, Tiel."

"But Ian, you make me wait sometimes too... Last time, you didn’t reply to my letter for a whole week..."

Hearing Tiel’s words, Ian’s face showed a brief moment of embarrassment. Indeed, he had been so busy that he had forgotten to reply to her letters twice.

Ian Dross Crassion had quit the academy to study in preparation for becoming emperor, so he had been incredibly busy.

Even so, he made time to write Tiel letters, so it wasn’t completely unreasonable for him to occasionally forget to reply.

Still, since he too was sometimes slow in responding, he couldn’t really scold Tiel for being late. With a heavy sigh, Ian cleared his throat.

"Bring it to me now. I’ll read it right here in front of you."

"No! I’m going to send it to the palace."

"Why? I can take it."

"I’m embarrassed if you open it and read it in the carriage..."

"But you wrote it for me, didn’t you?"

"Still, I’m going to send it to the palace."

Tiel spoke stubbornly. Ian, laughing in disbelief, nodded without saying anything further.

"Alright. I’ll send it to the palace right away. Actually, I’ll send you a messenger bird. One that can travel between the palace and Asterian quickly. That way, neither of us will have to wait for replies."

"A messenger bird?"

"Yes, in Asterian, we use regular couriers, but I often use messenger birds. It would be nice for you to have one too..."

Ian Dross Crassion whispered softly.

Inside the reception room, the boy with a sharp expression was gone, replaced by one full of concern, his gaze fixed on Tiel, the young girl he was so protective of.

The evening breeze, warmed by the sunset, swirled through the open window, lightly tousling their hair.